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No Stupid Questions

Research psychologist Angela Duckworth (author of Grit) and tech and sports executive Mike Maughan really like to ask people questions, and they believe there’s no such thing as a stupid one. So they have a podcast where they can ask each other as many “stupid questions” as they want. New episodes each week. No Stupid Questions is a production of the Freakonomics Radio Network.

Listen here or follow No Stupid Questions on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,  YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. We also provide transcripts, show notes, and links to research for each episode.

Episode No.
Date
Length
No. 58

What’s So Gratifying About Gossip?

Also: why do people hate small talk?

6/27/21
38:58
No. 57

Which Incentives Are Best at Boosting Vaccination, and Why?

Also: what does your desired superpower say about you?

6/20/21
38:10
No. 56

Why Is Academic Writing So Bad?

Also: what does your perfect day look like?

6/13/21
40:50
No. 55

What Changes Will Stick When the Pandemic Is Gone?

Also: would you take a confirmation-bias vaccine?

6/6/21
39:07
No. 54

Do You Really Need a Muse to Be Creative?

Also: is short-sightedness part of human nature?

5/30/21
38:22
No. 53

What’s the Secret to Making a Great Prediction?

Also: how do you recover from a bad day?

5/23/21
36:53
No. 52

How Much Should We Be Able to Customize Our World?

Also: does multitasking actually increase productivity?

5/16/21
41:05
No. 51

What Separates Humans From Other Animals?

Also: why do people pace while talking on the phone?

5/9/21
39:39
No. 50

Are You as Observant as You Think?

Also: Angela accidentally discovers the secret to a good night’s sleep.

5/2/21
36:44
No. 49

How Does Facing Death Change Your Life?

Also: why are we so bad at assessing risk?

4/25/21
41:14
No. 48

Do Good Deeds Invite More Bad Ones?

Also: what is the most significant choice you will ever make?

4/18/21
40:53
No. 47

Is Laziness Real?

Also: why do we dislike being alone in public?

4/11/21
34:49
No. 46

How Can You Stop Feeling So Irritable?

Also: what’s wrong with being impatient?

4/4/21
40:10
No. 45

How Much Better Do You Really Want to Be?

Also: why do we pad our speech with so much filler language?

3/28/21
39:10
No. 44

Is Empathy in Fact Immoral?

Also: is it better to “go with the wind” or to “be the wind”?

3/21/21
38:20
No. 43

What Do We Really Learn From Failure?

Also: What is teasing supposed to accomplish?

3/14/21
38:26
No. 42

How Does When You Are Born Affect Who You Are?

Also: how did Angela do with her no-sugar challenge?

3/7/21
40:08
No. 41

Why Are We So Attracted to Fame?

Also: do we subconsciously lie about our major influences?

2/28/21
37:15
No. 40

Have We All Lost Our Ability to Compromise?

Also: is it better to be right or “not wrong”?

2/21/21
37:49
No. 39

Is Everybody Cheating These Days?

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

2/14/21
38:09
No. 38

What Does It Mean to Be a “Good” Man?

Also: how can you stop ruminating?

2/7/21
35:18
No. 37

How Do You Know if People Don’t Like You?

Also: do self-help books really help?

1/31/21
41:13
No. 36

Which Matters More, a First or Last Impression?

Also: does wisdom really come with age?

1/24/21
36:38
No. 35

Does Psychotherapy Actually Work?

Also: how many “selves” is it okay to have?

1/17/21
32:37
No. 34

Are Humans Smarter or Stupider Than We Used to Be?

Also: how can you become a more curious person?

1/10/21
35:39
No. 33

Is Optimism a Luxury Good?

Also: why is public speaking so terrifying?

1/3/21
38:41
No. 15

How Much of Your Life Do You Actually Control? (Replay)

Also: why do we procrastinate?

12/27/20
37:09
No. 32

Which Gets You Further: Talent or Effort?

Also: where is the line between acronyms, initialisms, and gibberish?

12/20/20
33:36
No. 31

How Much Do Your Friends Affect Your Future?

Also: which professions have the happiest people?

12/13/20
36:38
No. 30

Why Do We Seek Comfort in the Familiar?

Also: is a little knowledge truly a dangerous thing?

12/6/20
35:12
Show Full Archive

The Freakonomics Radio Network

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People I (Mostly) Admire Follow this show 164 Episodes
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The Freakonomics Radio Book Club Follow this show 23 Episodes

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