Harvard professor and author Naomi Oreskes joins us to talk about the public relations campaigns designed to crush regulations and unions.
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The new Gold Rush? Prospecting solar power
Harper’s contributor Hillary Angelo talks about solar-farm construction in Nye County, Nevada—a potential weapon against climate change that also threatens the local ecology, and angers neighbors.
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The jobs used to deny disability benefits are stuck in 1977
Lisa Rein from The Washington Post details how the Biden administration has spent $250 million to modernize its vocational services but still uses outdated market data to determine benefits for 15 million people.
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What’s in store for the world in 2023?
Tom Standage, an editor at The Economist, discusses the top 10 issues the magazine predicts will make the biggest headlines this year.
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States lose from lotteries, too
Author Jonathan D. Cohen talks about state lotteries, promoted as a source for revenue in lieu of taxes, and the outsized appeal they have to poor populations.
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Universal basic income works, but it’s not cheap
Journalist Megan Greenwell talks about programs that offer monthly stipends with no strings attached with the hopes of lifting people out of poverty, and why the movement now finds itself at a crossroads.
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Can central banks fix inflation this time?
Harvard economist Kenneth S. Rogoff talks about the politics that have seeped into the Federal Reserve’s role since the crash of 2008 and why that might make stifling inflation this time around a problem.
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Why China’s slowing growth makes it more dangerous
Associate Professor Michael Beckley joins us to talk about why he believes competition between America and China will peak in the 2020s – setting up a showdown between authoritarianism and democracy.
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How the heck are you supposed to pay for college?
Ron Lieber, a columnist for The New York Times, talks about the complicated financial aid process and ways to tap into merit aid and similar discounts. Plus, get extra information from a bonus blog about this episode.
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Child poverty has plummeted, but most people haven’t heard
Jason DeParle of The New York Times discusses the reasons why childhood poverty figures have plummeted.
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Why Black Americans live sicker and die quicker
Professor Linda Villarosa joins us to talk about why Black Americans are dying sooner and have worse health outcomes than their white counterparts.
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Should America stop trying to rule the world?
Prof. Daniel Bessner joins guest host Courtney Collins to discuss if the U.S. should continue to try to rule the world through force – or if recent history suggests it’s time to back off.
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