No Stupid Questions

Also: are the most memorable stories less likely to be true? This episode originally aired on July 19, 2020.

Also: how do you avoid screwing up your kids? This episode originally aired on July 12, 2020.

Also: how does a comedian cope with tragedy? With Eugene Mirman. This episode originally aired on July 5, 2020.

Also: is it better to send a congratulatory note to someone who deserves it or a condolence note to someone who needs it? This episode originally aired on June 28, 2020.

Also: should we all have personal mission statements? This episode originally aired on June 21, 2020.

Also: is there such a thing as too much science? Plus, our special guest, Luis von Ahn, an inventor of CAPTCHA and a pioneer of free online language learning. This episode originally aired on June 14, 2020.

Also: is life precious because it’s finite? This episode originally aired on June 7, 2020.

Also: how does age affect happiness? This episode originally aired on May 31, 2020.

Also: why do we treat pets better than people? This episode originally aired on May 24, 2020.

Also: why can't humans handle uncertainty already? We’re replaying No Stupid Questions, starting here with the very first episode, from May 17, 2020.

How can you learn to love uncertainty? Is it better to cultivate acceptance or strive for change? And, after 223 episodes, what is the meaning of life? SOURCES:Jessica AlquistRoy BaumeisterRaymond CarverStephen ColbertMatt DamonViktor FranklSteve HeineCharles KrauthammerReinhold NiebuhrKeanu ReevesElisabeth Sifton RESOURCES:Start Making Sense: How Existential Psychology Can Help Us Build Meaningful Lives in Absurd Times, Learning to Love UncertaintyCurrent Directions in Psychological Science, Confused or Curious? Openness/Intellect Predicts More Positive Interest-Confusion RelationsJournal of Personality and Social Psychology, A Note to ReadersThe Washington Post, Interest — The Curious EmotionCurrent Directions in Psychological Science, The Serenity Prayer: Faith and Politics in Times of Peace and War, Late FragmentA New Path to the Waterfall, Man's Search for Meaning, EXTRAS:What Makes an Idea Interesting?No Stupid Questions Should You Get Out of Your Comfort Zone?No Stupid Questions Do You Need Closure?No Stupid Questions Secret o’ LifeJT,

What do Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, and Malcolm Gladwell have in common? Are interesting theories more significant than true ones? And what has been keeping Angela up at night? Plus: an important announcement about the show. SOURCES:Charles DarwinMurray DavisMalcolm GladwellAdam GrantB. F. Skinner RESOURCES:Small Fry, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, Why Malcolm Gladwell’s Ideas Are So Interesting, Whether or Not They’re TrueQuartz, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, Curious?: Discover the Missing Ingredient to a Fulfilling Life, Interest — The Curious EmotionExploring the Psychology of Interest, The Ketchup ConundrumThe New Yorker, That's Interesting!: Towards a Phenomenology of Sociology and a Sociology of PhenomenologyPhilosophy of the Social Sciences, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, EXTRAS:How Do You Identify a Narcissist?No Stupid Questions Is Screen Time as Poisonous as We Think?Freakonomics Radio Abortion and Crime, Revisited (Update)Freakonomics Radio

Why does listening to No Stupid Questions feel like you’re hanging out with your best friends? Why did the whole world take it personally when Princess Diana died? And how do “parasocial relationships” affect your mental health? SOURCES:Bradley BondJohn CacioppoJoe CobbsNick EpleyKaty MilkmanEmily OsterAnuj Shah RESOURCES:Knowledge About Others Reduces One’s Own Sense of AnonymityNatureTragic but True: How Podcasters Replaced Our Real FriendsThe GuardianThe Development and Influence of Parasocial Relationships With Television Characters: A Longitudinal Experimental Test of Prejudice Reduction Through Parasocial ContactCommunication ResearchA Mind like Mine: The Exceptionally Ordinary Underpinnings of AnthropomorphismJournal of the Association for Consumer ResearchGrit: The Power of Passion and PerseveranceHow Soap Operas Changed the WorldBBCThe Power of TV: Cable Television and Women's Status in IndiaThe Quarterly Journal of Economics EXTRAS:Can A.I. Companions Replace Human Connection?No Stupid Questions RivalryTell Me Something I Don't Know Behavior Change for Good InitiativeEverything Is AliveThe Know Rivalry Project

Are things really as bad as they seem? Has Gen Z given up hope for the world? And why was the father of positive psychology a lifelong pessimist? SOURCES:Albert BanduraDavid Brooks. Andrew GroveKalev LeetaruSteven MaierMichelle ObamaSteven PinkerAmanda RipleyMartin SeligmanJean TwengeEdward Zigler RESOURCES:Chicken Littles Are Ruining AmericaThe Atlantic, Generations, Enlightenment Now, The Short History of Global Living Conditions and Why It Matters That We Know ItOur World in Data, Learned Helplessness at Fifty: Insights from NeurosciencePsychological Review, Short- and Long-Term Consequences of Stressor Controllability in Adolescent RatsBehavioural Brain Research, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Forecasting Large-Scale Human Behavior Using Global News Media Tone in Time and SpaceFirst Monday, Motivational Aspects of Changes in IQ Test Performance of Culturally Deprived Nursery School ChildrenChild Development, Failure to Escape Traumatic ShockJournal of Experimental Psychology, Upworthy EXTRAS:Why Is U.S. Media So Negative?Freakonomics Radio

Does a surplus of information create a shortage of attention? Are today’s young people really unable to focus? And do goldfish need better PR? SOURCES:Neil BradburyNicholas CarrJohann HariCharles HowardFelicity HuntingfordGloria MarkRick RubinHerbert Simon RESOURCES:Uncovering Your Path: Spiritual Reflections for Finding Your Purpose, Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity, The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention — and How to Think Deeply Again, Quibi’s Founder and CEO Explain What Went WrongCNBC, Digital Democracy Survey, Eleventh EditionBusting the Attention Span MythBBC News, Attention Span During Lectures: 8 Seconds, 10 Minutes, or More?Advances in Physiology Education, Is Google Making Us Stupid?The Atlantic, Designing Organizations for an Information-Rich WorldComputers, Communications, and the Public Interest, EXTRAS:Multitasking Doesn’t Work. So Why Do We Keep Trying?Freakonomics Radio Rick Rubin on How to Make Something GreatPeople I (Mostly) Admire

What’s the difference between narcissism and high self-esteem? Does social media fuel arrogance or self-consciousness? And do people get less toxic with age? SOURCES:Brené BrownJonathan HaidtMichael LewisCooper McAllisterJean Twenge RESOURCES:Narcissistic Abuse’ Has Gone Mainstream. But What Is It?The Washington Post, Development of Narcissism Across the Life Span: A Meta-Analytic Review of Longitudinal StudiesPsychological Bulletin, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, America Is Obsessed With Narcissists. Is Trump to Blame?USA Today, Narcissism Today: What We Know and What We Need to LearnCurrent Directions in Psychological Science, Egos Deflating With the Great Recession: A Cross-Temporal Meta-Analysis and Within-Campus Analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, 1982–2016Personality and Individual Differences, Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Diagnostic and Clinical ChallengesAmerican Journal of Psychiatry, Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled — and More Miserable Than Ever Before, Cincinnatus and the Citizen-Servant Ideal: The Roman Legend's Life, Times, and Legacy, EXTRAS:Is Screen Time as Poisonous as We Think?Freakonomics Radio Do 'Generations' Mean Anything?No Stupid Questions Is Pride the Worst Sin?No Stupid Questions The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine,

How many bottles of wine are regifted? What’s wrong with giving cash? And should Angela give her husband a subscription to the Sausage of the Month Club? SOURCES:Joel Waldfogel RESOURCES:How to Become a Truly Excellent Gift GiverVox, How to Calculate a Holiday Tip for the DoormanThe New York Times, Least Favorite Gifts to Receive for Christmas in the United States in 2022, by Generation(Not) Giving the Same Old Song and Dance: Givers’ Misguided Concerns About Thoughtfulness and Boringness Keep Them From Repeating GiftsJournal of Business Research, Does Anyone Really Buy the Giant Car Bows You See in Every Commercial?Vox, It’s the Motive That Counts: Perceived Sacrifice Motives and Gratitude in Romantic RelationshipsEmotion, Why Certain Gifts Are Great to Give but Not to Get: A Framework for Understanding Errors in Gift GivingCurrent Directions in Psychological Science, The Girl Who Gets Gifts From BirdsB.B.C. News, The Disappointing Gift: Dispositional and Situational Moderators of Emotional ExpressionsJournal of Experimental Child PsychologyScroogenomics: Why You Shouldn’t Buy Presents for the Holidays, The Deadweight Loss of ChristmasThe American Economic Review, United States Postal Service Employee Tipping and Gift-Receiving Policy EXTRASHave a Very Homo Economicus ChristmasFreakonomics Radio

How does social media exploit our evolutionary instincts? How dangerous is it to post about your children online? And does Angela regret talking about her daughters on the podcast? SOURCES:Erin CarboneJimmy KimmelGeorge LoewensteinTaylor SwiftChristie Tate RESOURCES:Five Takeaways From The Times’s Investigation Into Child InfluencersThe New York Times Online 'Sharenting': The Dangers of Posting Sensitive Information About Children on Social MediaThe Journal of Pediatrics, Privacy Preferences and the Drive to DiscloseCurrent Directions in Psychological Science, My Daughter Asked Me to Stop Writing About Motherhood. Here’s Why I Can’t Do ThatThe Washington Post, When Kids Realize Their Whole Life Is Already OnlineThe Atlantic, 'Sharenting' Puts Young at Risk of Online FraudBBC News, Everything You Need to Know About the 'Right to be forgotten EXTRAS:What Is Your Password?Jimmy Kimmel Live! The Best Day

Would you steal Halloween candy? Should people be required to identify themselves online? And why did Angela go trick-or-treating in a trash bag? SOURCES:Hajo AdamMarianna CeriniEdward DienerAdam GalinskyJ. Nathan MatiasLisa MortonIsaac Bashevis SingerPhilip Zimbardo RESOURCES:Halloween Was Once So Dangerous That Some Cities Considered Banning ItHistory, Why Do People Sometimes Wear an Anonymous Mask? Motivations for Seeking Anonymity OnlinePersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin, From Pagan Spirits to Wonder Woman: A Brief History of the Halloween CostumeCNN, The Real Name FallacyCoral, Can Your Employees Really Speak Freely?Harvard Business Review, 'Mask Index' Helps Predict Election Day OutcomeCBS Evening News, Enclothed CognitionJournal of Experimental Social Psychology, Effects of Deindividuation Variables on Stealing Among Halloween Trick-or-TreatersJournal of Personality and Social Psychology, The Human Choice: Individuation, Reason, and Order Versus Deindividuation, Impulse, and ChaosNebraska Symposium on Motivation, EXTRAS:What Is Evil?No Stupid Questions How to Maximize Your Halloween Candy HaulFreakonomics Radio

Is it better to explain a mistake or just accept responsibility? What’s the difference between an excuse and a justification? And why is it important to remember that you’re not a pizzeria on the Jersey Shore? SOURCES:Robert CialdiniRaymond HigginsMartin SeligmanRick Snyder RESOURCES:‘Explain, but Make No Excuses’: Service Recovery After Public Service FailuresPublic Management Review, To Justify or Excuse?: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Effects of ExplanationsJournal of Applied Psychology, Excuses: Their Effective Role in the Negotiation of RealityPsychological Bulletin, The Attributional Style QuestionnaireCognitive Therapy and Research, EXTRAS:How Can You Convince Someone They’re Wrong?No Stupid Questions Under the Boardwalk