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Episode 351

Here’s Why You’re Not an Elite Athlete

There are a lot of factors that go into greatness, many of which are not obvious. A variety of Olympic and professional athletes tell us how they made it and…

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Episode 495

Why Are There So Many Bad Bosses? (Update)

People who are good at their jobs routinely get promoted into bigger jobs they’re bad at. We explain why firms keep producing incompetent managers — and why that’s unlikely to…

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Episode 47

Robert Axelrod on Why Being Nice, Forgiving, and Provokable are the Best Strategies for Life

…or betray each other, for their own benefit. He and Steve talk about the best way to play it and how it shows up in real-world situations, from war zones…

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Episode 25

Sam Harris: “Spirituality Is a Loaded Term.”

He’s a cognitive neuroscientist and philosopher who has written five best-selling books. Sam Harris also hosts the Making Sense podcast and helps people discover meditation through his Waking Up app….

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Episode 564

How to Succeed at Failing, Part 4: Extreme Resiliency

Everyone makes mistakes. How do you learn from them? Lessons from the classroom, the Air Force, and the world’s deadliest infectious disease. Part of the series “How to Succeed at…

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EXTRA

How to Succeed at Failing, Part 4: Extreme Resiliency (Update)

Everyone makes mistakes. How do we learn from them? Lessons from the classroom, the Air Force, and the world’s deadliest infectious disease. (Part four of a four-part series.)…

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Episode 151

Neurobiologist, Philosopher, and Addict

Owen Flanagan’s newest book details his 20-year dependence on alcohol and pills — and outlines his research on what addiction can tell us about the nature of consciousness….

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Episode 171

Where Is the Line Between Exaggeration and Lying?

Why do we use “literally” figuratively? Does conveying an “emotional truth” justify making things up? And are Angela’s kids really starving or just hungry?…

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Episode 88

Is Self-Improvement Too Selfish?

Is it more important to help society or to help yourself? Does the self-improvement movement do any good for the world? And which podcast episode does Stephen cling to as…

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EXTRA

Here’s Why You’re Not an Elite Athlete (Update)

There are a lot of factors that go into greatness, many of which are not obvious. As the Olympics come to a close, we revisit a 2018 episode in which…


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Episode 495

Why Are There So Many Bad Bosses?

People who are good at their jobs routinely get promoted into bigger jobs they’re bad at. We explain why firms keep producing incompetent managers — and why that’s unlikely to…

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Episode 47

Should We Trust Hospital Rankings?

Hospitals compete for prime spots on the U.S. News rankings — but could those lists be doing more harm than good?…

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Episode 160

How to Help Kids Succeed

Psychologist David Yeager thinks the conventional wisdom for how to motivate young people is all wrong. His model for helping kids cope with stress is required reading at Steve’s new…

More Commitment Devices From Our Readers

…all sorts of data like my weight, my exercise, my food intake, etc. The idea being that the long-term problems of being overweight become short-term problems of my friends and…



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Episode 459

Let’s Be Blunt: Marijuana Is a Boon for Older Workers

The state-by-state rollout of legalized weed has given economists a perfect natural experiment to measure its effects. Here’s what we know so far — and don’t know — about the…


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Episode 222

What Makes an Idea Interesting?

What do Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, and Malcolm Gladwell have in common? Are interesting theories more significant than true ones? And what has been keeping Angela up at night? Plus:…

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Episode 39

Is Everybody Cheating These Days?

Also, what’s better: to learn new skills or go deep on what you’re good at?…

Incentivizing the School Commute

…school-based incentive program on children’s exercise habits. The program offers children an opportunity to win prizes if they walk or bike to school during prize periods. We use daily child-level…



Is This the Future of Home Excercise?

…was feeling painfully out of shape and antsy to do some kind of exercise. But I didn’t want to go out in the rain, and the prospect of subjecting myself…



The Communist Approach to Obesity

Here’s one way to fight obesity: mandatory exercise, as Beijing has commanded again, after a three-year break. “The short-term goal is to involve 60% of the workforces in Beijing by…



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Episode 264

In Praise of Incrementalism (Replay)

What do Renaissance painting, civil-rights movements, and Olympic cycling have in common? In each case, huge breakthroughs came from taking tiny steps. In a world where everyone is looking for…

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Episode 590

Can $55 Billion End the Opioid Epidemic?

Thanks to legal settlements with drug makers and distributors, states have plenty of money to boost prevention and treatment. Will it work? (Part two of a two-part series.)…

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Episode 155

How Do You Deal With Big Life Changes?

What’s more stressful, divorce or jail? Are you in the middle of a “lifequake”? And should we all be taking notes from Martha Stewart?

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Episode 104

The Things They Taught Me

College, at its best, is about learning to think. Stephen Dubner chats up three of his former professors who made the magic happen.


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Episode 264

In Praise of Incrementalism

What do Renaissance painting, civil-rights movements, and Olympic cycling have in common? In each case, huge breakthroughs came from taking tiny steps. In a world where everyone is looking for…

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Episode 532

Do You Know Who Owns Your Vet?

When small businesses get bought by big investors, the name may stay the same — but customers and employees can feel the difference. (Part 2 of 2.)…

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Episode 63

How Contagious Is Behavior? With Laurie Santos of “The Happiness Lab.” (Replay)

Why do we mirror other people’s accents? Does DJ Khaled get tired of winning? And also: life is good — so why aren’t you happy?…