Podcast Episodes

300. Why Don’t We All Speak the Same Language? (Earth 2.0 Series)

Episode 300

There are 7,000 languages spoken on Earth. What are the costs — and benefits — of our modern-day Tower of Babel?

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Published on 8 years, 3 months ago

299. "How Much Brain Damage Do I Have?"

Episode 299

John Urschel was the only player in the N.F.L. simultaneously getting a math Ph.D. at M.I.T. But after a new study came out linking football to brain damage, he abruptly retired. Here's the inside st…

Published on 8 years, 3 months ago

Bad Medicine, Part 3: Death by Diagnosis (Rebroadcast)

By some estimates, medical error is the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. How can that be? And what's to be done? Our third and final episode in this series offers some encouraging answers.

Ho…

Published on 8 years, 4 months ago

Bad Medicine, Part 2: (Drug) Trials and Tribulations (Rebroadcast)

How do so many ineffective and even dangerous drugs make it to market? One reason is that clinical trials are often run on "dream patients" who aren't representative of a larger population. On the ot…

Published on 8 years, 4 months ago

Bad Medicine, Part 1: The Story of 98.6 (Rebroadcast)

We tend to think of medicine as a science, but for most of human history it has been scientific-ish at best. In the first episode of a three-part series, we look at the grotesque mistakes produced by…

Published on 8 years, 4 months ago

What Are You Waiting For? (Rebroadcast)

Standing in line represents a particularly sloppy — and frustrating — way for supply and demand to meet. Why haven't we found a better way to get what we want? Is it possible that we secretly enjoy w…

Published on 8 years, 4 months ago

298. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Money (But Were Afraid to Ask)

Episode 298

The bad news: roughly 70 percent of Americans are financially illiterate. The good news: all the important stuff can fit on one index card. Here's how to become your own financial superhero.

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Published on 8 years, 4 months ago

297. The Stupidest Thing You Can Do With Your Money

Episode 297

It's hard enough to save for a house, tuition, or retirement. So why are we willing to pay big fees for subpar investment returns? Enter the low-cost index fund. The revolution will not be monetized.…

Published on 8 years, 5 months ago

296. These Shoes Are Killing Me!

Episode 296

The human foot is an evolutionary masterpiece, far more functional than we give it credit for. So why do we encase it in "a coffin" (as one foot scholar calls it) that stymies so much of its ability …

Published on 8 years, 5 months ago

295. When Helping Hurts

Episode 295

Good intentions are nice, but with so many resources poured into social programs, wouldn't it be even nicer to know what actually works?

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Published on 8 years, 5 months ago