A Cup of Knowledge: With Guests A.J. Jac...

This is a special feature from the Choiceology archives. Right now, prediction markets, pollsters, and data analysts are working overtime. But predicting the future—especially in high-stakes environments—is notoriously hard. Most of us ignore critical data and place too much conf ... Show More

Think about the habits that define your day-to-day life—how you manage your money, look after your health, or tackle your to-do list. You might assume they reflect your personality or upbringing. But what if they’re actually shaped by the language you speak?In this episode of Cho ... Show More

Across all kinds of decisions—from our salaries to our weekend plans—we tend to prefer options that progressively get better, if given the choice. Why is it that our minds place such a high premium on an upward trajectory?In this episode of Choiceology with Katy Milkman, we look ... Show More

<p>Why don’t rockets fly straight up? What’s really happening when you make toast? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice break down the science of making toast, boiling water, and the Brachristochrone problem. </p><p>NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire ep ... Show More

<p>How literally should we take the US Constitution? What about the bible? Should we experiment with radical honesty with strangers? Those are just some of the questions human guinea pig A.J. Jacobs spends his life trying to answer. An author and journalist, he regularly immerse ... Show More

Why are the numbers 1, 2, and 3 across the top of a phone keypad but across the bottom of a calculator? It’s not random — and once you hear the logic, you’ll never look at a keypad the same way again. That’s just one of three quirky mysteries I explain at the start of this episod ... Show More

<p>Is it possible to make something invisible? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice explore transparency, how we measure time on Earth, and how airplanes have changed. </p><p>NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free.</p><p>Thanks to our Pat ... Show More

Original broadcast date: February 19, 2021. When A.J. Jacobs set out to thank everyone who made his morning cup of coffee, he realized the chain of thank-yous was endless. This hour, Jacobs shares ideas on gratitude—and how to make it count.See pcm.adswizz.com for information abo ... Show More

<p>Why do rational people believe irrational things? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice break down media literacy, the psychology behind conspiracy theories, and how to combat our cognitive biases with author and science historian, Michael Shermer.</p><p>NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons c ... Show More

<p>What is the Magnus Effect? On this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-hosts Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly explore physics through spin, banking, and angular momentum. Why are race tracks banked? </p><p>NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can watch or listen to this entire episode commerci ... Show More

<p>What is the Sun’s ecliptic? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice break down the things you thought you knew about spheres in the universe, navigating the sky, and taking spacecraft out of orbit. </p><p>NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial ... Show More

<p>What happens if Earth’s core is slowing? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice explore the spinning of Earth’s core, the physics of tire pressure, and the science of toast.</p><p>NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: <br />https: ... Show More