Reasonably Optimistic

Zohran Mamdani ran for mayor of New York on a platform of taxing the rich, proposing new levies targeting billionaires. Host Megan McArdle argues we’ve seen this kind of rapid shift before. 

In the 1970s, New York spiraled into crisis as rising spending, a shrinking tax base and economic change led to crime, population loss and near-bankruptcy. Those lessons still matter today, especially as remote work and mobile wealth make cities more vulnerable to decline. But these same forces also create opportunities for cities that adapt, grow and make themselves attractive places to live and work.

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Social media is designed to keep us scrolling. But is it also keeping us angry? Rage bait is rewarded and amplified. It’s easy to react and even easier to get pulled in. Over time, this has changed how we interact with the world — and with each other. But is this just bad behavior, or something closer to addiction?

Host Megan McArdle is joined by Keith Humphreys, a Stanford professor and psychologist, to break down the mechanics of addiction and how they might apply to life online. Together, they explore why rage is so compelling, how platforms keep us hooked and whether it’s possible to break the cycle.

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Scroll through enough retro photos or vintage ads, and it’s easy to convince yourself that life used to be simpler, even happier. But why does the past look better the farther away it gets?

Host Megan McArdle unpacks how nostalgia distorts our view of history — from the food people ate to the cost of everyday life — and why forgetting the hardships can shape how we think about the present.

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From politicians to Silicon Valley, a growing chorus is sounding the alarm and calling for more babies. But the story behind America’s declining birth rate is more complicated than headlines and political talking points suggest. Is this just a temporary trend, or something deeper — and what does it mean for the kind of society we’re building?

Host Megan McArdle is joined by economist and demographer Lyman Stone to discuss what’s really driving the decline in birth rates — from delayed marriage to cultural shifts and rising anxiety about the future.

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From overdone plastic surgery to open-concept floor plans, we’re designing our lives to look good on camera instead of optimizing for what we need. Influencer culture — and our constant exposure to curated, edited and optimized images — has reshaped the way we see the world and ourselves. But chasing the perfect image can leave real life feeling strangely hollow.

Host Megan McArdle unpacks how we got here — and how to start seeing past the screen.

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The Supreme Court is supposed to be above politics. But these days, it doesn’t feel that way. From high-stakes rulings to increasingly bitter confirmation hearings, the court has become one of the most divisive institutions in American government. So how did this happen?

Host Megan McArdle is joined by Supreme Court analyst Sarah Isgur to break down what the justices actually do, why the court's breakdown isn’t as simple as a 6-3 conservative-liberal split, and how Americans' expectations — and Congress’s failures — have pushed the high court into a role it was never meant to play.

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Anxiety around artificial intelligence is reaching a fever pitch and sparking real-world consequences. Recent violent incidents tied to opposition against data centers highlight growing public backlash, while Anthropic’s new model, Mythos, raises alarms with its ability to uncover hidden software vulnerabilities across critical systems.

Host Megan McArdle is joined by Damir Marusic, an op-ed editor at Post Opinions, to discuss the risks and inevitability of AI development, and what it will take for the U.S. to stay competitive in the race with China.

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Host Megan McArdle breaks down why the corporate tax system is so complex, costly and potentially inefficient — and explores a bold idea: What if we eliminated it altogether? From hidden economic trade-offs to who really pays corporate taxes, this episode challenges how we think about fairness, efficiency and the future of taxation.

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In recent years, the idea of a “crisis of men and boys” has taken center stage in the cultural conversation. That can feel like a pendulum swing: from making space for women to examining men’s struggles, rarely holding both in view at the same time. Some see this moment as a reaction to the 2010s — an era shaped by “girlboss” ambition, #MeToo and a renewed focus on women’s advancement and autonomy. So, what gets missed when these struggles are framed as separate?

Host Megan McArdle is joined by Leah Libresco Sargeant, senior policy analyst at the Niskanen Center and author of "The Dignity of Dependence: A Feminist Manifesto." Sargeant offers a different lens — challenging the idea that independence is the ultimate goal and instead pointing toward a more interconnected understanding of men and women.

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From AI-generated scams that cost Americans hundreds of dollars to voice cloning schemes, the line between real and fake is becoming harder to detect. At the same time, technology companies are setting their own limits on how these artificial intelligence tools can be used. This is raising new questions about who really controls this technology — and what that will mean for our future.

Host Megan McArdle is joined by Dean Ball, a senior fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation and former White House AI policy advisor, to unpack the rapidly shifting landscape of AI governance, what it will take to rein it in — and what comes next. 

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