Best Universityofchicago Podcasts (2024)

1
How Homeownership Shaped Race In America, with Adrienne Brown 27:23

3h ago27:23

27:23

Race has played a huge role in the creation of mass homeownership in the United States. Discriminatory housing practices including redlining, exclusionary zoning and whitewashing led to great disparities in home ownership among White and Black homeowners. Despite the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968, the damage had been done to communities o…

1
Do Committees Lead To Better-Informed Legislative Voting? 37:46

6d ago37:46

37:46

In a recent paper by Washington University political scientist Michael Olson, he documents a very strange phenomenon. It seems that when legislators join committees, they’re voting record becomes less aligned with their constituents’ political preferences. The question is…why? Could it be that being on a committee means they’re just better informed…

1
Fighting Back Against AI Piracy, with Ben Zhao and Heather Zheng 28:31

14d ago28:31

28:31

If you’ve spent any time playing with modern AI image generators, it can seem like an almost magical experience; but the truth is these programs are more like a magic trick than magic. Without the human-generated art of hundreds of thousands of people, these programs wouldn’t work. But those artists are not getting compensated, in fact many of them…

1
The Bioelectric Future of Regenerative Medicine 28:23

29d ago28:23

28:23

In the near future, birth defects, traumatic injuries, limb loss and perhaps even cancer could be cured through bioelectricity—electrical signals that communicate to our cells how to rebuild themselves. This innovative idea has been tested on flatworms and frogs by biologist Michael Levin, whose research investigates how bioelectricity provides the…

1
Do Presidents Have As Much Power As We Think? 45:20

20d ago45:20

45:20

Since Biden’s debate performance, America’s political elite have been engaged in a debate. How much does a President really matter for effective government? If his administration seems to work fine, how much of an affect can a President have? At the same time, we important Supreme Court decisions that seem to be giving more power to Presidents whic…

1
Is Mindfulness The Secret To Health? 33:42

1M ago33:42

33:42

Can you heal faster just by tricking your brain? Could you lose weight with only a change of mindset? Could you think yourself into being younger? If you think the answer to all these questions is no, you haven’t read the research from renowned Harvard University psychologist Ellen Langer. Our podcast is taking a quick summer break, but we wanted t…

1
Do City Services Move Faster for Affluent and White Neighborhoods? 47:19

1M ago47:19

47:19

Have you ever made a 311 call? This is a service provided by many cities that allows citizens to call in things like potholes, graffiti, fallen trees, ect. There is an assumption that many people have that requests made by white and more affluent neighborhoods probably get responded to faster. But is that accurate? In a recent paper, “Unequal Respo…

1
Feeling Stuck? Here’s How To Achieve a Breakthrough, with Adam Alter 33:51

2M ago33:51

33:51

We've all been stuck at some point in our lives — whether we've been stuck at a job and wanting to make a career change, stuck in a location and wanting to move somewhere new, or stuck in relationships or friendships. But the method to getting “unstuck” and achieving a breakthrough might be easier than you think. Using research-backed tools, New Yo…

1
How To "Get Out The Vote" 42:02

2M ago42:02

42:02

Hello Not Another Politics Podcast listeners. We’re taking some much needed time off as the school year comes to a close; but with the elections right around the corner we still wanted to share some incredibly relevant and important political science research. Every Presidential election, we talk about “getting out the vote”. But what really works …

301
What Makes Something Memorable (or Forgettable?) with Wilma Bainbridge 26:33

2M ago26:33

26:33

There is a science to what we remember and what we don't. For instance, why do we remember certain pieces of artwork, some brands’ logos, or even people's faces? University of Chicago psychologist Wilma Bainbridge has been studying what makes things memorable for over a decade. Through her research, she has found that there is a common thread about…

1
How Powerful Are October Surprises? 36:25

2M ago36:25

36:25

Hello Not Another Politics Podcast listeners. We’re taking some much needed time off as the school year comes to a close; but with the elections right around the corner we still wanted to share some incredibly relevant and important political science research. This week we’re resharing an episode all about October Surprises that has some counter in…

351
Learning To Speak To Whales Using AI, with David Gruber 26:06

3M ago26:06

26:06

If aliens landed on Earth tomorrow, how would we talk with them? Well, we already have a kind of creature on this planet we could attempt to talk to first, and in the last few years a team of renowned scientists have been exploring the ocean studying sperm whales to get that conversation going. David Gruber is a professor of biology and environment…

1
Does The Public View The Supreme Court As Legitimate In A Post-Dobbs World ? 43:43

3M ago43:43

43:43

The Supreme Court is supposed to be our non-political branch of government, making decisions solely on the constitutional soundness of laws. But in recent years it appears as though the Court has taken a shift to the right, most notably in the Dobbs decision in 2022. Which raises a question: does the public still the view the Court as legitimate? T…

401
Storm Warning: Why Hurricanes Are Growing Beyond Measure, with Michael Wehner 27:34

3M ago27:34

27:34

We all know that extreme weather events like hurricanes are getting worse due to climate change, but what scientists would really like to know is: By how much worse exactly? This year a team of researchers argued that hurricanes have become so much more extreme due to climate change that we need to add a new category 6 to the Saffir-Simpson scale, …

1
How Good Are We At Spotting Fake News? 48:26

3M ago48:26

48:26

If the media is to be believed, the US public has a tenuous at best grasp on accurate political news. They’re either consuming disinformation and fake news on social media or following biasedly inaccurate news outlets. Either journalistic truth is as good as dead or we’re living in separate informational universes. But is this too alarmist, could t…

1
How To Manifest Your Future Using Neuroscience, with James Doty 31:20

4M ago31:20

31:20

We've all heard the phrase "Manifest Your Destiny" when it comes to wanting that new promotion, figuring out a new career path or just trying to achieve that long-term goal. It turns out that the act of manifestation is not merely pseudoscience—it actually has a body of research in neuroscience to back it up. Dr. James Doty has been exploring this …

1
Is Partisan Animosity Directed At Fellow Citizens Or Elites? 39:10

3M ago39:10

39:10

There is a fact of our political discourse so agreed upon that nobody thinks to question it: affective polarization…democrats and republicans disliking each other...has been getting worse, much worse. But what if that belief is actually based on polls measuring the wrong thing? That’s the argument made by Northwestern Political Scientist James Druc…

1
Why We Die—And How We Can Live Longer, with Nobel Laureate Venki Ramakrishnan 32:31

4M ago32:31

32:31

They’re perhaps the oldest questions in the science: Why do we die? And could we find a way to live forever? But for decades, anti-aging research was a “backwater” of the scientific community, consider too fanciful and unrealistic. That is until the last few years. Modern advances in biology have taught us a lot about how we age and why we die—coul…

1
Should Policy Match Voters' Preferences? 42:55

4M ago42:55

42:55

How do we know if our democracy is healthy? For political scientist, the answer often comes down to things we can measure like responsiveness to voter’s wishes. But is that really the right thing to measure? There are two camps in this debate. The empiricists want to focus on what and how we can measure things like the health of our democracy, ofte…

1
What Dogs Are Teaching Us About Aging, with Daniel Promislow 32:30

5M ago32:30

32:30

Every dog owner has faced the hard realization that their dog won’t live as long as they do, but we’ve all probably wondered: Why do some dogs live longer than others? It turns out that several factors are at play, according to the largest research study of dogs, known as The Dog Aging Project. Prof. Daniel Promislow of the University of Washington…

1
Are Too Many Political Appointments Harming Our Bureaucracy? 49:42

4M ago49:42

49:42

When it comes to our federal bureaucracy, there are two schools of thought. One says that an insulated group of career bureaucrats have created a deep state that corrupts the performance of government. The other says that our bureaucracy is dysfunctional because there is too much turnover or positions left vacant. Both rest on an underlying feature…

651
Where Has Alzheimer’s Research Gone Wrong? with Karl Herrup 29:05

5M ago29:05

29:05

For more than a century, scientists have been studying Alzheimer’s disease and developing theories about its underlying cause. The leading theory for decades has been that abnormal amyloid plaques in the brains of those who suffer from the disease are the central cause. But, according one renowned Alzheimer’s researcher, this myopic focus is not on…

1
Should Judges Be Elected or Appointed? 49:53

5M ago49:53

49:53

There is a long running debate in political science: do we get better judges by letting the public vote in elections or by giving our leaders the power to appoint them? One side says that judges should be insulated from the influence of politics involved in elections, focusing entirely on the rule of law. The other side says that our judges should …

1
Why Breeding Millions of Mosquitoes Could Help Save Lives 30:43

6M ago30:43

30:43

Mosquito-borne diseases are one of the greatest global health threats, infecting around 700 million people every year with Zika virus, dengue fever, malaria and yellow fever — which can all be deadly if left untreated. Unfortunately, the mosquito population is not slowing down, and factors like climate change and increased global travel are broaden…

1
Why Women Are Underrepresented in U.S. Politics 50:18

5M ago50:18

50:18

Despite making up roughly half of the U.S. population, women only make up about one-quarter of representatives and senators. And this trend is not just national—it holds true globally as well. What explains why women are underrepresented in politics? If women are just as likely to win elections as men do, then why are they less likely to run for of…

1
Why Shaming Other Countries Often Backfires, with Rochelle Terman 33:45

6M ago33:45

33:45

How do you stop a government from continuing to commit human rights abuses? You could take them to an international court of justice, or file a complaint at the UN. But none of those bodies have any enforcement power. Short of going to war, the only option on the table in most international situations is to name and shame. But is that strategy effe…

1
What Makes A Legislator Effective? 44:10

6M ago44:10

44:10

When it comes to passing actual legislation, putting it forward and getting it all the way through the process, it can be difficult to measure exactly which legislators are effective. Not to mention which types of legislators tend to be more effective, moderates or extremists? And does majority-party membership increase effectives? In an innovative…

1
Do Conservatives Sabotage The Administrative State? 52:08

6M ago52:08

52:08

When we talk about the interpretation and ultimately implementation of policy we’re not talking about Congress so much as the Administrative State. But what happens when those who work in those agencies decide through their positions to not only sabotage a policy they’re meant to carry out, but perhaps the whole agency? In a recent paper titled “Ad…

1
Can Trump Legally Be President?, with William Baude 36:11

7M ago36:11

36:11

The Supreme Court’s decision on whether Colorado can take former President Donald Trump off the ballot in the 2024 election may be one of the most consequential in its history. The case will turn on the court’s interpretation of Amendment 14, Section 3 of the Constitution, which bars any previous elected official from holding office if they partici…

1
What Our Hand Gestures Reveal About Our Thoughts, with Susan Goldin-Meadow 26:23

7M ago26:23

26:23

Language shapes our world. But when we speak, there is actually a secret conversation happening beyond our words. It’s happening not with our mouths—but with our hands. Prof. Susan Goldin-Meadow is a distinguished scholar of psychology at the University of Chicago. Her research into deaf children who were never taught sign language led her to study…

1
Who Gets Heard On Redistribution, The Rich Or Poor? 49:12

7M ago49:12

49:12

When we talk about policy choices around redistribution there is an assumption so obvious that most people never question it. That politicians are more responsive to the desires of the rich, and that policy preferences of the poor don’t hold as much sway. But what if that assumption was wrong? In a recent paper by Boston University Economist Raymon…

1
Psychedelics Without Hallucinations: A New Mental Health Treatment? with David E. Olson 32:26

7M ago32:26

32:26

The United States is facing a real mental health crisis. In the last few years, one possible treatment has gotten a lot of press: psychedelic drugs. But what is actually happening in a person’s brain when they take a psychedelic? Could understanding the biology and the chemistry allow us to make better and safer versions of these drugs—and maybe ev…

1
Can We Believe Political Surveys? 46:06

7M ago46:06

46:06

Hello listeners! Our team took some end of the year time off, but we know your holiday travel wouldn’t be complete without some in-depth political science research. So, we’re release some episodes we think are going to be very relevant as we move into an election year. And thanks to everyone who listened to our podcast this year. We don’t make mone…

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