Month: June 2014

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The Gist - Dirty Laundry? There’s an App for That

On today’s The Gist, Mike and New York magazine’s Jessica Pressler head to a laundromat to discuss what the hot new laundry app Washio says about the worldview of the bros who make apps. Plus, law professor Dean Rivkin explains how truancy fines work against the problems they’re trying to solve. In the Spiel, Mike explores headlines that overpromise and underdeliver.

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The Gist - Should Ruth Bader Ginsburg Just Quit Already?

With many well-respected liberal thinkers pressuring Ruth Bader Ginsburg to step down while a Democrat’s in the White House, what might be going through her mind? Today on The Gist, Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick discusses the latest news from the high court. Then, with ISIS on the march in Iraq, the American Interest editor Adam Garfinkle shares historical and contemporary insight from the right. In today’s Spiel, our countdown of reasons Mike thinks the late Casey Kasem was overrated.

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Start the Week - Pain and Prejudice

Tom Sutcliffe discusses the history of pain with the historian Joanna Bourke, who explores how our attitude to suffering has changed through the centuries. The former Conservative MP, Norman Fowler, looks back at the public health campaign that revolutionised the fight against HIV and Aids in Britain in the 1980s, and how discrimination and political expediency are hampering prevention and treatment around the world today. The Director of the Wellcome Trust, Jeremy Farrar remembers when he was a junior doctor and patients were dying of Aids because there was no treatment. He warns that the overuse and misuse of anti-biotic drugs could herald a return to the days of untreatable diseases.

Producer: Katy Hickman.

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Start the Week - Pain and Prejudice

Tom Sutcliffe discusses the history of pain with the historian Joanna Bourke, who explores how our attitude to suffering has changed through the centuries. The former Conservative MP, Norman Fowler, looks back at the public health campaign that revolutionised the fight against HIV and Aids in Britain in the 1980s, and how discrimination and political expediency are hampering prevention and treatment around the world today. The Director of the Wellcome Trust, Jeremy Farrar remembers when he was a junior doctor and patients were dying of Aids because there was no treatment. He warns that the overuse and misuse of anti-biotic drugs could herald a return to the days of untreatable diseases.

Producer: Katy Hickman.

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - WS MoreOrLess: Heads Or Tails?

Freakonomics guru Steven Levitt joins us to talk about an unusual experiment ? getting people to agree to make major life decisions based on the toss of a coin. Is this really good social science? And what do the results tell us about decision making and happiness? And with 365 days in the year, it feels like a huge coincidence when we meet someone with the same birthday. But you only need 23 people to have a better than even chance that two will share a birthday. This counter-intuitive result is known as the birthday paradox, and the best place to look for proof is the World Cup, where 32 squads of 23 players provide an ideal data-set. Alex Bellos crunches the numbers for us. This programme was first broadcast on the BBC World Service.

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The Gist - Blame Salt-n-Pepa for American Glottal Stop

Today on The Gist, why Chipotle has become an important battleground for open carry advocates in Texas. Then Mike and language maven Ben Yagoda discuss their pet peeves against words like “amongst,” and revel in the American glottal stop. Yagoda’s new book is You Need To Read This. Plus, this is what it sounds like when Mike spiels about doves crying.

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - Faith and Charity?

"Religion Makes People More Generous"- according to The Daily Telegraph's interpretation of a new BBC poll on charitable giving. Tim Harford investigates whether there is a link between practising a religion and whether we give. Plus: Big data - the hype says it will help deliver everything from increased corporate profits to better healthcare but are we being blinded to basic statistical lessons learned over the past two hundred years? And it feels like a huge coincidence, but you only need 23 people to have a better than even chance of meeting someone with the same birthday. This is the birthday paradox, and the best place to look for proof is the World Cup, where 32 squads of 23 players provide an ideal data-set. Alex Bellos crunches the numbers for us.

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The Gist - Polls Say the Darndest Things

Forces for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, have taken control of significant parts of Iraq. Mike speaks with Slate’s Fred Kaplan about who’s to blame (hint: not Obama). We’ll explore how unlikely political coalitions could unite to avoid pure chaos in the Middle East. For the Spiel, Mike shows that poll results are in the eye of the beholder.

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