Why Is It So Hard to Be Alone With Our Thoughts? (NSQ Ep. 9)
Also: how do you avoid screwing up your kids?
Christina Romer was a top White House economist during the Great Recession. As a researcher, she specializes in the Great Depression. She tells us what those disasters can (and can’t) teach us about the Covid crash.
Also: how do you avoid screwing up your kids?
Also: how does a comedian cope with tragedy? With Eugene Mirman.
Photo: Robert S. Donovan
Consider the ingredients: a frail economy, a toxic political environment, looming hard deadlines and massive uncertainty in the business community - the perfect circumstances under which to write some great federal tax policy!
But tax-code writing will be done - on the expiring Bush-era tax cuts, the estate tax, the Alternative Minimum Tax, capital-gains...
Before she decided to become a poker pro, Maria Konnikova didn’t know how many cards are in a deck. But she did have a Ph.D. in psychology, a brilliant coach, and a burning desire to know whether life is driven more by skill or chance. She found some answers in poker — and in her new book The Biggest Bluff, she’s willing to tell us everything she learned.
Also: is it better to send a congratulatory note to someone who deserves it or a condolence note to someone who needs it?
Thanks to the pandemic, the telehealth revolution we’ve been promised for decades has finally arrived. Will it stick? Will it cut costs — and improve outcomes? We ring up two doctors and, of course, an economist to find out.
Also: should we all have personal mission statements?
In this new addition to the Freakonomics Radio Network, co-hosts Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth discuss the relationship between age and happiness. Also: does all creativity come from pain? New episodes of No Stupid Questions are released every Sunday evening — please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Also: is there such a thing as too much science? With special guest Luis von Ahn.
Millions and millions are out of work, with some jobs never coming back. We speak with four economists — and one former presidential candidate — about the best policy options and the lessons (good and bad) from the past.
Also: is life precious because it’s finite?