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An exploration of how modern technology and digital distractions are transforming America's personality, revealing declining conscientiousness, extroversion, and agreeableness among younger generations while increasing neuroticism.
A deep dive into the remarkable GLP-1 drugs that seem to help with weight loss, diabetes, addiction, neurological conditions, and more, exploring their mysterious mechanisms of moderation and potential future developments.
After reflecting on their tech resolutions from last year and discussing their goals for 2026, Kevin and Casey dive into listener questions about AI, technology, and quirky scenarios like deepfaking Santa into home security footage.
An expert survey of 229 researchers reveals a nuanced consensus on smartphones and mental health, finding broad agreement on some claims while highlighting the complexity of understanding social media's impact on adolescent well-being.
A deep dive into Gen Z's worldview, exploring their experiences with technology, economic challenges, dating, and institutional trust through the lens of a generation shaped by smartphones, the pandemic, and financial uncertainty.
A comprehensive exploration of why Americans are unhealthy, revealing a unified theory linking caloric abundance, visceral fat, and chronic inflammation to disease, with emerging GLP-1 drugs offering potential therapeutic intervention.
A compelling exploration of America's growing isolation and the psychological barriers that prevent people from engaging in meaningful social interactions, revealing how small acts of connection can significantly improve our well-being.
Cal Newport unpacks Derek Thompson's essay "Everything is Television" by exploring how internet-based media is increasingly adopting the continuous, non-specific video flow characteristic of traditional television, driven primarily by economic incentives in the media landscape.
A deep dive into the science of happiness, exploring how our relationship with time, expectations, and social connections can profoundly impact our well-being and contentment.
Adam Mastroianni explores why culture seems "stuck" across various domains, arguing that increased risk aversion and a higher value placed on life have led to less deviance, innovation, and originality in movies, music, science, and other cultural spheres.
Derek Thompson explores the decline of math achievement in America, revealing a crisis where students are getting higher grades but demonstrating lower mathematical skills, driven by complex factors including education policy changes, grade inflation, and the rise of technology.
In this episode, Derek Thompson and economist Anton Korinek explore the potential economic and societal implications of artificial general intelligence (AGI), discussing how superintelligent AI could transform work, productivity, and potentially create massive job displacement while also offering unprecedented opportunities for scientific and economic advancement.
Derek Thompson discusses his essay "Everything is Television," exploring how various media platforms are converging into a continuous flow of short-form video content, with implications for attention spans, political communication, and cultural discourse.
A deep dive into the economic challenges facing young people today, exploring issues like housing unaffordability, job market difficulties, and potential opportunities through stock market investing and AI, while offering a nuanced perspective on generational economic struggles.
Ken Burns delves into the complex and messy reality of the American Revolution, exploring its global significance, contradictions, and the profound ideas of citizenship and possibility that emerged from this transformative historical moment.
A deep dive into the rise of sports gambling reveals how legal betting has transformed sports culture, potentially threatening game integrity and causing financial harm to a significant number of young men.
Michael Lewis reflects on his journalistic career, discussing the global financial crisis, the rise of analytics in sports and entertainment, and the importance of finding joy in writing while exploring how complex stories can be distilled into simple, compelling narratives.
A deep dive into how AI agents are transforming work, exploring the technology's "jagged frontier" of capabilities and potential to reorganize entire industries through autonomous task completion and productivity enhancement.
An in-depth exploration of whether artificial intelligence represents an economic bubble, examining massive infrastructure spending, revenue growth potential, and the possibility that even if AI is a bubble, it could still create valuable technological infrastructure.
A deep dive into the challenges facing Broadway musicals, exploring demographic shifts, rising costs, and the struggle to attract audiences in a changing entertainment landscape.
A deep dive into Hollywood's current crisis, exploring the 40% decline in film and TV production, the impact of streaming's changing economics, and the potential renaissance driven by creativity and AI technology.
A deep exploration of why money doesn't automatically buy happiness in America, revealing how social expectations, invisible desire-based debt, and a lack of purpose can undermine personal contentment despite increasing wealth.
An in-depth exploration of artificial intelligence's potential to revolutionize medicine, examining its capabilities and limitations in diagnosing diseases, drug discovery, clinical trials, and health monitoring.
In a conversation with Stanford Medical School Dean Lloyd Minor, Derek Thompson explores the current capabilities and limitations of AI in medicine, examining its potential to diagnose diseases, design drugs, accelerate clinical trials, and help manage chronic illness.
A deep dive into the current state of free speech in America, exploring how campus culture, internet dynamics, and political polarization have led to a punitive attitude towards speech that threatens First Amendment principles.
A deep dive into America's food policies, exploring how regulatory gaps, lack of scientific research, and the proliferation of ultra-processed foods contribute to chronic health issues like obesity.
A deep dive into the potential AI infrastructure bubble, examining how massive tech spending on data centers and GPUs could lead to an economic crash similar to past technological infrastructure booms.
Cal Newport argues that curated conversation platforms like Twitter and Facebook are inherently harmful, creating a "slope of terribleness" that pulls users into distraction, demoderation, and potential disassociation, ultimately suggesting people should quit these platforms entirely.
A deep dive into the Jimmy Kimmel suspension by ABC/Disney, exploring the complex intersection of free speech, media, and political leverage in the context of the Trump administration's potential efforts to control media narratives.
A deep dive into the Jimmy Kimmel controversy, exploring how the Trump administration leveraged government power to pressure Disney into suspending Kimmel's show over a comment about the Charlie Kirk assassination.
In this episode, Derek Thompson interviews Adrian LaFrance about the assassination of Charlie Kirk, exploring the rising trend of political violence in America and the dangers of "salad bar extremism" in an increasingly polarized and socially isolated society.