Best Universityofchicago Podcasts (2024)

1
The Illusion of Moral Decline 32:02

5h ago32:02

32:02

This year’s election might have been the most contentious in modern memory. It's not just that politics have changed, but it seems that people have too. You’ve probably heard this phrase: “People aren’t as kind as they used to be”. Maybe you’ve experienced the feeling that people are acting meaner to each other, year after year. But is it true? Are…

1
Is Bad Government Driving The Rise of Populism? 52:29

1h ago52:29

52:29

Hello Not Another Politics Podcast Listeners. We took some time off in preparation for the Thanksgiving Holiday but given the incredible political events of the month we wanted to re-share an episode that we think is even more relevant today than when we recorded it. Why is populism on the rise across the globe? One story says this movement is driv…

1
Can We Predict The Unpredictable? with J. Doyne Farmer 33:14

7d ago33:14

33:14

What if we could predict the economy the way we predict the weather? What if governments could run simulations to forecast the effects of new policies—before they happen? And what if the key to all of this lies in the same chaotic systems that explain spinning roulette wheels and rolling dice? J. Doyne Farmer is a University of Oxford professor, co…

1
Why Did Trump Win Again in 2024? 48:56

6d ago48:56

48:56

Trump’s back in the White House—how did it happen? This week, we break down what the political science literature has to tell us about why voters swung his way, what Kamala Harris’s loss tells us about populism and political discontent, and what’s next for American democracy. Plus, co-host Will Howell makes a big announcement!…

1
Unlocking The Secrets Of ‘SuperAgers’, with Emily Rogalski 22:33

21d ago22:33

22:33

https://haarc.center.uchicago.edu/We used to think aging inevitably led to memory loss, but a small group of people—known as SuperAgers—are defying the odds. These individuals, all over 80, have the memory performance of someone in the 50s. The question is: how? One of the leading experts studying SuperAgers is University of Chicago neurologist Emi…

1
Do Democrats and Republicans Agree on What (and Who) to Censor? 46:07

22d ago46:07

46:07

When it comes to online discourse, do Americans really value free speech—or are they more comfortable with censorship than expected? A surprising new paper from University of Rochester Political Scientist Jamie Druckman, “Illusory Interparty Disagreement: Partisans Agree On What Hate Speech To Censor But Do Not Know It” reveals a surprising alignme…

851
2024 Nobel Laureate Explains What Makes Countries Fail Or Succeed, with James A. Robinson 29:13

1M ago29:13

29:13

On Big Brains, we get to speak to a lot of groundbreaking scholars and experts, but some conversations we walk away knowing we’ve just heard from someone who is really changing the world. We certainly felt that way years ago after talking to University of Chicago scholar James Robinson, and it turns out…the Nobel Prize committee agreed in 2024 when…

1
Do Fraud Claims About The 2020 Presidential Election Stand Up To Scrutiny? 49:35

1M ago49:35

49:35

In the wake of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, claims of widespread voter fraud have fueled political controversies and public distrust. But how credible are these claims? In this episode, we sit down with political scientist Justin Grimmer to discuss his new paper “An Evaluation of Fraud Claims from the 2020 Trump Election Contests” which sys…

1201
Why Can’t Scientists Agree On The Age Of The Universe? with Wendy Freedman 24:28

2M ago24:28

24:28

How old is the universe—and how fast is it expanding? These are part of one of the biggest—and most contested—questions in science, and the answers could change our understanding of physics. In this episode, we talk with renowned UChicago astronomer Wendy Freedman, who’s spent decades trying to solve these very questions. There are two ways to meas…

1
What's Behind The Educational Realignment In Voting? 56:43

2M ago56:43

56:43

Ever thought about how your college degree might sway your political leanings? Voters with and without college degrees drifting apart, especially on issues like economics, social values, and foreign policy, but what's driving this shift, and how are party positions influencing voters across different education levels? A new paper from University of…

1
What Are We Getting Wrong About Young Voters?, with Cathy Cohen 28:45

2M ago28:45

28:45

One of the biggest questions of every election is: What’s going on with young voters? There is endless speculation on the news about what young people care about, but very little good research examining their views on the candidates and the issues that matter most to them. The first-of-its-kind GenForward Survey changed that when it was created in …

1
Why Are More Women Saying No To Having Kids? With Peggy O'Donnell Heffington 32:04

3M ago32:04

32:04

More and more women in the United States are saying no to motherhood. Alarmingly, in 2023, the U.S. fertility rate reached the lowest number on record. But the idea of non-motherhood is actually not a new phenomenon, nor did it come out of the modern feminist movement. For centuries, women have made choices about limiting births and whether or not …

1
Does Election Timing Matter For Turnout And Policy Outcomes? 42:33

3M ago42:33

42:33

We talk about it every election cycle…how can we get higher voter turnout? As part of the Center for Effective Government’s primer series focusing on the scholarship covering the pros and cons of different government reforms, University of Chicago Policy Professor Christopher Berry examined whether changing the timing of elections can result in hig…

1
How Homeownership Shaped Race In America, with Adrienne Brown 27:23

3M ago27:23

27:23

Race has played a huge role in the creation of mass homeownership in the United States. Discriminatory housing practices including redlining, exclusionary zoning and whitewashing led to great disparities in home ownership among White and Black homeowners. Despite the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968, the damage had been done to communities o…

1
Do Committees Lead To Better-Informed Legislative Voting? 37:46

3M ago37:46

37:46

In a recent paper by Washington University political scientist Michael Olson, he documents a very strange phenomenon. It seems that when legislators join committees, they’re voting record becomes less aligned with their constituents’ political preferences. The question is…why? Could it be that being on a committee means they’re just better informed…

1
Fighting Back Against AI Piracy, with Ben Zhao and Heather Zheng 28:31

4M ago28:31

28:31

If you’ve spent any time playing with modern AI image generators, it can seem like an almost magical experience; but the truth is these programs are more like a magic trick than magic. Without the human-generated art of hundreds of thousands of people, these programs wouldn’t work. But those artists are not getting compensated, in fact many of them…

1
The Bioelectric Future of Regenerative Medicine 28:23

4M ago28:23

28:23

In the near future, birth defects, traumatic injuries, limb loss and perhaps even cancer could be cured through bioelectricity—electrical signals that communicate to our cells how to rebuild themselves. This innovative idea has been tested on flatworms and frogs by biologist Michael Levin, whose research investigates how bioelectricity provides the…

1
Do Presidents Have As Much Power As We Think? 45:20

4M ago45:20

45:20

Since Biden’s debate performance, America’s political elite have been engaged in a debate. How much does a President really matter for effective government? If his administration seems to work fine, how much of an affect can a President have? At the same time, we important Supreme Court decisions that seem to be giving more power to Presidents whic…

1
Is Mindfulness The Secret To Health? 33:42

5M ago33:42

33:42

Can you heal faster just by tricking your brain? Could you lose weight with only a change of mindset? Could you think yourself into being younger? If you think the answer to all these questions is no, you haven’t read the research from renowned Harvard University psychologist Ellen Langer. Our podcast is taking a quick summer break, but we wanted t…

1
Do City Services Move Faster for Affluent and White Neighborhoods? 47:19

4M ago47:19

47:19

Have you ever made a 311 call? This is a service provided by many cities that allows citizens to call in things like potholes, graffiti, fallen trees, ect. There is an assumption that many people have that requests made by white and more affluent neighborhoods probably get responded to faster. But is that accurate? In a recent paper, “Unequal Respo…

1
Feeling Stuck? Here’s How To Achieve a Breakthrough, with Adam Alter 33:51

5M ago33:51

33:51

We've all been stuck at some point in our lives — whether we've been stuck at a job and wanting to make a career change, stuck in a location and wanting to move somewhere new, or stuck in relationships or friendships. But the method to getting “unstuck” and achieving a breakthrough might be easier than you think. Using research-backed tools, New Yo…

1
How To "Get Out The Vote" 42:02

5M ago42:02

42:02

Hello Not Another Politics Podcast listeners. We’re taking some much needed time off as the school year comes to a close; but with the elections right around the corner we still wanted to share some incredibly relevant and important political science research. Every Presidential election, we talk about “getting out the vote”. But what really works …

1
How Powerful Are October Surprises? 36:25

5M ago36:25

36:25

Hello Not Another Politics Podcast listeners. We’re taking some much needed time off as the school year comes to a close; but with the elections right around the corner we still wanted to share some incredibly relevant and important political science research. This week we’re resharing an episode all about October Surprises that has some counter in…

1
What Makes Something Memorable (or Forgettable?) with Wilma Bainbridge 26:33

5M ago26:33

26:33

There is a science to what we remember and what we don't. For instance, why do we remember certain pieces of artwork, some brands’ logos, or even people's faces? University of Chicago psychologist Wilma Bainbridge has been studying what makes things memorable for over a decade. Through her research, she has found that there is a common thread about…

1
Learning To Speak To Whales Using AI, with David Gruber 26:06

6M ago26:06

26:06

If aliens landed on Earth tomorrow, how would we talk with them? Well, we already have a kind of creature on this planet we could attempt to talk to first, and in the last few years a team of renowned scientists have been exploring the ocean studying sperm whales to get that conversation going. David Gruber is a professor of biology and environment…

1
Does The Public View The Supreme Court As Legitimate In A Post-Dobbs World ? 43:43

6M ago43:43

43:43

The Supreme Court is supposed to be our non-political branch of government, making decisions solely on the constitutional soundness of laws. But in recent years it appears as though the Court has taken a shift to the right, most notably in the Dobbs decision in 2022. Which raises a question: does the public still the view the Court as legitimate? T…

801
Storm Warning: Why Hurricanes Are Growing Beyond Measure, with Michael Wehner 27:34

6M ago27:34

27:34

We all know that extreme weather events like hurricanes are getting worse due to climate change, but what scientists would really like to know is: By how much worse exactly? This year a team of researchers argued that hurricanes have become so much more extreme due to climate change that we need to add a new category 6 to the Saffir-Simpson scale, …

1
How Good Are We At Spotting Fake News? 48:26

6M ago48:26

48:26

If the media is to be believed, the US public has a tenuous at best grasp on accurate political news. They’re either consuming disinformation and fake news on social media or following biasedly inaccurate news outlets. Either journalistic truth is as good as dead or we’re living in separate informational universes. But is this too alarmist, could t…

1
How To Manifest Your Future Using Neuroscience, with James Doty 31:20

7M ago31:20

31:20

We've all heard the phrase "Manifest Your Destiny" when it comes to wanting that new promotion, figuring out a new career path or just trying to achieve that long-term goal. It turns out that the act of manifestation is not merely pseudoscience—it actually has a body of research in neuroscience to back it up. Dr. James Doty has been exploring this …

1
Is Partisan Animosity Directed At Fellow Citizens Or Elites? 39:10

7M ago39:10

39:10

There is a fact of our political discourse so agreed upon that nobody thinks to question it: affective polarization…democrats and republicans disliking each other...has been getting worse, much worse. But what if that belief is actually based on polls measuring the wrong thing? That’s the argument made by Northwestern Political Scientist James Druc…

1
Why We Die—And How We Can Live Longer, with Nobel Laureate Venki Ramakrishnan 32:31

7M ago32:31

32:31

They’re perhaps the oldest questions in the science: Why do we die? And could we find a way to live forever? But for decades, anti-aging research was a “backwater” of the scientific community, consider too fanciful and unrealistic. That is until the last few years. Modern advances in biology have taught us a lot about how we age and why we die—coul…

1
Should Policy Match Voters' Preferences? 42:55

7M ago42:55

42:55

How do we know if our democracy is healthy? For political scientist, the answer often comes down to things we can measure like responsiveness to voter’s wishes. But is that really the right thing to measure? There are two camps in this debate. The empiricists want to focus on what and how we can measure things like the health of our democracy, ofte…

1
What Dogs Are Teaching Us About Aging, with Daniel Promislow 32:30

8M ago32:30

32:30

Every dog owner has faced the hard realization that their dog won’t live as long as they do, but we’ve all probably wondered: Why do some dogs live longer than others? It turns out that several factors are at play, according to the largest research study of dogs, known as The Dog Aging Project. Prof. Daniel Promislow of the University of Washington…

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