About the show
Every week, Hilary Jeffs and Peter Kinderman pick a story from the news and ask what's actually going on underneath it. Hilary spent her career in communications. Peter is a clinical psychologist and a former President of the British Psychological Society.
Between them they have plenty of opinions, and the opinions don't always match. That's most of the fun. The story is only ever the starting point — what they're really after is why people do what they do.
The format
One story a week. A resignation at the top of politics, a World Cup, a viral moment — the headline is the way in.
Concept of the Week. Peter takes apart a psychological idea most of us have half-remembered wrong.
Tips to Try. Small, practical things, which is exactly what it sounds like.
Coming in Series One
Why do we fall for charismatic leaders when life feels unstable? What separates confidence from competence, and why does a politician who can't tell a story struggle to keep the room? The psychology of power, persuasion and political communication.
Football crowds, fandom, in-groups and out-groups. What sport, celebrity culture and viral moments reveal about our deep need to belong — and what happens to the people who feel shut out.
Does more money actually make you happier? What does sudden fame do to a person? The behavioural science of wealth, status and wellbeing, tested against whatever the week's news throws up.
Every week, Concept of the Week takes a psychological idea most of us have half-remembered wrong — the marshmallow test, mirror neurons — and explains what the evidence really shows. Then Tips to Try offers something small and practical for your own week.
Your hosts
Communications
A former broadcast journalist, presenter and senior PR advisor, now a strategic communications coach and founder of Jawsmith. Hilary brings the communications lens, a fair amount of opinion, and a good ear for when a leader has lost the room.
Clinical Psychology
Practising clinical psychologist, former President of the British Psychological Society, and 35 years in front-line mental health care. Peter applies psychology to everyday life — out loud, this time.
Questions, answered
Experience is a weekly British podcast about the psychology behind the news. Each episode, the hosts pick one story from the week's headlines — political, sporting, cultural — and work out what's really going on underneath it: why the people involved behaved the way they did, and what it says about the rest of us.
Hilary Jeffs, a strategic communications expert and former broadcast journalist, and Professor Peter Kinderman, a practising clinical psychologist and former President of the British Psychological Society. One brings the communications lens, the other the clinical one, and they don't always agree.
Series one is in production now. Once it launches, new episodes arrive weekly, with full show notes, timestamps and clips in the Media Library on this site.
Experience will be available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube, and wherever you usually get your podcasts. Episodes and social clips will also be collected in the Media Library here.
No. The show is made for anyone curious about why people do what they do. When a psychological concept comes up, Peter explains what the evidence actually shows — including the ideas most of us have half-remembered wrong.
Launching soon · New episodes weekly
Follow on your platform of choice and the first episode arrives the moment it's out.
