Innovation Hub

First: American universities minted hundreds of thousands of savvy professionals in the latter half of the 20th century. We explore how those educated, creative thinkers may have - inadvertently - caused America’s decades-long decline.

Next: We talk with Harvard University professor Elizabeth Hinton about whether free education for people in prison makes sense.

Then: Do you think you’re smart? Probably. But are you rational? There’s a difference between the two, and it matters more than you think.

Our trust in government is at historic lows. Inequality is at historic highs. Americans are more pessimistic about the future. It can seem like the United States is in decline. And Steven Brill, author of “Tailspin: The People And Forces Behind America’s Fifty-Year Fall - And Those Fighting To Reverse It.” says that’s true… though not for the reasons you might think.

Despite having less than 5 percent of the world’s population, the United States has nearly 25 percent of the world’s prison population. According to Elizabeth Hinton, an associate history professor at Harvard University, America’s prison system is unlike anything the world has ever seen. She says it’s crucial that we focus on rehabilitating inmates through educational activities inside prisons. We talked with her about the past, and the uncertain future, of prison education in America.

Have you ever taken an IQ test? Think about the results. Did you do well? You might have gotten a high score, but, often, intelligence doesn’t have anything to do with rationality. There is a marked difference between the two, although we often conflate them. We talk with York University associate professor Maggie Toplak and Boston University professor Carey Morewedge about why even smart people do irrational things.

First: We ask a couple of public opinion experts how technology has made polling more convenient but less consistent - and what they see coming in 2018.

Then: Have you ever wondered who really owns that quaint craft beer you love? We investigate why large corporations often buy out their smaller, less-efficient competitors - and how limiting competition is bad news for both consumers and workers.

Finally: Economist John Quiggin tells us why he thinks generational labels like baby boomer and millennial are completely meaningless.

If you ever watch, listen, or read the news, you’ll hear about political polls. There are polls for almost everything: Special congressional races, the popularity of the Iran Nuclear Deal, and, of course, the president’s approval rating. According to polling experts Courtney Kennedy and Fred Yang, the barriers to conducting wide-reaching polls have diminished over the past several years, allowing new pollsters to enter the fray. We look at why not all polls are created equal.

If you go to your local liquor store or beer cellar, it may seem like you have thousands of options. And there’s certainly a lot of beer on the shelves. Not just Michelob or Miller Lite, but smaller-batch brews with names like Spitting Hobo or Dead Dragon. But though there might be a huge number of beer varieties, the American beer industry is mostly controlled by a handful of breweries that control nearly 90 percent of the American beer market. And this consolidation isn’t only a story of beer. The biggest four U.S. airlines reap 65 percent of the industry’s revenue, compared to ten years ago, when they only took in 41 percent. To find out more about why corporations are getting more powerful, we talked with David Wessel, a senior fellow in economic studies at The Brookings Institution, and author of the recent Harvard Business Review article, “Is Lack of Competition Strangling the U.S. Economy?”

Economist John Quiggin wants to change the way we talk about millennials. That is, he thinks we should stop talking about them altogether. In a recent New York Times editorial, Quiggin argued that the notion of generations is a pop-culture myth. He thinks we should focus on how people are affected by more significant traits like class, gender, and age.

First up, our family tree; or rather, our family web. According to geneticist Adam Rutherford, investigating the human genome can answer a lot of questions about human history. And the answers aren’t always expected. From mixing our genes with Neanderthals, to genetic lineages that would make Jaime Lannister proud, to the link (or lack thereof) between race health, Rutherford tells us all about the surprising secrets of our species.

Then: The modern workplace wasn’t designed for women. And that’s a problem. Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, author of the article “If you Can’t Find a Spouse Who Supports Your Career, Stay Single,” talks about the barriers that prevent women from achieving their full potential. She also walks us through how high-achieving couples can actually maintain a balance between work and family.

And, finally: If your life has become unsatisfying, confusing, and purposeless… consider designing a better one. Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, who teach a course at Stanford about constructing the life you want, are the co-authors of, “Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life.” They explain how you can use design principles to achieve your career goals. Their advice? Get curious, talk to people in different fields, learn about the nuances of their jobs, and take baby steps towards your next goal.

As scientists apply our new understanding of the human genome to genetics, we’re getting answers to big-picture questions about our species. What is race? How did humanity spread around the globe? How should we pick a mate (genetically speaking)? We talk with Adam Rutherford, geneticist and author of “A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Human Story Retold Through Our Genes,” about the history of our genes, and what they reveal about our species.