Also: is there such a thing as too much science?

Plus, our special guest, Luis von Ahn, an inventor of CAPTCHA and a pioneer of free online language learning. This episode originally aired on June 14, 2020.

Also: is life precious because it’s finite? This episode originally aired on June 7, 2020. 

Also: how does age affect happiness? This episode originally aired on May 31, 2020. 

Also: why do we treat pets better than people? This episode originally aired on May 24, 2020.

Also: why can't humans handle uncertainty already?

We’re replaying No Stupid Questions, starting here with the very first episode, from May 17, 2020.

How can you learn to love uncertainty? Is it better to cultivate acceptance or strive for change? And, after 223 episodes, what is the meaning of life? 

• SOURCES:
  • Jessica Alquist, professor of psychology at Texas Tech University.
  • Roy Baumeister, professor of psychology at The University of Queensland.
  • Raymond Carver, 20th-century American short story writer and poet.
  • Stephen Colbert, comedian and late-night TV host.
  • Matt Damon, actor and film producer.
  • Viktor Frankl, 20th-century Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, philosopher.
  • Steve Heine, professor of psychology at University of British Columbia.
  • Charles Krauthammer, journalist.
  • Reinhold Niebuhr, 20th-century American theologian.
  • Keanu Reeves, actor.
  • Elisabeth Sifton, author, editor, and book publisher.

• RESOURCES:
  • Start Making Sense: How Existential Psychology Can Help Us Build Meaningful Lives in Absurd Times, by Steve Heine (2025).
  • "Learning to Love Uncertainty," by Jessica L. Alquist and Roy F. Baumeister (Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2024).
  • "Confused or Curious? Openness/Intellect Predicts More Positive Interest-Confusion Relations," by Kirill Fayn, Paul J. Silvia, Egon Dejonckheere, Stijn Verdonck, and Peter Kuppens (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2019).
  • "A Note to Readers," by Charles Krauthammer (The Washington Post, 2018).
  • "Interest — The Curious Emotion," by Paul J. Silvia (Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2008).
  • The Serenity Prayer: Faith and Politics in Times of Peace and War, by Elisabeth Sifton (2003).
  • "Late Fragment," by Raymond Carver (A New Path to the Waterfall, 1989).
  • Man's Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl (1946).

• EXTRAS:
  • "What Makes an Idea Interesting?" by No Stupid Questions (2024).
  • "Should You Get Out of Your Comfort Zone?" by No Stupid Questions (2024).
  • "Do You Need Closure?" by No Stupid Questions (2024).
  • "Secret o’ Life," by James Taylor (JT, 1977).

What do Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, and Malcolm Gladwell have in common? Are interesting theories more significant than true ones? And what has been keeping Angela up at night? Plus: an important announcement about the show. 

• SOURCES:
  • Charles Darwin, 19th-century naturalist and biologist.
  • Murray Davis, cultural sociologist.
  • Malcolm Gladwell, journalist and author.
  • Adam Grant, professor of management and psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.
  • B. F. Skinner, 20th-century American psychologist.

• RESOURCES:
  • Small Fry, by Lisa Brennan-Jobs (2018).
  • Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, by Angela Duckworth (2016).
  • "Why Malcolm Gladwell’s Ideas Are So Interesting, Whether or Not They’re True," by Adam Grant (Quartz, 2015).
  • David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, by Malcolm Gladwell (2013).
  • Curious?: Discover the Missing Ingredient to a Fulfilling Life, by Todd Kashdan (2009).
  • "Interest — The Curious Emotion," by Paul J. Silvia (2008).
  • Exploring the Psychology of Interest, by Paul J. Silvia (2006).
  • "The Ketchup Conundrum," by Malcolm Gladwell (The New Yorker, 2004).
  • "That's Interesting!: Towards a Phenomenology of Sociology and a Sociology of Phenomenology," by Murray S. Davis (Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 1971).
  • The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, by Charles Darwin (1872).

• EXTRAS:
  • "How Do You Identify a Narcissist?" by No Stupid Questions (2024).
  • "Is Screen Time as Poisonous as We Think?" by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
  • "Abortion and Crime, Revisited (Update)," by Freakonomics Radio (2024).

Why does listening to No Stupid Questions feel like you’re hanging out with your best friends? Why did the whole world take it personally when Princess Diana died? And how do “parasocial relationships” affect your mental health?

• SOURCES:
  • Bradley Bond, professor of communication studies at the University of San Diego.
  • John Cacioppo, professor of psychology at the University of Chicago.
  • Joe Cobbs, professor of marketing at Northern Kentucky University.
  • Nick Epley, professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago.
  • Katy Milkman, professor of operations, information, and decisions at the University of Pennsylvania.
  • Emily Oster, professor of economics at Brown University.
  • Anuj Shah, professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Knowledge About Others Reduces One’s Own Sense of Anonymity," by Anuj K. Shah and Michael LaForest (Nature, 2022).
  • "Tragic but True: How Podcasters Replaced Our Real Friends," by Rachel Aroesti (The Guardian, 2021).
  • "The Development and Influence of Parasocial Relationships With Television Characters: A Longitudinal Experimental Test of Prejudice Reduction Through Parasocial Contact," by Bradley J. Bond (Communication Research, 2020).
  • "A Mind like Mine: The Exceptionally Ordinary Underpinnings of Anthropomorphism," by Nicholas Epley (Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2018).
  • "Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance," by Angela Duckworth (TED, 2013).
  • "How Soap Operas Changed the World," by Stephanie Hegarty (BBC, 2012).
  • "The Power of TV: Cable Television and Women's Status in India," by Robert Jensen and Emily Oster (The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2009).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Can A.I. Companions Replace Human Connection?" by No Stupid Questions (2024).
  • "Rivalry," by Tell Me Something I Don't Know (2017).
  • Behavior Change for Good Initiative.
  • Everything Is Alive.
  • The Know Rivalry Project.

Are things really as bad as they seem? Has Gen Z given up hope for the world? And why was the father of positive psychology a lifelong pessimist?

• SOURCES:
  • Albert Bandura, professor of psychology at Stanford University.
  • David Brooks, author and opinion columnist. 
  • Andrew Grove, former C.E.O. and chairman of Intel Corporation.
  • Kalev Leetaru, founder of the GDELT Project.
  • Steven Maier, professor of behavioral neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder.
  • Michelle Obama, attorney, author, and former first lady of the United States.
  • Steven Pinker, professor of psychology at Harvard University.
  • Amanda Ripley, journalist and author.
  • Martin Seligman, professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.
  • Jean Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State University.
  • Edward Zigler, professor emeritus of psychology at Yale University.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Chicken Littles Are Ruining America," by David Brooks (The Atlantic, 2024).
  • Generations, by Jean Twenge (2023).
  • Enlightenment Now, by Steven Pinker (2018).
  • "The Short History of Global Living Conditions and Why It Matters That We Know It," by Max Roser (Our World in Data, 2016).
  • "Learned Helplessness at Fifty: Insights from Neuroscience," by Steven F. Maier and Martin E. P. Seligman (Psychological Review, 2016).
  • "Short- and Long-Term Consequences of Stressor Controllability in Adolescent Rats," by Kenneth H. Kubala, John P. Christianson, Steven F. Maier, et al. (Behavioural Brain Research, 2012).
  • The Better Angels of Our Nature, by Steven Pinker (2011).
  • "Forecasting Large-Scale Human Behavior Using Global News Media Tone in Time and Space," by Kalev Leetaru (First Monday, 2011).
  • "Motivational Aspects of Changes in IQ Test Performance of Culturally Deprived Nursery School Children," by Edward Zigler and Earl C. Butterfield (Child Development, 1968).
  • "Failure to Escape Traumatic Shock," by Martin E. P. Seligman and Steven F. Maier (Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1967).
  • Upworthy.

• EXTRAS:
  • "Why Is U.S. Media So Negative?" by Freakonomics Radio (2021).

Does a surplus of information create a shortage of attention? Are today’s young people really unable to focus? And do goldfish need better PR? 

• SOURCES:
  • Neil Bradbury, professor of physiology at Rosalind Franklin University.
  • Nicholas Carr, writer and journalist.
  • Johann Hari, writer and journalist.
  • Charles Howard, University Chaplain and Vice President for Social Equity & Community at the University of Pennsylvania.
  • Felicity Huntingford, emeritus professor of functional ecology at the university of Glasgow.
  • Gloria Mark, professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine.
  • Rick Rubin, music producer and record executive.
  • Herbert Simon, professor of computer science and psychology at Carnegie Mellon University.

• RESOURCES:
  • Uncovering Your Path: Spiritual Reflections for Finding Your Purpose, by Charles Lattimore Howard (forthcoming 2025).
  • Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity, by Gloria Mark (2023).
  • The Creative Act: A Way of Being, by Rick Rubin (2023).
  • Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention — and How to Think Deeply Again, by Johann Hari (2022).
  • "Quibi’s Founder and CEO Explain What Went Wrong," by Jessica Bursztynsky (CNBC, 2020).
  • "Digital Democracy Survey, Eleventh Edition," by Deloitte (2017).
  • "Busting the Attention Span Myth," by Simon Maybin (BBC News, 2017).
  • "Attention Span During Lectures: 8 Seconds, 10 Minutes, or More?" by Neil Bradbury (Advances in Physiology Education, 2016).
  • "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" by Nicholas Carr (The Atlantic, 2008).
  • "Designing Organizations for an Information-Rich World," by Herbert Simon (Computers, Communications, and the Public Interest, 1971).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Multitasking Doesn’t Work. So Why Do We Keep Trying?" by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
  • "Rick Rubin on How to Make Something Great," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2023).