00:00 — Introduction

00:18 — The Question That Breaks Every Answer

08:13 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- Wikipedia - Why Is There Anything at All?: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_is_there_anything_at_all

- The Conversation - Answering the Biggest Question of All: https://theconversation.com/answering-the-biggest-question-of-all-why-is-there-something-rather-than-nothing-65865

- Philosophy Now - Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?: https://philosophynow.org/issues/125/Why_Is_There_Something_Rather_Than_Nothing

- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Nothingness: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nothingness/

- Philosophy Break - Why Does Anything Exist?: https://philosophybreak.com/articles/why-does-anything-exist/

- University of Colorado - Leibniz's Argument from Sufficient Reason: https://spot.colorado.edu/~heathwoo/Phil100/leibniz.html

Full interactive experience at thehigheriq.com — skip between stories, test your recall, and get personalized briefings.

00:00 — Introduction

00:04 — Your Brain's Pharmacy

01:12 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- Science/AAAS - The Rising Placebo Effect: https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/rising-placebo-effect

- PMC - A Model of Placebo Response in Antidepressant Clinical Trials: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3628961/

- Cognivia - Understanding the Placebo Effect: Increasing Clinical Trial Success: https://cognivia.com/understanding-the-placebo-effect-increasing-clinical-trial-success/

- PMC - Justice for Placebo: Placebo Effect in Clinical Trials and Everyday Practice: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11944128/

- PMC - Factors Contributing to the Increasing Placebo Response in Antidepressant Trials: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4592649/

- Psychology Today - The Curious Case of the Growing Placebo Effect: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/straight-talk/201803/the-curious-case-the-growing-placebo-effect

- Pulitzer Center - People Susceptible to the Placebo Effect May Be Keeping Us from Getting New Drugs: https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/people-susceptible-placebo-effect-may-be-keeping-us-getting-new-drugs

- New England Journal of Medicine - A Controlled Trial of Arthroscopic Surgery for Osteoarthritis of the Knee (Moseley et al, 2002): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12110735/

- Scientific American - Study Suggests Common Knee Surgery's Effect Is Purely Placebo: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/study-suggests-common-kne/

- ScienceDaily - Study Finds Common Knee Surgery No Better Than Placebo: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/07/020712075415.htm

- PMC - A Brief History of Placebos and Clinical Trials in Psychiatry: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3714297/

Full interactive experience at thehigheriq.com — skip between stories, test your recall, and get personalized briefings.

00:00 — Introduction

00:35 — Thirty Nine Days

01:22 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- NPR - U.S. and Iran Agree to 2-Week Ceasefire (April 7, 2026): https://www.npr.org/2026/04/07/nx-s1-5776377/iran-war-updates

- NBC News - Trump Announces 2-Week Iran Ceasefire: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-threat-whole-civilization-will-die-iran-war-deadline-hormuz-rcna267059

- Time - Trump Agrees to Ceasefire With Iran, Backs Off Threat of Sweeping Strikes: https://time.com/article/2026/04/07/trump-iran-war-threat-steps-back/

- Al Jazeera - Trump Announces Two-Week Ceasefire as Iran Agrees to Reopen Hormuz: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/7/trump-suspends-iran-bombing-for-two-weeks-following-dire-threats

- Military.com - Inside Trump's Iran Ceasefire Deal: https://www.military.com/feature/2026/04/08/trumps-iran-ceasefire.html

- Wikipedia - 2026 Iran War: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iran_war

- Britannica - 2026 Iran War: https://www.britannica.com/event/2026-Iran-war

- Wikipedia - Prelude to the 2026 Iran War: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prelude_to_the_2026_Iran_war

- UK House of Commons Library - US/Israel-Iran Conflict 2026: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10521/

- Council on Foreign Relations - Iran's War With Israel and the United States: https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/confrontation-between-united-states-and-iran

- AJC - The Iran Strikes, Explained: https://www.ajc.org/news/the-iran-strikes-explained-how-we-got-here-and-what-it-means

Full interactive experience at thehigheriq.com — skip between stories, test your recall, and get personalized briefings.

00:00 — Introduction

00:22 — The Degree That Ate Your Savings

00:22 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- Saving for College - History of Student Loans: The Bennett Hypothesis: https://www.savingforcollege.com/article/history-of-student-loans-the-bennett-hypothesis

- Richmond Fed - Do Student Loans Drive Up College Tuition?: https://www.richmondfed.org/publications/research/economic_brief/2022/eb_22-32

- Mercatus Center - Reevaluating the Effects of Federal Financing in Higher Education: https://www.mercatus.org/research/policy-briefs/reevaluating-effects-federal-financing-higher-education

- Education Data Initiative - College Tuition Inflation Rate: https://educationdata.org/college-tuition-inflation-rate

- Education Data Initiative - Average Cost of College by Year: https://educationdata.org/average-cost-of-college-by-year

- CBS News - How Demand and Administrative Costs Drive Up College Costs: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/college-tuition-cost-rise-loans-administrative-bloat/

- Economics Online - Tuition and Administrative Bloat: Examining Cost Disease: https://www.economicsonline.co.uk/managing_the_economy/tuition-and-administrative-bloat-examining-the-economic-principle-of-cost-disease.html/

- FREOPP - Why College Is Too Expensive and How Competition Can Fix It: https://freopp.org/whitepapers/why-college-is-too-expensive-and-how-competition-can-fix-it/

- American Action Forum - Analyzing the Effects of Student Loan Limits on Tuition: https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/analyzing-the-effects-of-the-obbbs-student-loan-limits-on-tuition/

- Tucson.com - The Earnings vs Tuition Gap: https://tucson.com/life-entertainment/article_152387e7-4ebb-5945-a8e7-aa4e3d8eba59.html

- Center for American Progress - Recent Trends in the Cost of College: https://www.americanprogress.org/article/recent-trends-in-the-cost-of-college-show-the-continued-importance-of-federal-and-state-investment/

Full interactive experience at thehigheriq.com — skip between stories, test your recall, and get personalized briefings.

00:00 — Introduction

00:07 — The Rate Your State Can't Touch

00:07 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- Wikipedia - Marquette National Bank v. First of Omaha Service Corp.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquette_National_Bank_of_Minneapolis_v._First_of_Omaha_Service_Corp.

- Nasdaq - How a Supreme Court Ruling Killed Off Usury Laws for Credit Card Rates: https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/how-supreme-court-ruling-killed-usury-laws-credit-card-rates-2010-11-12

- Washington Post - The Man Who Turned a State Into America's Switzerland: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/the-man-who-turned-a-state-into-americas-switzerland/2021/10/16/c845458c-2e81-11ec-b17d-985c186de338_story.html

- Cambridge Business History Review - Citibank, Credit Cards, and the Local Politics of National Consumer Finance: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/business-history-review/article/citibank-credit-cards-and-the-local-politics-of-national-consumer-finance-19681991/680B71265464A22A9B83108EEE336547

- Davenport Evans - When Citibank Came to South Dakota: https://dehs.com/why-south-dakota/

- Davenport Evans - What Paul Volcker Did for South Dakota: https://dehs.com/what-paul-volcker-did-for-south-dakota/

- Legal History (Jotwell) - The Rise of Credit Cards and the Fall of the New Deal Order: https://legalhist.jotwell.com/the-rise-of-credit-cards-and-the-fall-of-the-new-deal-order/

- Sioux City Journal - Credit Card Industry Helping Dakota Dunes Grow: https://siouxcityjournal.com/business/credit-card-industry-helping-dakota-dunes-grow/article_2debff69-2278-5094-8c05-0aed832cbcac.html

- CardsForTheWin - More on Usury Laws: https://www.cardsftw.com/cardsftw-171-more-on-usury-laws/

- Northern Public Radio - The Supreme Court Case That May Have Cost You Thousands: https://www.northernpublicradio.org/wnij-news/2022-02-22/perspective-the-supreme-court-case-that-may-have-cost-you-thousands-of-dollars

Full interactive experience at thehigheriq.com — skip between stories, test your recall, and get personalized briefings.

00:00 — Introduction

00:31 — The Holiday That Belongs To Everyone

05:42 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- Smithsonian Magazine - The Ancient Origins of the Easter Bunny: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-ancient-origins-of-the-easter-bunny-180979915/

- The Conversation - Sacred Hares, Banished Witches, and Pagan Worship: The Roots of Easter Bunny Traditions: https://theconversation.com/sacred-hares-banished-winter-witches-and-pagan-worship-the-roots-of-easter-bunny-traditions-are-ancient-180484

- Library of Congress Folklife - Ostara and the Hare: https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2016/04/ostara-and-the-hare/

- Wikipedia - Easter Bunny: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Bunny

- Fox Weather - How Easter Bunny and Eggs Originated from Ancient Spring Traditions: https://www.foxweather.com/lifestyle/easter-bunny-eggs-ancient-spring-traditions-christian-pagan

- Virginia Tech News - How Did a Bunny and Colored Eggs Become Easter Symbols?: https://news.vt.edu/articles/2025/04/easter-history.html

- Sky HISTORY - The Pagan Roots of Easter: https://www.history.co.uk/articles/the-pagan-roots-of-easter

- HISTORY - 6 Spring Equinox Rituals That Celebrate Renewal: https://www.history.com/articles/spring-equinox-ancient-rituals

- Interfaith America - What Religious Holidays Are Happening This Spring?: https://www.interfaithamerica.org/article/spring-religious-holidays/

- Smith College Center for Religious and Spiritual Life - The Glowing Influence of the Spring Equinox: https://sites.smith.edu/religious-spiritual-life/2017/05/15/glowing-influence-spring-equinox/

Full interactive experience at thehigheriq.com — skip between stories, test your recall, and get personalized briefings.

00:34 — The Businesses That Can’t Afford To Exist

00:58 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- The Local France - How Does Paris Sustain So Many Independent Shops?: https://www.thelocal.fr/20180622/how-do-all-the-independent-shops-in-paris-survive

- NPR/WVTF - Paris Bookstores Are Designated Essential (2021): https://www.wvtf.org/2021-05-16/paris-bookstores-are-designated-essential-but-these-landmarks-struggle-to-survive

- Publishing Perspectives - Despite the Odds, a New Independent Bookstore Opens in Paris: https://publishingperspectives.com/2018/10/ici-independent-bookstore-paris-opens-despite-odds/

- SF.gov - Legacy Business Program: https://www.sf.gov/legacy-business-program

- SF.gov - Small Business Commission Adds 16 New Legacy Businesses (2024): https://www.sf.gov/news--san-francisco-small-business-commission-adds-16-new-legacy-businesses-while-improving-programs

- Preservation Chicago - Support Chicago Legacy Businesses: https://www.preservationchicago.org/policy/preservation-policy-recommendations/support-chicago-legacy-businesses/

- Strong Towns - How a Local Bookstore Can Make Your Town Richer: https://archive.strongtowns.org/journal/2019/1/8/local-bookstores

- Michigan Journal of Economics - The Future of Print Books and Bookstores: https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/mje/2021/04/01/the-future-of-print-books-and-bookstores/

- Bookstore Economics 101 - Steve Laube Agency: https://stevelaube.com/bookstore-economics-101/

- Katom - San Francisco's Legacy Businesses: https://www.katom.com/learning-center/san-francisco-legacy-business.html

Full interactive experience at thehigheriq.com — skip between stories, test your recall, and get personalized briefings.

00:00 — Introduction

00:39 — The Fifty Four Year Gap

01:20 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- NASA - Liftoff! NASA Launches Astronauts on Historic Artemis Moon Mission (April 1, 2026): https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/liftoff-nasa-launches-astronauts-on-historic-artemis-moon-mission/

- NASA - Artemis II Launch Day Updates: https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/04/01/live-artemis-ii-launch-day-updates/

- NASA - Artemis II Leaves Earth Orbit for Moon (April 2, 2026): https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasas-artemis-ii-mission-leaves-earth-orbit-for-flight-around-moon/

- NBC News - NASA Launches Artemis II Astronauts on Mission Around the Moon: https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/live-blog/nasa-artemis-ii-launch-time-watch-moon-mission-live-updates-rcna257132

- Wikipedia - Artemis II: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_II

- Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum - Ending Apollo: Why Did We Stop Going to the Moon?: https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/why-did-we-stop-going-moon

- Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum - Why Has It Been 50 Years Since Humans Went to the Moon?: https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/why-50-years-since-humans-went-moon

- The Conversation - Why Has It Taken So Long to Return to the Moon?: https://theconversation.com/why-has-it-taken-so-long-to-return-to-the-moon-274640

- Wikipedia - Canceled Apollo Missions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canceled_Apollo_missions

- ScienceInsights - Why Did We Stop Going to the Moon? The Real Reasons: https://scienceinsights.org/why-did-we-stop-going-to-the-moon-the-real-reasons/

- GWU Space Policy Institute - Lessons from the Past: https://spi.elliott.gwu.edu/files/2018/11/Logsdon-Lessons-from-the-Past-Why-the-U.S.-Decided-Not-to-Explore-After-Going-to-the-Moon-1vcit1f.pdf

Full interactive experience at thehigheriq.com — skip between stories, test your recall, and get personalized briefings.

00:00 — Introduction

00:07 — The Accident That Built American Healthcare

04:21 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- Wikipedia - Stabilization Act of 1942: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabilization_Act_of_1942

- PeopleKeep - The Complete History of Employer-Provided Health Insurance: https://www.peoplekeep.com/blog/the-complete-history-of-employer-provided-health-insurance

- Harvard Petrie-Flom Center - The Once and Future Cadillac Tax: https://petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2015/10/15/the-once-and-future-cadillac-tax/

- NCBI Bookshelf - Origins and Evolution of Employment-Based Health Benefits: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK235989/

- AEI - Kill the Tax Exclusion for Health Insurance: https://www.aei.org/articles/kill-the-tax-exclusion-for-health-insurance/

- NBER - Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance and Health Reform: https://www.nber.org/bah/2009no2/employer-sponsored-health-insurance-and-health-reform

- The Hill - The Employer-Health Insurance Connection: An Accident of History: https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/469739-the-employer-health-insurance-connection-an-accident-of-history/

- KFF - International Comparison of Health Systems: https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/health-policy-101-international-comparison-of-health-systems/

- PNHP - Health Care Systems: Four Basic Models: https://www.pnhp.org/single_payer_resources/health_care_systems_four_basic_models.php

- PMC - Bismarck and the Long Road to Universal Health Coverage: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7149836/

- PMC - Comparing Health Systems in Four Countries: Lessons for the United States: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1447691/

- Vera Whole Health - 4 Major National Healthcare Models: https://www.verawholehealth.com/blog/global-healthcare-4-major-national-models-and-how-they-work

Full interactive experience at thehigheriq.com — skip between stories, test your recall, and get personalized briefings.

00:00 — Introduction

00:35 — The Tax You're Not Supposed To See

00:54 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- ProPublica - Inside TurboTax's 20-Year Fight to Stop Americans From Filing Their Taxes for Free: https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free

- ProPublica - How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing: https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-maker-of-turbotax-fought-free-simple-tax-filing

- NBC News - TurboTax, H&R Block Spend Big Bucks Lobbying for Us to Keep Doing Our Own Taxes: https://www.nbcnews.com/business/taxes/turbotax-h-r-block-spend-millions-lobbying-us-keep-doing-n736386

- Wikipedia - TurboTax: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TurboTax

- ITEP - Intuit Helped Limit Americans' Tax Filing Options While Raking in Millions in Tax Breaks (Jan 2026): https://itep.org/intuit-helped-limit-americans-tax-filing-options-while-raking-in-millions-in-tax-breaks/

- Senator Elizabeth Warren - Demand Intuit Explain Continued Efforts to Kill IRS Direct File (April 2025): https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/ahead-of-tax-day-warren-wyden-pocan-demand-intuit-explain-continued-efforts-to-kill-irs-free-filing-alternative-overcharge-taxpayers-on-turbotax

- Tax Policy Center - What Are Prepopulated Tax Returns?: https://taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/what-are-prepopulated-tax-returns

- The Conversation - Why Can't the IRS Just Send Americans a Refund or a Bill?: https://theconversation.com/why-cant-the-irs-just-send-americans-a-refund-or-a-bill-156733

- PBS NewsHour - Dreading Taxes? Other Countries Show There's Another Way: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/dreading-taxes-countries-show-us-theres-another-way

- Quartz - Filing Your US Taxes Late? Other Countries Will Make You Jealous: https://qz.com/2156055/filing-your-us-taxes-late-other-countries-will-make-you-jealous

- CNBC - Pre-Populated Tax Returns May Be Possible, NBER Research Shows: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/18/pre-populated-tax-returns-may-be-possible-research-shows.html

Full interactive experience at thehigheriq.com — skip between stories, test your recall, and get personalized briefings.