490. What Do Broken-Hearted Knitters, Ur...

David Rubenstein, a product of the old bipartisan D.C., made his fortune in private equity. He’s been spending it on “patriotic philanthropy” and institutions like the Kennedy Center, where Trump fired him as chairman. Now he wonders if the center can hold. SOURCES:David Rubenste ... Show More

Podcasting started as a niche-nerd pursuit. Now it’s a $9 billion industry. Is that a lot? The strange economics of this thing we do. SOURCES:Jim Bankoff, chairman and C.E.O. of Vox Media.Ben Davis, head of digital at WME.Will Page, former chief economist at Spotify and author of ... Show More

An economist calls America’s beef industry a “miracle.” An antitrust scholar calls it “broken.” Maybe they’re both right? SOURCES:Austin Frerick, agriculture antitrust expert, fellow at Yale University, author of Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America's Food Industry ... Show More

Have you ever knocked on wood to stop something bad from happening? Or avoided walking under a ladder? Then you’re superstitious. Superstitions come from common, yet irrational beliefs. They typically stem from folklore or urban legend. But how irrational is it, if it’s actually ... Show More

In the face of our "post-truth" era of politics, it's hard to know what to believe. According to psychology research, whether we know it or not, most of us harbor false beliefs. Do you? 

For many people, monster stories are just that -- stories. Tall tales and folklore meant to entertain an audience. However, you might be surprised to learn that people around the world still genuinely believe in some supernatural entities. Tune in and learn more in part one of th ... Show More

It’s easy to think of people in the distant past as kinda dumb for believing things like that mice could spontaneously generate from old grain. But if you look a little deeper, you’ll find there was a sensibility to the odd beliefs that came before science.See omnystudio.com/list ... Show More