128. Are Our Tools Becoming Part of Us?

She’s best known for playing neurobiologist Amy Farrah Fowler on The Big Bang Theory, but the award-winning actress has a rich life outside of her acting career, as a teacher, mother — and a real-life neuroscientist. Steve Levitt tries to learn more about this one-time academic a ...  Show more

By cataloging the steady march of human progress, the Harvard psychologist and linguist has become a very public intellectual. But the self-declared “polite Canadian” has managed to enrage people on opposite ends of the political spectrum. Steve Levitt tries to understand why. Th ...  Show more

What do the most creative people have in common?  How open-minded are you, really? And what’s wrong with ordering eggs Benedict? 

Take the Big Five inventory: 

freakonomics.com/bigfive

Is it really that important to make your bed? What’s the benefit of hiring a lazy person? And how many cups of spinach can Mike fit in a red Solo cup?  

Take the Big Five inventory: freakonomics.com/bigfive

How do friendships change as we get older? Should you join a bowling league? And also: how does a cook become a chef?

RESOURCES:

Will AI change what it means to be human? Sean Illing talks with essayist Meghan O'Gieblyn, author of God, Human, Animal, Machine, a book about how the way we understand human nature has been interwoven with how we understand our own technology. They discuss the power of metaphor ...  Show more