This Is Your Brain on Pollution (Update)

As the Trump administration rolls back environmental regulations, we revisit a 2022 episode that explored the hidden cost of an invisible threat: air pollution.   SOURCES: Angela Duckworth, psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania. Michael Greenstone, economist at the University of Chicago, director of the Energy Policy Institute, co-director of the Climate Impact Lab. Stephan Heblich, economist at the University of Toronto. Andrea La Nauze, economist at Deakin University. Steve Levitt, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Chicago. Edson Severnini, economist at Boston College.   RESOURCES: "Most Polluted Cities," (American Lung Association, 2026). "Air Pollution and Adult Cognition: Evidence from Brain Training," by Andrea La Nauze and Edson Severnini (Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, 2025). "Air Pollution and Student Performance in the U.S.," by Michael Gilraine and Angela Zheng (NBER Working Papers, 2022). "Billions of people still breathe unhealthy air: new WHO data," (World Health Organization, 2022). "Evolution of the Clean Air Act," by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (2020). "The Death of U.K. Coal in Five Charts," by Hannah Ritchie (Our World in Data, 2019). "The Colour of Pollution," (The Economist, 2014). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.