America is facing a reading crisis, and this has profound impacts on how we engage with the world. The number of adults who read books for pleasure fell by more than 30% in less than 15 years. Researchers found that Americans watch TV three hours a day, but spend less than 30 minutes reading. "Reading is seeing the world through someone else's eyes," says our guest, Joseph Luzzi , Professor of Comparative Literature at Bard College. "I think of social media as a mirror. You look into it and your...
Jul 29, 2021•22 min•Ep. 314
Our relationship with our stuff is broken. What was once fixed is often tossed into landfills. Repairs today are more expensive than the prices of many new clothes, gadgets, and household appliances. The U.S. has 5% of the world's population, but consumes about 30% of the world's resources and creates almost a third of the world's waste. Large manufacturers restrict the repair of their goods by limiting the availability of parts and repair information. Their policies sparked a consumer backlash ...
Jul 23, 2021•27 min•Ep. 313
Democracies around the world are under threat from populist movements, demagogues, and dogmatic extremists who use disinformation, conspiracy theories, shaming, cancel culture, and other tactics to weaponize social media and challenge our ability to distinguish fact from fiction and truth from falsehood. In his new book , our guest, best-selling author, journalist, scholar, and public intellectual, Jonathan Rauch , offers a stirring defense of the constitution of knowledge— our social system of ...
Jul 16, 2021•34 min•Ep. 312
The spread of the Delta Variant is a rapidly growing threat to public health, especially in states with low vaccination rates. But cases of COVID-19 are still holding steady in regions where more than 60% of the adult population had at least one shot. The disparity comes at a time of triumph with increasing evidence that the vaccines offer extremely high rates of protection. Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned that regional differences...
Jul 09, 2021•27 min•Ep. 311
Much of the West has just lived through one of the worst June heatwaves in decades. Many states could be in a drought all this summer. From California and Arizona to the mountain West, dangerous heatwaves are almost becoming the norm. The threat of more devastating wildfires prompted calls for reforms of the nation's fire management policies, and are a clear sign that the impacts of climate change are now being felt. We discuss the causes of raging wildfires, including forestry management, clima...
Jun 25, 2021•28 min•Ep. 310
" Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Ride the Subway Alone " was a 2008 newspaper column that turned into a national campaign to help parents raise their children with less anxiety while pushing back against our culture that has become obsessed with kids' fragility. Our guest, Lenore Skenazy , founded free-range kids in the years after she first described making the decision to let her son, Izzy, take the New York City subway home alone. Her column resulted in a flood of media coverage and mixed reactions ...
Jun 18, 2021•28 min•Ep. 309
America's remarkable experiment in a pluralist democracy is under threat from toxic polarization . In this episode, we discuss two current nationwide campaigns to tackle this crisis head-on, America Talks , on Saturday-Sunday, June 12-13, is a powerful conversation event that invites thousands of Americans to connect one-on-one on video across our political divides. By doing so, we remind ourselves that the “other” is – just like us – a person with family, friends, hopes, fears, values, beliefs,...
Jun 09, 2021•27 min•Ep. 308
The word “peacebuilding” evokes a story we’ve all heard over and over: Violence breaks out, foreign nations react, peacekeepers and million-dollar donors come rushing in, warring parties sign a peace agreement, and, sadly, within months the situation is back to where it started—sometimes worse. But peace can grow in the most unlikely circumstances. What are some strategies that work? Our guest is an award-winning researcher and peacebuilder, Séverine Autesserre , author of the new book, " The Fr...
Jun 04, 2021•27 min•Ep. 307
"We should be humble all the time," says Veronique de Rugy of her study of economics. "There's always something I realize that I didn't understand." In this episode, we discuss the rigorous questions economists need to ask themselves when analyzing the likely impacts of public policies: Questions rarely asked by politicians and others in the public square. We look at the perils of cronyism, the shortcomings of the Ex-Im Bank , growing federal budget deficits , and the unfairness of the highly co...
May 28, 2021•39 min•Ep. 306
It's tempting to believe that our current moment is the most urgent of all. Yet despite the catastrophic pandemic, and threats from other urgent problems, humankind has faced worse calamities in the past— from global wars and plagues to economic collapse. In this episode, we look at age-old lessons from philosophy and discover how ancient wisdom can be our guide in modern times. Best-selling author, traveler, and former NPR foreign correspondent, Eric Weiner is our guide. He's the author of the ...
May 21, 2021•25 min•Ep. 305
She lived in Seattle and covered science, climate change, and the environment for NPR for more than a decade. Most of her friends and colleagues were liberals or progressives. Then in 2018, journalist Ashley Ahearn made a big jump, moving with her husband to one of the most conservative counties in rural Washington State. What did this public radio reporter learn from her dramatic change in lifestyle? In this episode, we learn about the profound rural-urban divide in America, and what Ashley dis...
May 14, 2021•30 min•Ep. 304
Too often in our fierce and narrow political debates, we suffer from a poverty of imagination. Seeing a crisis through a narrow lens of "us versus them" is a barrier to creative solutions and vital changes needed to save lives, protect the planet, and grow prosperity. In this episode we discuss the enormous power and potential of framing: mental models that enable us to see patterns, predict how things will unfold, and understand new situations. Our guests are Kenneth Cukier , a senior editor at...
May 07, 2021•27 min•Ep. 303
In the months after George Floyd’s murder, colleges, universities, non-profits, and large corporations across the country embraced anti-racism and diversity training as a way to promote inclusion and racial justice. But do these programs actually work to change minds and achieve their goals? Our guest, associate professor of History at Carleton College, Amna Khalid , argues that while training can improve customer service and knowledge of CPR and Excel spreadsheets, it’s woefully inadequate when...
Apr 30, 2021•34 min•Ep. 300
What’s the greatest crisis facing America today? — Racism and hate crimes, exploding government debt, climate change, or the mess at the border? It may be none of these. America and many other countries are trapped in high conflict . Both sides are paralyzed by fear and anger as they demonize the other. The national narrative of "us versus them" is a threat to democracy and stops us from working together to build a better world. Best-selling author and investigative journalist, Amanda Ripley , i...
Apr 23, 2021•32 min•Ep. 301
We’ve made it to our 300th weekly episode! While it’s easy to congratulate ourselves for being among the few podcasts to produce this many shows, Jim and Richard are most proud of our extraordinary range of guests. During our first six years together, we've often highlighted out-of-the-box thinkers, who share ideas that are too rarely discussed: People who speak about solutions through an independent lens— neither firmly left nor right. For this episode, we revisit interviews with six guests— or...
Apr 16, 2021•29 min•Ep. 300
Recent mass shootings and the explosion of rage outside the U.S. Capitol on January 6 are reminders of threats posed to us all by anger, fear and loathing. On social media and in the hyper-partisan ways political issues are debated, many of us objectify others. Those who belong to the wrong tribe are often targets of personal scorn. In a Twitter post, our guest, writer and entrepreneur, Chloé Valdary , says: "if you do not possess the power to love, and especially love your enemies, then you don...
Apr 09, 2021•24 min•Ep. 299
Stifle that yawn. Infrastructure just got exciting again. President Biden announced a $2 trillion plan to rebuild roads and rails, repair bridges, modernize airports and seaports, create hundreds of thousands of union jobs in the solar and wind power industries, boost housing, expand broadband access to regions that are poorly served, and speed-up the transition to a climate-friendly economy. Total spending on his proposals could be as much as $4 trillion over the next decade. We explain the Pre...
Apr 02, 2021•28 min•Ep. 298
Our lives depend on it and most of us don't give it a moment's thought. But when the electricity goes off we feel frustrated— powerless. America's grid was an engineering triumph of the twentieth century, but as the recent sudden freeze and severe power outages in Texas have shown, our electricity infrastructure is fragile and in need of basic repair, especially as the world faces the growing reality of extreme weather events and climate change. On their own solar and wind power are not enough t...
Mar 26, 2021•32 min•Ep. 297
Our obsession with what is normal and acceptable is at the heart of how we view mental health. It is also the source of stigma around many forms of mental illness. In this podcast with anthropology professor, Richard Grinker , we ask how do we fix it? What are successful ways to challenge stigmas, as we help millions of people reach their full potential? Richard discusses the findings in his uplifting new book, "Nobody's Normal: How Culture Created the Stigma of Mental Illness." Social distancin...
Mar 19, 2021•33 min•Ep. 296
When social media burst on the scene, many of us were in awe of its great potential. For the first ten years of Facebook, public reaction to this new form of communication was overwhelmingly positive, but now that we have a better understanding of how social media is shaping our world, there are growing calls for fundamental reform. Should tech monopolies be cut down to size and broken apart? Or is a much more careful, nuanced approach needed from Congress? MIT Management Professor Sinan Aral ha...
Mar 12, 2021•27 min•Ep. 295
Elon Musk is an entrepreneur and out-of-this-world thinker, who has shaken up two vital industries that were dominated by giant multinational corporations with companies that began life as startups. Tesla's breakthrough with electric cars is well-known, but many of Musk's most stunning innovations have come with SpaceX, which pioneered reusable rockets— slashing the cost of space launches— flew astronauts into space, and landed rockets on boats. Next is the development of Starship . Musk also wa...
Mar 05, 2021•35 min•Ep. 294
The January assault on the U.S. Capitol and the depth of toxic partisanship lead us to question our past assumptions about the American electorate and its relationship with the government. This episode features two experts who have spent many years trying to understand us. Frank Luntz is one of the best-known pollsters and political communications experts in America today. We hear edited extracts from a recent interview he recorded with Harvard Law School Professor and attorney, Lawrence Lessig ...
Feb 26, 2021•26 min•Ep. 293
Even before the alarming and violent January 6 assault on the Capitol, American politics was in danger of spinning out of control— bumping up against the guardrails of our democratic institutions. On social media and in the civic square, many have separated into two camps that seem to hate the other side. We have become estranged from family and friends over politics. More than ever, we need nuance. In this episode, our guest is a liberal writer and feminist, Meghan Daum , who is increasingly cr...
Feb 19, 2021•27 min•Ep. 292
More than 10% of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, but injection rates are lower in black and brown communities, and many people express doubts about the shots made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Vaccine hesitancy presents a barrier in the fight against coronavirus. A recent poll by Pew Research Center found that "Black Americans continue to stand out as less inclined to get vaccinated than other racial and ethnic groups: 42% would do so, compared with ...
Feb 12, 2021•29 min•Ep. 291
After the recent storming of the US Capitol and the loss of both the White House and U.S. Senate, it's tempting to believe that civil war will break out among Republicans— a party deeply split between traditional conservatives and Trump-supporting populists. We decided to find out what two young Republicans say about the future of their party, and the need to confront those who believe in conspiracy theories and are nostalgic for a return to a mythical past. Our guests are Danielle Butche r and ...
Feb 05, 2021•27 min•Ep. 290
Even before coronavirus led to social distancing, widespread working from home, and lockdown restrictions, loneliness was becoming a defining condition of the twenty-first century. Today, this pandemic of pain and isolation is far worse. One of many recent polls found that more than three in five Americans say they are lonely, with more and more people reporting feeling like they are left out, poorly understood, and lacking companionship. Other surveys overseas have similar findings. Our guest, ...
Jan 29, 2021•27 min•Ep. 289
We are in a stunning moment for our country. A hoard of rioters invaded our nation’s seat of government to try to overturn an election. Many of them appear to have been motivated by false and inflammatory statements by President Trump, and under the sway of wild online conspiracy theories . In response, our leading tech platforms have tried to silence Trump and shut down many of the channels where his most extreme supporters communicate. Is this the correct approach? Should Congress and the Bide...
Jan 22, 2021•33 min•Ep. 288
Just before the 2020 election, pundits predicted that Latino Americans would overwhelmingly vote for Joe Biden. And it’s true—Latino voters do tilt Democratic. But Donald Trump won a greater share of Latino votes in some states and large cities than he did in 2016. Because of decades of investment and political courtship, as well as a nuanced and varied cultural identity, the Republican party has had a much longer and stronger bond with Hispanics than many political commentators realize. In this...
Jan 15, 2021•27 min•Ep. 287
The storming of the U.S. Capitol building by an angry mob of Trump supporters was a dark day in American history and a shock to people around the world. Images of looting and anarchy in the proud place where Congress has met for over 200 years, provoked profound despair and led many to question the stability of American democracy. The insurrection brought shame to President Trump, who incited a crowd to march on the legislative branch of government. In this special episode recorded the day after...
Jan 08, 2021•26 min•Ep. 286
At the start of 2020, the world first became aware of COVID-19. This show looks at what we have learned about the global pandemic since then. In early February, Richard spoke face-to-face with epidemiologist Kylie Carlville of the Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, during a visit to Melbourne, Australia. This recording was made just as scientists were beginning to understand the nature of the outbreak and before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. In the spring, we interviewed Samson El...
Dec 24, 2020•28 min•Ep. 285
