Episode
Why You Don't See What's Right in Front of You & The Surprising Truth About Sidewalks
- Podcast
- Something You Should Know
- Published
- Jul 30, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3020
- Processing state
not_requested
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Summary
Stores and restaurants don't just play music to fill the silence. The tempo, volume, and even the style of music are often carefully chosen because they can quietly influence your behavior and even how much money you spend. Once you know what's happening, you'll start hearing those playlists very differently. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/002224298204600313 Your brain performs an astonishing magic trick every second of every day. It decides what deserves your attention—and what doesn't. Most of the time that's incredibly helpful. But it also means important clues, costly mistakes, opportunities, and even obvious dangers can sit right in front of you without you ever noticing them. Why does that happen, and can you train yourself to see what you've been missing? Here to explain is Keelan Leyser, a digital illusionist and one of the world's leading experts on attention and perception. Along with the late neuropsychologist David Lewis, he is co-author of the book Unseen: Blind Spots and Why We Miss What Matters Most (https://amzn.to/4ylvxkh). Most of us walk on sidewalks without giving them a second thought. But once you start asking simple questions—Who actually owns the sidewalk? Who is responsible to maintain it? Why do some sidewalks suddenly end? And why do some streets have no sidewalks at all? —you discover that sidewalks are surprisingly complicated and have become the center of debates over property rights, public space, safety, and even free speech. Michael Pollack takes us into a world that's been hiding in plain sight. He is Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Faculty Development at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and author of the book Sidewalk Nation: The Life and Law of America's Most Overlooked Resource (https://amzn.to/4fBOhEJ). When…