From My School Commute: Hidden Brain Podcast

As I’ve mentioned here and there, I am currently taking classes at the local UW-Bothell campus.  Getting to campus for class is about a 30 minute commute, so sometimes I listen to a podcast on the way there and back.  I have a handful I listen to, mostly NPR stuff, and I tend to go grab a whole bunch, download them to my phone, and slowly work my way through them.  I don’t always pay a lot of attention to the topic at hand either, so it’s always a bit of a grab bag with regard to what I will listen to during any given drive (with the exception of “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me”, which I save for when my son is in the car, because while he may be 9, he loves that show).

Last night, I was listening to Hidden Brain.  Specifically, this episode called “Changing Behavior, Not Beliefs”.  It’s about police violence, and it is very much worth listening to.  Most of the episode is an interview with Phillip Atiba Goff, who is a Yale professor who does work with police and communities.  There is a lot in that conversation to unpack, more than I can do justice with, but one of the key bits is that he separates out any potential personal bigotry or prejudice of the individual officer, and instead focuses on structural problems, officer training, community services, etc.

It’s a very interesting and compelling episode, and I highly recommend it for your next commute (it’s 52 minutes), or whenever you listen to podcasts.