Deeply Human

Our ideas of what’s beautiful are tied to symmetry. Symmetry attracts. Why? What’s so compelling about faces that are the same on both sides of that nose in the middle? 

To study symmetry we dive into the world of asymmetry – where things are different. Dessa talks with a professor who studies right- and left-handedness, a graphic designer who explains the appeal of a bit of asymmetry and a woman who grew up with a distinctly asymmetrical face – and ended up in a very surprising profession as a result.

Deeply Human is a BBC World Service and American Public Media coproduction with iHeartMedia.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Budging. Cutting in line. Skipping. Butting. Doesn’t it make your blood boil? The standing line evokes strong feelings about justice — breaking what we see as the rules for waiting in line can arouse anger and even violence that feel totally out of proportion to the length of our wait. Why are we such raging moralists when it comes to waiting our turn?

Dessa finds out what standing in line can reveal about social status and hidden power dynamics — and that the serpentine line in her local supermarket is a good thing. 

Deeply Human is a BBC World Service and American Public Media coproduction with iHeartMedia.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most female mammals schedule their sex life into just the couple of days in their cycle when they’re fertile. So why do humans do it whenever the mood strikes? (Well, in theory, at least.)

To find out, Dessa explores stinky t-shirt tests and all sorts of things we’d better not mention here. Parental discretion is strongly advised. 

Deeply Human is a BBC World Service and American Public Media coproduction with iHeartMedia.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

High-stakes lies have all sorts of consequences: perjurers are imprisoned and slanderers are sued. But when your coworker asks your opinion on his new haircut, a little lie feels obligatory. You lie much more than you’re probably aware of — but is that a bad thing? 

Dessa finds out why lying can be a dangerous habit. She discovers whether polygraph machines really work, and why a professor of psychology rejoiced when a hidden camera caught his three-year-old son fibbing. 

Deeply Human is a BBC World Service and American Public Media coproduction with iHeartMedia.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hurting, pain and suffering might just be some of the most important things that make you who you are. That pain, though, may be almost invisible to those around you. 

Suffering is often private and difficult to discuss. You can’t hold your pain up to the light for someone else to examine or drape it around their shoulders to see how it might fit. Yet our experience of pain can change the way we think about ourselves and others. 

In an effort to understand how suffering works, Dessa gets burned — literally — and talks pain scales, placebos and the grade school game of sticking gum wrappers to your forehead.

Deeply Human is a BBC World Service and American Public Media coproduction with iHeartMedia.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We spend a lot of time looking for love — but have we got that wrong? Is love something you discover, or something you’d be better off growing into? It’s all down to choice…but not too much! 

Dessa finds answers in the supermarket cereal aisle and the brain scans carried out by a biological anthropologist, which is basically someone who puts your life in the context of everyone else’s. Think you’re special? Think again. Plus Dessa hears some words of wisdom from her mom on how best to navigate the wilderness of dating aps. 

Listen and love deeper.

Deeply Human is a BBC World Service and American Public Media coproduction with iHeartMedia.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Musician, writer and science fiend Dessa explores the hidden motors that drive human experience and behavior. Why do we get déjà vu? Why are we attracted to symmetrical faces? Why do we listen to music that makes us sad? Why is the female orgasm still such a mystery to sex researchers?

Here are tender and moving personal stories as well as the latest scientific and psychological understanding of human nature. All combined at times with fits of laughter and just plain puzzlement. Deeply Human finds out what we all want to know: why do you do what you do?

Subscribe for free now, so you'll be the first to hear Deeply Human when episodes launch Monday, March 8.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.