Born Liars - Why We Can't Live Without Deceit

Episode

First
Broadcast

Comments

20110620

Ian Leslie traces the line from the great apes - who are no mean liars themselves - to humans and documents studies which suggest that becoming human wasn't a simple evolutionary process of the best forager and builder surviving, but the building blocks came from our social contacts and our understanding of deceit.

Ian Leslie was born in 1972 and lives in London. He combines careers in advertising and writing. His first book, To be President (Politicos, 2008), an account of the 2008 US presidential election, was described by Adam Boulton as 'brilliantly capturing the drama and emotion of Obama's successful run for the White House' and was extracted by Granta. He regularly appears as an analyst of American politics on Sky and the BBC. He has written about politics, culture, marketing and psychology for Prospect, the Guardian, the Times and the BBC. He also blogs about all these things at Marbury, named one of the fifty 'Most Powerful' blogs in the world by the Observer.

Consistently startling and fascinating. Most popular psychology books follow a depressingly familiar path: there's some dodgy theorising at the beginning, then a raft of dubious statistics with a few anecdotes to back them up. Born Liars, however, is in quite a different league. It's erudite yet wears its learning lightly and is full of terrific stories. It will also make you see yourself, and the world around you, in a new light.' - 'Book of the Week', Daily Mail

Written by Ian Leslie

Reader: Tim McInnerny

Producer: Rosalynd Ward

A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.

We don't approve of lying, but we all do it. How did humans get to be such good liars?

20110621

Children learn deceit very early in their lives, but they are not very good at it. Then, at roughly between the ages of three and a half and four and a half, something changes. Ian Leslie explains how children's deceit becomes more sophisticated and the social processes that change (or sometimes not) their behaviour for the better.

Written by Ian Leslie

Reader: Tim McInnerny

Producer: Rosalynd Ward

A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.

Children can be scaringly good at lying, but when and how do they learn?

20110622

We think that people are lying when they mumble or they are embarrassed, but the liars amongst us are often those who are the most fluent speakers, the most charming people. Ian Leslie describes how two researchers discovered ways to pick those who were being economical with the truth.

Written by Ian Leslie

Reader: Tim McInnerny

Producer: Rosalynd Ward

A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.

How can we pick a liar? Is it what they say, or what they do?

20110623

In principle, the lie detector solves the problems of society: it can pick the thief or the philanderer or the dodgy politician. But the polygraph, as it was christened, has had a chequered history, it's reputation being more effective than the machine itself.

Written by Ian Leslie

Reader: Tim McInnerny

Producer: Rosalynd Ward

A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.

The lie-detector was developed in California, but does its record hold up to scrutiny?

05 LAST

20110624

The 'murderer at the door' refers to the moral dilemma of whether you tell the truth if the honest answer will threaten someone's life. How did philosophers square with that conundrum?

Written by Ian Leslie

Reader: Tim McInnerny

Producer: Rosalynd Ward

A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.

Is it right to lie if it saves someone? Concluded by Tim McInnerny.

Episodes

Episode	First Broadcast	Comments
01	20110620	Ian Leslie traces the line from the great apes - who are no mean liars themselves - to humans and documents studies which suggest that becoming human wasn't a simple evolutionary process of the best forager and builder surviving, but the building blocks came from our social contacts and our understanding of deceit. Ian Leslie was born in 1972 and lives in London. He combines careers in advertising and writing. His first book, To be President (Politicos, 2008), an account of the 2008 US presidential election, was described by Adam Boulton as 'brilliantly capturing the drama and emotion of Obama's successful run for the White House' and was extracted by Granta. He regularly appears as an analyst of American politics on Sky and the BBC. He has written about politics, culture, marketing and psychology for Prospect, the Guardian, the Times and the BBC. He also blogs about all these things at Marbury, named one of the fifty 'Most Powerful' blogs in the world by the Observer. Consistently startling and fascinating. Most popular psychology books follow a depressingly familiar path: there's some dodgy theorising at the beginning, then a raft of dubious statistics with a few anecdotes to back them up. Born Liars, however, is in quite a different league. It's erudite yet wears its learning lightly and is full of terrific stories. It will also make you see yourself, and the world around you, in a new light.' - 'Book of the Week', Daily Mail Written by Ian Leslie Reader: Tim McInnerny Producer: Rosalynd Ward A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4. We don't approve of lying, but we all do it. How did humans get to be such good liars?
02	20110621	Children learn deceit very early in their lives, but they are not very good at it. Then, at roughly between the ages of three and a half and four and a half, something changes. Ian Leslie explains how children's deceit becomes more sophisticated and the social processes that change (or sometimes not) their behaviour for the better. Ian Leslie was born in 1972 and lives in London. He combines careers in advertising and writing. His first book, To be President (Politicos, 2008), an account of the 2008 US presidential election, was described by Adam Boulton as 'brilliantly capturing the drama and emotion of Obama's successful run for the White House' and was extracted by Granta. He regularly appears as an analyst of American politics on Sky and the BBC. He has written about politics, culture, marketing and psychology for Prospect, the Guardian, the Times and the BBC. He also blogs about all these things at Marbury, named one of the fifty 'Most Powerful' blogs in the world by the Observer. Consistently startling and fascinating. Most popular psychology books follow a depressingly familiar path: there's some dodgy theorising at the beginning, then a raft of dubious statistics with a few anecdotes to back them up. Born Liars, however, is in quite a different league. It's erudite yet wears its learning lightly and is full of terrific stories. It will also make you see yourself, and the world around you, in a new light.' - 'Book of the Week', Daily Mail Written by Ian Leslie Reader: Tim McInnerny Producer: Rosalynd Ward A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4. Children can be scaringly good at lying, but when and how do they learn?
03	20110622	We think that people are lying when they mumble or they are embarrassed, but the liars amongst us are often those who are the most fluent speakers, the most charming people. Ian Leslie describes how two researchers discovered ways to pick those who were being economical with the truth. Ian Leslie was born in 1972 and lives in London. He combines careers in advertising and writing. His first book, To be President (Politicos, 2008), an account of the 2008 US presidential election, was described by Adam Boulton as 'brilliantly capturing the drama and emotion of Obama's successful run for the White House' and was extracted by Granta. He regularly appears as an analyst of American politics on Sky and the BBC. He has written about politics, culture, marketing and psychology for Prospect, the Guardian, the Times and the BBC. He also blogs about all these things at Marbury, named one of the fifty 'Most Powerful' blogs in the world by the Observer. Consistently startling and fascinating. Most popular psychology books follow a depressingly familiar path: there's some dodgy theorising at the beginning, then a raft of dubious statistics with a few anecdotes to back them up. Born Liars, however, is in quite a different league. It's erudite yet wears its learning lightly and is full of terrific stories. It will also make you see yourself, and the world around you, in a new light.' - 'Book of the Week', Daily Mail Written by Ian Leslie Reader: Tim McInnerny Producer: Rosalynd Ward A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4. How can we pick a liar? Is it what they say, or what they do?
04	20110623	In principle, the lie detector solves the problems of society: it can pick the thief or the philanderer or the dodgy politician. But the polygraph, as it was christened, has had a chequered history, it's reputation being more effective than the machine itself. Ian Leslie was born in 1972 and lives in London. He combines careers in advertising and writing. His first book, To be President (Politicos, 2008), an account of the 2008 US presidential election, was described by Adam Boulton as 'brilliantly capturing the drama and emotion of Obama's successful run for the White House' and was extracted by Granta. He regularly appears as an analyst of American politics on Sky and the BBC. He has written about politics, culture, marketing and psychology for Prospect, the Guardian, the Times and the BBC. He also blogs about all these things at Marbury, named one of the fifty 'Most Powerful' blogs in the world by the Observer. Consistently startling and fascinating. Most popular psychology books follow a depressingly familiar path: there's some dodgy theorising at the beginning, then a raft of dubious statistics with a few anecdotes to back them up. Born Liars, however, is in quite a different league. It's erudite yet wears its learning lightly and is full of terrific stories. It will also make you see yourself, and the world around you, in a new light.' - 'Book of the Week', Daily Mail Written by Ian Leslie Reader: Tim McInnerny Producer: Rosalynd Ward A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4. The lie-detector was developed in California, but does its record hold up to scrutiny?
05 LAST	20110624	The 'murderer at the door' refers to the moral dilemma of whether you tell the truth if the honest answer will threaten someone's life. How did philosophers square with that conundrum? Ian Leslie was born in 1972 and lives in London. He combines careers in advertising and writing. His first book, To be President (Politicos, 2008), an account of the 2008 US presidential election, was described by Adam Boulton as 'brilliantly capturing the drama and emotion of Obama's successful run for the White House' and was extracted by Granta. He regularly appears as an analyst of American politics on Sky and the BBC. He has written about politics, culture, marketing and psychology for Prospect, the Guardian, the Times and the BBC. He also blogs about all these things at Marbury, named one of the fifty 'Most Powerful' blogs in the world by the Observer. Consistently startling and fascinating. Most popular psychology books follow a depressingly familiar path: there's some dodgy theorising at the beginning, then a raft of dubious statistics with a few anecdotes to back them up. Born Liars, however, is in quite a different league. It's erudite yet wears its learning lightly and is full of terrific stories. It will also make you see yourself, and the world around you, in a new light.' - 'Book of the Week', Daily Mail Written by Ian Leslie Reader: Tim McInnerny Producer: Rosalynd Ward A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4. Is it right to lie if it saves someone? Concluded by Tim McInnerny.