Life, Puberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

There is a gender problem in mathematics. Very few full-time, tenured math positions are held by women. On today's show, we follow a young female mathematician who goes to one of the best graduate schools in the country and has to deal with this gender disparity. What is it like to be a woman trying to make space in a field that is so male-dominated?

For most people, your roommate is the first person you meet who you have to get along with even though you may not know them too well and you guys might not be friends. That's really hard, especially for the first time! Today, we hear roommate stories: from the crazy to the cool to the downright scary.

Last month, we produced a story about Audrey Trieu. She went to the Davidson Academy, an advanced middle school, and then went to high school in Florida. She hated high school so much that she left early and went to the University of Southern California, which she currently attends. Today: when she left, Audrey wrote a song about getting away from high school. She never recorded it. Until now.

We've all heard about programs meant for 'gifted students' that let students take more advanced courses when they're really young. Today, we hear from two people who did these programs - they both went to college at least three years early - and we hear the full story: emotional, personal, and academic.

College applications: they're stressful, complicated, exhausting, and they don't have to be that way. The number of high school students going to college is declining, and many students who would be benefitted by attending college aren't. Today: how did we get here? And how can we get out?

The average 18-year-old has moved twice in their life. Caleb Kitchen passed that milestone before he got to middle school. To date, he's moved seven times, been to three different high schools. And yet, most of Caleb's friends from his past high schools say that in the short time they knew him, he changed their lives. On today's show: what it's like to constantly be on the move.

In today's episode, we're trying something different: we're just telling a story. No commentary at all. The story is about a kid who went on a spontaneous, unplanned, exhausting trip. In the moment, it wasn't that memorable. Now, he says it changed his life.

People talk about 'adults' and 'children' or 'mature people' and 'immature people' all of the time. The progression from childhood to adulthood is a pivotal part of everyone's life... But, when are you an adult? What does that actually mean? And what is the road from childhood to adulthood actually like?

The road trip holds a unique place in the American psyche. Rolling along on the wide, open road is seen as super romantic. Why? Today, we investigate, and we hear from someone who's entire life was changed by taking a road trip.

The road trip holds a unique place in the American psyche. Rolling along on the wide, open road is seen as super romantic. Why? Today, we investigate, and we hear from someone who's entire life was changed by taking a road trip.