00:00 — Introduction

00:15 — The Spoon in Your Brain

01:21 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- Levine, Swan et al. - Temporal trends in sperm count: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis, Human Reproduction Update (2017): https://academic.oup.com/humupd/article/23/6/646/4035689

- Nihart et al. - Bioaccumulation of microplastics in decedent human brains, Nature Medicine (2025): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03453-1

- Monikh et al. - Challenges in studying microplastics in human brain, Nature Medicine (2025): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-025-04045-3

- Marfella et al. - Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Atheromas and Cardiovascular Events, NEJM (2024): https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2309822

- The Plastic Detox documentary - Netflix (March 2026): https://www.netflix.com/title/82074244

- Food Packaging Forum analysis of The Plastic Detox study: https://foodpackagingforum.org/news/the-plastic-detox-documentary-examines-plastic-products-and-fertility

- Science Media Centre - Expert reactions to brain microplastics study: https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-a-study-investigating-the-accumulation-of-microplastics-in-human-organs/

- Stanford Medicine - Microplastics and our health: What the science says (2025): https://med.stanford.edu/news/insights/2025/01/microplastics-in-body-polluted-tiny-plastic-fragments.html

- Breakthrough Institute - The Microplastics Panic (2026): https://www.breakthroughjournal.org/p/the-microplastics-panic

- American Bar Association - Emerging Issues in Microplastics Litigation: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/resources/newsletters/products-liability/emerging-issues-microplastics-litigation/

- Arnold & Porter - Microplastics: The Future of Toxic Tort Litigation: https://www.arnoldporter.com/en/perspectives/advisories/2025/11/microplastics-toxic-tort-litigation

- Our World in Data - Global plastics production: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/global-plastics-production

- Our World in Data - Plastic Pollution: https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution

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

00:00 — Introduction

00:10 — The Train That Divided a City

01:20 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- How Racial Discrimination Shaped Atlanta's Transportation Mess (Streetsblog USA): https://usa.streetsblog.org/2017/02/08/how-racial-discrimination-shaped-atlantas-transportation-mess

- Riding the color line: How race built Atlanta's MARTA system (Atlanta Journal-Constitution): https://ajc-ajc-prod.web.arc-cdn.net/news/2025/10/riding-the-color-line-how-race-built-atlantas-marta-system/

- Where It All Went Wrong (Atlanta Magazine): https://www.atlantamagazine.com/great-reads/marta-tsplost-transportation/

- Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (New Georgia Encyclopedia): https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/business-economy/metropolitan-atlanta-rapid-transit-authority-marta/

- New Study Examines How Historic Racism Shaped Atlanta's Transportation Network (Rice University Kinder Institute): https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/new-study-examines-how-historic-racism-shaped-atlantas-transportation-network

- A Well-Tied Knot: Atlanta's Mobility Crisis and the 2012 T-SPLOST Debate (Southern Spaces): https://southernspaces.org/2013/well-tied-knot-atlantas-mobility-crisis-and-2012-t-splost-debate/

- Economic Impact of Public Transit (APTA): https://www.apta.com/research-technical-resources/economic-impact-of-public-transit/

- Economic Impact of Public Transportation Investment 2020 Update (APTA): https://www.apta.com/research-technical-resources/research-reports/economic-impact-of-public-transportation-investment/

- The Impact of Public Transit on the Workforce and Local Economies (Modeshift): https://www.modeshift.com/thimpact-of-public-transit-on-the-workforce-and-local-economies-us/

- Investing in Public Transit Systems Can Empower Workers and Transform Urban Economies (World Bank): https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2022/10/31/investing-in-public-transit-systems-can-empower-workers-and-transform-urban-economies

- The year that transit became a potent election-year issue in metro Atlanta (Atlanta Journal-Constitution): https://www.ajc.com/blog/politics/the-year-that-transit-became-potent-election-year-issue-metro-atlanta/32aXv56piaNPlTp0kxA6HI/

- Georgia cityhood push divides: White flight or self-rule? (Georgia Public Broadcasting): https://www.gpb.org/news/2022/03/04/georgia-cityhood-push-divides-white-flight-or-self-rule

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

00:00 — Introduction

00:40 — The Number That Runs Your Life

01:29 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- The History of the FICO Score (myFICO): https://www.myfico.com/credit-education/blog/history-of-the-fico-score

- FICO (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FICO

- When Were Credit Scores Invented? A Brief History (OppU): https://www.opploans.com/oppu/building-credit/a-brief-history-of-credit-scores/

- The History of the Credit Score Explained (Integra Credit): https://www.integracredit.com/blog/when-was-the-credit-score-invented

- Credit score in the United States (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_score_in_the_United_States

- How structural racism plays a role in lowering credit scores (CNBC): https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/11/how-structural-racism-plays-a-role-in-lowering-credit-scores.html

- Credit scores are supposed to be race-neutral. That's impossible. (National Employment Law Project / Washington Post): https://www.nelp.org/credit-scores-are-supposed-to-be-race-neutral-thats-impossible/

- How Race Impacts Credit: The History And Effect On Lending Practices (Bankrate): https://www.bankrate.com/personal-finance/credit/does-race-affect-credit-score/

- The Discriminatory Impact of Credit Scores (Public Justice): https://www.publicjustice.net/the-discriminatory-impact-of-credit-scores/

- Criticism of credit scoring systems in the United States (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_credit_scoring_systems_in_the_United_States

- Credit Score Myths Debunked (CNBC Select): https://www.cnbc.com/select/credit-score-myths-debunked/

- 11 Credit Myths Debunked (Experian): https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/credit-myths-vs-facts/

- Founder of FICO, William Fair brought data analysis to credit scores (SI History): https://history.siprep.org/founder-of-fico-william-fair-39-brought-data-analysis-to-credit-scores/

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

00:00 — Introduction

00:02 — The Billion-Dollar Amateur Hour

02:27 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- March Madness TV Rights Top $1B as NCAA Diversifies Revenue Streams (Sportico): https://www.sportico.com/leagues/college-sports/2026/march-madness-broadcast-rights-billion-cbs-turner-1234887499/

- NCAA's March Madness Brings Bulk of Revenue to Embattled Organization (Sportico): https://www.sportico.com/leagues/college-sports/2024/ncaa-march-madness-revenue-billion-1234771183/

- NCAA Finances (NCAA): https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2021/5/4/finances.aspx

- Explaining March Madness payouts and how schools make millions (Yahoo Sports): https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/explaining-march-madness-payouts-schools-223836096.html

- How March Madness Funds the NCAA: A Paradox of Fandom (Sportsepreneur): https://sportsepreneur.com/how-march-madness-funds-the-ncaa/

- NCAA Amateurism Came from England and it was a Bad Fit (5th Down CFB): https://www.5thdowncfb.com/post/the-early-days-of-college-football-and-the-ncaa-demonstrated-that-the-english-model-of-amateurism-wa

- Tracing The Origins Of College Sports Amateurism (WBUR Only A Game): https://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2017/10/13/ncaa-amateurism-origins-history

- Sorry, NCAA. Amateurism is actually un-American. (Sports on Earth): http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/83022400/ncaa-amateurism-independence-day

- No more charades: College amateurism is officially dead (ESPN): https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/44633521/amateurism-ever-existed-college-sports-officially-dead

- The Origins of Amateurism; Or, Why College Sports Are So Messed Up (Deadspin): https://deadspin.com/the-origins-of-amateurism-or-why-college-sports-are-s-1566714902/

- College football amateurism debate: A history back to the 1800s (Banner Society): https://www.bannersociety.com/2019/10/4/18716003/college-football-amateurism-history

- Amateurism in the NCAA (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateurism_in_the_NCAA

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

00:00 — Introduction

00:05 — The Do-More-With-Less Machine

00:05 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- Meta stock climbs nearly 3% on report of planned layoffs to offset AI spending (CNBC): https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/16/meta-ai-costs-mass-layoffs-20percent-up-premarket.html

- Companies Are Laying Off Workers Because of AI's Potential, Not Its Performance (Harvard Business Review): https://hbr.org/2026/01/companies-are-laying-off-workers-because-of-ais-potential-not-its-performance

- AI layoffs are looking more and more like corporate fiction, Oxford Economics suggests (Fortune): https://fortune.com/2026/01/07/ai-layoffs-convenient-corporate-fiction-true-false-oxford-economics-productivity/

- AI-washing and forever layoffs: Why companies keep cutting jobs, even amid rising profits (Fortune): https://fortune.com/2026/02/10/ai-washing-and-forever-layoffs-why-companies-keep-cutting-jobs-even-amid-rising-profits/

- The AI layoff trap: Why half will be quietly rehired (HR Executive): https://hrexecutive.com/the-ai-layoff-trap-why-half-will-be-quietly-rehired/

- More companies are pointing to AI as they lay off employees (CBS News): https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ai-layoffs-2026-artificial-intelligence-amazon-pinterest/

- AI isn't causing a jobs-pocalypse. At least, not yet (CNN): https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/02/business/ai-tech-jobs-layoffs

- Tech companies are blaming massive layoffs on AI. What's really going on? (The Conversation / TechXplore): https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-tech-companies-blaming-massive-layoffs.html

- Klarna CEO admits aggressive AI job cuts went too far (MLQ.ai): https://mlq.ai/news/klarna-ceo-admits-aggressive-ai-job-cuts-went-too-far-starts-hiring-again-after-us-ipo/

- Klarna Is Hiring Customer Service Agents After AI Couldn't Cut It (Entrepreneur): https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/klarna-ceo-reverses-course-by-hiring-more-humans-not-ai/491396

- Companies backtrack after going all in on AI (Information Age): https://ia.acs.org.au/article/2025/companies-backtrack-after-going-all-in-on-ai.html

- US employee engagement falls to 10-year low (HR Dive): https://www.hrdive.com/news/us-employee-engagement-falls-to-10-year-low/737270/

- Gallup 2025 State of the Global Workplace (Gallup): https://www.gallup.com/workplace/702881/women-show-stronger-employee-engagement-amid-higher-burnout.aspx

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

00:00 — Introduction

00:05 — The Accident That Became Your Retirement

02:51 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- A brief history of the 401(k), which changed how Americans retire (CNBC): https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/04/a-brief-history-of-the-401k-which-changed-how-americans-retire.html

- Meet the Man Who Invented Modern Retirement (HISTORY): https://www.history.com/articles/meet-the-man-who-invented-modern-retirement-401k

- The Great 401(k) Experiment Has Failed for Many Americans (NBC News): https://www.nbcnews.com/business/retirement/great-401-k-experiment-has-failed-many-americans-n327321

- The Surprising Origins of Your 401(k) (Nasdaq): https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/the-surprising-origins-of-your-401k-2013-07-08

- Ted Benna: The Man You've Never Heard Of (National Public Pension Coalition): https://publicpensions.org/ted-benna-man-youve-never-heard/

- Forgotten and Lost 401(k) Assets Hit $2.1 Trillion (401k Specialist Magazine): https://401kspecialistmag.com/forgotten-401k-assets-hit-2-1-trillion/

- The True Cost of Forgotten 401(k) Accounts (2025) (Capitalize): https://www.hicapitalize.com/resources/the-true-cost-of-forgotten-401ks/

- Retirement savings lost and found helps retirees track down old 401(k)s (CNBC): https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/04/retirement-savings-lost-and-found.html

- Tracking Down a Lost 401(k) (Charles Schwab): https://www.schwab.com/learn/story/tracking-down-lost-401k

- Using a 401(k) Withdrawal for a Home Purchase (Chase): https://www.chase.com/personal/mortgage/education/buying-a-home/401k-withdrawal-for-home-purchase

- Is Trump Moving to Allow Early 401(k) Withdrawals for Home Purchases? (NAPA): https://www.napa-net.org/news/2026/1/is-trump-moving-to-allow-early-401k-withdrawals-for-home-purchases/

- Bill Would Allow 401(k) Savers to Withdraw Funds for Down Payment (SHRM): https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/benefits-compensation/bill-would-allow-401k-savers-to-withdraw-funds-down-payment

- Evolution and history of the 401(k) (Guideline): https://www.guideline.com/education/articles/evolution-of-401k

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

00:00 — Introduction

00:57 — The Sanctions That Built a Shadow Navy

04:44 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- Trump administration allows for Russian oil sales as energy prices soar (The Washington Post): https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/03/12/russian-oil-sanctions-lifted-iran/

- Russia sees Trump's moves on oil as a financial windfall during Iran war (The Washington Post): https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/03/14/russia-oil-sanction-iran-war-trump/

- Trump eases Russian oil sanctions as Iran war sends prices spiking (NBC News): https://www.nbcnews.com/world/russia/trump-eases-russian-oil-sanctions-iran-war-prices-ukraine-europe-rcna263310

- Oil prices stay high despite US temporarily lifting sanctions on Russian oil (CNN): https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/13/energy/us-russia-sanctions-relief-oil-hnk-intl

- U.S. eases some sanctions on Russian oil, but crude prices remain high (PBS): https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-eases-some-sanctions-on-russian-oil-but-crude-prices-remain-high

- U.S. lifts sanctions on Russian oil already loaded onto tankers (Fortune): https://fortune.com/2026/03/14/us-sanctions-russian-oil-tankers-crude-prices-shipments-strait-of-hormuz/

- Trump Faces European Rebuke Over Easing Russian Oil Sanctions (TIME): https://time.com/article/2026/03/13/trump-europe-russia-oil-sanctions-iran-war/

- Treasury Intensifies Sanctions Against Russia by Targeting Oil Production and Exports (U.S. Department of the Treasury): https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2777

- How Iran, China, and Russia Use the Shadow Fleet to Evade US Sanctions (Middle East Institute): https://mei.edu/policymemo/how-iran-china-and-russia-use-the-shadow-fleet-to-evade-us-sanctions/

- Russian shadow fleet (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_shadow_fleet

- Is a Shadow Fleet Really Circumventing the Russian Price Cap? (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace): https://carnegieendowment.org/russia-eurasia/politika/2024/09/russia-oil-fleet-sanctions?lang=en

- Trump Lifts Certain Russia-Related Oil Sanctions (Global Economic Report): https://www.globaleconomicreport.com/trump-lifts-certain-russia-related-oil-sanctions/

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

00:00 — Introduction

00:03 — Why America Stopped Building Houses

00:03 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- Here's What's In the Sweeping Housing Bill the Senate Passed (TIME): https://time.com/article/2026/03/13/housing-bill-congress-prices-affordability-construction/

- Senate passes major housing affordability bill by Elizabeth Warren and Tim Scott (NBC News): https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/senate-passes-major-housing-affordability-bill-warren-scott-rcna263046

- Senate passes bipartisan housing bill targeting large investors and easing regulations (NPR): https://www.npr.org/2026/03/12/nx-s1-5742566/senate-bipartisan-housing-bill-investors-ban

- Senate passes bipartisan housing bill to improve access and affordability (AP via WHYY): https://whyy.org/articles/senate-housing-bill-affordability-access-bipartisan/

- Trump-backed affordable housing overhaul clears Senate, while House GOP raises red flags (Fox News): https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-backed-affordable-housing-overhaul-clears-senate-while-house-gop-raises-red-flags

- Housing Supply: Still Undersupplied by Millions of Units (Freddie Mac): https://www.freddiemac.com/research/insight/housing-supply-still-undersupplied

- US housing deficit grew to 4.7 million despite construction surge (Zillow): https://investors.zillowgroup.com/investors/news-and-events/news/news-details/2025/US-housing-deficit-grew-to-4-7-million-despite-construction-surge/default.aspx

- The State of Housing in America (U.S. Chamber of Commerce): https://www.uschamber.com/economy/the-state-of-housing-in-america

- 2023 Housing Underproduction in the U.S. (Up For Growth): https://upforgrowth.org/apply-the-vision/2023-housing-underproduction/

- GAO Report on Institutional Investments in Single-Family Rental Housing (National Low Income Housing Coalition): https://nlihc.org/resource/gao-releases-report-institutional-investments-single-family-rental-housing

- Do private equity firms own 20% of single family homes? (Econofact): https://econofact.org/factbrief/do-private-equity-firms-own-20-of-single-family-homes

- A Profile of Institutional Investor-Owned Single-Family Rental Properties (Urban Institute): https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/2023-08/A%20Profile%20of%20Institutional%20Investor%E2%80%93Owned%20Single-Family%20Rental%20Properties.pdf

- Are Institutions Buying Up Single-Family Homes? (The Daily Economy / AEI): https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/are-institutions-buying-up-single-family-homes/

- Charting a 22-year roller coaster of investor activity (John Burns Research and Consulting): https://jbrec.com/insights/charting-a-22-year-roller-coaster-of-investor-activity/

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

00:00 — Introduction

00:16 — The Tip That Became a Wage

00:22 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- The Racist History Behind America's Tipping Culture (Shriver Center on Poverty Law): https://www.povertylaw.org/article/the-racist-history-behind-americas-tipping-culture/

- Here's the Troubling History Behind Tipping Practices in the U.S. (TIME): https://time.com/5404475/history-tipping-american-restaurants-civil-war/

- The disturbing history of tipping in the U.S.: 'It's literally a slave wage' (CBS News): https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tipping-jobs-history-slave-wage-cbsn-originals-documentary/

- American tipping is rooted in slavery — and it still hurts workers today (Ford Foundation): https://www.fordfoundation.org/news-and-stories/stories/american-tipping-is-rooted-in-slavery-and-it-still-hurts-workers-today/

- The Anti-Tipping Movement (NPR Throughline): https://www.npr.org/2021/03/22/980047710/the-land-of-the-fee

- In the U.S., tipping has a complex and controversial history (Restaurant Business): https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/operations/us-tipping-has-complex-controversial-history

- The Racist History of Tipping (Bunk History): https://www.bunkhistory.org/resources/the-racist-history-of-tipping

- Tipping is a racist relic and a modern tool of economic oppression (Economic Policy Institute): https://www.epi.org/publication/rooted-racism-tipping/

- Tipflation: Why It Feels Like You're Being Asked to Tip on Everything (Kiplinger): https://www.kiplinger.com/personal-finance/spending/tipflation

- Tip Fatigue Is Real: It's Killing Trust (The Robin Report): https://therobinreport.com/tip-fatigue-is-real-its-killing-trust/

- The 2026 US Tipping Chart (Splitty): https://splittyapp.com/learn/tipping-chart-2026/

- Tipping Culture in 2026: Where Do We Draw the Line? (Hip2Save): https://hip2save.com/news/tipping-culture-fatigue/

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

00:00 — Introduction

00:08 — The Last Clean Reading

00:08 — Wrap Up

Sources:

- CPI inflation report February 2026: CPI rose 2.4% annually, as expected (CNBC): https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/11/cpi-inflation-report-february-2026.html

- Here's the inflation breakdown for February 2026 — in one chart (CNBC): https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/11/cpi-inflation-february-2026-breakdown.html

- Consumer Price Index - February 2026 (Bureau of Labor Statistics): https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/cpi_03112026.htm

- February CPI Report Is Tame, But Higher Inflation's Coming (Kiplinger): https://www.kiplinger.com/investing/economy/cpi-report-february-2026-what-to-expect

- February 2026 CPI: Inflation held steady but remained above the Fed's target (Fox Business): https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/cpi-inflation-february-2026

- Consumer Price Index: Inflation at 2.4% in February, as Expected (Advisor Perspectives): https://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/2026/03/11/cpi-consumer-price-index-inflation-february-2026

- US CPI Report February 2026: Key Takeaways (Bloomberg): https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-11/us-cpi-report-february-2026-key-takeaways-on-inflation-core-measure

- Consumer Price Index: 2025 in review (Bureau of Labor Statistics): https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2026/consumer-price-index-2025-in-review.htm

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