Resisting Influence in an Over-Influenced World

Why are we so susceptible to persuasion? In this episode of The Curiosity Shop, Brené Brown and Adam Grant discuss a tip Brené picked up from Seventeen magazine in the ‘80s and end up exploring why we fall for misinformation and persuasive messaging. They examine how vulnerability makes us more receptive to fear-based messaging, how appeals to authority can sometimes stand in for real evidence, and why recognizing misinformation isn’t always enough to protect us from it. Brené and Adam also consider the role of belonging, including the ways our desire for connection, community, and shared identity can make certain ideas especially persuasive. Along the way, they develop a practical framework for resisting unwanted influence: recognize your vulnerability, build your persuasion literacy, and trace information back to its source. Vibe: The Secrets of Strong Connections in a Lonely World - Adam Grant, 2026, Viking MythBusters: Rinsing Your Hair In Cold Water - Into The Gloss, 2015 I Washed My Hair With Coca-Cola (and Other Teen-Magazine Beauty Experiments) - Seventeen Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die - Chip Heath & Dan Heath, 2007, Random House Free Resources, including 'Making Presentations That Stick' - Chip Heath & Dan Heath, HeathBrothers.com Jayne Modean - Wikipedia contributors, Wikipedia Alzheimer's Association 24/7 Helpline, 800-272-3900 - Alzheimer's Association Dr. Cialdini's Biography - Influence at Work Dispelling the Illusion of Invulnerability: The Motivations and Mechanisms of Resistance to Persuasion - Stanford Center on Longevity, 2011 Resistance to Persuasion - Dolores Albarracín & A. Karan, 2022, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology Dr. Jessica Knurick - Jessica Knurick Jessica Knurick's Reaction Video - Jessica Knurick, Facebook A Public Health Expert Keeps Going Viral on Instagram for Delivering This Very Simple Message - Scott, 2025, Vox What's the Difference Between Physicians and Naturopaths? - American Medical Association, 2024 Appeal to Authority Fallacy: When Expertise Becomes a Logical Trap - Logically Fallacious, 2026 Evidence-Based Practice: Levels of Evidence - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Library Evidence-Based Management - Jeffrey Pfeffer & Robert Sutton, 2006, Harvard Business Review White House Moves to Take Control of NIH Scientific Grants - The New York Times, 2026, The Philadelphia Inquirer 'Warning: This Image Has Been Digitally Altered': The Effect of Disclaimer Labels Added to Fashion Magazine Shoots on Women's Body Dissatisfaction - Marika Tiggemann, Zoe Brown, Mia Zaccardo & Nicole Thomas, 2017, Body Image The Sleeper Effect in Persuasion: A Meta-Analytic Review - G. Tarcan Kumkale & Dolores Albarracín, 2004, Psychological Bulletin The Mirror-Neuron System - Giacomo Rizzolatti & Laila Craighero, 2004, Annual Review of Neuroscience Social Media Posts About Medical Tests With Potential for Overdiagnosis - Brooke Nickel and colleagues, 2025, JAMA Network Open We Analysed Almost 1,000 Social Media Posts About 5 Popular Medical Tests. Most Were Utterly Misleading - Nickel & Moynihan, 2025, The Conversation Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion - Robert Cialdini, 2021; first published 1984, Harper Business The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time - Maria Konnikova, 2016, Viking How to Know If You're Being Lied To - Khazan, 2016, The Atlantic Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments - Justin Kruger & David Dunning, 1999, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Recursive Self-Improvement and Agentic AI: Fear of the AI Singularity - HackerNoon, 2026 How Do AI Companies 'Fine-Tune' Policy? Examining Regulatory Capture in AI Governance - Kevin Wei, Carson Ezell, Nick Gabrieli & Chinmay Deshpande, 2024, AIES-24 Proceedings George J. Stigler, 'The Theory of Economic Regulation' - Christopher Carrigan & Cary Coglianese, 2015, Oxford Handbo