211. Why Do We Listen to Sad Songs?

No Stupid Questions

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).