Listening to new music is what we do all day here at Pitchfork. But it isn’t always easy. Sometimes (OK, a lot of the time) it can be tempting to just throw on an old favorite rather than dig into something fresh. On this week’s episode of our podcast, Pitchfork Editor Puja Patel is joined by Reviews Editor Jeremy Larson to talk about the science behind why it’s difficult to engage with music you’re unfamiliar with–and also why it’s worth it.

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