In an age when every conversation, email, and tweet could be digitally archived, how honest we are – or how deceptive – is open for scrutiny. But there is still a lot we don’t know about the nature of deception.

How can we tell if someone is telling the truth? Are there verbal cues, in addition to the sweaty palms and rapid heartbeat? Is there a difference between lies, or is every lie the same? And how does the medium of conversation – an email, a text message, a phone call – affect the type of lie we might tell?

This week on the podcast, Judith Donath interviews Jeff Hancock, of the Social Media Lab at Cornell University, on how we lie, and the role technology plays in the evolution of the lie.

CC Music this week:

Neurowaxx: Pop Circus

Robert Rich: Cowell Piano