Episodes

Before the 1950s, few people had allergies. But since then, allergies - and autoimmune diseases - have surged. Why?

Dr. Andrew Wang from the Yale School of Medicine and the Food Allergy Science Initiative explains this enormous uptick in allergies - and the recent shift doctors made that actually helped allergies fall.

Plus, the search for medicines that can help people eat the food they’re allergic to, as well as medicines that might be able to prevent allergies in the first place.

If you wa...

How did the oldest Americans become so rich and powerful? Yale’s Samuel Moyn talks about the growing age divide in America.

Americans over 54 now hold 70% of the nation’s wealth, while those under 40 scrape by on just 5%. Moyn - the author of Gerontocracy In America - explains how older Americans gained durable control over the economy, the housing market, and government spending.

He discusses generational gridlock, low-key rage, and aging politicians. And he explains the structural shifts nee...

As heat waves, droughts, and surging insurance costs reshape American life, climate change has almost vanished from the national political debate. Why?

On this episode of It Turns Out, Pulitzer-Prize–winning author and New Yorker staff writer Elizabeth Kolbert explains why politicians on both sides of the aisle are steering clear of the topic. At the EPA, Lee Zeldin has shed jobs and regulations - including on toxins like mercury. And Democrats appear to be suffering from what one lawmaker call...

Despite endless corporate press releases and return-to-office mandates, the data reveals a surprising truth: the number of days worked from home has remained completely flat since 2023.

Stanford economist Nick Bloom tells Kara what's going on, who's missing, and what the future holds.

He also explains how work is impacting mental health, productivity, real estate prices, young workers, and - if you can believe it - fertility.

In the show, we reference our show on "Should Americans have more k...

There's a big spotlight - and a lot of resistance to - billionaires, from Elon Musk to Larry Ellison. But we’re missing an under-the-radar revolution in American wealth.

The country is minting far more multimillionaires than it used to: People who make money in ways you might never think about, in amounts you can barely dream of. And these folks tend to be anonymous - but incredibly influential - urging politicians to shift the tax burden away from them. Will that pull the ladder up for the nex...

Over the last 40 years, many of the wealthiest Americans have effectively seceded from taxation.

While regular Americans - from teachers to surgeons - often pay between 25 and 50% of their income in taxes, lots of billionaires pay 5% (or less) in taxes each year. And their heirs can inherit fortunes tax free.

How have we let this happen? And why don't more people know about it?

Boston College scholar Ray Madoff - author of The Second Estate - talks about what's going on.

Did you know you can...

Why do affluent suburbs in Boston and Houston vote completely differently, yet share one surprising thing in common? Economist Melissa Kearney, author of The Two-Parent Privilege, reveals that one of America's most consequential divides isn't about red states versus blue states. It's about whether you're raising kids with a partner, and the economic advantages are stark and surprising.

Subscribe to our newsletter on Substack, for more on Kearney and her work.

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What do scientists know about how to live longer - and maximize the number of years that you're healthy?

Princeton molecular biologist Coleen Murphy explains what you can do now, which pharmaceutical is having an unexpected effect on longevity, and why the next few years are so promising. Murphy also talks about the science of predicting how long we'll live.

But she has deep concerns about the Trump administration's cuts to the National Institutes of Health, and how those cuts will set back lo...

Are the ultra-wealthy playing a high-stakes game of dodgeball with American cities? As states float the idea of heavy wealth taxes, billionaires are increasingly moving their addresses—and their yachts—to tax havens like Miami. But does this wealth migration spell doom for blue cities?

In this episode of It Turns Out, Kara sits down with renowned urban scholar Richard Florida to decode the new geography of extreme wealth. And Florida explains why politicians like NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani - who ...

Since 2020, more than a million kids have left American public schools. Meanwhile, enrollment in private schools and homeschooling has risen. What's going on? Have parents lost faith in public schools? And which sorts of kids are most likely to leave?

Kara speaks with Thomas Dee, a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Education, who has tracked students' movement out of public schools. How do fights over advanced math - and challenging content - affect schools' ability to retain students? H...

For two decades, the global phenomenon of "Blue Zones" has shaped how we eat, live, and invest in our health. But what if the data behind these longevity hotspots doesn't quite stack up?

In this episode of It Turns Out, Kara Miller sits down with Dr. Saul Justin Newman, a senior research fellow at Oxford and University College London and author of Morbid (MIT Press).

Dr. Newman exposes the staggering reality behind world-famous longevity claims—from pension fraud and missing records that infla...

What if being more social could change your life?

University of Chicago behavioral scientist Nicholas Epley talks with Kara about the surprising bump in happiness we get from being a little more social.

Being less lonely also has huge health benefits that often go unrecognized. But, as Epley points out, people routinely overestimate how unpleasant it will be to reach out to others. And they almost always underestimate how enjoyable the discussions will be.

Why do we put up these barriers to o...

Is a college degree actually worth it, or do universities simply accept students who were already destined for success?

Using a clever natural experiment - in an era when lots more folks doubt the usefulness of a college degree - University of Chicago economist Jack Mountjoy tries to figure out whether college really pays off. And for who?

Plus, how does your life change when you get off a waiting list from an elite college? And how are your marriage prospects altered depending on your major?
...

Former NIH researcher Kevin Hall explains the science of why we eat what we eat, and debunks persistent myths about willpower, metabolism, and protein. He shares his startling findings from studying The Biggest Loser contestants—revealing why extreme exercise doesn’t prevent metabolic slowing—and explains how our modern food environment is engineered to override our conscious control. Plus, why MAHA has some good ideas, but isn’t on track to make America much healthier.

Hall is a co-author of F...

The fertility rate in America has fallen more than 20 percent in the last two decades. Why is this happening, and should we try to turn it around?

The drop is even more stark, if you look back several decades, to a time when women were having - on average - close to four kids each.

Kara is joined by Notre Dame economist Kasey Buckles, who argues that the numbers aren't what they seem.

She explains why the post-war "Baby Boom" was actually a historical anomaly, and discusses whether the Trump ...

A generation ago, a "China Shock" decimated American manufacturing. Today, a second wave is looming—and this time, it’s coming for engineers, scientists, and tech professionals.

In this episode, Kara sits down with MIT economist David Autor to discuss why the U.S. is uniquely unprepared for China Shock 2.0. From the "apex predators" of the Chinese EV market to the rapid migration of biotech innovation to the East, Autor explains why American "chauvinism" and a political attention span he descri...

What happens when the world’s most powerful tech leaders decide they are the architects of humanity's future? Astrophysicist Adam Becker, author of More Everything Forever, takes a hard look at the "Plan B" visions of Silicon Valley’s elite.

From Elon Musk’s mission to colonize a "poisonous" Mars to Jeff Bezos’ dream of trillion-person space colonies, Becker argues that these blueprints are often more science fiction than scientific fact.

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What happens when a culture is suddenly engulfed by 24/7 betting, wagering, and prediction markets?

In this episode of It Turns Out, host Kara Miller sits down with Dr. Timothy Fong, a psychiatrist and co-director of the UCLA Gambling Studies Program, to explore the hidden costs of America's new favorite pastime: "solitude entertainment."

From the staggering story of a student who drained his $180,000 college fund in just 18 months, to the psychological traps of treating apps like DraftKings a...

Traffic isn’t just an inconvenience; it’s a thief. It robs you of time, health - and sometimes sanity. But the "obvious" fixes, like widening freeways or upgrading subways, often leave us stuck in the exact same spot. In this episode of It Turns Out, Kara Miller talks with UCLA urban planning expert Michael Manville about how to really fix traffic (it’s doable). Discover why the one scientific solution to gridlock is uniquely "uncontagious" among politicians, but quite popular among those who’ve...

Why have so many boys and men fallen behind in America?

Boys are behind girls in K-12 education. They are behind girls in getting to college - and staying in college. Millions of prime-age men are missing from the labor force. And men die deaths of despair - suicide and overdoses - at much higher rates than women.

Richard Reeves talks about what has shifted culturally for men.

How do you turn this around? Why do these issues affect even upper-class boys? How has this issue hurt Democrats - an...

Why do we prioritize larger homes over shorter commutes, even when it costs us our happiness? Redfin's Chief Economist and author Daryl Fairweather joins host Kara Miller to reveal how applying economic research can help you optimize your home, your career, and your relationships.

In this episode of It Turns Out, Fairweather breaks down the complexities of the 2026 housing market, explains how to free yourself from psychological biases like "anchoring,” and explains how Beyoncé - and Destiny’s ...

For decades, Americans have gravitated to the southern US - from Florida to Arizona. But that may be about to change.

This change will also shuffle our finances - and create enormous winners and losers.

In this eye-opening interview, ProPublica’s Abrahm Lustgarten, author of On the Move, exposes the "Great American Climate Scam" that is artificially propping up real estate values in high-risk zones like Florida and California. And he talks about how a collapse in one market could become a cont...

Is healthcare eating the US economy? Affordable Care Act architect Jon Gruber explains why healthcare became the issue that keeps employees - and employers - up at night. And how it came to paralyze the government. Why does an MRI cost $1,500 in the US but only a fraction of that in Japan? Why is the idea of "competition" a talking point, not a solution? Gruber also explains why Democrats moved to the right on healthcare, only to see Republicans move further to the right. Plus, hear Gruber’s "ma...

For the last three years, we've been making an enormous bet on AI. It's woven into our investments, our pension funds, even the stability of our economy. But, the bet hasn't paid off yet - and many aren't sure it ever will.

AI expert Gary Marcus - who’s been excited about the technology for a long time - explains why society's all-in wager on large language models could be far riskier than we realize.

Marcus is author of the book Taming Silicon Valley from MIT Press.

MIT Sloan Management Revi...