How the Media Failed Its COVID Test: The Truth Behind the Lab Leak and Masking Debates
Today’s episode is a long one: It’s about the debate over media coverage of COVID. Three years after the fateful March of 2020, when it feels like the world shut down for COVID, we are revisiting two ...
7 Mar 20231h 34min
Why Are American Teens So Unhappy? How Do We Solve This Crisis?
This is our second installment of happiness week on the Plain English podcast. On Tuesday, I spoke with the directors of the Harvard Study of Adult Development about what makes a good life, based on t...
3 Mar 202355min
Happiness in America, Part 1: The Secret to a 'Good Life,' According to an 80-Year Study
Americans have never had more access to social technology. It’s easier to talk to friends and family members hundreds of miles away; easier to see their faces; and easier to find single people to date...
28 Feb 202358min
The Science of How Music Hits Have Changed in the Last 60 Years
How does technology shape art? Why has songwriting become more of a visual skill in the 21st century? Why are today's hit songs shorter than songs from any period since the Beatles? What happened to t...
24 Feb 202352min
Bing Chatbot Gone Wild and Why AI Could Be the Story of the Decade
Large language models like ChatGPT and Bing’s chatbot can tell stories. They can analyze the effects of agricultural AI on American and Chinese farms. They can pass medical licensing exams, summarize ...
21 Feb 202351min
UFOs and Aliens and Drones and Balloons: Understanding the U.S. Sky Wars
Since a big white Chinese spy balloon floated across the ocean and into U.S. airspace, the United States has shot down four objects over North American skies. What are we looking at, and what are we s...
17 Feb 202350min
Why Everybody Is Wrong About a Recession and Housing’s Great Comeback
Last fall, three-quarters of voters told CNN that the U.S. was in a recession. A Bloomberg economic model said that the odds of a recession by the fall of 2023 were 100 percent. But we’re not in a rec...
14 Feb 202334min
The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Fake Meat in America
For the past 50 years, Americans have basically responded to the case against eating animals by eating more animals. The share of Americans who call themselves vegan or vegetarian hasn’t increased in ...
10 Feb 202338min
