#99 How Our Minds Heal Our Bodies: Jo Marchant

Have you ever felt a surge of adrenaline after almost getting into an accident? Salivated at the sight of a sour lemon? Felt turned on by your partner’s voice? If so, says scientific journalist Jo Marchant, you’ve experienced how the workings of the mind can affect your body.

In this episode, we look at the mind's potential to ease pain, reduce anxiety and even cut the risk of infection, heart disease, and other serious medical ailments. Jo discusses how the latest findings in mind-body research: How hypnotherapy, mindfulness techniques, Virtual Reality, and social connections can play important roles in healing and prevention.

More than one in three Americans have turned to alternative medicine. But do homeopathy, acupuncture and other therapies actually work? What does science say about the use of placebos in medicine?

"I believe very strongly in an evidence-based approach that we have to investigate things in a scientific way," Jo tells us in this episode. "On the other hand, I also started to feel that science has a bit of a blind spot when it comes to the role of the mind in health."

Jo Marchant discusses the findings of her New York Times best-selling book "Cure: A Journey Into The Science of Mind Over Body."

Read more

#96 Robots Are Not Coming For Your Job, Part 2: Peter Cappelli

How can we save good jobs?

In part one (episode #95), we spoke with Peter Cappelli of the Wharton School, about the impact of robots and automation on our workforce. Here in part 2 Peter talks solutions and explains why some of the alarm over the impact on employment is out-of-touch with reality.

Read more

#91 Geoffrey Colon: Pay-to-Play: A Menace to Society?

Do you know where your information is coming from? Shadowy forces are at work to influence what we think, how we behave, and where we spend our money.

They're part of the explosion in pay-to-play. From bots and branded content to political-influence peddlers’, advertisers and even sports programs in public schools, pay-to-play is a growing influence in our lives.

Critics of pay-to-play say that instead of "We the people,” the online world is controlled by "We the wealthiest people.”

Geoffrey Colon, an expert on marketing, tech and how to get people's attention, is our guest. A communications designer at Microsoft, Geoffrey is the author of "Disruptive Marketing - What Growth Hackers, Data Punks and Other Hybrid Thinkers Can Teach Us About Navigating the New Normal." He's the co-host with Cheryl Metzger of the popular podcast, "Disruptive FM." We learn more about the threat from fake news and hate sites alt-right bots to our democracy. Geoffrey guides through some of the recent dizzying changes in the online landscape.

Read more

#87 Taxes: How to Avoid an Audit, Get a Refund, and Don't Panic

Do you dread filing your taxes? We simplify the process and break it down into simple steps so you can avoid costly mistakes and even an audit. You might even get back hundreds of dollars in refunds.

Our guest on this podcast is certified tax accountant, Janice Hayman, who calls herself a "tax therapist" for many of her clients. We learn which tax credits and deductions millions of taxpayers miss when they file their returns. Why dealing with the Internal Revenue Service is often a lot easier and less intimidating than many people fear. And how to avoid falling for the most common tax scams.

Read more

#86 Farai Chideya: Re-think Your Career. Find a New Job

Have you spent your life switching careers, changing jobs and titles? So has former NPR host, professor, and journalist Farai Chideya. It’s the new normal, and it’s called the episodic career.

Our guest is a well-known journalist, professor, author, and former NPR host, Farai Chideya, author of “The Episodic Career”.

Read more

#85 Why We Are Fooled by Con Artists: Maria Konnikova

Have you ever been the victim of a con artist? Very often we fall for cons ourselves without being aware of it.

We speak with journalist and psychologist Maria Konnikova, a regular contributor to The New Yorker magazine and best-selling author of “The Confidence Game:" Through storytelling and science, she explains the mind of the con artist and what makes the rest of us so susceptible.

Read more

#84 Smart Solutions for The New Year

Fresh thinking for the New Year: In 2016 we were exposed to a dazzling range of smart, practical ideas from our podcast guests - from climate change and money matters, healthcare reform, to making room for strangers in our lives.

Read more

#83 Best Moments of 2016

Alan Dershowitz on Trump; what an Islamic fundamentalist learned in an Egyptian jail; plus a tenured professor explained why she quit her job—trigger warning ahead.

Read more

#82 Lessons from the World's Best Schools: Lucy Crehan

What we can learn from the best education systems in the world? A lot.

We learn about PISA - The Program for International Student Assessment - and why this international test on math, science and reading has disturbing results for U.S. schools.

We interviewed British teacher Lucy Crehan, author of the breakthrough book, "Cleverlands", who went on a remarkable journey to Finland, Asia and Canada, to study the world’s best schools. We find out why a simple question from a student in her science class, “Miss, why do we sneeze?" sent Lucy on a two-year quest to learn how to improve schools.

Read more

#81 Rana Foroohar: Wall Street's Giant Threat to the Economy

More than eight years after the financial meltdown, we still have a lot to learn, says our guest, CNN global economic analyst Rana Foroohar.

"The rise of finance has actually kind of eaten the rest of the economy," Rana tells this in this "Fix It" episode. "Finance controls the rest of industry. Finance has become the tail that wags the dog." At the same time, the financial industry remains at risk for another hugely destructive collapse.

Read more