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Episode 279

Chuck E. Cheese’s: Where a Kid Can Learn Price Theory

The pizza-and-gaming emporium prides itself on affordability, which means its arcade games are really cheap to play. Does that lead to kids hogging the best games — and parents starting…

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Episode 8

Wouldn’t It Be Better to Hear Your Eulogy Before You’re Dead?

Also: how does a comedian cope with tragedy? With Eugene Mirman….

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Episode 112

Reading Dostoevsky Behind Bars (Update)

Reginald Dwayne Betts spent more than eight years in prison. Today he’s a Yale Law graduate, a MacArthur Fellow, and a poet. His nonprofit works to build libraries in prisons…

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Episode 574

“A Low Moment in Higher Education”

Michael Roth of Wesleyan University doesn’t hang out with other university presidents. He also thinks some of them have failed a basic test of good sense and decency. It’s time…

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Episode 179

Outsiders by Design

What does it mean to pursue something that everyone else thinks is nuts? And what does it take to succeed?

Quotes Uncovered: Death and Statistics

…Permissive Society” (lecture), March 22, 1972. I am sure that Megarry did not originate the England-Germany-France triad. Bev Smith asked: “One death is a tragedy. A million deaths are a…



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Episode 575

The Curious Mr. Feynman

From the Manhattan Project to the Challenger investigation, the physicist Richard Feynman loved to shoot down what he called “lousy ideas.” Today, the world is awash in lousy ideas —…

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Episode 38

The Church of “Scionology”

We worship the tradition of handing off a family business to the next generation. But is that really such a good idea?

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Episode 38

The Church of “Scionology” (Replay)

We worship the tradition of handing off a family business to the next generation. But is that really such a good idea?

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Episode 112

Reading Dostoevsky Behind Bars

Reginald Dwayne Betts spent more than eight years in prison. Today he’s a Yale Law graduate, a MacArthur Fellow, and a poet. His nonprofit works to build libraries in prisons…

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Episode 334

5 Psychology Terms You’re Probably Misusing (Replay)

We all like to throw around terms that describe human behavior — “bystander apathy” and “steep learning curve” and “hard-wired.” Most of the time, they don’t actually mean what we…



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Episode 157

The Deadliest Disease in Human History

John Green returns to the show to talk about tuberculosis — a disease that kills more than a million people a year. Steve has an idea for a new way…

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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 334

5 Psychology Terms You’re Probably Misusing

We all like to throw around terms that describe human behavior — “bystander apathy” and “steep learning curve” and “hard-wired.” Most of the time, they don’t actually mean what we…


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Episode 178

Do Kids Need More Independence?

Are modern parents too protective? Why do we worry so much about things that almost never happen? And how did Mike learn about bus stops?…

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Episode 40

Harold Pollack on Why Managing Your Money Is as Easy as Taking Out the Garbage

He argues that personal finance is so simple all you need to know can fit on an index card. How will he deal with Steve’s suggestion that Harold’s nine rules…

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Episode 18

Robert Sapolsky: “I Don’t Think We Have Any Free Will Whatsoever.”

He’s one of the world’s leading neuroscientists, with a focus on the physiological effects of stress. (For years, he spent his summers in Kenya, alone except for the baboons he…

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Episode 227

Should Everyone Be in a Rock Band?

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 ….

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Episode 442

Is it Too Late for General Motors to Go Electric?

G.M. produces more than 20 times as many cars as Tesla, but Tesla is worth nearly 10 times as much. Mary Barra, the C.E.O. of G.M., is trying to fix…

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Episode 312

Not Your Grandmother’s I.M.F.

The International Monetary Fund has long been the “lender of last resort” for economies in crisis. Christine Lagarde, who runs the institution, would like to prevent those crises from ever…

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Episode 27

Death by Fire? Probably Not

Fire deaths in the U.S. have fallen 90 percent over the past 100 years, a great and greatly underappreciated gain. How did it happen — and could we ever get…

FREAK Shots: Don’t Even Think About It

…work better than the standard “No Parking” warnings? A study by John G. Cope, Linda J. Allred, and Joseph M. Morsell of East Carolina University found that handicapped parking spots…



Guess Where I Was the Other Day

…stadium view” (where the Commodores, which produced Jay Cutler, play) or a “Parthenon view,” I laughed at her — because I was sure she said “parking lot view.” Why, I…



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Episode 2

Girl Scout Cookies (Replay)

How does America’s cutest sales force get billions of Thin Mints, Samoas, and Tagalongs into our hands every year? Zachary Crockett digs in….

Paved With Good Intentions: The Finalists

…Avenue in Brooklyn, especially the stretch between 70th and 30th Streets, appears to be host not only to the Double Parking Championship of the World, but also, as a bonus…



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Episode 538

A Radically Simple Way to Boost a Neighborhood

Many companies say they want to create more opportunities for Black Americans. One company is doing something concrete about it. We visit the South Side of Chicago to see how…

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Episode 59

The Most Valuable Resource in Medicine

Time is precious. How can doctors and patients make the best use of it — especially when there isn’t much left?…