Shankar Vedantam, the host and executive editor of the Hidden Brain podcast and radio show, will give the keynote address at the college’s 165th Commencement. The ceremony will take place in Cooper’s historic Great Hall on Thursday, May 29, 2025 at 10:30 am. The program will also be livestreamed for public viewing at youtube.com/cooperunion.

Vedantam speaks internationally about the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior. His podcast, Hidden Brain, launched 10 years ago, is regularly listed as one of the top podcasts in the world, receiving millions of downloads each month. It is also heard on more than 400 public radio stations across the United States.

“Through his work illuminating the unseen forces that shape our biases, decisions, and social dynamics, Shankar Vedantam offers insights that are especially relevant to young adults preparing to navigate an increasingly complex world,” said Malcolm King, interim president of The Cooper Union. “He will certainly inspire and guide our graduates as they embark on their journeys to make the kind of positive impact on society that our founder, Peter Cooper, envisioned.”

“I am honored to address The Cooper Union’s Class of 2025,” said Vedantam. “The transition from college into what is ruefully called ‘the real world’ can be stressful and uncertain. New graduates will soon learn that, unlike in college, where success can be measured by grades and feedback, all of us have to decide for ourselves what it means to live a good life, a successful life. Philosophers and psychologists have useful ideas on how to navigate that wicked problem.”

Vedantam and Hidden Brain have been recognized with multiple honors from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the International Society of Political Psychology, the Society of Professional Journalists, the American Psychoanalytic Association, the Webby Awards, and the American Public Health Association, among others. He also served as NPR’s social science correspondent between 2011 and 2020, and spent 10 years as a reporter at The Washington Post. He is the author of The Hidden Brain: How our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars and Save Our Lives and is co-author of Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain, an exploration of self-deception’s role in human success.