NO SUCH THING

This week, we unpack what makes a generation. From the Silent Generation to the Zoomers and beyond, are these groupings only useful to stir up competition and resentment? How did Gen Z become more conservative, more pessimistic AND more empathetic than their predecessors? We also explore recent research on a troubling trend of declining IQ scores. Does this back up an argument that millennials are the group most well-equipped for life in the modern age? 

Our guests this week are researcher Elizabeth M. Dworak from Northwestern University and Jean M. Twenge PhD, author of Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents—and What They Mean for America's Future. (Buy the book here.)

Related links:

• Dr. Dworak’s IQ research: Looking for Flynn effects in a recent online U.S. adult sample: Examining shifts within the SAPA Project
• James Flynn’s TED Talk: Why our IQ levels are higher than our grandparents'
• The New Yorker on Jean Twenge: Where Millennials Come From (2017)
• Tom Wolfe for New York Magazine: The “Me” Decade (1976)
• An interesting counterpoint, on Bobby Duffy’s “The Generation Myth”: It’s Time to Stop Talking About Generations
• More on the Reverse Flynn Effect from New York Mag: A Theory of Dumb

You might also like NST #59: Kids can’t read anymore. Does it matter? (with author Jason Reynolds)

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This week, we're presenting a remastered version of our VERY FIRST EPISODE. Take a walk down NST memory lane, or visit for the first time, and stick around until the end to hear a quick conversation looking back on one of our earliest arguments.

What began as an innocent debate soon devolved into accusations of deception and trickery. Is it misleading to say you read a book if, in actuality, you listened to it as an audiobook? And do you absorb information the same way when listening compared to reading? With some help from Dr. Virginia Clinton-Lisell, Associate Professor at University of North Dakota, we get an answer.

If you liked this episode, you might like NST #59: Kids can't read anymore. Does it matter? (with author Jason Reynolds)

Here’s a link to Dr. Clinton-Lisell’s meta-analysis of reading and listening comprehension comparisons. She’s on TikTok, YouTube, Threads, and Bluesky.

Buy Manny's book Colored People Time here!

For more, please subscribe to our newsletter at www.nosuchthing.show.

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It's the World Cup episode. Manny, Noah, and Devan, are joined by two of the hosts of the Soccernomics podcast — Stefan Szymanski and Ashish Malhotra — to discuss the overlap between Soccer, economics, and culture. Is soccer a form of human trafficking? What's the real reason why the English hate the word soccer? Why does the US men's soccer team struggle, historically? All of that and more. 

Check out our newsletter at nosuchthing.show and follow us on Instagram @nosuchthing.show.

Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at [email protected] or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286 

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On today’s episode, a special collaboration with Kate Lindsay from ICYMI, we discuss how payment apps like Venmo have changed our relationship with money. We talk through how to navigate different money situations with friends and answer your money etiquette questions.

Our guests this week are:

• Lizzie Post, co-president of the Emily Post Institute and co-host of the Awesome Etiquette Podcast and Emily Post's Wedding Stories podcast.
• Beth Pinsker, a columnist at MarketWatch, Certified Financial Planner, and author of My Mother's Money.

Listen to ICYMI with Kate Lindsay.

Check out Kate’s other episodes with the NST crew:

• Why can’t adults order from the kids' menu?
• Are outdoor cats happier than indoor cats?

 

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On today’s episode, we dive into the health effects of diet sodas like Diet Coke, Coke Zero, and Diet Pepsi. Trump has said that Diet Coke actually kills cancer, while other studies have linked these drinks to dementia and one of their artificial sweeteners, aspartame, to cancer. Noah also takes on the Fat Joe challenge, attempting to drink 30–40 Diet Pepsis in a single day.

Our guests this week are:

• Michael Easter, diet soda head, journalist, and creator of the Two Percent podcast and newsletter.
• Adam Chandler, food columnist at The Wall Street Journal.
• Giles Yeo, author of Why Calories Don’t Count and a professor at the University of Cambridge who studies the genetics of body weight and how the brain controls feeding behavior.

If you’re new here, listen to episode 15: Why does Dasani water taste like that and check out our NST starter pack. 

Check out our newsletter at nosuchthing.show and follow us on Instagram @nosuchthing.show.

Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at [email protected] or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286 

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We’re doing a money etiquette episode! Submit your questions, horror stories and other scenarios for us to discuss by leaving a voicemail at 860-325-0286 or sending an email to [email protected]

You can hardly go for a drive, take a walk in the neighborhood, or turn on a television without being bombarded by ridiculous ads for personal injury lawyers. Are these flamboyant characters legitimate legal representation or scammers? This week, we find out how personal injury firms work, why they advertise so heavily, and how to discern a legit lawyer from a scammy "settlement mill" looking for a quick pay-day. 

Our guests this week are personal injury lawyer John Morgan (Morgan & Morgan), Stanford legal scholar Nora Freeman Engstrom and journalist Jose Martinez from The City Reporter. 

Read about Prof. Engstrom's paper on competition and contingency fees here. 

Jose Martinez for The City Reporter: ‘Billboard Lawyers’ Defend Ads and Tactics Amid MTA Push for Lawsuit Reform

You can buy John Morgan's memoir "Life is Luck" here.

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On today's episode, Manny asks whether Noah and Devan want kids, as a part of a conversation about the declining birth rate around the world. They hear from Anna Louie Sussman, author of the upcoming book "Inconceivable: The Impossibility of Family in an Age of Uncertainty," about what's actually causing the birth rate to decline, and then Manny has a heartfelt conversation with writer (and fellow dad) Derek Thompson.

Preorder Anna's book here, and check out Derek's Substack here.

Check out our newsletter at nosuchthing.show and follow us on Instagram @nosuchthing.show.

Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at [email protected] or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286 

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Today’s episode was inspired by a question from a listener who goes by Santa: What’s the deal with First Amendment auditors? We trace the history of people who film the police, from the Black Panther Party to Berkeley Copwatch and the rise of auditor culture on YouTube. We also explore the methods and influence of some of the movement’s biggest creators, from Philip Turner (The Battousai) to Jeff Gray of HonorYourOath Civil Rights Investigations and Christopher Ruff (Direct D).

Our guests are Robert Klemko, an investigative journalist at ESPN who previously reported on auditors and cop watchers for The Washington Post, and Dale Hiller, creator of the LackLuster YouTube channel and co-founder of Attorney Shield.

If you’re new here, listen to episode 28: Inside the violent world of online pedophile hunters and check out our NST starter pack. 

Check out our newsletter at nosuchthing.show and follow us on Instagram @nosuchthing.show.

Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at [email protected] or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286 

Sign up for NST GOLD: https://nstgold.supportingcast.fm/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's episode of NO SUCH THING, we’re talking about so-called “Super Agers,” the term used to describe people who are at least 80 years old, but are still sharp as a tack. Maury Povich. Joy Behar. Anthony Fauci. Bernie Sanders. Martha Stewart. There are a ton of octogenarians who are cognitively impressive. Of course, there are many who… aren’t. What differentiates these two groups?

A groundbreaking new study endeavors to answer that question, and in today’s episode, we talked to one of the study’s authors, and to one of the super-agers in question.

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Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at [email protected] or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286

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New data shows that less than half of American newborn boys are circumcised, a major decrease from around 90% in the 1960s. But how and why did circumcision become so common here in the United States? This week, we speak to an epidemiologist, a sociologist, and an anti-circumcision “intactivist” to explore the origins of the procedure, its health impacts, and why attitudes around it are changing. 

Our guests this week are Johns Hopkins epidemiologist Dr. Kate Grabowski, Vanderbilt University associate professor of sociology Laura Carpenter, and Intact America founding executive Georganne Chapin.

NOTE: Due to time restraints, not everything can make it into the final episode. We tried our best to represent all sides of the issue fairly and respectfully. With that said, some claims around the African VMMC trials in particular may be misleading. To clarify: these trials produced high quality peer-reviewed studies documenting medical benefits, particularly in relation to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. They were also conducted in partnership with some of the world’s most respected African scientists and research institutions. They are not simply colonial interventions. 

For additional information, please go to our newsletter to find links to research and more. NST has no particular agenda here, so please take a look at all the info yourself to decide what’s best for you.

Check out our newsletter here.

Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at [email protected] or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286

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