All Episodes
Reasonably Optimistic — 188 episodes · page 1 of 2
How the DSA is reshaping the Democratic Party
What prediction markets can tell us that polls can’t
The fight for fed-up voters in the 2026 midterms
The overlooked businesses making Americans rich
How America can recover from Trump-era politics
The job interview advice Gen Z needs to hear
Is AI taking Gen Z’s jobs? It’s not that simple.
The $1 million prize for academics who tell unwelcome truths
How conservatism went from Reagan to Trump
Why everyone seems to hate Flock cameras
What AI experts fear most
This medieval revolt has a warning for today
The strange truth behind our obsession with UFOs and aliens
My mother’s secret changed how I think about abortion
The myths fueling America’s AI data center backlash
Football is back. A new CTE study asks what it costs.
The hidden forces behind America’s baby bust
A sociologist’s perspective on the Jason Arday story
What empty pews reveal about America
Why this professor lost faith in higher education
Why your cost of living keeps rising
Is TikTok rewiring childhood?
Stop cooking the ‘right’ way
How to fix higher education without destroying it
A therapist on relationships, ghosting and realistic standards
Why homeownership feels impossible for Gen Z
What America got wrong about drug addiction
Lonely Gen Z needed this wake-up call
This actor drove 10,000 miles to ask men about loneliness
The problem with ‘Tax the rich!’
How populists turn distrust into power
Why Europeans are falling in love with America
What happened when fashion moved online
What's behind the South's sudden boom
Modern dating is miserable. Can it be fixed?
Voters can push back against unsavory politicians
Is there such a thing as too much empathy?
Gen Zers don’t cook. It’s costing them.
Do aliens exist? I asked an astrophysicist.
How weddings got so expensive
Why $1 million doesn’t feel rich for Gen Z
Why everyone is talking about peptides
What’s going on with Ebola and hantavirus?
Is life better in Europe? It's not so simple.
Men are falling behind. Let's talk about it.
The problem with celebrity politicians
What prediction markets tell us about the future
Introducing ‘Make It Make Sense’: Should you be worried about hantavirus?
Tax the rich! But then what?
Why is anger so addictive? A psychologist weighs in.
Longing for 'simpler times'? Consider this first.
Why Americans aren’t having as many kids
Everyone wants to live like an influencer now
How Americans developed an unhealthy relationship with the Supreme Court
The temperature is rising on AI. What comes next?
I'm not anti-tax. But this one should go.
What a Catholic feminist dares to say
Where AI will be in a year — and in a decade
Health care is life or death. How can Americans be rational about it?
Universities charged into the culture wars. Now they’re fighting to get out.
How America keeps reinventing itself
What comes next in Iran
AI is coming. Is there enough power to run it?
Forget the best president. Who was the most underrated?
Dating is a market. Here's how to hack it.
An economist explains why he’s still ‘bullish on America’ — AI and all
How can cities win back families? This developer has a plan.
What Jason Rezaian learned after 544 days in an Iranian prison
What it will take to fix American policing
Dry January? Sometimes drinking is part of the solution.
No blood for oil? That doesn’t make sense for Venezuela.
How the internet changed politics — and our lives — forever
Was 2025 the ‘end of America’? Of course not.
Charlie Kirk was killed on her campus. This is what happened next.
‘The weirdest Democrat in America’
The sci-fi writer who predicted the future
Introducing 'Reasonably Optimistic'
I got cancer. And met a different me on the other side.
The horrors of modern-day travel
Want to find a wife? Be a better man.
Lending a hand doesn’t require being armed
A message from ‘Impromptu’
Why does the Epstein story keep on going?
The paradox of fixing airline travel
Trump breaks with Putin. But will it last?
The rare band that knew when to walk away
Alligator Alcatraz and the loss of America’s soul
Can nature help fix our brains?
This ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ got even worse
The generational shift coming for Democrats
Did Trump just bring peace to the Middle East?
Lonely? Call your AI best friend.
Why the U.S. should stay out of Iran
When the military gets politicized
Are the immigration protests a turning point?
Trump 2.0 is changing the meaning — and feeling — of Pride
Is Trump chickening out on foreign policy?
Movies in 2025: reduce, reuse, recycle
Can universities survive this?
We’ll defend Sesame Street with our life