Can Organic Veggies Transform Education?
Jamie Oliver‘s war on obesity in America hasn’t been very popular, but there’s evidence that his methods did work in the U.K. “The proportion of 11-year-olds in Greenwich, south London,…
Columbia astrophysicist David Helfand is an academic who does things his own way — from turning down job security to helping found a radically unconventional university….
…do we actually know about what all that screen time does to us? We look back at some compelling studies that show, actually, it may change us for the better….
She showed up late and confused to her first silent retreat, but Caverly Morgan eventually trained for eight years in silence at a Zen monastery. Now her mindfulness-education program Peace…
Jamie Oliver‘s war on obesity in America hasn’t been very popular, but there’s evidence that his methods did work in the U.K. “The proportion of 11-year-olds in Greenwich, south London,…
…parents, whereas an undergraduate degree is barely sufficient for the office worker today – the education system has been unable to provide enough of the labor force with the necessary…
The African-born economist has written four bestselling books, including Dead Aid, which Bill Gates described as “promoting evil.” In her new book about corporate boards, Dambisa uses her experience with…
…even offer driver’s education?” asked Rep. Phil Hinkle, R-Indianapolis, after hearing the statistics. Indeed, lots of government-run programs don’t produce the intended result. And the safety value of driver’s education…
A 19th-century Georgia land lottery may have something to teach us about today’s income inequality.
It won’t work for everyone, but there’s a cheap, quick, and simple way to lift some students’ grades.
Photo: Wayne National Forest Bruce Sacerdote and James Feyrer, both of Dartmouth, have produced a paper that looks at how the stimulus package (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) affected employment,…
…he must first master the small stuff. He’s also a polymath who relies heavily on data and new technologies. Could this be what modern politics is supposed to look like?…
He’s been U.S. Treasury Secretary, a chief economist for the Obama White House and the World Bank, and president of Harvard. He’s one of the most brilliant economists of his…
…education are nothing short of stunning. Farhi goes on to highlight a variety of common journalistic generalizations about education: reformers are better than traditionalists, teachers are ineffective, education is in…
…cheating is particularly prevalent in the education field: “I’ve written papers for students in elementary-education programs, special-education majors, and ESL-training courses. I’ve written lesson plans for aspiring high-school teachers, and…
…and the educational system, and computerized learning is supposedly one way to do this. Change Peru to New York City, and Fujimori to the city’s Department of Education, and we…
The economist Kate Raworth says the aggressive pursuit of G.D.P. is trashing the planet and shortchanging too many people. She has proposed an alternative — and the city of Amsterdam…
In a special episode of No Stupid Questions, Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth discuss classroom design, open offices, and cognitive drift….
…class parents. [2] Technically, if their genetic similarity in looks is causing the twins to be treated more similarly, then that is an effect of genes and thus should unproblematically…
What your disgust level says about your politics, how Napoleon influenced opera, why New York City’s subways may finally run on time, and more. Five compelling guests tell Stephen Dubner,…
The consequences of our low marriage rate — and if the old model is less attractive, how about a new one?
A lot of full-time jobs in the modern economy simply don’t pay a living wage. And even those jobs may be obliterated by new technologies. What’s to be done so…
Economists have a hard time explaining why productivity growth has been shrinking. One theory: true innovation has gotten much harder – and much more expensive. So what should we do…
We tend to think of tragedies as a single terrible moment, rather than the result of multiple bad decisions. Can this pattern be reversed? We try — with stories about…
As cities become ever-more expensive, politicians and housing advocates keep calling for rent control. Economists think that’s a terrible idea. They say it helps a small (albeit noisy) group of…
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 tired of being asked…
We tend to think of tragedies as a single terrible moment, rather than the result of multiple bad decisions. Can this pattern be reversed? We try — with stories about…
We seem to have decided that ethnic food tastes better when it’s served by people of that ethnicity (or at least something close). Does this make sense — and is…
We spend billions on our pets, and one of the fastest-growing costs is pet “aftercare.” But are those cremated remains you got back really from your pet?…
But as C.E.O. of the resurgent Microsoft, he is firmly at the center of the A.I. revolution. We speak with him about the perils and blessings of A.I., Google vs….
As beloved and familiar as they are, we rarely stop to consider life from the dog’s point of view. That stops now. In this latest installment of the Freakonomics Radio…
