A Terrible Event, Or A Silver Lining? It All Depends On Your Frame

NPR | By NPR Staff,

Chris Benderev, Maggie Penman, Jennifer Schmidt, Renee Klahr, Tara Boyle

Published October 4, 2016 at 12:01 AM EDT

Colin Dale and his wife, Lori, still go to the train platform where he was the victim of a crime that changed the course of his life.

We have lots of ways to describe the good that can come from bad: a blessing in disguise, a silver lining. But what if the bad that led to the good was truly awful?

This was the case with Colin Dale. Colin is 42, a happily married technology consultant with two teenage children. But last winter, he was the victim of a terrible crime that changed the course of his life.

Listen to the episode to hear the story – and how our framing of events can change the way we experience our lives.

The Hidden Brain Podcast is hosted by Shankar Vedantam. This episode was produced by Tara Boyle and edited by Jennifer Schmidt. Our staff includes Maggie Penman, Chris Benderev and Renee Klahr. To subscribe to our newsletter, click here. You can also follow us on Twitter @hiddenbrain, and listen for Hidden Brain stories each week on your local public radio station.

NPR Staff

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Chris Benderev

Chris Benderev is a founding producer of and also reports stories for NPR's documentary-style podcast, Embedded. He's driven into coal mines, watched as a town had to shutter its only public school after 100 years in operation, and, recently, he's followed the survivors of a mass shooting for two years to understand what happens after they fade from the news. He's also investigated the pseudoscience behind a national chain of autism treatment facilities. As a producer, he's made stories about ISIS, voting rights and Donald Trump's business history. Earlier in his career, he was a producer at NPR's Weekend Edition, Morning Edition, Hidden Brain and the TED Radio Hour.

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Maggie Penman

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Jennifer Schmidt

Jennifer Schmidt is a senior producer for Hidden Brain. She is responsible for crafting the complex stories that are told on the show. She researches, writes, gathers field tape, and develops story structures. Some highlights of her work on Hidden Brain include episodes about the causes of the #MeToo movement, how diversity drives creativity, and the complex psychology of addiction.

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Renee Klahr

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Tara Boyle

Tara Boyle is the supervising producer of NPR's Hidden Brain. In this role, Boyle oversees the production of both the Hidden Brain radio show and podcast, providing editorial guidance and support to host Shankar Vedantam and the shows' producers. Boyle also coordinates Shankar's Hidden Brain segments on Morning Edition and other NPR shows, and oversees collaborations with partners both internal and external to NPR. Previously, Boyle spent a decade at WAMU, the NPR station in Washington, D.C. She has reported for The Boston Globe, and began her career in public radio at WBUR in Boston.

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