Podcast Episodes

What's Next for the Middle East: War, Peace, or Revolution?

Season 4 Episode 41

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Donald Trump rose to power in the Republican Party as a critic of the neoconservative tradition and was opposed to war in the Middle East. But after weeks …

Published on 2 months ago

NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani on Abundance, Socialism, and How to Change a Mind

Season 4 Episode 40

Before today’s show, a personal announcement. After almost 17 years at The Atlantic, I have just officially moved my writing full time to Substack, the newsletter platform. If you like this show, if …

Published on 2 months ago

A Grand, Unified Theory of Why Americans Are So Unhealthy

Season 4 Episode 39

Americans are unusually overweight and chronically ill compared to similarly rich countries. This episode presents a grand, unified theory for why that's the case. Our food environment has become sig…

Published on 2 months, 1 week ago

Why Are Americans So Unhealthy? Part I: Is Ultra-Processed Food Killing Us?

Season 4 Episode 38

Americans die younger and faster than the residents of almost every other rich country. Why? There's gun violence, drug overdoses, and car crashes. Young people are much more likely to die from these…

Published on 2 months, 2 weeks ago

What Experts Really Think About Smartphones and Mental Health

Season 4 Episode 37

I'm very concerned about the relationship between smartphone use and America's mental health crisis. But many researchers don't see things my way. They insist that there is little to no empirical dat…

Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago

Plain History: How Adolf Hitler Destroyed German Democracy in Six Months

Season 4 Episode 36

In November 1932, Germany was a republic. By the spring of 1933, it was a dictatorship. How did it all happen so quickly?

Fascination with Adolf Hitler requires no news peg, but I’ve been particularl…

Published on 2 months, 4 weeks ago

Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill Is Great for the "Stealthy Wealthy"

Season 4 Episode 35

The tax and spending bill passed by House Republicans last week is the sort of bill that does so many different things that even budget experts could be forgiven for not realizing just how many diffe…

Published on 2 months, 4 weeks ago

The Gene-Editing Breakthrough That Saved a Baby’s Life

Season 4 Episode 34

Last year, Kyle and Nicole Muldoon welcomed their baby KJ into the world. Almost immediately, doctors realized something was wrong. KJ had been born with a genetic mutation that made it impossible to…

Published on 3 months ago

The Rules of Attraction and the Psychology of Romance

Season 4 Episode 33

Psychology is hard, even when you’re just trying to understand what’s going on with one impossibly complex person. Romance psychology is particularly hard because you’re trying to understand what’s g…

Published on 3 months, 1 week ago

Plain History: How Norman Borlaug Stopped the Apocalypse

Season 4 Episode 32

In every generation, important people predict that the end is near and the apocalypse is coming. In the 1960s, the fear was that population growth would destroy the planet—that fertility would outrun…

Published on 3 months, 1 week ago