We try to fix election polling (update)
Polling is facing an existential crisis. People aren't picking up the phone. Nobody wants to talk to pollsters. Trust is…
What if an AI bubble bursts — and that accelerates AI job losses?
Research on past recessions suggests downturns can accelerate automation. That raises the specter of a double whammy for workers.
Wanna slow down AI? These biologists can help.
Fifty years ago, scientists pioneering a terrifying gene-splicing technology figured out a way to collectively hit pause. Can we do…
Should we all be getting tariff refunds right now?
Companies are getting billions of dollars back. How about us? It seems simple, right? We paid higher prices for imported…
Why American investors love European defense startups
As European defense spending takes off, just about half of the funding in Europe's defense tech industry is coming from…
Where all those weird new drinks are coming from
It's getting pretty wild in the beverage aisle these days — from the rainbow wall of seltzers, to the increasingly…
Middlegarchs are the new Oligarchs
Wanna know who is really in the top 1%? And how they use their influence? It may not be who…
Why this Pokémon set is dropping in value
How does one price a cemetery plot? Are they using dynamic pricing to figure it out? We tackle that question…
Is our national debt finally too much? (update)
(Note: A version of this episode originally ran in 2024.)$40,000,000,000,000. Four commas. Thirteen zeroes. It’s an eye-popping, almost infinite-sounding pile…
The Domino’s Pizza Tracker Theory of Everything
Did a pizza restaurant’s humble status page change how we wait forever? When you order a Lyft or Uber, you…