Search the Site

Search Results for: think like a child

Naming the Child

Child: Hope-filled Reflections on Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Infant Death. In the book, she recounts the experiences of a number of families who suffered losses like ours. Reading the book, I…



Surprising Facts About Child Soldiers

The problem of children used as soldiers has been gaining visibility since, among other things, former child soldier Ishmael Beah published his memoir. But the image of the child soldier…



Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 135

Do Baby Girls Cause Divorce?

Even American parents have a strong “son preference” — which means that a newborn daughter can be bad news for a marriage.

A Good and Cheap Asthma Solution

…to deliver the medication to a child’s lungs. Successful use of an inhaler requires that a child coordinate a deep breath with discharging the inhaler. This is challenging for a…



Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 58

How Important Is Breastfeeding, Really?

Can a clever new study shed light on one of parenting’s most elusive and contentious questions?…

Episode image
Follow this show
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…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 10

Suzanne Gluck: “I’m a Person Who Can Convince Other People to Do Things”

She might not be a household name, but Suzanne Gluck is one of the most powerful people in the book industry. Her slush pile is a key entry point to…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 62

Dr. Ashish Jha Anticipated a Pandemic. He Didn’t Think It Would Look Like This.

Bapu talks to White House Covid Czar Dr. Ashish Jha about becoming a household name, studying pandemics, and the frustrations of politics. Also, when will he be out of a…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 148

How to Have Good Ideas

Sarah Stein Greenberg runs Stanford’s d.school, which teaches design as a mode of problem solving. She and Steve talk about what makes her field different from other academic disciplines, how…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 233

How to Be Less Terrible at Predicting the Future

Experts and pundits are notoriously bad at forecasting, in part because they aren’t punished for bad predictions. Also, they tend to be deeply unscientific. The psychologist Philip Tetlock is finally…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 274

Did China Eat America’s Jobs?

For years, economists promised that global free trade would be mostly win-win. Now they admit the pace of change has been “traumatic.” This has already led to a political insurrection…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 154

What You Don’t Know About Online Dating (Replay)

Thick markets, thin markets, and the triumph of attributes over compatibility.

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 367

The Future of Meat

Global demand for beef, chicken, and pork continues to rise. So do concerns about environmental and other costs. Will reconciling these two forces be possible — or, even better, Impossible™?

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 65

A Rockstar Chemist and Her Cancer-Attacking “Lawn Mower”

Stanford professor Carolyn Bertozzi’s imaginative ideas for treating disease have led to ten start-ups. She talks with Steve about the next generation of immune therapy she’s created, and why she…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 362

Why Is This Man Running for President?

In the American Dream sweepstakes, Andrew Yang was a pretty big winner. But for every winner, he came to realize, there are thousands upon thousands of losers — a “war…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 403

The Opioid Tragedy, Part 2: “It’s Not a Death Sentence”

One prescription drug is keeping some addicts from dying. So why isn’t it more widespread? A story of regulation, stigma, and the potentially fatal faith in abstinence. (Part two of…

Episode image
Follow this show
EXTRA

Remembering Susan Wojcicki

The former YouTube C.E.O. — and sixteenth Google employee — died on August 9, 2024. Steve talked with her in 2020 about her remarkable career, and how her background in…

Episode image
Follow this show
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?…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 582

Why Is Everyone Moving to Canada?

As the U.S. tries to fix its messy immigration system, our neighbor to the north is scooping up more talented newcomers every year. Are the Canadians stealing America’s bacon? (Part…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 366

This Economist Predicted the Last Crisis. What’s the Next One?

In 2005, Raghuram Rajan said the financial system was at risk “of a catastrophic meltdown.” After stints at the I.M.F. and India’s central bank, he sees another potential crisis —…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 5

Susan Wojcicki: “Hey, Let’s Go Buy YouTube!”

She was the sixteenth employee at Google — a company once based in her garage — and now she’s the C.E.O. of its best-known subsidiary, YouTube. But despite being one…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 99

Greg Norman Takes On the P.G.A. Tour

Since his last visit to People I (Mostly) Admire, the formerly top-ranked golfer has become the sport’s most controversial figure. Why has he partnered with the Saudi government — and…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 477

Why Is U.S. Media So Negative? (Replay)

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….

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 554

Can A.I. Take a Joke?

…through the big claims about A.I.’s future by exploring its past and present — and whether it has a sense of humor. (Part 1 of “How to Think About A.I.“)…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 369

A Good Idea Is Not Good Enough

Whether you’re building a business or a cathedral, execution is everything. We ask artists, scientists, and inventors how they turned ideas into reality. And we find out why it’s so…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 97

How Smart Is a Forest?

Ecologist Suzanne Simard studies the relationships between trees in a forest: they talk to each other, punish each other, and depend on each other. What can we learn from them?

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 329

The Invisible Paw

Humans, it has long been thought, are the only animal to engage in economic activity. But what if we’ve had it exactly backward?…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 67

How Can You Escape Binary Thinking?

Also: why is it so satisfying to find a bargain?…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 12

Does “As If” Thinking Really Work?

Also: how effective is the placebo effect?

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 229

Ben Bernanke Gives Himself a Grade

He was handed the keys to the global economy just as it started heading off a cliff. Fortunately, he’d seen this movie before.