Sixty percent of the jobs that Americans do today didn’t exist in 1940. What happens as our labor becomes more... more

His research on police brutality and school incentives won him acclaim, but also enemies. He was suspended for two years... more

What happened when the Rooney Rule made its way from pro football to corporate America? Some progress, some backsliding, and... more

The biggest sports league in history had a problem: While most of its players were Black, almost none of its... more

We revisit an episode from 2016 that asks: Has our culture’s obsession with innovation led us to neglect the fact... more

Young people have been reporting a sharp rise in anxiety and depression. This maps neatly onto the global rise of... more

Only a tiny number of “supertaskers” are capable of doing two things at once. The rest of us are just... more

Educators and economists tell us all the reasons college enrollment has been dropping, especially for men, and how to stop... more

Stephen Dubner appears as a guest on "Fail Better," a new podcast hosted by David Duchovny. The two of them... more

America’s top colleges are facing record demand. So why don’t they increase supply? (Part 2 of our series from 2022,... more

We think of them as intellectual enclaves and the surest route to a better life. But U.S. colleges also operate... more

There are a lot of factors that go into greatness, many of which are not obvious. As the Olympics come... more

Tania Tetlow, a former federal prosecutor and now the president of Fordham University, thinks the modern campus could use a... more

It’s not oil or water or plutonium — it’s human hours. We've got an idea for putting them to use,... more

A new proposal from the Biden administration calls for a nationwide cap on rent increases. Economists think that’s a terrible... more

That’s the worry. Even the humble eyeglass industry is dominated by a single firm. We look into the global spike... more

A single company, EssilorLuxottica, owns so much of the eyewear industry that it’s hard to escape their gravitational pull —... more

You wouldn’t think you could win a Nobel Prize for showing that humans tend to make irrational decisions. But that’s... more

Daniel Kahneman left his mark on academia (and the real world) in countless ways. A group of his friends and... more

American politics is trapped in a duopoly, with two all-powerful parties colluding to stifle competition. We revisit a 2018 episode... more

It’s hard to know whether the benefits of hiring a celebrity are worth the risk. We dig into one gruesome... more

Broadway operates on a winner-take-most business model. A runaway hit like "Stereophonic" — which just won five Tony Awards —... more

The Berlin dance mecca Berghain is known for its eight-hour line and inscrutable door policy. PJ Vogt, host of the... more

Hit by Covid, runaway costs, and a zillion streams of competition, serious theater is in serious trouble. A new hit... more

Every December, a British man named Tom Whitwell publishes a list of 52 things he’s learned that year. These fascinating... more

An update of our 2020 series, in which we spoke with physicians, researchers, and addicts about the root causes of... more

Thanks to legal settlements with drug makers and distributors, states have plenty of money to boost prevention and treatment. Will... more

Most epidemics flare up, do their damage, and fade away. This one has been raging for almost 30 years. To... more

Presenting two stories from "The Economics of Everyday Things": Why does it seem like every car is black, white, or... more

The economist and social critic Glenn Loury has led a remarkably turbulent life, both professionally and personally. In a new... more

The employee ownership movement is growing, and one of its biggest champions is also a private equity heavyweight. Is this... more

From politics and economics to psychology and the arts, many of the modern ideas we take for granted emerged a... more

Five years ago, we published an episode about the boom in home DNA testing kits, focusing on the high-flying firm... more

Justin Trudeau, facing record-low approval numbers, is doubling down on his progressive agenda. But he is so upbeat (and Canada-polite)... more

So you want to help people? That’s great — but beware the law of unintended consequences. Three stories from the... more

The psychologist Daniel Kahneman — a Nobel laureate and the author of “Thinking, Fast and Slow” — recently died at... more

People who are good at their jobs routinely get promoted into bigger jobs they’re bad at. We explain why firms... more

Fareed Zakaria says yes. But it’s not just political revolution — it’s economic, technological, even emotional. He doesn’t offer easy... more

The political debates over immigration can generate a lot of fuzzy facts. We wanted to test Americans’ knowledge — so,... more

As the U.S. tries to fix its messy immigration system, our neighbor to the north is scooping up more talented... more

The U.S. immigration system is a massively complicated machine, with a lot of worn-out parts. How to fix it? Step... more

She arrived in the U.S. as an 11-year-old refugee, then rose to become Secretary of State. Her views on immigration,... more

How did a nation of immigrants come to hate immigration? We start at the beginning, sort through the evidence, and... more

Economists have discovered an odd phenomenon: many people who use social media (even you, maybe?) wish it didn’t exist. But... more

In ancient Rome, it was bread and circuses. Today, it’s a World Cup, an Olympics, and a new Saudi-backed golf... more

What surprises lurk in our sewage? How did racist city planners end up saving Black lives? Why does Arizona grow... more

It used to feel like magic. Now it can feel like a set of cheap tricks. Is the problem with... more

A wide-open conversation with three women who guided Richard Feynman through some big adventures at the Esalen Institute. (Part of... more

In his final years, Richard Feynman's curiosity took him to some surprising places. We hear from his companions on the... more

What happens when an existentially depressed and recently widowed young physicist from Queens gets a fresh start in California? We... more

They’re heading to the Super Bowl for the second time in five years. But back in 2018, they were coming... more

From the Manhattan Project to the Challenger investigation, the physicist Richard Feynman loved to shoot down what he called “lousy... more

Michael Roth of Wesleyan University doesn’t hang out with other university presidents. He also thinks some of them have failed... more

We all like to throw around terms that describe human behavior — “bystander apathy” and “steep learning curve” and “hard-wired.”... more

Probably not — the incentives are too strong. Scholarly publishing is a $28 billion global industry, with misconduct at every... more

Some of the biggest names in behavioral science stand accused of faking their results. Last year, an astonishing 10,000 research... more

In a special episode of The Economics of Everyday Things, host Zachary Crockett explains what millennials do to show they... more

In a special episode of People I (Mostly) Admire, Steve Levitt talks to Cat Bohannon about her new book "Eve:... more

In a special episode of No Stupid Questions, Angela Duckworth and Mike Maughan talk about unfinished tasks, recurring arguments, and... more

Lewis got incredible access to Sam Bankman-Fried, the billionaire behind the spectacular FTX fraud. His book is a bestseller, but... more

In policing, as in most vocations, the best employees are often promoted into leadership without much training. One economist thinks... more

It boosts economic opportunity and social mobility. It’s good for the environment. So why do we charge people to use... more

Most industries have become more productive over time. But not construction! We identify the causes — and possible solutions. (Can... more

Pro footballer and star podcaster Jason Kelce is ubiquitous right now (almost as ubiquitous as his brother and co-host Travis,... more

They say they make companies more efficient through savvy management. Critics say they bend the rules to enrich themselves at... more

Evidence from Nazi Germany and 1940’s America (and pretty much everywhere else) shows that discrimination is incredibly costly — to... more

Everyone makes mistakes. How do you learn from them? Lessons from the classroom, the Air Force, and the world’s deadliest... more

Giving up can be painful. That's why we need to talk about it. Today: stories about glitchy apps, leaky paint... more

In medicine, failure can be catastrophic. It can also produce discoveries that save millions of lives. Tales from the front... more

We tend to think of tragedies as a single terrible moment, rather than the result of multiple bad decisions. Can... more

Claudia Goldin is the newest winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics. We spoke with her in 2016 about why... more

John Ray is an emergency C.E.O., a bankruptcy expert who takes over companies that have succumbed to failure or fraud.... more

If two parents can run a family, why shouldn’t two executives run a company? We dig into the research and... more

In her new book "The Two-Parent Privilege," the economist Melissa Kearney says it’s time for liberals to face the facts:... more

The union that represents N.F.L. players conducted their first-ever survey of workplace conditions, and issued a report card to all... more

For all the speculation about the future, A.I. tools can be useful right now. Adam Davidson discovers what they can... more

Guest host Adam Davidson looks at what might happen to your job in a world of human-level artificial intelligence, and... more

Artificial intelligence, we’ve been told, will destroy humankind. No, wait — it will usher in a new age of human... more

The famously profane politician and operative is now U.S. ambassador to Japan, where he’s trying to rewrite the rules of... more

Americans are so accustomed to the standard intersection that we rarely consider how dangerous it can be — as well... more