(Note: This interview first aired last year.) Our guest is Shankar Vedantam, the bestselling author and host of the popular "Hidden Brain" podcast and public-radio show. He joins us to discuss his book, "Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain." This book takes a detailed, research-driven look at the fundamental role of self-deception in human life -- that is, its positive as well as its negative aspects. As was noted by The Washington Post: "Powerful.... [Vedantam] explains the phenomenon of deceit in general, and self-deception in particular, with the same plain language and gentle authority that his listeners have come to rely on."
The Best of StudioTulsa in 2021 -- "Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain"
![useful-bookshot.jfif](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/3515fe4/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1760x1084+0+0/resize/880x542!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F20%2Ffa%2Faa7f1478445fbb42e5c27dd8c9c0%2Fuseful-delusions-resizes.png)