It’s been known for years now that men aren’t the best at asking follow-up questions on dates with women. But a more specific version of this phenomenon has emerged: men aren’t even asking other men follow-up questions, even their good friends! With the help of “mindful masculinity” expert Liz Plank, we get to the bottom of why men don’t know anything about their male friends, and we put our own friendship to the test.

For more, including links to some of the research cited in this episode, visit our website.

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This week, we look into why car headlights seem like they've gotten so much brighter in recent years than they used to be. And, is there any hope for a shift back to a more reasonable brightness level? Our guest today is Daniel Stern, a lighting expert and chief editor of Driving Vision News.

Additional music by Certain Self.

For more, including links to some of the research cited in this episode, visit our website.

Have an argument you want us to settle? Shoot us an email at [email protected].

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This week, we take a look into a rather divisive issue: school cell phone bans. With more and more states introducing legislature to ban mobile devices in schools, we take a look at the cases for and against the restrictions. Our guests today are Sabine Polak from the Phone-Free Schools Movement and Keri Rodrigues from the National Parents Union.

For more, including links to some of the research cited in this episode, visit our website.

Have an argument you want us to settle? Shoot us an email at [email protected].

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In collaboration with our friends at Search Engine, we seek to find a cure for Manny's deep aversion to seafood, for the sake of our friendship.

For more, visit www.nosuchthing.show. If you have a question you'd like us to answer, feel free to email us at [email protected].

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This week, we bravely interrogate the male practice of standing while peeing. Why do we do it? And why stand when you can sit? We speak with urologist Gerald collins to find out if there are any hidden benefits to sitting while peeing.

For more, visit www.nosuchthing.show. If you have a question you'd like us to answer, feel free to email us at [email protected].

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On this week’s episode we tackle a question Devan has been grappling with while living with a dog in the city: Are suburban dogs happier than city dogs? To find out, we spoke with one of the leading dog cognition experts, Alexandra Horowitz. She heads the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard and is the author of Inside of a Dog.

The credit song is Big Dog by Maurice featuring Kenny Ning and Certain Self, who also provided additional music for this episode.

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Letterboxd is a great tool for keeping track of movies and seeing what your friends and others are watching. But does constant logging, rating, and reviewing actually help us enjoy films? To find out, we spoke to Dr. Ruud Jacobs, who actually researched the impact of consumer movie reviews, and professional movie critic Tasha Robinson.

Dr. Jacobs' research can be found here, and you can hear Tasha on her own podcast, The Next Picture Show.

For more, visit www.nosuchthing.show

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On this week’s episode, we tackle our first listener-submitted question: is it OK to wear outside clothes on your bed? Everyone has strong opinions, but what does the science say? We speak with microbiologist Dr. Lisa Cuchara of Quinnipiac University and ran a swab test to get some answers.

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If you have any questions you’d like us to get to the bottom of, email us at [email protected].

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This week, we take a break from our regular format to discuss some of our favorite things from the past year. This is the first of a new format we're calling NST Chats: loose, informal, and much more casual than our typical rigorous reporting, fine editing, and high-powered analysis. We promise to hit the ground running in 2025 with a return to our usual style, next Tuesday!

NST Selects: 2024 Playlist on Spotify and Apple Music

For more, visit www.nosuchthing.show.

If you have any questions you’d like us to get to the bottom of, email us at [email protected].

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The past decade has seen a resurgence of political violence: January 6, multiple attempts on Trump’s life, and of course the killing of United Healthcare’s CEO are just a few notable examples. We spoke with University of Chicago Professor Robert A. Pape, who has studied political violence for decades, to understand this disturbing trend, the public’s reaction to it, and why he thinks it's here to stay.

Read Pape’s New York Times Op-Ed: What the Glorification of Luigi Mangione Reveals About America

For more, visit www.nosuchthing.show.

If you have any questions you’d like us to get to the bottom of, email us at [email protected].

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