Podcast: Who Gets Power — And Why It Can Corrupt Even The Best Of Us

What is it about power that transforms people so much? This is the topic that Shankar Vedantam sets out to untangle. He explores the dynamics of power, our ambivalence towards it — the fact that, for instance, we revere rich, powerful celebrities, and take immense satisfaction at their fall from the pedestal — and what happens to people once they get power.

That contradictory attitude about power can be traced back to our evolutionary past, by looking at how chimpanzees treat the alpha male on a regular basis versus how they react when the alpha is being mean and intimidating to them. “Strands of defiance and rebellion are woven into the fabric of adulation and submission,” Vedantam concludes.

As for the second part of the show, about who gets power and how and why it changes people so much, I found two things striking. Firstly, according to social personality researcher Dacher Keltner it’s actually kind and empathetic behavior that leads people to power. The second — more mind-boggling — thing is that when we feel powerful we lose the ability to read emotion in people’s facial expressions. As in the classic empathy networks in the frontal lobes of our brains are quieted when we’re tripping on power.