March 31, 2026

SVSU to host NPR ‘Hidden Brain’ creator, host Shankar Vedantam

Saginaw Valley State University will welcome Shankar Vedantam, host and creator of NPR’s “Hidden Brain,” as part of the 2025-26 University Lecture Season.

Vedantam will present “The Challenge of Change” at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 8, in the Rhea Miller Recital Hall. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required.

In the lecture, Vedantam will explore why humans — despite intelligence and ingenuity — often struggle to change behaviors, habits and systems, even when change is necessary for success. Drawing on research from neuroscience and psychology, the talk will examine how unconscious thinking shapes decisions and how individuals and organizations can overcome resistance to change.

Vedantam will address questions such as why individuals hesitate to step outside their comfort zones, why organizations struggle to pivot to new opportunities and why leaders and managers often repeat the same mistakes when implementing new initiatives.

In his reporting, Vedantam focuses on human behavior. He is the creator, host and executive editor of “Hidden Brain,” which launched in 2015 and is now one of the world’s most downloaded podcasts. The “Hidden Brain” radio show debuted in 2017 and is broadcast on more than 400 public radio stations across the United States.

He is the author of two nonfiction books: “The Hidden Brain: How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars, and Save Our Lives” and “Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain.”

The lecture is made possible through the Field/Spicer Endowment in Science and Engineering and the Dow Visiting Scholars and Artists Program.

For more information about the University Lecture Season, visit svsu.edu/publiclectures.