All Episodes
No Stupid Questions — 337 episodes
How Gary Gulman Turned Depression Into Comedy Gold | Better in Person
91. Do You Savor or Gobble?
90. If America Is a Train Wreck, Why Am I Doing Fine?
89. How Valuable Is Enthusiasm?
88. Is Self-Improvement Too Selfish?
87. What’s So Great About Retirement?
86. Should We All Be Taking More Long Shots?
85. Is Emotional Intelligence Really So Important?
84. Why Do We Find So Much Meaning in Meaningless Coincidences?
83. Can You Change Your Mind Without Losing Face?
82. Which Is More Powerful: Reward or Punishment?
81. Why Is It So Hard to Talk About Money?
80. Is a “Success Hangover” Real?
79. Why Do We Root for Underdogs?
78. Why Do We Put Things Off Until the Very Last Minute?
77. How Can You Avoid Boredom?
76. Why Can’t Baby Boomers and Millennials Just Get Along?
75. How Do You Deal With Intrusive Thoughts?
74. Does Reverse Psychology Really Work?
73. Is It Okay to Engage in “Social Loafing”?
72. If Everyone Hates Meetings, Why Do We Have So Many of Them?
71. Why Is Pig Milk the One Milk We Don’t Drink?
70. In a Job Interview, How Much Does Timing Matter?
69. How Can You Convince Someone They’re Wrong?
68. Why Do We Want What We Can’t Have?
67. How Can You Escape Binary Thinking?
65. What’s the Best Advice You’ve Ever Received?
64. Are Women Required to Be Nicer Than Men?
63. How Contagious Is Behavior? With Laurie Santos of “The Happiness Lab.” (Replay)
62. How Can You Escape a Drama Triangle?
61. Should We Just Ignore Our Weaknesses?
60. Why Do We Complain?
59. Do Dreams Actually Mean Anything?
58. What’s So Gratifying About Gossip?
57. Which Incentives Are Best at Boosting Vaccination, and Why?
56. Why Is Academic Writing So Bad?
55. What Changes Will Stick When the Pandemic Is Gone?
54. Do You Really Need a Muse to Be Creative?
53. What’s the Secret to Making a Great Prediction?
52. How Much Should We Be Able to Customize Our World?
51. What Separates Humans From Other Animals?
50. Are You as Observant as You Think?
49. How Does Facing Death Change Your Life?
48. Do Good Deeds Invite More Bad Ones?
47. Is Laziness Real?
46. How Can You Stop Feeling So Irritable?
45. How Much Better Do You Really Want to Be?
44. Is Empathy in Fact Immoral?
43. What Do We Really Learn From Failure?
42. How Does When You Are Born Affect Who You Are?
41. Why Are We So Attracted to Fame?
40. Have We All Lost Our Ability to Compromise?
39. Is Everybody Cheating These Days?
38. What Does It Mean to Be a “Good” Man?
37. How Do You Know if People Don’t Like You?
36. Which Matters More, a First or Last Impression?
35. Does Psychotherapy Actually Work?
34. Are Humans Smarter or Stupider Than We Used to Be?
33. Is Optimism a Luxury Good?
32. Which Gets You Further: Talent or Effort?
31. How Much Do Your Friends Affect Your Future?
30. Why Do We Seek Comfort in the Familiar?
29. How Do You Know When It’s Time to Quit?
28. Why Do We Hoard?
27. How Should You Ask for Forgiveness?
26. Do Checklists Make People Stupid?
25. Is Hedonism Better Than Self-Control?
24. Why Do We Forget So Much of What We’ve Read?
23. Is It Wrong to Crave Praise?
22. Why Do We Buy Things We’ll Never Use?
21. How Can You Identify Hidden Talent? With Eric Schmidt.
Presenting “Smart Girl Dumb Questions”
20. Should We Separate the Art From the Artist?
19. Is There Such a Thing as Good Estrangement?
18. How Do You Raise a “Likable” Kid?
17. How Can We Get More Virtue and Less ‘Virtue Signaling’?
16. What’s the Downside to Being Goal-Oriented?
15. How Much of Your Life Do You Actually Control?
14. Are You a Maximizer or a Satisficer?
13. How Can You Stop Comparing Yourself With Other People?
12. Does “As If” Thinking Really Work?
11. Are Ambitious People Inherently Selfish?
10. Why Are Stories Stickier Than Statistics?
9. Why Is It So Hard to Be Alone With Our Thoughts?
8. Wouldn’t It Be Better to Hear Your Eulogy Before You’re Dead?
7. How Do You Handle Criticism?
6. Is Incompetence a Form of Dishonesty?
5. What Do Tom Sawyer and the Founder of Duolingo Have in Common?
4. Does All Creativity Come From Pain?
3. What Does It Mean to Be a “Hard Worker”?
2. What is the Optimal Way to Be Angry?
1. Did Covid-19 Kill the Handshake?
223. What About All the Questions We Haven’t Answered?
222. What Makes an Idea Interesting?
Is It Weird for Adults to Have Imaginary Friends? (Replay)
221. Why Are We So Pessimistic?
220. Is Your Attention Span Shrinking?
219. How Do You Identify a Narcissist?
How Can You Give Better Gifts? (Replay)
218. Why Do Parents Overshare on Social Media?
217. What Happens When You Put on a Costume?
216. Why Do We Make Excuses?
215. Is It Okay to Do the Right Thing for the Wrong Reason?
214. What Does It Take to Survive a Scandal?
Why Do People Love Horror Movies? (Replay)
213. What Is Evil?
212. When Do You Become an Adult?
211. Why Do We Listen to Sad Songs?
210. What Makes a Good Sense of Humor?
Why Are Stories Stickier Than Statistics? (Replay)
209. Why Do We Settle?
208. Can A.I. Companions Replace Human Connection?
207. How Clearly Do You See Yourself?
Why Do People Get Scammed? (Replay)
206. When Is It Time to Step Aside?
205. Where Do Values Come From?
204. What Happens When You’re Cut Off From All Human Contact?
203. Do You Need a Hug?
How Effective Are Ultimatums? (Replay)
202. Why Can’t We Tolerate Discomfort?
201. Are You Dreaming Too Big?
200. What’s the Difference Between Empathy and Sympathy?
199. What Makes a Good Gathering?
198. What Does It Mean to Be “Cool”?
197. Is It Wrong to Lie to Children?
Extra: Angela Duckworth on “Masters of Scale”
196. What’s Wrong With Being a Little Neurotic?
195. Can You Be Too Nice?
194. Is It Okay to Be an Introvert?
193. Are You as Conscientious as You Think You Are?
Should You Get Out of Your Comfort Zone?
191. Can You Change Your Personality?
190. What’s the Point of Nostalgia?
189. When Should You Trust Your Gut?
188. Why Do Kids Today Get So Many A’s?
187. Is Fear Running Your Life?
186. Do You Need a Routine?
185. Do You Need Closure?
184. Are You Doing Too Much?
183. Does Free Will Exist, and Does It Matter?
182. Is It Good or Bad to Keep Secrets?
181. What’s So Great About Meritocracy?
180. What Makes Some Objects Feel Special?
179. Can You Really “Manifest” Success Through Positive Visualization?
178. Do Kids Need More Independence?
177. What Does Success Look Like?
63. How Contagious Is Behavior? With Laurie Santos of “The Happiness Lab.” (Replay)
176. Why Is It So Hard to Make Decisions?
175. Why Is Astrology So Popular?
174. What’s the Point of I.Q. Testing?
173. How Important Is Your Choice of Words?
149. Is It Harder to Make Friends as an Adult? (Replay)
172. Is Marriage Worth It?
171. Where Is the Line Between Exaggeration and Lying?
170. Are We Getting Lonelier?
169. Can We Disagree Better?
168. Would You Be Happier if You Were More Creative?
167. Is GPS Changing Your Brain?
166. Are You Suffering From Burnout?
165. Do "Generations" Mean Anything?
164. Do You Have Impostor Syndrome?
163. Does Your DNA Determine Your Weight?
162. How Can You Be Kinder to Yourself?
161. How Effective Are Ultimatums?
160. How Do You Like Me Now?
159. How Much Personal Space Do You Need?
158. Bigger Fish, or Bigger Pond?
157. How Can You Get Closer to the People You Care About?
156. How Do You Connect With Someone You Just Met?
155. How Do You Deal With Big Life Changes?
154. Why Is There So Much Social Pressure Around Alcohol?
153. Should You Spend More Time in Nature?
152. What’s the Worst Kind of Regret?
151. Is It Okay to Be Average?
150. Why Do People Get Scammed?
149. Is It Harder to Make Friends as an Adult?
Do You Savor or Gobble? (Ep. 91 Replay)
148. What Is Fun, Exactly?
147. Is Nudging Enough?
146. How Do You Avoid Freezing Under Pressure?
145. Do You Have a Scarcity Mindset or an Abundance Mindset?
144. What Should Be the Eighth Deadly Sin?
143. How Sinful Are "No Stupid Questions" Listeners?
142. Is Pride the Worst Sin?
141. Is Greed Good?
140. Is Envy Healthy?
139. Why Do We Get Angry?
138. Why is Everyone Having Less Sex?
137. Are We All Addicted to Ultra-Processed Foods?
136. Is Sloth a Sin or a Virtue?
135. What Should You Do on Your Birthday?
134. Will You Live to Be 100?
Why Is It So Hard to Talk About Money? (Ep. 81 Replay)
133. Can You Really Work on an Airplane?
132. Is It Wrong to Enjoy Yourself While the World Is Burning?
131. Why Do We Cry?
130. Why Is It So Hard to Resist Temptation?
129. Why Do We Cheat, and Why Shouldn’t We?
What’s So Great About Retirement? (Ep. 87 Replay)
128. How Can You Give Better Gifts?
127. How Can You Be a Better Communicator?
126. Why Do People Love Horror Movies?
125. Should We Replace Umpires With Robots?
124. How Do You Stop Grinding Your Teeth?
123. What’s Wrong With Coveting?
When Is It OK to Tell a Lie? (Replay from Ep. 66)
122. Is Family Overrated?
121. How Good Are Your Snap Judgments?
120. Why Are Rich Countries So Unhappy?
119. J***s C****t, Angela, Why Are You Such a F***ing Potty-Mouth?
118. How Do You Keep Winter From Getting You Down?
117. What’s Wrong With Holding a Grudge?
116. Do People Pay Attention to Signs?
115. Are You Having a Midlife Crisis?
114. Can You Learn to Love Hard Work?
113. How Can You Improve Your Mental Endurance?
112. Is It Okay to Hate Highbrow Culture?
111. Would You Be Happier if You Lived Someplace Else?
110. Why Is Angela Stepping Down as C.E.O. of the Nonprofit She Founded?
What’s the Best Advice You’ve Ever Received? (Replay from Ep. 65)
109. What Is the Purpose of Embarrassment?
108. Should You Try to Be Less Angry?
107. Is It Worth It for Charities to Harass Their Donors?
106. Did Your Early Childhood Determine the Course of Your Life?
How Does Facing Death Change Your Life? (Replay from Ep. 49)
105. Should You Give Kids an Allowance or Make Them Get Jobs?
104. How Simple Is Too Simple?
103. Should Toilets Be Free?
102. What’s So Bad About Nepotism?
101. Are You Really "Addicted" to Diet Coke?
100. Is It Weird for Adults to Have Imaginary Friends?
99. Do You Mind if I Borrow Your Personality?
98. Is Having Children Worth It?
97. Are Women Really Less Happy Than Men?
96. Why Is Chick-fil-A Such a Big Deal?
95. What’s So Bad About Denial?
94. What to Do When Everything Looks Like a Catastrophe?
93. Does the Early Bird Really Catch the Worm? Or Could the Night Owl Get There First?
92. Is Poor Nutrition a Supply Problem or a Demand Problem?
91. Do You Savor or Gobble?
90. If America Is a Train Wreck, Why Am I Doing Fine?
89. How Valuable Is Enthusiasm?
88. Is Self-Improvement Too Selfish?
87. What’s So Great About Retirement?
86. Should We All Be Taking More Long Shots?
85. Is Emotional Intelligence Really So Important?
84. Why Do We Find So Much Meaning in Meaningless Coincidences?
83. Can You Change Your Mind Without Losing Face?
82. Which Is More Powerful: Reward or Punishment?
81. Why Is It So Hard to Talk About Money?
80. Is a “Success Hangover” Real?
79. Why Do We Root for Underdogs?
78. Why Do We Put Things Off Until the Very Last Minute?
77. How Can You Avoid Boredom?
76. Why Can’t Baby Boomers and Millennials Just Get Along?
Why Do We Seek Comfort in the Familiar? (NSQ Ep. 30 Replay)
75. How Do You Deal With Intrusive Thoughts?
74. Does Reverse Psychology Really Work?
73. Is It Okay to Engage in “Social Loafing”?
72. If Everyone Hates Meetings, Why Do We Have So Many of Them?
71. Why Is Pig Milk the One Milk We Don’t Drink?
How Much Do Your Friends Affect Your Future? (NSQ Ep. 31 Replay)
70. In a Job Interview, How Much Does Timing Matter?
69. How Can You Convince Someone They’re Wrong?
68. Why Do We Want What We Can’t Have?
67. How Can You Escape Binary Thinking?
66. When Is It OK to Tell a Lie?
Why Do We Forget So Much of What We’ve Read? (Ep. 24 Rebroadcast)
65. What’s the Best Advice You’ve Ever Received?
Why Do We Buy Things We Never Use? (Rebroadcast From Ep.22)
64. Are Women Required to Be Nicer Than Men?
63. How Contagious Is Behavior? With Laurie Santos of “The Happiness Lab.”
62. How Can You Escape a Drama Triangle?
61. Should We Just Ignore Our Weaknesses?
60. Why Do We Complain?
59. Do Dreams Actually Mean Anything?
How Can You Stop Comparing Yourself With Other People? (Ep. 13 Rebroadcast)
58. What’s So Gratifying About Gossip?
57. Which Incentives Are Best at Boosting Vaccination, and Why?
56. Why Is Academic Writing So Bad?
55. What Changes Will Stick When the Pandemic Is Gone?
54. Do You Really Need a Muse to Be Creative?
53. What’s the Secret to Making a Great Prediction?
52. How Much Should We Be Able to Customize Our World?
51. What Separates Humans From Other Animals?
50. Are You as Observant as You Think?
49. How Does Facing Death Change Your Life?
48. Do Good Deeds Invite More Bad Ones?
47. Is Laziness Real?
46. How Can You Stop Feeling So Irritable?
45. How Much Better Do You Really Want to Be?
44. Is Empathy in Fact Immoral?
43. What Do We Really Learn From Failure?
42. How Does When You Are Born Affect Who You Are?
41. Why Are We So Attracted to Fame?
40. Have We All Lost Our Ability to Compromise?
39. Is Everybody Cheating These Days?
38. What Does It Mean to Be a “Good” Man?
37. How Do You Know if People Don’t Like You?
36. Which Matters More, a First or Last Impression?
35. Does Psychotherapy Actually Work?
34. Are Humans Smarter or Stupider Than We Used to Be?
33. Is Optimism a Luxury Good?
How Much of Your Life Do You Actually Control? (Ep. 15 Rebroadcast)
32. Which Gets You Further: Talent or Effort?
31. How Much Do Your Friends Affect Your Future?
30. Why Do We Seek Comfort in the Familiar?
29. How Do You Know When It’s Time to Quit?
28. Why Do We Hoard?
27. How Should You Ask for Forgiveness?
26. Do Checklists Make People Stupid?
25. Is Hedonism Better Than Self-Control?
24. Why Do We Forget So Much of What We’ve Read?
23. Is It Wrong to Crave Praise?
22. Why Do We Buy Things We’ll Never Use?
21. How Can You Identify Hidden Talent? With Eric Schmidt.
20. Should We Separate the Art From the Artist?
19. Is There Such a Thing as Good Estrangement?
18. How Do You Raise a “Likable” Kid?
17. How Can We Get More Virtue and Less ‘Virtue Signaling’?
16. What’s the Downside to Being Goal-Oriented?
15. How Much of Your Life Do You Actually Control?
14. Are You a Maximizer or a Satisficer?
13. How Can You Stop Comparing Yourself With Other People?
12. Does “As If” Thinking Really Work?
11. Are Ambitious People Inherently Selfish?
10. Why Are Stories Stickier Than Statistics?
9. Why Is It So Hard to Be Alone With Our Thoughts?
8. Wouldn’t It Be Better to Hear Your Eulogy Before You’re Dead?
7. How Do You Handle Criticism?
6. Is Incompetence a Form of Dishonesty?
5. What Do Tom Sawyer and the Founder of Duolingo Have in Common?
4. Does All Creativity Come From Pain?
3. What Does It Mean to Be a “Hard Worker”?
2. What is the Optimal Way to Be Angry?
1. Did Covid-19 Kill the Handshake?
Introducing "No Stupid Questions"