444. How Do You Cure a Compassion Crisis?

Societies where people trust one another are healthier and wealthier. In the U.S. (and the U.K. and elsewhere), social trust has been falling for decades -- in part because our populations are more di...

10 Nov 201627min

The U.S. president is often called the "leader of free world." But if you ask an economist or a Constitutional scholar how much the occupant of the Oval Office matters, they won't say much. We look at...

9 Nov 201633min

A tiny behavioral-sciences startup is trying to improve the way federal agencies do their work. Considering the size (and habits) of most federal agencies, this isn't so simple. But after a series of ...

3 Nov 201642min

What do Renaissance painting, civil-rights movements, and Olympic cycling have in common? In each case, huge breakthroughs came from taking tiny steps. In a world where everyone is looking for the nex...

27 Okt 201648min

Has our culture's obsession with innovation led us to neglect the fact that things also need to be taken care of? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about ou...

20 Okt 201641min

Neuroscientists still have a great deal to learn about the human brain. One recent MRI study sheds some light, finding that a certain kind of storytelling stimulates enormous activity across broad swa...

13 Okt 201645min

The process is famously secretive (and conducted in Swedish!) but we pry the lid off at least a little bit. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our coll...

6 Okt 201644min

It facilitates crime, bribery, and tax evasion -- and yet some governments (including ours) are printing more cash than ever. Other countries, meanwhile, are ditching cash entirely. And if Star Trek i...

29 Sep 201642min