An investigation into human psychology

I don’t remember my grandparents. A DNA test inspires me to discover my ancestry for myself until a sudden event presents a life-altering dilemma. What would you do with a 30-year head start?

In 2017 the New York Times released an article disclosing 3 videos taken by US Navy pilots of unidentified aerial phenomenon. Is intelligent life already here? And if they are, what if they aren't friendly?

Is it better to spend your energy saving money or investing in making more? I spoke with Joel and Matt, the finance guys from the How to Money Podcast. They have some excellent advice on how to make your money work for you and live rich on less money.

Mental health wasn't understood in our parents generation. So how many people are still undiagnosed? This episode is about ADHD but the message is similar across disorders. The barriers that exist to get a proper diagnosis and treatment are criminal and need to be addressed.

LSD and psilocybin aka magic mushrooms are gaining in popularity for the therapeutic benefits, especially using the technique of microdosing. I spoke with E.S. Fein from the lucid dreaming episode about some of the benefits of psychedelics.

A psychosomatic disorder or illness refers to one that is caused by stress and emotions. I spoke with Dr David Hanscom, a former orthopedic surgeon who quit his practice after 32 years to teach people why back surgery is usually not the answer. You'll also hear from a special guest.

Lucid dreaming is a state of consciousness where a person is aware they're dreaming. This gives them a level of control over it. With practice you can increase this ability and explore your greatest fantasies. A lucid dreaming expert teaches us how to do it.

Even if you think you can't afford it, there are ways to buy a home and leverage it, but with rising interest rates is now a good time to buy? Real estate agent Skylar Brillante walks us through the process.

We've all encountered at least one narcissist in our lives. They make up 2% of the population. They're typically extroverted and charming. It's not until you've been used and thrown away that you realize their priority is sex, status and stuff. It's all about appearances.

Catieosaurus explains what it's like to be a gifted, non-privileged white dude with ADHD as well as neurodiversity in the kink community so buckle up buckaroo.

With an onslaught of ransomware attacks disrupting our supply chains, cybersecurity is more important than ever . The best way to strengthen your defenses is to hire hackers to discover your weaknesses. I interviewed John Strand, owner of Black Hills Information Security.

The days of robbing banks at gunpoint are gone. It's much more profitable to hijack networks. To better protect themselves companies hire people to test their security, but no firewall is going to stop a social engineer. Especially not one like Chris Hadnagy.

One of the most fascinating and unknown fields of science is human psychology. In this season of Prodigy we'll cover interesting topics like human hacking, lucid dreaming, penetration testing, narcissism and a lot more.

mRNA vaccines have been being developed since the 1970's. They were perfected just in time for the biggest crisis in modern history. Learn about how mRNA vaccines work and what a dedicated pediatrician and her staff have gone through in order to administer it to their community.

In the world of gaming there is an interesting niche called "Speedrunning." Speedrunners are gamers that want to beat a game as fast as possible. But it isn’t just about speed. It’s about love. It’s about obsession... over all the ins and outs of a game, down to the very programming.

Chiropractic was born out of holistic mysticism from the magnetic healer D.D. Palmer. Is there any value in it or is it complete bulls**t? I spoke with Dr Jeff Langmaid, a chiropractor, about how he approaches treatment.

He debuted with the Philadelphia Orchestra at 14. Since then he's received a ton of awards and played with nearly every major orchestra in the world. His performance radiates emotion and rings with precision as the notes from his Stradivarius spin through the halls.

Time for another holiday episode on gift giving. Dr. Mary Eberhardinger wrote a book on the rhetoric and philosophy of gifts. This convo is holiday casual so grab a drink and get ready for the airing of grievances.

I was diagnosed with ADHD at 35 years old. I describe my experience, break down the testing and the explain the disorder. I also speak with a student who has ADHD about his experience and Dr Gail Saltz about how the medication is prescribed.

Synesthesia is a connection between senses. It could be the key to understanding brilliance. Most people are born with it, but in a few rare cases people have acquired it after a traumatic brain injury. We'll also cover pattern seekers and the neurodiversity of autism.

John von Neumann was brilliant. He helped design the atomic bomb, created game theory, provided the architecture for the modern computer, pioneered the concept of mutually assured destruction and developed the foundation for quantum physics.

This is the true story of the most intelligent serial killer our nation has ever produced. Ted Kaczynski had a higher IQ than Einstein and used the postal service to deliver handmade bombs to targets over the course of a 17 year long domestic terrorism campaign.

Learn about the queen’s gambit opening strategy, indian defense, slav defense, and Paul Morphy from the popular netflix show. Also the psychology of gift giving with Dr. Jeff Galak, a marketing professor at Carnegie Mellon who studies the science of consumer behavior.

Every human being shares a 99.9% identical DNA code. It's that .1% that makes us unique. We saw the influence of genetics before we unlocked it through twin and adoption studies, but now that we've learned how to measure those differences, the knowledge could be dangerous.

Is elite performance just a matter of how much and how well you practice? I interview a man known as the expert on experts, Dr Anders Ericsson and discuss the controversy surrounding Deliberate Practice.

Can prodigies be created with early specialization? Laszlo Polgar was an educational psychologist who believed that they could. He experimented with his very own children and the results were fascinating.

Prodigy was inspired by one question. Can genius be created? Many believe it can, because its already happened. My name is Lowell Brillante and I’m seeking the answer to a very complicated question, what is the nature of our intelligence?