Jonathan Coulton Answers Your Questions
…is sort of at odds with that, or at least, it’s not plugged into it directly. A good example was the May 2007 piece in the Times, “Sex, Drugs, and…
In the U.S. alone, we hold 55 million meetings a day. Most of them are woefully unproductive and tyrannize our offices. The revolution begins now — with better agendas, smaller…
Linguist and social commentator John McWhorter explains how good intentions may be hurting Black America — and where the word “motherf*cker” comes from….
…is sort of at odds with that, or at least, it’s not plugged into it directly. A good example was the May 2007 piece in the Times, “Sex, Drugs, and…
Once again, Catherine Rampell has an interesting Economix post (“Minority Rules: Sex Ratios and Suffrage”) describing a new empirical analysis arguing that “jurisdictions that granted women the right to vote…
…commented), and men think the opposite (14 of 18). However, there were a few traitors to their sex: We should be grateful that men do most of the driving. I…
…Desirability is also very sensitive to timing: it peaks right before birth, and drops immediately afterward. The study’s authors point out that removing restrictions on adoption by same-sex and foreign…
I’ve been doing a series on drunk driving and alcohol-related harm (which can also include impaired work performance, domestic trouble, violence, crime, risky sex, fetal disorders, brain damage and many…
…have sex with prostitutes, concubines, and slaves; Christianity did not say that was cool. Alexandra Petri (Washington Post columnist) is our special guest co-host, with AJ Jacobs (author of It’s…
Over 40 percent of U.S. births are to unmarried mothers, and the numbers are especially high among the less-educated. Why? One argument is that the decline in good manufacturing jobs…
Lessons from Tom Petty’s rise and another rocker’s fall: A conversation with Warren Zanes, former member of the Del Fuegos and the author of Petty: The Biography ….
Breaking news! Sources say American journalism exploits our negativity bias to maximize profits, and social media algorithms add fuel to the fire. Stephen Dubner investigates….
How a pain-in-the-neck girl from rural Virginia came to run the most powerful university in the world.
…the most memorable quotations of recent decades. The YBQ entry reads as follows: “[Characterizing the truthfulness of his lawyer’s statement, ‘There is absolutely no sex of any kind in any…
Is there any upside to negative emotions? What can comedians teach us about dealing with pain? And why did Angela eat off of a stranger’s plate at a sushi bar?…
(Brand X Pictures) Our latest Freakonomics podcast, “Misadventures in Baby-Making,” includes a discussion of how sex-selective abortion has led to 160 million missing females in Asia. Closer to home, however,…
As a neuroscientist and psychology professor at Columbia University who studies the immediate and long-term effects of illicit substances, Carl Hart believes that all drugs — including heroin, methamphetamines, and…
Breaking news! Sources say American journalism exploits our negativity bias to maximize profits, and social media algorithms add fuel to the fire. Stephen Dubner investigates. (This is part of the…
He turned a small Hollywood talent agency into a massive sports-and-entertainment empire. In a freewheeling conversation, he explains how he did it and why it nearly killed him….
…lack of sleep decreases men’s ability to determine if women want sex or not. (HT: V Brenner) Hummus: the past and the present. Color study: red affects men more than…
In a wide-ranging conversation with Ezekiel Emanuel, the policymaking physician and medical gadfly, we discuss the massive effects of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro. We also talk about…
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….
…“It is estimated that between 16,000 and 25,000 women are involved in prostitution in Chicago over the course of a year. Most of them were victims of sexual abuse and…
Alex Tabarrok over at Marginal Revolution has an interesting post on media coverage of the recent Science paper that argued against gender differences in math test scores. Tabarrok says that…
…If all is well, then the authors’ estimates should be very close to 100% of the official population count. But they aren’t: Source: Inaccurate Age and Sex Data in the…
The N.B.A. superstar Chris Bosh was still competing at the highest level when a blood clot abruptly ended his career. In his new book, Letters to a Young Athlete, Bosh…
…have sex with that woman,” and, “It depends on which woman you’re asking about.” Are the quotes apocryphal? Just curious. The YBQ has this: “Well, all I know is what…
Figuring out which patients to hospitalize and which to safely send home can be tricky. Is there a way to make this decision easier for doctors — and get better…
Thick markets, thin markets, and the triumph of attributes over compatibility.
I’ll leave out the place name for a moment, so you can take a guess: A Superior Court justice gutted the federal prostitution law in ___________ on Tuesday, allowing sex-trade…
Also: Is there a downside to billionaire philanthropy?…
