124. Daron Acemoglu on Economics, Politi...

<p>Michael Greenstone knows it’s corny, but he wants to make the world a better place — by tracking the impact of air quality, developing pollution markets in India, and … starting a podcast, which Steve says proves he’s over the hill.</p><p> </p><ul><li><strong>SOURCES:</strong> ... Show More

<p>Suleika Jaouad was diagnosed with cancer at 22. She made her illness the subject of a <i>New York Times</i> column and a memoir, <i>Between Two Kingdoms.</i> She and Steve talk about what it means to live with a potentially fatal illness, how to talk to people who've gone thro ... Show More

<p>Physicist and former pop star Brian Cox tells Steve about discovering the Higgs boson, having a number-one hit, and why particle physics research will almost certainly not create a black hole that destroys all life on earth.</p><p> </p><ul><li><strong>SOURCES:</strong><ul><li> ... Show More

<p>Evidence from Nazi Germany and 1940’s America (and pretty much everywhere else) shows that discrimination is incredibly costly — to the victims, of course, but also the perpetrators. One modern solution is to invoke a diversity mandate. But new research shows that’s not necess ... Show More

<p>It’s hard to know whether the benefits of hiring a celebrity are worth the risk. We dig into one gruesome story of an endorsement gone wrong, and find a surprising result.</p><p> </p><ul><li><strong>SOURCES:</strong><ul><li><a href="https://economics.cornell.edu/john-cawley">J ... Show More

<p>American politics is trapped in a duopoly, with two all-powerful parties colluding to stifle competition. We revisit a 2018 episode to explain how the political industry works, and talk to a reformer (and former presidential candidate) who is pushing for change.</p><p> </p><ul ... Show More

<p>Michael Roth of Wesleyan University doesn’t hang out with other university presidents. He also thinks some of them have failed a basic test of good sense and decency. It’s time for a conversation about college, and courage.  </p><p> </p><ul><li><strong>SOURCE:</strong><ul><li> ... Show More

<p>They say they make companies more efficient through savvy management. Critics say they bend the rules to enrich themselves at the expense of consumers and employees. Can they both be right? (Probably not.)</p><p> </p><p>RESOURCES:</p><ul><li><a href="https://amzn.to/3SJapSL">< ... Show More

<p>Lewis got incredible access to Sam Bankman-Fried, the billionaire behind the spectacular FTX fraud. His book is a bestseller, but some critics say he went too easy on S.B.F. Lewis tells us why the critics are wrong — and what it’s like to watch your book get turned into a cour ... Show More

<p>Economists have discovered an odd phenomenon: many people who use social media (even you, maybe?) wish it didn’t exist. But that doesn’t mean they can escape.</p><p> </p><ul><li><strong>SOURCES:</strong><ul><li><a href="https://home.uchicago.edu/bursztyn/">Leonardo Bursztyn</a ... Show More

<p>The psychologist Daniel Kahneman — a Nobel laureate and the author of <i>Thinking, Fast and Slow</i> — recently died at age 90. Along with his collaborator Amos Tversky, he changed how we all think about decision-making. The journalist Michael Lewis told the Kahneman-Tversky s ... Show More