Podcast Episodes
Back to Search55. Jared Diamond on the Downfall of Civilizations — and His Optimism for Ours
Episode 55
He’s the award-winning author of hugely popular books like Guns, Germs, and Steel; Collapse; and Upheaval. But Jared actually started his varied care…
4 years, 3 months ago
54. Andrew Yang Is Not Giving Up on Politics — or the U.S. — Yet
Episode 54
He’s tried to shake up the status quo — as a Democratic presidential candidate, a New York City mayoral candidate, and now the founder of the Forward…
4 years, 3 months ago
53. The Simple Economics of Saving the Amazon Rainforest
Episode 53
Everyone agrees that massive deforestation is an environmental disaster. But most of the standard solutions — scolding the Brazilians, invoking unive…
4 years, 3 months ago
52. Max Tegmark on Why Superhuman Artificial Intelligence Won’t be Our Slave (Part 2)
Episode 52
He’s an M.I.T. cosmologist, physicist, and machine-learning expert, and once upon a time, almost an economist. Max and Steve continue their conversat…
4 years, 3 months ago
51. Max Tegmark on Why Treating Humanity Like a Child Will Save Us All
Episode 51
How likely is it that this conversation is happening in more than one universe? Should we worry more about Covid or about nuclear war? Is economics a…
4 years, 4 months ago
50. Edward Miguel on Collecting Economic Data by Canoe and Correlating Conflict with Rainfall
Episode 50
He’s a pioneer of using randomized control experiments in economics — studying the long-term benefits of a $1 health intervention in Africa. Steve as…
4 years, 4 months ago
49. Mathematician Sarah Hart on Why Numbers are Music to Our Ears
Episode 49
Playing notes on her piano, she demonstrates for Steve why whole numbers sound pleasing, why octaves are mathematically imperfect, and how math under…
4 years, 4 months ago
48. Marc Davis Can’t Stop Watching Basketball — But He Doesn’t Care Who Wins
Episode 48
His childhood dream of playing in the N.B.A. led him to a career as a referee. Marc is one of the league’s top performers after over 20 seasons, but …
4 years, 4 months ago
Ken Jennings on How a Midlife Crisis Led Him to Jeopardy! (People I (Mostly) Admire, Ep. 4 Replay)
It was only in his late twenties that America’s favorite brainiac began to seriously embrace his love of trivia. Jeopardy!’s newest host also holds t…
4 years, 4 months ago
Mayim Bialik on the Surprising Risks of Academia and Stability of Show Biz (People I (Mostly) Admire, Ep. 2 Replay)
This new Jeopardy! host is best known for playing neurobiologist Amy Farrah Fowler on The Big Bang Theory, but she has a rich life outside of her act…
4 years, 5 months ago