211. Why Do We Listen to Sad Songs?

What are Mike and Angela’s favorite songs to cry to? Can upbeat music lift you out of a bad mood? And what is Angela going to sing the next time she does karaoke?

• SOURCES:• Matthew Desmond, professor of sociology at Princeton University.
• Daniel Kahneman, professor emeritus of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University.
• Joshua Knobe, professor of philosophy, psychology, and linguistics at Yale University.
• Simon McCarthy-Jones, professor of psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin.
• Yael Millgram, senior lecturer of psychological sciences at Tel Aviv University.
• Stanley Milgram, 20th-century American social psychologist.
• Ruth Reichl, food writer.
• Laurie Santos, professor of psychology at Yale University.
• Barbara Tversky, professor emerita of psychology at Stanford University.
• RESOURCES:• "On the Value of Sad Music," by Mario Attie-Picker, Tara Venkatesan, George E. Newman, and Joshua Knobe (The Journal of Aesthetic Education, 2024).
• "The Reason People Listen to Sad Songs," by Oliver Whang (The New York Times, 2023).
• "Adele 30: The Psychology of Why Sad Songs Make Us Feel Good," by Simon McCarthy-Jones (The Conversation, 2021).
• "Why Do Depressed People Prefer Sad Music?" by Sunkyung Yoon, Edelyn Verona, Robert Schlauch, Sandra Schneider, and Jonathan Rottenberg (Emotion, 2020).
• Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, by Matthew Desmond (2016).
• "Sad as a Matter of Choice? Emotion-Regulation Goals in Depression," by Yael Millgram, Jutta Joormann, Jonathan D. Huppert, and Maya Tamir (Psychological Science, 2015).
• "Music and Emotion Through Time," by Michael Tilson Thomas (TED Talk, 2012).
• Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman (2011).
• EXTRAS:• Girl Power Sing-Along with Laurie Santos and Catherine Price, at the Black Squirrel Club in Philadelphia (September 28, 2024).
• "What Makes a Good Sense of Humor?" by No Stupid Questions (2024).
• "How Contagious Is Behavior? With Laurie Santos of 'The Happiness Lab' (Replay)," by No Stupid Questions (2023).

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