How history and our "hidden brain" helps us make political decisions

Hour 1

We talk to an historian and science writer to explore the outcomes of the mid-term elections.   Historian Julian Zelizer has been reflecting on  the events of the recent past which might explain the rise of the Tea Party activism that played a crucial role in the election.  And writer Shankar Vedantam has been thinking about the struggle between our conscious and unconscious brain when it comes to our political opinions and decision-making.

Listen to the mp3

Listen:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.