Many of us face snap decisions in which two of our core values come into conflict. We could get promoted, but only by spending less time with family, or be successful in the short term, but at the expense of long-term sustainability. Chicago Booth’s Lucia Annunzio calls these difficult decisions leadership “moments of truth,” and she advises executives that if they don’t have a plan on how they will make such decisions ahead of time, they might ending up regretting their choices.

In the US, 13 percent of refugees become entrepreneurs, compared to 9 percent of Americans born in the US. In this episode we hear from Andrew Leon Hanna, a Chicago Booth Adjunct Assistant Professor whose book 25 Million Sparks: The Untold Story of Refugee Entrepreneurs tells the stories of some refugees who started their own ventures. In the first of two podcasts about the book, he explained why he thinks refugees are so much more likely to become entrepreneurs.

Many of us think that our workplaces are not fair. Managers favor some employees over others, or give some people credit that’s due to someone else. Chicago Booth’s Lucia Annunzio warns that that can lead to resentment and even acts of sabotage. So how important is fairness, and how can you create an environment where people respect and understand decisions, even if they don’t like or agree with them?

Nearly 20 percent of Americans have medical debt. A hospital stay in the US on average leads to about $6,000 in unpaid medical bills for the uninsured, and more than $18,000 for about one in ten uninsured patients. Why is US healthcare so expensive? In this episode, we hear from Chicago Booth’s Matt Notowidigdo, in the first of two podcasts about his new book, Better Health Economics: An Introduction for Everyone, co-written with Boston University’s Tal Gross.

If you are married, you are statistically much more likely to report being happy than if you’re unmarried. In fact, Chicago Booth’s Sam Peltzman notes that the difference in terms of happiness is the same as either being in the top 10 percent of earners, or the bottom 10 percent. Having said that, his research also shows that the richer you are, the happier you are. In this episode, we talk with him about his research.

Companies in the US have faced a new kind of pressure in recent years from ‘stakeholder capitalism’ or ‘woke capitalism.’ How should corporations respond? In this episode, we bring you a conversation between Alison Taylor, a Clinical Associate Professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business and the author of the author of Higher Ground: How Business Can Do the Right Thing in a Turbulent World, and Chicago Booth’s John Paul Rollert. The conversation was recorded at an event co-sponsored by Chicago Booth Review, Booth’s Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation, and the Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.

AI promises to make us all be more productive, so what role does old-fashioned management play? Chicago Booth’s Chad Syverson says management still matters, and even the best technology won’t necessarily improve productivity if the right managers aren’t in place. But what does good management even mean in the age of hybrid work and remote teams?

The market for services is global, and many of us are used to having our issues fielded by someone in India. For decades, big companies in the US and Europe have set up global capability centers in India to handle back-office operations. In this episode, we hear from Chicago Booth’s Raghuram Rajan, who sees the future of India’s economy as moving from the back office to the front-of-house. This is the second of our two conversations with Rajan about his new book, Breaking the Mold: India’s Untraveled Path to Prosperity.

New York Times columnist David Brooks’ latest book, How to Know a Person is about our ability to know others, and to make them feel valued and understood. In this episode, Brooks talks to Chicago Booth’s Nick Epley about how seemingly small, everyday interactions can significantly shape our lives. Their conversation was part of the Think Better series, organized by Chicago Booth’s Roman Family Center for Decision Research.

Most US companies have a toxic culture, according to Lucia Annunzio, Adjunct Associate Professor of Executive Education at Chicago Booth. The hallmarks are a lack of transparency, short-termism, and top-down leadership. As a result, employees feel micromanaged, stressed, and disengaged. So what can managers do to stop the toxicity and create a healthy work culture?