603. Did the N.F.L. Solve Diversity Hiring? (Part 1)The biggest sports league in history had a problem: While most of its players were Black, almost none of its head […]

EXTRA: In Praise of Maintenance (Update)We revisit an episode from 2016 that asks: Has our culture’s obsession with innovation led us to neglect the fact that t […]

EXTRA: In Praise of Maintenance (Update)We revisit an episode from 2016 that asks: Has our culture’s obsession with innovation led us to neglect the fact that t […]

602. Is Screen Time as Poisonous as We Think?Young people have been reporting a sharp rise in anxiety and depression. This maps neatly onto the global rise of the […]

602. Is Screen Time as Poisonous as We Think?Young people have been reporting a sharp rise in anxiety and depression. This maps neatly onto the global rise of the […]

601. Multitasking Doesn’t Work. So Why Do We Keep Trying?Only a tiny number of “supertaskers” are capable of doing two things at once. The rest of us are just making ourselves miserable, and less productive. How can we put the — hang on a sec […]

What Is the Future of College — and Does It Have Room for Men? (Update)Educators and economists tell us all the reasons college enrollment has been dropping, […]

What Is the Future of College — and Does It Have Room for Men? (Update)Educators and economists tell us all the reasons college enrollment has been dropping, […]

EXTRA: Why Quitting Is Usually Worth ItStephen Dubner appears as a guest on Fail Better, a new podcast hosted by David Duchovny. The two of them trade stories about failure, and ponder the lessons that success could never […]

EXTRA: Why Quitting Is Usually Worth ItStephen Dubner appears as a guest on Fail Better, a new podcast hosted by David Duchovny. The two of them trade stories about failure, and ponder the lessons that success could never […]

The University of Impossible-to-Get-Into (Update)America’s top colleges are facing record demand. So why don’t they increase supply? (Part 2 of our series fro […]

What Exactly Is College For? (Update)We think of them as intellectual enclaves and the surest route to a better life. But U.S. colleges also operate like firms, […]

EXTRA: Here’s Why You’re Not an Elite Athlete (Update)There are a lot of factors that go into greatness, many of which are not obvious. As the Olympics come to a […]

EXTRA: Here’s Why You’re Not an Elite Athlete (Update)There are a lot of factors that go into greatness, many of which are not obvious. As the Olympics come to a […]

600. “If We’re All in It for Ourselves, Who Are We?”Tania Tetlow, a former federal prosecutor and now the president of Fordham University, thinks the modern campus […]

599. The World’s Most Valuable Unused ResourceIt’s not oil or water or plutonium — it’s human hours. We’ve got an idea for putting them to use, and for buildin […]

599. The World’s Most Valuable Unused ResourceIt’s not oil or water or plutonium — it’s human hours. We’ve got an idea for putting them to use, and for buildin […]

EXTRA: Why Rent Control Doesn’t Work (Update)A new proposal from the Biden administration calls for a nationwide cap on rent increases. Economists think that’s a t […]

EXTRA: Why Rent Control Doesn’t Work (Update)A new proposal from the Biden administration calls for a nationwide cap on rent increases. Economists think that’s a t […]

598. Is Overconsolidation a Threat to Democracy?That’s the worry. Even the humble eyeglass industry is dominated by a single firm.  We look into the global sp […]