Podcast Episodes
Back to Search162. Will We Solve the Climate Problem?
Episode 162
Kate Marvel spends her days playing with climate models, which she says are “like a very expensive version of The Sims.” As a physicist she gets tire…
5 months, 4 weeks ago
161. How to Captivate an Audience
Episode 161
Twenty years ago, before the Freakonomics book tour, Bill McGowan taught Steve Levitt to speak in public. In his new book he tries to teach everyone …
6 months, 1 week ago
Annie Duke Thinks You Should Quit (Update)
Episode 93
Former professional poker player Annie Duke wrote a book about Steve’s favorite subject: quitting. They talk about why quitting is so hard, how to do…
6 months, 2 weeks ago
160. How to Help Kids Succeed
Episode 160
Psychologist David Yeager thinks the conventional wisdom for how to motivate young people is all wrong. His model for helping kids cope with stress i…
6 months, 3 weeks ago
159. Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Manifesto for a Gift Economy
Episode 159
She’s a botanist, a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and the author of the bestselling Braiding Sweetgrass. In her new book she criticizes th…
7 months, 1 week ago
Does Death Have to Be a Death Sentence? (Update)
Episode 69
Palliative physician B.J. Miller asks: Is there a better way to think about dying? And can death be beautiful?
SOURCES:B.J. Miller, palliative-care p…
7 months, 2 weeks ago
158. Why Did Rome Fall — and Are We Next?
Episode 158
Historian Tom Holland narrowly escaped a career writing vampire novels to become the co-host of the wildly popular podcast The Rest Is History. At St…
7 months, 3 weeks ago
157. The Deadliest Disease in Human History
Episode 157
John Green returns to the show to talk about tuberculosis — a disease that kills more than a million people a year. Steve has an idea for a new way t…
8 months, 1 week ago
Abraham Verghese Thinks Medicine Can Do Better (Update)
Episode 116
Abraham Verghese is a physician and a best-selling author — in that order, he says. He explains the difference between curing and healing, and tells …
8 months, 2 weeks ago
156. A Solution to America’s Gun Problem
Episode 156
Jens Ludwig has an idea for how to fix America’s gun violence problem — and it starts by rejecting conventional wisdom from both sides of the politic…
8 months, 3 weeks ago