Are We Under Threat from a New Kind of T...

Twenty years ago, before the Freakonomics book tour, Bill McGowan taught Steve Levitt to speak in public. In his new book he tries to teach everyone else. SOURCES:Bill McGowan, founder and C.E.O. of Clarity Media Group. RESOURCES:Speak, Memorably: The Art of Captivating an Audien ... Show More

Former professional poker player Annie Duke wrote a book about Steve’s favorite subject: quitting. They talk about why quitting is so hard, how to do it sooner, and why we feel shame when we do something that’s good for us. SOURCES:Annie Duke, author and former professional poker ... Show More

Psychologist David Yeager thinks the conventional wisdom for how to motivate young people is all wrong. His model for helping kids cope with stress is required reading at Steve’s new high school. SOURCES:David Yeager, professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. ... Show More

Since its inception the CIA has been a nefarious operation, overthrowing governments, assassinating foreign leaders, fomenting rebellions and generally immiserating wide swaths of the world in the interests of corporate power and greed. But that’s all over now, at least according ... Show More

The war on drugs is real and intense every day for agents who work for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration. In this episode, Delia speaks with a DEA Special Agent who investigates and attempts to unmask the dark characters pushing poison into, out of and across Amer ... Show More

In episode 1230, Jack and Miles are joined by anti-racism educator/activist, writer and host of White Homework and Go Home Bible You're Drunk, Tori Williams Douglass to discuss… The mask mandate getting axed feels like the right level of American cruelty, “Snake Venom in the Wate ... Show More

Defrauded Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes has become the subject of countless books, podcasts, documentaries, and now the brand new scripted Hulu series, The Dropout, starring Amanda Seyfried. Holmes's cult of personality—everything from her sociopath-chic Steve Jobs cosplay to her ... Show More

The Drug War is more brutal than ever. Overdose deaths are still shattering records, there’s talk of war with the cartels, increased penalties are just making things worse, there’s little money for harm reduction programs or addiction treatment, yet plenty of cash for prisons, co ... Show More

Author Chris Whipple pulls back the curtain on the CIA and its often secretive directors in his new book, "The Spymasters: How the CIA Directors Shape History and the Future," published by Scribner an imprint of Simon & Schuster a division of ViacomCBS. Having spoken to almost ev ... Show More

Paul Bloom joins us to talk all things villainous -why we sometimes root for the bad guys, why we admire them even when we don't, why they are much more compelling than some of our heroes.  Then more evidence that we're really a movie podcast at heart: we list our top 5 villains ... Show More

Sarah Edmondson and Anthony "Nippy" Ames are cult escapees and whistleblowers featured in Escaping NXIVM. In this clip from the Sickboy podcast, Sarah and Nippy sit down with the Sickboy hosts to dive deep into their experience with escaping a cult and how it affected their menta ... Show More

In 2015, Ambra Gutierrez agreed to do something that terrified her. A day after she told police that Harvey Weinstein had assaulted her, she decided to participate in a sting operation designed to extract a confession from the Hollywood executive. But those hours of dodging and w ... Show More

Liza Drake is a blue-collar single mom who has just lost her job and is at the end of her rope. A chance meeting with a pharmaceutical sales rep puts her on an upwards trajectory economically - but a dubious path ethically - as she becomes entangled in a dangerous racketeering sc ... Show More