How Can We Break Our Addiction to Contempt? (Update)Arthur Brooks, an economist and former head of the American Enterprise Institute, believes that there is only one […]

649. Should Ohio State (and Michigan, and Clemson) Join the N.F.L.?Soccer leagues around the world use a promotion-and-relegation system to reward the best teams and […]

648. The Merger You Never Knew You WantedThe N.F.L. is a powerful cartel with imperial desires. College football is about to undergo a financial reckoning. So […]

Is the U.S. Really Less Corrupt Than China? (Update)In this episode we first published in 2021, the political scientist Yuen Yuen Ang argues that different forms of […]

647. China Is Run by Engineers. America Is Run by Lawyers.In his new book “Breakneck,” Dan Wang argues that the U.S. has a lot to learn from China. He also says tha […]

Is the World Ready for a Guaranteed Basic Income? (Update)A lot of jobs in the modern economy don’t pay a living wage, and some of those jobs may be wiped out by n […]

646. An Air Traffic Controller Walks Into a Radio Studio …What does it take to “play 3D chess at 250 miles an hour”? And how far will $12.5 billion of “Big, Beaut […]

645. Is the Air Traffic Control System Broken?Flying in the U.S. is still exceptionally safe, but the system relies on outdated tech and is under tremendous strain. […]

644. Has America Lost Its Appetite for the Common Good?Patrick Deneen, a political philosopher at Notre Dame, says yes. He was a Democrat for years, and has now […]

Extra: A Modern Whaler Speaks Up (Update)Bjørn Andersen has killed hundreds of minke whales. He tells us how he does it, why he does it, and what he thinks would […]

What Can Whales Teach Us About Clean Energy, Workplace Harmony, and Living the Good Life? (Update)In the final episode of our whale series, we learn about fecal […]

Why Do People Still Hunt Whales? (Update)For years, whale oil was used as lighting fuel, industrial lubricant, and the main ingredient in (yum!) margarine. Whale […]

The First Great American Industry (Update)Whaling was, in the words of one scholar, “early capitalism unleashed on the high seas.” How did the U.S. come to dom […]

Why Does Tipping Still Exist? (Update)It’s a haphazard way of paying workers, and yet it keeps expanding. With federal tax policy shifting in a pro-tip direction, w […]

643. Why Do Candles Still Exist?They should have died out when the lightbulb was invented. Instead they’re a $10 billion industry. What does it mean that we still w […]

642. How to Wage Peace, According to Tony BlinkenThe former secretary of state isn’t a flamethrower, but he certainly has strong opinions. In this wide-ranging c […]

Why Does One Tiny State Set the Rules for Everyone? (Update)Until recently, Delaware was almost universally agreed to be the best place for companies to incorporate. […]

641. What Does It Cost to Lead a Creative Life?For years, the playwright David Adjmi was considered “polarizing and difficult.” But creating Stereophonic seems to […]

640. Why Governments Are Betting Big on SportsThe Gulf States and China are spending billions to build stadiums and buy up teams — but what are they really b […]