This is a podcast aimed at better understanding other people and better understanding ourselves.
I’m Zachary Elwood. On this podcast, I talk to people from a wide range of professions and backgrounds about behavior and psychology.
Ready to jump in? Here are some popular episode compilations:
- Crime & investigation-related
- Politics-related
- Mental health-related
- Sports & games-related
- Behavior bullshit
Here are some of my my favorites.
This is a podcast about deciphering human behavior and understanding why people do the things they do. I, Zach Elwood, talk with people from a wide range of fields about how they make sense of human behavior and psychology. I’ve talked to jury consultants, interrogation professionals, behavior researchers, sports analysts, professional poker players, to name a few. There are more than 135 episodes, many of them quite good (although some say I’m biased). To learn more, go to PeopleWhoReadPeople.com.
What actually makes negotiations work—and why do so many “tough” tactics backfire? In this episode, Zach talks with professional negotiator Andres Lares about why the most effective deals rarely come from trying to win at all costs. Drawing from sports contracts, Fortune 500 negotiations, and decades of real-world experience, Andres explains the “power of nice,” the importance of looking for creative win-win approaches, and why public posturing can kill agreements. They also dig into the hype around body language—what’s useful, what’s overblown, and what actually matters when you’re trying to read and influence people in the real world. Andres also talks about his views on AI-assisted sales-presentation-analysis programs (like Gong and Chorus). We also talk about the realism, or lack of it, in the movie Jerry McGuire. Andres is the CEO and Managing Partner of Shapiro Negotiations Institute (SNI), and the co-author of “Persuade: The 4-Step Process to Influence People and Decisions.”
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Popular Episodes
- About this podcast: why I do it and why I think it’s important
- Questioning if body language is useful for detecting lies, with Tim Levine
- Reading and predicting jury behavior, with Christina Marinakis
- How to spot fake online reviews, with Olu Popoola
- Persuasion in polarized environments, with Matthew Hornsey
- Relationship “tells”, with Brandi Fink
- Cryptocurrency, problem gambling, and addiction, with Paul Delfabbro
- Reading poker tells, with poker pro Dara O’Kearney
- Why do so many people “want to watch the world burn”?, with Kevin Arceneaux
- Understanding and coping with anxiety, with editor of The Atlantic Scott Stossel
About me
I’m most known for my work on poker tells (aka, poker behavior). My first poker tells book, Reading Poker Tells, has been translated into eight languages. I’m also known for my work on political polarization (for example, my book Defusing American Anger). My independent research on deceptive online activity has been featured in NY Times, Washington Post, Buzzfeed, and more.
Like the show?
If you enjoy this podcast, please share it with others, and/or write me a review on Apple Podcasts. If you want to support my work, get a premium podcast subscription, or sign up for my depolarization-aimed Substack newsletter. Other ways to show appreciation: subscribe to this podcast on YouTube or Apple or Spotify (or wherever). You can also sign up below to get updates.