Culture
What if the spread of violence was treated like the spread of a disease? University of Illinois at Chicago’s Gary Slutkin tells us why we need to take a public health approach to preventing violence in America. Read more....
From illuminated manuscripts to your dog-eared copy of The Hobbit, the book has had a tremendously important place in human history. Keith Houston talks about how books changed the world. Read more....
This just in: reading just might help you live longer. Bookworms everywhere celebrate by going to the library. Read more....
Some of America’s best scientists (think Einstein and Tesla) immigrated here from other countries. We talk with a few economists who’ve calculated their impact on American innovation. Read more....
American workers are becoming less mobile. Abigail Wozniak explains what that can tell us about our economy. Read more....
One of the reasons there aren’t more women in leadership positions? Professor Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic says that it’s our inability to differentiate between confidence and competence. Read more....
What would your personal utopia look like? Well, it probably wouldn’t involve furniture making and no sex. Chris Jennings talks 19th century American utopias. Read more....
Empathy is an inherently good human quality. So, why is Yale psychologist Paul Bloom against it? We talk with him about why feeling others’ pain makes for bad public policy. Read more....
Back in the mid-20th century, wealthy people fled big cities in droves for a quiet life in the suburbs. Now they’re coming back. Alan Ehrenhalt, author of The Great Inversion and the Future of the American City, tells us why, and how it’s going to change. Read more...
Modern Hollywood might have some problems, but it’s a lot better than it was sixty years ago. Neal Gabler explains how Barbra Streisand changed the town, and with it, American culture. Read more....
