We’re often drawn to people who appear to be true to themselves. Yet showing our authentic selves to the world can be terrifying. This week, we kick off 2025 with a new series, “Wellness 2.0.” We’ll go beyond New Year’s resolutions to take a deep look at how we can approach our lives with a sense of meaning and purpose. Today on the show, we begin our series with researcher Erica Bailey, who studies authenticity and what it means to truly be ourselves.

Happy New Year from all of us at Hidden Brain! If you liked today's episode, please check out our companion Hidden Brain+ conversation with Erica Bailey. We've extended our free trial period to 30 days for listeners who sign up via Apple Podcasts during the month of January. To try Hidden Brain+ on Apple Podcasts, click the "try free" button on our show page in the app, or go to apple.co/hiddenbrain.