Best Michael Rousell Podcasts (2025)

Learn why asking WHO is most powerful as an agent of influence is not necessarily the best question to ask. The question WHEN appears more enlightening.michaelrousell.com

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Episode 13, Much of What We Do is Driven By Unconscious Processes, Part 2 3:27

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7y ago3:27

3:27

Learn how our brains are essentially prediction machines and their primary function is to reduce surprises by developing an increasingly nuanced model of the world.michaelrousell.com

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Episode 12, Unconscious Processing Makes Evolutionary Sense 2:30

7y ago2:30

2:30

Learn why much of what we do is driven by unconscious processes. Part 1. michaelrousell.com

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Episode 11, Beliefs About Ourselves are Self-Affirming 3:38

7y ago3:38

3:38

Learn how beliefs about the external world are easily verified, but beliefs about ourselves are self-affirming.michaelrousell.com

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Episode 10, Surprise Creates an Opportunity to Change the Experience of an Emotion 2:57

7y ago2:57

2:57

Learn how the experience of emotional arousal is adaptable. Heightened emotion is the brain telling us that something important is happening. On occasion, this allows us to label that emotion to create the experience. michaelrousell.com

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Episode 9, How Seemingly Simple Comments May Create Self-Perpetuating Mindsets 2:51

7y ago2:51

2:51

Learn how seemingly simple comments, especially when surprising, may create self-perpetuating mindsets. Once we accept an explanation of our behavior, that explanation continues, and fortifies. It’s one more reason to always focus on positive attributes.michaelrousell.com

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Episode 8, How Advertisers Use Surprise to Create Brands and Beliefs 2:29

7y ago2:29

2:29

Learn how advertisers use surprise strategically to impress us with their brands and trigger new belief formation. This all takes place instantly, and outside conscious awareness. michaelrousell.com

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Episode 7, Surprises About Our Self Concept Can Be Life Changing 2:54

7+ y ago2:54

2:54

Our self-concept serves as a basis for screening, categorizing, and interpreting our experiences. Surprises that disrupt our self-concept differ from surprises about the external world. Self-concept surprises may trigger life-changing beliefs. michaelrousell.com

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Episode 6, Traditional Uses of Surprise 2:46

7+ y ago2:46

2:46

Learn how movie directors and television shows use surprise strategically to manipulate our emotions, enhance our excitement, and create spontaneous belief transformation.michaelrousell.com

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Episode 5, Strategic Procrastination 3:02

7+ y ago3:02

3:02

Learn how a portion of an Adam Grant TED talk surprised me, triggering an instant belief formation. I used to feel lazy and unproductive when I procrastinated. Now I do it strategically.michaelrousell.com

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Episode 4, One-Shot Learning 3:00

7+ y ago3:00

3:00

Learn how One-Shot learning, triggered by surprise, involves a different brain system than gradual learning. One-Shot learning works like a switch. Our emotions trigger this complex cognitive process during moments of high uncertainty such as surprise. michaelrousell.com

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Episode 3, How Surprises Change Your Behavior 3:15

7+ y ago3:15

3:15

Learn how information, received after a surprise, predisposes you to apply that new information instinctively in subsequent situations.michaelrousell.com

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Episode 2, The Importance of Surprise 2:32

7+ y ago2:32

2:32

A surprise alarms us that our expectations are out of whack and need a spontaneous adjustment. Learn how comedians use surprise in punchlines to create dissonance with our expectations. michaelrousell.com

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Episode 1, The Belief Formation Reflex 2:35

7+ y ago2:35

2:35

Learn how the element of surprise evolved as a survival mechanism to trigger an instant belief formation.michaelrousell.com

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Surprisecast, An Introduction 0:41

7+ y ago0:41

0:41

-Surprisecast is a captivating journey into how your brain secretly changes your beliefs during moments of surprise. -Using current neurological and cognitive research, Dr. Michael Rousell identifies and maps the consequences of surprise as a trigger for instant belief formation, one of the brain’s greatest survival tools.-You’ll learn how to craft…