You and Betty and the Nancy's and Bill's and Joes and Jane's will find in the study of science a richer, more rewarding life.

Hey, welcome to Inquiring Minds. I'm Indravis Gontas.

This is a podcast that explores the space where science and society collide.

We want to find out what's true, what's left to discover,

and why it matters.

There's more than why we see.

Hey, want to know a secret? Yeah, I bet you do. We all do. But isn't that bizarre? I mean, what is it about secrets? Knowing that someone else knows something that you don't know that can just drive us baddie. And also holding on to a secret, well, it can just make you want to throw up or feel totally uncomfortable in your own skin. Now, did you know that there is

a leading expert on the psychology of secrets? Well, he's Michael Slepian, and he's a professor of

leadership and ethics at Columbia University. And hey, he just got tenure. So that means that

his work has got to be good. And beyond his 50 empirical articles on secrecy, truth, and deception,

he's also had his research covered by the New York Times, the Atlantic, the New Yorker,

the economist, the Wall Street Journal, the BBC, and NPR.

So maybe we can't share each other's secrets, but at least we can learn more about the

psychology behind them.

Michael Slepian, welcome to inquiring minds. Thanks for having me. So secrets, you know,

I have a secret that I'm holding on to, as I'm sure so many people that you've studied do.

In fact, quite a few secrets.

And I, you know, reading your book, it's amazing to me how much just thinking about the secret eats away.

I mean, I literally feel in my stomach this, like, gnawing. So let's dive right into the effect of holding

secrets on our well-being. Like, why does it sometimes make us feel so bad physically?

One of the most frustrating parts of having a secret is the moment you intend to keep a secret

is the moment you have that secret

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