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The Atlantic

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  • 51 minutes 53 seconds
    The Scientific Controversy That’s Tearing Families Apart

    Shaken baby syndrome has been discredited, criticized, and even classified as “junk science” by a New Jersey judge, so why is it often being treated as settled fact in hospitals and courtrooms? The neuroscience researcher Cyrille Rossant was plunged headfirst into the controversy of shaken baby syndrome, now called “abusive head trauma,” when his child was believed to have been shaken by a nanny. After years of research, Rossant is now a leading voice among skeptics who say shaken baby syndrome isn’t backed by scientific proof. 


    Further reading: 

    Shaken Baby Syndrome: Investigating the Abusive Head Trauma Controversy, co-authored by Cyrille Rossant 

    How Antiscience Creates Confusion About the Diagnosis of Abusive Head Trauma,” by John Leventhal, et al. 

    No Science Supports the Diagnostic Methods for Abusive Head Trauma,” by Cyrille Rossant, et al. 

    False Confessions: Causes, Consequences, and Implications for Reform,” by Saul Kassin 


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    11 March 2025, 10:00 am
  • 45 minutes 35 seconds
    Best of: Is Wokeness Dead?

    As the second Trump administration dismantles federal DEI programs and removes trans Americans from the military, the crusade on “wokeness” seems to be a core focus of the president’s second term. In this encore episode, host Jerusalem Demsas speaks with the New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg about the end of wokeness and why we might miss it when it’s gone. 


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    4 March 2025, 11:00 am
  • 53 minutes 52 seconds
    The Human-Neanderthal Love-Story Mystery

    If researchers could go back in time 100,000 years, they’d find at least three different types of humans walking the Earth. Today, only the dominant group, Homo sapiens, survives. The scientist Johannes Krause explains how new discoveries in paleontology and genetics help pinpoint the exact period in which human groups interbred. Understanding this timeline, he says, brings us closer to understanding what makes modern humans unique. 


    Further reading: 


    Earliest Modern Human Genomes Constrain Timing of Neanderthal Admixture,” by Johannes Krause, et al. 

    Neanderthal Ancestry Through Time: Insights From Genomes of Ancient and Present-Day Humans,” by Leonardo N. M. Iasi, et al.

    DOGE Is Failing on Its Own Terms,” by David Deming 

    Interview with Svante Pääbo, 2022 Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine


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    25 February 2025, 11:00 am
  • 1 hour 4 minutes
    The Real Origins of Public Education

    Why do governments educate their citizens? More than 200 years ago, Western regimes shifted the responsibility of education from the family to the state. The political scientist Agustina Paglayan argues that this transition happened not in pursuit of democratic ideals, but in the interest of social control. 


    Further reading: 


    Raised to Obey: The Rise and Spread of Mass Education, by Agustina Paglayan 


    How Reconstruction Created American Public Education," by Adam Harris 


    Was Weber Wrong? A Human Capital Theory of Protestant Economic History,” by Sascha O. Becker Ludger Woessmann


    Understanding Education Policy Preferences: Survey Experiments with Policymakers in 35 Developing Countries,” by Lee Crawfurd, et al.  


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    18 February 2025, 11:00 am
  • 57 minutes 48 seconds
    The Great Political Sorting of American Offices

    We’re often told that there’s “no room for politics at work,” and yet the workplace is one of the most politically segregated spaces in adult life. The Harvard economics researcher Sahil Chinoy explains the self-sorting happening at every stage of professional life and the trade-offs workers are willing to make in pursuit of ideological uniformity.


    Further reading: 

    Political Sorting in the U.S. Labor Market: Evidence and Explanations,” by Sahil Chinoy and Martin Koenen

    The Political Polarization of Corporate America,” by Vyacheslav Fos, et al. 

    Politics at Work” by Emanuele Colonnelli, et al. 

    Does Communicating Measurable Diversity Goals Attract or Repel Historically Marginalized Job Applicants? Evidence From the Lab and Field” by Erika Kirgios, et al. 

    The study behind Sahil Chinoy’s Good on Paper answer: “Pitfalls of Demographic Forecasts of US Elections


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    11 February 2025, 11:00 am
  • 57 minutes 7 seconds
    Why Is One Chicago Neighborhood Twice as Deadly as Another?

    Most gun deaths aren’t premeditated, so how can we stop gun violence before it happens? The University of Chicago economist Jens Ludwig makes the case for thinking differently about the source of America’s gun-violence problem. 


    Further reading: 

    

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    4 February 2025, 11:00 am
  • 54 minutes 10 seconds
    Why States Took a Gamble on Sports Betting

    Seven years after the Supreme Court struck down a ban on state-sanctioned sports betting, a more complete picture of the downstream effects of legalization is starting to emerge. As some states see debt delinquency and problem gambling increase, the journalist Danny Funt explains why lawmakers took a gamble on sports betting in the first place. 


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    28 January 2025, 11:00 am
  • 54 minutes 41 seconds
    Is Elon Musk Right About Big Government?

    Government reform isn’t an exclusively partisan issue, so why does it seem to fall under the purview of Republicans? The researcher Jennifer Pahlka says Democrats need to “get in the game” of government reform and consider working with, instead of against, the aims of DOGE. 


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    21 January 2025, 11:00 am
  • 52 minutes 54 seconds
    The Scientist vs. the Machine

    Amid handwringing about AI’s effect on jobs, creativity, trust, and the environment, a new study shows the technology’s profound impact on scientific productivity. Aidan Toner-Rodgers, a Ph.D. candidate at MIT, recounts his research that shows the benefits and drawbacks of using AI to discover new scientific materials. 


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    14 January 2025, 11:00 am
  • 56 minutes 45 seconds
    The Political Psychology of NIMBYism

    What makes someone a NIMBY? The prevailing theory suggests that people support or reject new housing in their neighborhood based on what’s best for them personally. The political scientist David Broockman provides a different explanation—one based on people’s beliefs about important symbols such as cities or tall buildings, rather than self-interest.


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    7 January 2025, 11:00 am
  • 51 minutes 56 seconds
    RFK Jr.'s 'Seeds of Truth'

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is poised to lead the Department of Health and Human Services under President-Elect Donald Trump. He has said “there’s no vaccine that is safe and effective,” but Dr. Rachael Bedard, a pro-vaccine and left-leaning physician, says opponents should still seek common ground with him. 


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    31 December 2024, 11:00 am
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