A Mind-Expanding Conversation About Human History and Happiness With Tim Urban

A Mind-Expanding Conversation About Human History and Happiness With Tim Urban

Sometimes on this show, we talk about the news. This episode is about the diametric opposite of the news. It’s about thinking deeply about human history and trying to appreciate the awesome length of time and the finitude of our lives. It's an interview with Tim Urban, a blogger at the mind-expanding site Wait But Why, and the author of a new book What’s Our Problem: A Self-Help Book for Societies. If you don’t know Tim and his work, I would sum up his thing this way: Tim is a kind of alien. He has an incredible talent for seeing our world as if from the perspective of a goofy but smart extraterrestrial, who takes not the 30,000-foot view on life, but the 300,000-foot view of life, and history, and human nature. In this show, we talk about … you know what. I'm not even going to try to sum up the hour. Just enjoy. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. You can find us on TikTok at www.tiktok.com/@plainenglish_ Host: Derek Thompson Guest: Tim Urban Producer: Devon Manze Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episoder(359)

Musk Meltdown: Elon’s Breakup With Twitter Is Going to Be Very Messy

Musk Meltdown: Elon’s Breakup With Twitter Is Going to Be Very Messy

Derek has so many thoughts on Elon Musk's bizarre attempted breakup with Twitter—and what comes next—that he has to enumerate them. In this episode, he goes through five reasons Elon is trying to wrig...

10 Jul 202217min

The Biggest Economic Question of the Moment: Is This Peak Inflation?

The Biggest Economic Question of the Moment: Is This Peak Inflation?

The question everybody's asking on cable news right now is whether we're in a recession. I think there's an even more important question to ask: Are we at peak inflation? If inflation U-turns, it mean...

8 Jul 202232min

Why Are the Police So Bad at Solving Murders?

Why Are the Police So Bad at Solving Murders?

Today’s episode is about the story of the moment—gun violence. There’s been a surge of violent shootings, mass shootings, and gun-related murders in the last few years. Today, Derek investigates a mys...

6 Jul 202247min

Abortion Pills Are a Game Changer, Plus Our Next Big Culture War

Abortion Pills Are a Game Changer, Plus Our Next Big Culture War

In last week's instant reaction pod, Derek said he thought abortion pills were one of the most fascinating and important aspects of the end of the era of Roe. In this episode, he goes deeper into how ...

1 Jul 202237min

Five Reasons Everybody Is Wrong About a U.S. Recession—Including Me

Five Reasons Everybody Is Wrong About a U.S. Recession—Including Me

I feel like the theme of this podcast recently has been that everything is going off the rails: the Supreme Court, inflation, oil prices, air travel snafus. Take the economy, for example. My theory fo...

28 Jun 202237min

The End of Roe v. Wade Changes Everything

The End of Roe v. Wade Changes Everything

We react to the landmark Supreme Court decision and explain how it could affect the future of the court, national politics, fertility and family planning, state law, corporate policy, and more. To fur...

24 Jun 202242min

Why Air Travel Is a Hot Mess Right Now

Why Air Travel Is a Hot Mess Right Now

Lately, it feels like we’re surrounded by systems and industries that aren’t working the way they should. There's an oil shortage, and a baby formula shortage, and a used car shortage, and a microchip...

24 Jun 202242min

Why Gas Prices Are Skyrocketing—and an Ingenious Plan to Bring Them Down

Why Gas Prices Are Skyrocketing—and an Ingenious Plan to Bring Them Down

Expensive energy is an economic, psychological, and political scourge. Nominally, gas prices are at a record high. Adjusted for inflation, they could break the all-time record if they rise just anothe...

21 Jun 202245min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
forklart
stopp-verden
i-retten
popradet
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
rss-gukild-johaug
fotballpodden-2
det-store-bildet
dine-penger-pengeradet
nokon-ma-ga
rss-ness
hanna-de-heldige
aftenbla-bla
frokostshowet-pa-p5
rss-dannet-uten-piano
e24-podden
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk