This week, we unpack the moral chaos of air travel. When flying, is it ever acceptable to recline your seat and claim those precious extra inches of space? Is there an ethical argument for reclining? Ergonomically, what is the most comfortable position? Why do we act like completely different people when we’re up in the air? And is this all a distraction from the real villains, greedy airlines? 

Our guest this week is Joshua Rothman, staff writer at The New Yorker. 

• Read Josh’s New Yorker column: Should you recline your airplane seat?
• Travel + Leisure: Then vs. Now: The Evolution of Airfare Costs Over the Years
• AP: Scott Mayerowitz’s story on the” Knee Defender” flight diversion

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NST will be taking August off to work on some new episodes. We’ll be keeping the feed going with a few remastered classics and episodes of other shows we love. Thanks for listening and you’ll hear from us again in September! 

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