The Citizen’s Medal of Honor was first awarded in 2008 to recognize ordinary Americans whose actions “epitomize the concept of ‘service beyond self’ … ‘above and beyond’” their call of duty, whatever it may be.

Molly Hudgens' duty was as a guidance counselor at Sycamore Middle School, in Tennessee, where in 2016 she came face to face with a potential school shooter – and managed to talk him out of it. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Legends are made at the Olympics and this summer shows across the Pushkin network are bringing their unique takes to Olympic stories. This special episode includes excerpts from a few: a Cautionary Tale about underestimating female marathoners, a Jesse Owens story from Revisionist History’s series on Hitler’s Olympics, and—from What’s Your Problem—the new technology that’s helping Olympic athletes get stronger.

Check out other show feeds as well, the Happiness Lab and A Slight Change of Plans are also going to the Games.

Sylvia Blemker of Springbok Analytics on What’s Your Problem

The Women Who Broke the Marathon Taboo on Cautionary Tales

Hitler’s Olympics from Revisionist History

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the summer of 2020, a woman named Dia Abrams disappears from her home near Idyllwild, California. Her family and friends gather to search for her but some of their stories don’t quite add up.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the early 1930s, Adolf Hitler granted a rare interview to the American journalist Dorothy Thompson. When Hitler later came to power, and prepared to stage the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Thompson’s warning about the man she’d met would frame the central debate over the games: Should we go? 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Risky Business, a show about making better decisions.

Today, Maria has lessons from a poker tournament she recently played in Monte Carlo, where she made it to the final table. Then, Nate discusses what RFK Jr.’s impressive polling numbers could mean for Biden and Trump. And Nate and Maria discuss Caitlin Clark and what her story tells us – or doesn’t – about the gender pay gap. 

Further Reading:

The Biggest Bluff by Maria Konnikova

On The Edge by Nate Silver (forthcoming)

"RFK Jr. Says Doctors Found a Dead Worm in His Brain" (NYT)

"What the conversation about Caitlin Clark’s pay gets wrong" (CNN)

For more from Nate and Maria, subscribe to their newsletters.

The Leap from Maria Konnikova

Silver Bulletin from Nate Silver

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Happiness Lab’s Dr. Laurie Santos brings together other Pushkin hosts to mark the International Day of Happiness. Revisionist History’s Malcolm Gladwell talks about the benefits of the misery of running in a Canadian winter. Dr. Maya Shankar from A Slight Change of Plans talks about quieting her mental chatter. And Cautionary Tales host Tim Harford surprises everyone with the happiness lessons to be learned from a colonoscopy.

Hear more of The Happiness Lab HERE.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Melissa Gallardo’s childhood smelled like dark-roast coffee and lavender Fabulosa. As an adult, she found it difficult to find fragrances that made her feel at home, so she took it into her own hands and taught herself to make candles. It was a fun hobby side hustle until a 5,400 candle order almost sent her over the edge. 

Join Ben and Tanya as they chat with Melissa, founder of Bonita Fierce Candles, about taking her passion project from her side hustle to her full-time job. Discover how she started the company in her spare room while working 9-5 and finishing a graduate degree, built a relatable brand by focusing on her personal experience and how she landed her first big order. These are the Unshakeables.

The Unshakeables is brought to you by Chase for Business and Ruby Studio by iHeartMedia 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The digital revolution has been happening for a while now, but with 5G, it’s about to reach a whole new level. IT departments are about to rule the world. So in this paid partnership with T-Mobile for Business, Malcolm sits with leaders in the world of retail and healthcare to discuss how their industries are changing.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Back in the 1960s, a committee of seven Seattle residents met regularly to decide which patients with chronic kidney disease were “worthy” of life-saving dialysis.  Whoever wasn’t selected by the committee would likely die within months. An exposé of this so-called “God Squad” helped spark the formation of a new field: bioethics. In this prequel to playing god?, we’ll find out how this committee made life-and-death decisions, and why something like it is unlikely to happen again. 

Show Notes:

This episode features interviews with: 

Richard M. Mizelle, Jr., Associate Professor of History, University of Houston

Kate Butler, Assistant Professor of Nephrology, University of Washington School of Medicine

The God Squad was just one of many notable cases that led to the formation of the field of bioethics. The Hastings Center, a bioethics research institute, has compiled a timeline of many of the most famous cases and their impact. Check it out here. 

The Berman Institute has also collected oral histories– first hand accounts of the doctors, philosophers, lawyers and other scholars who were involved in many of these cases. You can explore that collection here. 

To learn more about the ethics issues raised in this episode, visit the Berman Institute’s episode guide. 

The Greenwall Foundation seeks to make bioethics integral to decisions in health care, policy, and research. Learn more at greenwall.org.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode we head into the future to learn about a controversial technology that could change the face of reproduction. Researchers are developing a technology called in vitro gametogenesis (IVG), which can reprogram human cells–like a skin cell–to become eggs or sperm. With IVG we could reach a future where anyone could produce either eggs or sperm, in potentially limitless quantities. This could open up a whole world of new options for how humans reproduce. Startup companies are working to bring this science to the public in ways that bypass the usual research routes for new reproductive technologies. When would it be ethically acceptable to try IVG to make a baby? How can we ensure the technology will be used ethically, including how it should be regulated? 

Show Notes:

This episode features interviews with:

Amander Clark, Professor, Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology,  University of California, Los Angeles

I. Glenn Cohen, James A. Attwood and Leslie Williams Professor of Law, Deputy Dean and Faculty Director, Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology & Bioethics, Harvard Law School

In 2023, the National Academies held a meeting to discuss the scientific, ethical, and legal implications of IVG. You can watch this meeting and learn more about IVG here. 

To learn more about the ethics issues raised in this episode, visit the Berman Institute’s episode guide. 

The Greenwall Foundation seeks to make bioethics integral to decisions in health care, policy, and research. Learn more at greenwall.org.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.