The Surprising Science of Cynicism (Plus: The Policy Paradox of the 2024 Election)

The Surprising Science of Cynicism (Plus: The Policy Paradox of the 2024 Election)

Derek shares his biggest frustrations about the 2024 election, like the lack of a policy debate and blind spots in news coverage and polling analysis. Then he welcomes Jamil Zaki to the show: a professor of psychology at Stanford University and the director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab. Zaki is the author of ‘Hope for Cynics,’ a new book that explores tension at the heart of human affairs. On one hand, social cooperation is the basis of human civilization. And yet cynicism—a baseline aversion to social cooperation and assumption that most people are greedy, selfish, and dishonest—is also core to the human experience. We are constantly violating the secret of our own success by assuming the worst in others, and Professor Zaki explains why. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. Host: Derek Thompson Guest: Jamil Zaki Producer: Devon Baroldi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episoder(348)

How Ukraine’s New Offensive Could Win the War Against Russia

How Ukraine’s New Offensive Could Win the War Against Russia

We're in a new phase of the Ukraine-Russia war. Paul Poast of the University of Chicago returns to the podcast to break down Ukraine's extraordinary counteroffensive. He explains why this counterattac...

12 Sep 202250min

The UK Is in Trouble: Economic Crises, Energy Shocks, and the Queen’s Death

The UK Is in Trouble: Economic Crises, Energy Shocks, and the Queen’s Death

Hours before the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Derek talked to Duncan Weldon, the Britain economics correspondent at The Economist, about the UK's political and economic challenge. Russia’s invasion of...

8 Sep 202250min

America’s National Teacher Shortage: Looming Crisis or Media Myth?

America’s National Teacher Shortage: Looming Crisis or Media Myth?

Students are going back to school this month. But according to many news sources, there won't be nearly enough teachers to greet them. The Washington Post has warned of a “catastrophic teacher shortag...

6 Sep 202238min

Nate Silver on Why This Midterm Election Could Be the Weirdest in Decades

Nate Silver on Why This Midterm Election Could Be the Weirdest in Decades

Earlier this year, it appeared that Democrats were going to get destroyed in the midterms. Joe Biden's approval rating was in the toilet, inflation was raging, and everything was going wrong. It would...

2 Sep 202255min

The Messy Debate Over Student Loan Forgiveness

The Messy Debate Over Student Loan Forgiveness

The level of student debt in this country represents a massive policy error. But is forgiving up to $20,000 of student debt really the best way to help low-income Americans, or fix the nation's educat...

30 Aug 202242min

Burning Questions on Media: Streaming’s Summer of Hell, Movie Theater Woes, and CNN’s Risky Pivot

Burning Questions on Media: Streaming’s Summer of Hell, Movie Theater Woes, and CNN’s Risky Pivot

Today’s episode is about the entertainment and media industry’s tumultuous summer, the streaming wars, a come-to-Jesus moment for movie theaters, and a dramatic revamp at CNN—which tells a lot about t...

26 Aug 202250min

What’s the Secret of Success in America? This Economist Has Answers.

What’s the Secret of Success in America? This Economist Has Answers.

The economist Raj Chetty has spent much of the last decade trying to answer a very big question: What happened to the American Dream? In 1940, a child born into the average American household had a 92...

23 Aug 202250min

Why Does It Seem Like Everybody Hates Everything?

Why Does It Seem Like Everybody Hates Everything?

Bestselling author Chuck Klosterman talks to Derek about the death of the monoculture, how the internet creates cults of fans and anti-fans, and how “hating things” became a mainstream personality tra...

19 Aug 202252min

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