The Trust Equation: It’s Not Just Who You Hire, It’s How You Hire
What if organizations decided to treat their entire hiring process (not just who they hire), as a competitive advantage rather than a wearisome chore?
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What It’s Like to Be…a Conductor
Reinterpreting centuries-old classical music, marking up symphonies with notes on phrasing, and turning mid-performance disasters into unforgettable moments with Carlos Miguel Prieto, a music director and conductor.
Behavioral Economics, Then and Now: A Conversation With Alex Imas
Alex Imas and Richard Thaler teamed up to update a landmark book in behavioral economics. In doing so, they chart where behavioral economics began, where it is now, and where it could go next.
What We're Reading
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Violence Against Women and Girls: Far More Focus on Prevention Is Needed
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Civil Serice World -
Big Tech Wants Direct Access to Our Brains
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The New York Times -
‘Parasocial’ is Cambridge Dictionary’s Word of the Year 2025
Cambridge Dictionary -
The Screen That Ate Your Child’s Education
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The New York Times -
A Researcher Made an AI That Completely Breaks the Online Surveys Scientists Rely On
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Featured
Why Don’t People Return Their Shopping Carts? A (Somewhat) Scientific Investigation
For reasons I can’t fully explain, people’s failure to return their carts bothers me more than it probably should. But then I realized I can do something about it.
What It’s Like to Be…a Master Electrician
Calculating electrical loads, getting zapped by 277 volts, and savoring the freedom of the skilled trades with Doug Powell, a master electrician.
Our Hypocrisy Blind Spot
For our politics to function, we must find a balance between letting all hypocrisy slide and trying to eradicate hypocrisy completely.
The Behavioral Scientist as a Cartographer
How can researchers and practitioners better translate, scale, and adapt their interventions? A concept from cartography offers some inspiration.
What It’s Like to Be…a Baseball Player
Scaling outfield walls to pick off home runs, bouncing between La Quinta hotels and sleeper buses, and chasing the dream of the majors with Trayvon Robinson, a professional baseball player.
The Cognitive Contradictions That Shape Who Runs the Household
There’s a puzzling inconsistency in the way couples deploy their skills at work and at home.
What It’s Like to Be…a Seismologist
Monitoring global networks of seismometers, evangelizing for stronger buildings instead of better predictions, and measuring LA’s slow crawl toward Alaska with Lucy Jones, a seismologist in Southern California.
The Volunteer’s Dilemma
Learning about something in public, even if everyone already knows it, can change everything—especially when and how we decide to help.
