Reasonably Optimistic

My mother’s secret changed how I think about abortion

Shortly before her mother died, Megan McArdle learned a family secret. Decades earlier, her mother had given birth to a son and placed him for adoption. Megan’s attempt t

The myths fueling America’s AI data center backlash

AI data centers have become America’s newest political villain — accused of draining local water supplies, overheating communities and sending electricity bills soaring.

Football is back. A new CTE study asks what it costs.

Football season is back, bringing millions of Americans together around one of the country’s most beloved sports. But new research on chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or

The hidden forces behind America’s baby bust

Why are Americans having fewer children, even though many say they want larger families? Host Megan McArdle talks with author Tim Carney about how professional ambition,

A sociologist’s perspective on the Jason Arday story

The controversy surrounding Cambridge professor Jason Arday began with questions about his academic record and extraordinary personal story. It ended in tragedy. What can

What empty pews reveal about America

America is becoming less religious — but the story is more complicated than empty pews. Host Megan McArdle is joined by political scientist and former pastor Ryan Burge t

Why this professor lost faith in higher education

America’s colleges have spent years at the center of the culture wars. But some of the sharpest critics of higher education are people who once believed deeply in its mis

Why your cost of living keeps rising

From the housing shortage to rising electricity costs, many of America’s biggest affordability problems come back to the same question: Why can’t we build more? Host Meg

Is TikTok rewiring childhood?

As students head back to school, families and educators are facing a growing question: What should they do about smartphones? Host Megan McArdle is joined by social psyc

Stop cooking the ‘right’ way

Dinner shouldn’t be stressful. But after a long day, even deciding what to cook can feel like one more exhausting task. Add the pressure to make meals healthy, affordable

How to fix higher education without destroying it

Public confidence in higher education has been eroding for years. Rising costs, uncertain job prospects and political conflict have led many people to question whether co

A therapist on relationships, ghosting and realistic standards

Relationships have always required compromise and patience. But dating apps, social media and therapy-speak can make ordinary human flaws feel like reasons to walk away.

Why homeownership feels impossible for Gen Z

For generations, owning a home was seen as the first real step into adulthood: a place to raise a family, build wealth and claim a piece of the American Dream. But for Ge

What America got wrong about drug addiction

The drug crisis in the United States did not begin with fentanyl. It began with a series of choices that seemed compassionate at the time — prescribing opioids for people

Lonely Gen Z needed this wake-up call

Gen Z has been told a lot of things about loneliness: that it’s caused by phones, social media, remote work, dating apps, the pandemic, the decline of third places and a

This actor drove 10,000 miles to ask men about loneliness

For a lot of men, friendship doesn’t disappear all at once. It fades slowly: a missed call here, a canceled plan there, a few busy years that become a decade. Before you

The problem with ‘Tax the rich!’

A trillion dollars seems like enough money to solve almost anything. We could end world hunger, wipe out medical debt, shrink the federal deficit and still have plenty le

How populists turn distrust into power

Populist candidates have a way of making politics feel simple. They tell voters that the problem is obvious, the villains are known and the solution is to break through c

Why Europeans are falling in love with America

As European tourists travel across the United States for World Cup matches, many are discovering an America they didn’t expect: vast landscapes, friendly strangers, huge

What happened when fashion moved online

There was a time when shopping for clothes meant walking into a department store and hoping the limited sizes and styles available at that exact moment might fit. Then, t