All Episodes
People I (Mostly) Admire — 244 episodes
37. Sendhil Mullainathan Thinks Messing Around Is the Best Use of Your Time
36. How Rahm Emanuel Would Run the World
35. David Epstein Knows Something About Almost Everything
34. Maya Shankar Is Changing People’s Behavior — and Her Own
33. Travis Tygart Is Coming for Cheaters — Just Ask Lance Armstrong
32. Angela Duckworth Explains How to Manage Your Goal Hierarchy
31. Peter Leeson on Why Trial-by-Fire Wasn’t Barbaric and Why Pirates Were Democratic
30. Dambisa Moyo Says Foreign Aid Can’t Solve Problems, but Maybe Corporations Can
29. Bruce Friedrich Thinks There’s a Better Way to Eat Meat
28. Professor Carl Hart Argues All Drugs Should Be Legal — Can He Convince Steve?
27. Daniel Kahneman on Why Our Judgment is Flawed — and What to Do About It
26. Memory Champion Nelson Dellis Helps Steve Train His Brain
25. Sam Harris: “Spirituality Is a Loaded Term.”
24. Are We Under Threat from a New Kind of Terror? (Replay Ep. 24)
23. Greg Norman & Mark Broadie: Why Golf Beats an Orgasm and Why Data Beats Everything
22. Sal Khan: “If It Works for 15 Cousins, It Could Work for a Billion People.”
21. Pete Docter: “What If Monsters Really Do Exist?”
20. John Donohue: “I'm Frequently Called a Treasonous Enemy of the Constitution.”
19. Marina Nitze: “If You Googled ‘Business Efficiency Consultant,’ I Was the Only Result.”
18. Robert Sapolsky: “I Don’t Think We Have Any Free Will Whatsoever.”
17. Emily Oster: “I Am a Woman Who Is Prominently Discussing Vaginas.”
16. Joshua Jay: “Humans Are So, So Easy to Fool.”
15. Tim Harford: “If You Can Make Sure You're Not An Idiot, You've Done Well.”
13. Yul Kwon: “Don't Try to Change Yourself All at Once.” (UPDATE)
12. Sue Bird: “You Have to Pay the Superstars.”
11. Paul Romer: “I Figured Out How to Get Myself Fired From the World Bank.”
10. Suzanne Gluck: “I'm a Person Who Can Convince Other People to Do Things”
8. Peter Attia: “I Definitely Lost a Lot of IQ Points That Day”
7. Caverly Morgan: "I Am Not This Voice. I Am Not This Narrative."
6. Nathan Myhrvold: “I Am Interested in Lots of Things, and That's Actually a Bad Strategy”
5. Susan Wojcicki: “Hey, Let’s Go Buy YouTube!”
4. Ken Jennings: “Don’t Neglect the Thing That Makes You Weird”
3. Kerwin Charles: “One Does Not Know Where an Insight Will Come From”
2. Mayim Bialik: “I Started Crying When I Realized How Beautiful the Universe Is”
1. Steven Pinker: "I Manage My Controversy Portfolio Carefully”
173. Steve Levitt Says Goodbye to People I (Mostly) Admire
Ninety-Eight Years of Economic Wisdom (Replay)
172. A New Kind of University
171. Measuring Pollution on Parallel Earths
Suleika Jaouad’s Survival Mechanisms (Replay)
170. Finding the God Particle
169. Decoding the World’s First Writing
Is There a Fair Way to Divide Us? (Update)
168. Chemistry, Evolved
167. The Secret of Humanity? It’s Common Knowledge.
How to Have Great Conversations (Update)
166. The World’s Most Effective Public Health Intervention Is Under Attack
165. The Economist Who (Gasp!) Asks People What They Think
Rick Rubin on How to Make Something Great (Update)
164. Unravelling the Universe, Again
163. The Data Sleuth Taking on Shoddy Science
Arne Duncan Says All Kids Deserve a Chance — and Criminals Deserve a Second One (Update)
162. Will We Solve the Climate Problem?
161. How to Captivate an Audience
Annie Duke Thinks You Should Quit (Update)
160. How to Help Kids Succeed
159. Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Manifesto for a Gift Economy
Does Death Have to Be a Death Sentence? (Update)
158. Why Did Rome Fall — and Are We Next?
157. The Deadliest Disease in Human History
Abraham Verghese Thinks Medicine Can Do Better (Update)
156. A Solution to America’s Gun Problem
155. Helping People Die
Yul Kwon: “Don't Try to Change Yourself All at Once.” (Update)
154. Can Robots Get a Grip?
153. We’re Not Getting Sicker — We’re Overdiagnosed
Reading Dostoevsky Behind Bars (Update)
152. Hunting for the Origins of Life
151. Neurobiologist, Philosopher, and Addict
Jane Goodall Changed the Way We See Animals. She’s Not Done. (Replay)
150. His Brilliant Videos Get Millions of Views. Why Don’t They Make Money?
149. Stanford’s President Knows He Can’t Make Everyone Happy
Why Numbers are Music to Our Ears (Update)
148. How to Have Good Ideas
147. Is Your Gut a Second Brain?
Turning Work into Play (Update)
146. Is There a Fair Way to Divide Us?
145. Neil deGrasse Tyson Is Still Starstruck
Pete Docter: “What If Monsters Really Do Exist?” (Update)
144. Feeling Sound and Hearing Color
143. Why Are Boys and Men in Trouble?
Nobel Laureate Daron Acemoglu on Economics, Politics, and Power (Replay)
142. What’s Impacting American Workers?
EXTRA: Using Data to Win Gold
141. The Language of the Universe
Drawing from Life (and Death) (Update)
140. How to Breathe Better
139. How PETA Made Radical Ideas Mainstream
Sendhil Mullainathan Thinks Messing Around Is the Best Use of Your Time (Update)
138. Chris Anderson on the Power of TED
EXTRA: Remembering Susan Wojcicki
137. Richard Dawkins on God, Genes, and Murderous Baby Cuckoos
What It Takes to Know Everything (Update)
136. The World’s Most Controversial Ornithologist
135. How to Grow a White Rhino
Sue Bird: “You Have to Pay the Superstars.” (Replay)
134. Why Do We Still Teach People to Calculate?
133. Pay Attention! (Your Body Will Thank You)
John Green’s Reluctant Rocket Ship Ride (Update)
132. Suleika Jaouad’s Survival Mechanisms
131. Getting Old, Adventurously
What It’s Like to Be Steve Levitt’s Daughters (Update)
130. Is Our Concept of Freedom All Wrong?
129. How to Fix Medical Research
EXTRA: Remembering Daniel Kahneman
128. Are Our Tools Becoming Part of Us?
127. Rajiv Shah Never Wastes a Crisis
126. How to Have Great Conversations
125. Is Gynecology the Best Innovation Ever?
124. Daron Acemoglu on Economics, Politics, and Power
123. Walt Hickey Wants to Track Your Eyeballs
122. Arnold Schwarzenegger Has Some Advice for You
121. Exploring Physics, from Eggshells to Oceans
120. Werner Herzog Thinks His Films Are a Distraction
119. Higher Education Is Broken. Can It Be Fixed?
118. “My God, This Is a Transformative Power”
117. Nate Silver Says We're Bad at Making Predictions
116. Abraham Verghese Thinks Medicine Can Do Better
EXTRA: Nobel Laureate Claudia Goldin on "Greedy Work" and the Wage Gap
115. The Future of Therapy Is Psychedelic
114. Is Perfectionism Ruining Your Life?
113. Do We Have Evidence of Alien Life?
112. Reading Dostoevsky Behind Bars
111. Can a Moonshot Approach to Mental Health Work?
110. Drawing from Life (and Death)
Extra: An Update on the Khan World School
109. David Simon Is On Strike. Here’s Why.
The Economics of Everyday Things: T. rex Skeletons
108. Ninety-Eight Years of Economic Wisdom
107. Bringing Data to Life
106. Will A.I. Make Us Smarter?
105. Can Data Keep People Out of Prison?
104. The Joy of Math With Sarah Hart
103. Rick Rubin on How to Make Something Great
102. Adding Ten Healthy Years to Your Life
101. Celebrating 100 People I (Mostly) Admire
100. Chicago’s Renegade Sheriff Wants to Fix Law Enforcement
99. Greg Norman Takes On the P.G.A. Tour
98. Searching for Our Aquatic Ancestors
97. How Smart Is a Forest?
96. Steven Strogatz Thinks You Don’t Know What Math Is
95. The One Thing Stephen Dubner Hasn’t Quit
94. The Price of Doing Business with John List
93. Annie Duke Thinks You Should Quit
92. John Green’s Reluctant Rocket Ship Ride
91. Jane Goodall Changed the Way We See Animals. She’s Not Done.
90. Peter Singer Isn’t a Saint, But He’s Better Than Steve Levitt
Extra: A Rockstar Chemist Wins the Nobel Prize
89. A Cross Between Sherlock Holmes and Indiana Jones
88. Ken Burns on Heroism, Horror, and History
87. How Much Are the Right Friends Worth?
86. A Million-Year View on Morality
85. What It Takes to Know Everything
84. Yuval Noah Harari Thinks Life Is Meaningless and Amazing
83. “There's So Many Problems — Which Ones Can I Make a Difference On?”
82. Is This the Future of High School?
81. Why Bother Searching for Aliens?
80. Get Your Share of the Pie
79. Solar Geoengineering Would Be Radical. It Might Also Be Necessary.
78. Giving It Away
77. Can Games Prepare Us for Catastrophes? (Part 2)
76. Is Gaming Good for You?
75. Self-Help for Data Nerds
74. Getting Our Hands Dirty
73. Turning Work into Play
72. “Leaving Black People in the Lurch”
71. Bombs Away
70. You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Experiment
69. Does Death Have to Be a Death Sentence?
68. “No One Can Resist a Jolly, Happy Pig.”
67. We Can Play God Now
66. The Professor Who Said “No” to Tenure
65. A Rockstar Chemist and Her Cancer-Attacking “Lawn Mower”
64. How Larry Miller Went from Prison Valedictorian to Nike Executive
63. The Only Covid-19 Book Worth Reading
62. How Does Historian Brad Gregory Make a Boring Topic So Mind-Blowing?
61. Was Austan Goolsbee’s First Visit to the Oval Office Almost His Last?
60. Cassandra Quave Thinks the Way Antibiotics Are Developed Might Kill Us
Why Aren’t All Drugs Legal? (Replay Ep. 28)
Are We Under Threat from a New Kind of Terror? (Replay Ep. 24)
59. Who Gives the Worst Advice?
58. Why Is Richard Thaler Such a ****ing Optimist?
57. What Makes John Doerr Think He Can Save the Planet?
56. Claudia Goldin: What’s “Greedy Work” and Why Is It a Problem?
55. Jared Diamond on the Downfall of Civilizations — and His Optimism for Ours
54. Andrew Yang Is Not Giving Up on Politics — or the U.S. — Yet
53. The Simple Economics of Saving the Amazon Rainforest
52. Max Tegmark on Why Superhuman Artificial Intelligence Won’t be Our Slave (Part 2)
51. Max Tegmark on Why Treating Humanity Like a Child Will Save Us All
50. Edward Miguel on Collecting Economic Data by Canoe and Correlating Conflict with Rainfall
49. Mathematician Sarah Hart on Why Numbers are Music to Our Ears
48. Marc Davis Can’t Stop Watching Basketball — But He Doesn’t Care Who Wins
Ken Jennings on How a Midlife Crisis Led Him to Jeopardy! (People I (Mostly) Admire, Ep. 4 Replay)
Mayim Bialik on the Surprising Risks of Academia and Stability of Show Biz (People I (Mostly) Admire, Ep. 2 Replay)
47. Robert Axelrod on Why Being Nice, Forgiving, and Provokable are the Best Strategies for Life
46. Amanda & Lily Levitt Share What It’s Like to be Steve’s Daughters
45. Leidy Klotz on Why the Best Solutions Involve Less — Not More
44. Edward Glaeser Explains Why Some Cities Thrive While Others Fade Away
43. Arne Duncan Says All Kids Deserve a Chance — and Criminals Deserve a Second One
42. America’s Math Curriculum Doesn’t Add Up
41. Dr. Bapu Jena on Why Freakonomics Is the Best Medicine
40. Harold Pollack on Why Managing Your Money Is as Easy as Taking Out the Garbage
39. Aicha Evans Wants You to Take Your Eyes Off the Road
38. Sendhil Mullainathan Explains How to Generate an Idea a Minute (Part 2)
37. Sendhil Mullainathan Thinks Messing Around Is the Best Use of Your Time
36. How Rahm Emanuel Would Run the World
35. David Epstein Knows Something About Almost Everything
34. Maya Shankar Is Changing People’s Behavior — and Her Own
33. Travis Tygart Is Coming for Cheaters — Just Ask Lance Armstrong
32. Angela Duckworth Explains How to Manage Your Goal Hierarchy
31. Peter Leeson on Why Trial-by-Fire Wasn’t Barbaric and Why Pirates Were Democratic
30. Dambisa Moyo Says Foreign Aid Can’t Solve Problems, but Maybe Corporations Can
29. Bruce Friedrich Thinks There’s a Better Way to Eat Meat
28. Professor Carl Hart Argues All Drugs Should Be Legal — Can He Convince Steve?
27. Daniel Kahneman on Why Our Judgment is Flawed — and What to Do About It
26. Memory Champion Nelson Dellis Helps Steve Train His Brain
25. Sam Harris: “Spirituality Is a Loaded Term.”
Nathan Myhrvold: “I Am Interested in Lots of Things, and That's Actually a Bad Strategy.” (Episode 6 Rebroadcast)
24. Amaryllis Fox: “What Does This New Version of Mutually Assured Destruction Look Like?”
23. Greg Norman & Mark Broadie: Why Golf Beats an Orgasm and Why Data Beats Everything
22. Sal Khan: “If It Works for 15 Cousins, It Could Work for a Billion People.”
21. Pete Docter: “What If Monsters Really Do Exist?”
20. John Donohue: “I'm Frequently Called a Treasonous Enemy of the Constitution.”
19. Marina Nitze: “If You Googled ‘Business Efficiency Consultant,’ I Was the Only Result.”
18. Robert Sapolsky: “I Don’t Think We Have Any Free Will Whatsoever.”
17. Emily Oster: “I Am a Woman Who Is Prominently Discussing Vaginas.”
16. Joshua Jay: “Humans Are So, So Easy to Fool.”
15. Tim Harford: “If You Can Make Sure You're Not An Idiot, You've Done Well.”
Yul Kwon: “Hey, Do You Have Any Bright Ideas?” (Part 2)
13. Yul Kwon: “Don't Try to Change Yourself All at Once.”
12. Sue Bird: “You Have to Pay the Superstars.”
11. Paul Romer: “I Figured Out How to Get Myself Fired From the World Bank.”
10. Suzanne Gluck: “I'm a Person Who Can Convince Other People to Do Things”
9. Moncef Slaoui: "It’s Unfortunate That It Takes a Crisis for This to Happen"
8. Peter Attia: “I Definitely Lost a Lot of IQ Points That Day”
7. Caverly Morgan: "I Am Not This Voice. I Am Not This Narrative."
6. Nathan Myhrvold: “I Am Interested in Lots of Things, and That's Actually a Bad Strategy”
5. Susan Wojcicki: “Hey, Let’s Go Buy YouTube!”
Steve Levitt: “I’m Not as Childlike as I’d Like to Be”
4. Ken Jennings: “Don’t Neglect the Thing That Makes You Weird”
3. Kerwin Charles: “One Does Not Know Where an Insight Will Come From”
2. Mayim Bialik: “I Started Crying When I Realized How Beautiful the Universe Is”
1. Steven Pinker: "I Manage My Controversy Portfolio Carefully”
Introducing “People I (Mostly) Admire”