People I (Mostly) Admire

Suzanne O'Sullivan is a neurologist who sees many patients with psychosomatic disorders. Their symptoms may be psychological in origin, but their pain is real and physical — and the way we practice medicine, she argues, is making those and other health problems worse.

• SOURCES:
  • Suzanne O'Sullivan, neurologist and author of The Age of Diagnosis How Our Obsession with Medical Labels Is Making Us Sicker.

• RESOURCES:...

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 so that more incarcerated people can find hope.

• SOURCES:
  • Reginald Dwayne Betts, founder and director of Freedom Reads, award-winning poet, and lawyer.

• RESOURCES:
  • Doggerel: Poems, by Reginald Dwayne Betts (2025).
  • “The Poet Writing on Pris...

Chemist Jack Szostak wants to understand how the first life forms came into being on Earth. He and Steve discuss the danger of "mirror bacteria," the origin of biology in poisonous chemicals, and the possibility that life might exist on other planets too. 

• SOURCES:
  • Jack Szostak, Nobel laureate and professor of chemistry at The University of Chicago.

• RESOURCES:
  • Is Earth Exceptional?: The Quest for Cosmic Life...

Owen Flanagan's newest book details his 20-year dependence on alcohol and pills — and outlines his research on what addiction can tell us about the nature of consciousness.

• SOURCES:
  • Owen Flanagan, philosopher, neurobiologist, and professor emeritus at Duke University.

• RESOURCES:
  • What Is It Like to Be an Addict?: Understanding Substance Abuse, by Owen Flanagan (2025).
  • Consciousness Reconsidered, by Owen Flanag...

The primatologist discusses the thrill of observing chimpanzees in the wild, the value of challenging orthodoxy, and why dying is her next great adventure.

• SOURCES:
  • Dr. Jane Goodall, GBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and U.N. Messenger of Peace.

• RESOURCES:
  • The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times, by Jane Goodall, Douglas Abrams, and Gail Hudson (2021).
  • Jane, by Brett Morgen (2017).
  • “Rememb...

Hank Green is an internet phenomenon and a master communicator, with a plan to reform higher education. He and Steve talk about the video blog that launched Hank’s career, the economics of the internet, and how a cancer diagnosis prompted him to become a stand-up comedian.

• SOURCES:
  • Hank Green, founder of Complexly and science communicator

• RESOURCES:
  • Complexly
  • CrashCourse YouTube Channel
  • SciShow YouTube Channel
  • ...

Jonathan Levin is an academic economist who now runs one of the most influential universities in the world. He tells Steve how he saved Comcast a billion dollars, why he turned down Steve’s unusual pitch to come to the University of Chicago, and why being a nice guy makes him a better college president.

• SOURCE:
  • Jonathan Levin, president of Stanford University.  

• RESOURCES:
  • "Income Segregation and Intergenera...

Sarah Hart investigates the mathematical structures underlying musical compositions and literature. Using examples from Monteverdi to Lewis Carroll, Sarah explains to Steve how math affects how we hear music and understand stories.   

• SOURCE:
  • Sarah Hart, professor emerita of mathematics at the University of London.

• RESOURCES:
  • Once Upon a Prime: The Wondrous Connections Between Mathematics and Literature, by ...

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 to approach hard problems, and why brainstorms are so annoying.

• SOURCE:
  • Sarah Stein Greenberg, executive director of the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University.

• RESOURCES:
  • Creative Acts for Curious Pe...

In her book, Rumbles, medical historian Elsa Richardson explores the history of the human gut. She talks with Steve about dubious medical practices, gruesome tales of survival, and the things that medieval doctors may have gotten right.

• SOURCE:
  • Elsa Richardson, medical historian at the University of Strathclyde.

• RESOURCES:
  • Rumbles: A Curious History of the Gut: The Secret Story of the Body's Most Fascinating...

How psychologist Dan Gilbert went from high school dropout to Harvard professor, found the secret of joy, and inspired Steve Levitt's divorce.

• SOURCE:
  • Daniel Gilbert, professor of psychology at Harvard University.

• RESOURCES:
  • "What the Data Says (and Doesn’t Say) About Crime in the United States," by John Gramlich (Pew Research Center, 2020).
  • Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progr...

Moon Duchin is a math professor at Cornell University whose theoretical work has practical applications for voting and democracy. Why is striving for fair elections so difficult? 

• SOURCE:
  • Moon Duchin, professor of mathematics at Cornell University.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Gerrymandering: The Origin Story," by Neely Tucker (Timeless: Stories from the Library of Congress, 2024).
  • "Redistricting for Proportionality," by Gabe...

The director of the Hayden Planetarium is one of the best science communicators of our time. He and Steve talk about his role in reclassifying Pluto, bad teachers, and why economics isn’t a science.

• SOURCE:
  • Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium.

• RESOURCES:
  • Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization, by Neil deGrasse Tyson (2022).
  • “The Universe and Beyond, with Stephen Hawking,” by...

He’s the chief creative officer of Pixar, and the Academy Award-winning director of Soul, Inside Out, Up, and Monsters, Inc. Pete Docter and Steve talk about Pixar’s scrappy beginnings, why wrong turns are essential, and the movie moment that changed Steve’s life.

• SOURCE:
  • Pete Docter, chief creative officer of Pixar.

• RESOURCES:
  • "‘Inside Out 2’ Becomes the Highest-Grossing Animated Film of All Time Globally,"...

David Eagleman is a Stanford neuroscientist, C.E.O., television host, and founder of the Possibilianism movement. He and Steve talk about how wrists can substitute for ears, why we dream, and what Fisher-Price magnets have to do with neuroscience.

• SOURCE:
  • David Eagleman, professor of cognitive neuroscience at Stanford University and C.E.O. of Neosensory.

• RESOURCES:
  • Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Cha...

Boys and men are trending downward in education, employment, and mental health. Richard Reeves, author of the book Of Boys and Men, has some solutions that don’t come at the expense of women and girls. Steve pushes him to go further.

• SOURCE:
  • Richard Reeves, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, president of the American Institute for Boys and Men, and author.

• RESOURCES:
  • Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern ...

Daron Acemoglu was just awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in economics. Earlier this year, he and Steve talked about his groundbreaking research on what makes countries succeed or fail.

• SOURCES:
  • Daron Acemoglu, professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

• RESOURCES:
  • The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2024.
  • Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggl...

David Autor took his first economics class at 29 years old. Now he’s one of the central academics studying the labor market. The M.I.T. economist and Steve dissect the impact of technology on labor, spar on A.I., and discuss why economists can sometimes be oblivious.

• SOURCES:
  • David Autor, professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Does Automation Replace Experts or Augme...

Kate Douglass is a world-class swimmer and data scientist who’s used mathematical modeling to help make her stroke more efficient. She and Steve talk about why the Olympics were underwhelming, how she won gold, and why she won’t be upset to say goodbye to the pool.

• SOURCE:
  • Kate Douglass, Olympic swimmer and graduate student.
  • RESOURCES:
  • "Kate Douglass HOLDS OFF Tatjana Smith to win 200m breaststroke | Paris Olympics" (NBC Sport...