Paul Tough, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why the U.S. is an outlier globally when it comes to college popularity.
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What’s a fishwife, anyway? A history of words about women
Jenni Nuttall teaches medieval literature at the University of Oxford, and she joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how words have influenced how we view female roles in society.
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From foster care to fostering hope
David Ambroz joins host Krys Boyd to discuss his life’s work of fighting for child welfare, the subject of his new memoir.
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Treating anxiety has become a cottage industry
Julie Wernau of The Wall Street Journal joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why strategies to combat stressors are popular—but sometimes clinically untested.
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In math, there are no dumb questions
Eugenia Cheng joins guest host Courtney Collins to discuss why we should approach math education as a journey of imagination, and why there are no dumb questions in the search for answers.
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How big state schools spend all of that tuition
Wall Street Journal higher education reporter Melissa Korn joins host Krys Boyd to discuss a look into 50 flagship state universities and how inflows of cash are not necessarily benefiting students – and how those schools justify their decisions.
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The dream the Taliban couldn’t kill
Sola Mahfouz is a quantum computing researcher at Tufts University Quantum Information Group. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss her life in Afghanistan under the Taliban and her daring escape to the U.S. for a more fulfilling life.
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Want to strengthen your brain? Learn another language
Viorica Marian is a professor of psychology at Northwestern University. She explains why she believes we all have the capacity to be multilingual and how that affects the ways we perceive the world.
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The real beneficiaries of affirmative action
Writer Bertrand Cooper makes the case that race-conscious admissions by universities frequently benefit students who are already from elite backgrounds and that it’s time to also consider socioeconomic status.
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What Holocaust education misses
Dara Horn joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why focusing on the atrocities of WWII hasn’t stopped growing antisemitism today – and to offer ways we need to expand education about Jewish life to combat it.
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The science, culture, and history of periods
Anthropology professor Kate Clancy joins Krys Boyd to discuss the science of periods, reproductive health, and the ways we hide this simple fact of nature from daily life.
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How learning a new skill helps you appreciate mastery
New Yorker staff writer Adam Gopnik joins us to discuss what it takes to master a skill and to explain why the real benefit comes not in becoming a virtuoso but, rather, in just forcing your brain to try something hard.
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