Good on Paper

In 1981, an estimated 44 percent of the global population lived in extreme poverty. In 2019, that number shrank to just 9 percent. We often think of poverty as a trap, but recent research shows it doesn’t have to be. The economist and co-founder of GiveDirectly, Paul Niehaus, explains how extreme poverty fell over the past 40 years and how it could be eliminated for good. Further reading: “How Poverty Fell,” by Vincent Armentano, Paul Niehaus, and Tom Vogl “How Progressives Froze the American Dream,” by Yoni Appelbaum One Illness Away: Why People Become Poor and How They Escape Poverty, by Anirudh Krishna Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The ’90s are sometimes described as the beginning of the postfeminist era. But if feminism died 30 years ago, who killed it? The Atlantic staff writer Sophie Gilbert seeks to answer this question in her new book, Girl on Girl, and finds a likely suspect in the contemporaneous rise of internet pornography. Further reading: Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves, by Sophie Gilbert “Don’t Call Them Trash,” by Sophie Gilbert “Would You Give PornHub Your ID?,” by Jerusalem Demsas “Romantic Love Is an Under-Rated Driver of Gender Equality,” by Alice Evans Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Women now outnumber men on U.S. college campuses. There’s a common belief that the college gender gap has led to a decrease in marriage rates for college-educated women, but the economist Benny Goldman says the data just don’t support that narrative. Instead, shifts in educational attainment and marriage rates have had a much starker effect on non-college-educated women and low-earning men. Further reading: “Bachelors Without Bachelor’s: Gender Gaps in Education and Declining Marriage Rates,” by Benjamin Goldman, Clara Chambers, and Joseph Winkelmann “Marriage Market Sorting in the U.S,” by Anton Cheremukhin, Paulina Restrepo-Echavarria, and Antonella Tutino Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization, by Brad Wilcox Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It, by Richard Reeves Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Framers of the U.S. Constitution designed a government that they hoped would be impervious to tyranny of the majority. What they didn’t spend much time worrying about was the reverse: a tyranny of the minority. The political scientist Steve Teles explains how very small minorities have come to dominate government and what should be done about it. Further Reading: “Minoritarianism Is Everywhere,” by Steve Teles Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point, by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt “The Great Political Sort Is Happening at the Office,” by Jerusalem Demsas Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

States are cracking down on online porn—but is it working? The researcher Zeve Sanderson explains how age-verification laws backfire, why teens outsmart them, and what that means for the future of internet regulation. Further reading: “Do Age-Verification Bills Change Search Behavior? A Pre-Registered Synthetic Control Multiverse,” by David Lang, Zeve Sanderson, et al. “The Online Porn Free-for-All Is Coming to an End,” by Marc Novicoff Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the summer of 1975, white schoolchildren at some Louisville, Kentucky, public schools were faced with a choice: stay in the school system and undergo busing to integrate the schools, or leave the system entirely. A remarkable new study by the economist Ethan Kaplan shows that for students who stayed, busing had lasting effects on their political identities, making them more likely to identify as Democrats, support unions, and say that the world is not inherently fair. Further reading: “A Different World: Enduring Effects of School Desegregation on Ideology and Attitudes,” by Ethan Kaplan, Jorg L. Spenkuch, and Cody Tuttle The Nature of Prejudice, by Gordon Allport Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers have suggested that lifestyle choices explain the remarkably high number of very old people living healthy lives in regions of the world known as “blue zones.” That research has spawned cookbooks, docuseries, and diets and turned blue zones into a household name. Today’s episode is a conversation with Dr. Saul Newman, who has upended the field by questioning the underlying data and research methods that hold up the now-controversial theory. Further reading: “Supercentenarian and remarkable age records exhibit patterns indicative of clerical errors and pension fraud,” by Saul Newman “The Science Behind Blue Zones: Demographers Debunk the Critics”—an open letter signed by scientists and demographers supporting the “blue zones” theory “Sorry, No Secret to Life Is Going to Make You Live to 110,” by Saul Newman for The New York Times Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do politicians really think of their voters? A new study looking at 11 different democracies finds that politicians hold an unflattering view of their constituents, while voters view themselves as thoughtful, policy-oriented decision makers. The political scientist Jack Lucas explains why politicians think voters are dumb and why they might be wrong. Further reading: “Politicians’ Theories of Voting Behavior,” by Jack Lucas, et al. “Are politicians democratic realists?,” by Jack Lucas, Lior Sheffer, and Peter John Loewen Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government, by Christopher H. Achen and Larry M. Bartels “‘Everything Is Terrible, but I’m Fine,’” by Derek Thompson Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump won back the White House last year by stoking fears of scarcity. The zero-sum thinking of the right that says there aren’t enough houses or jobs to go around laid the groundwork for the forces of illiberalism currently at play in the federal government. In their new book, Abundance, Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson argue that to combat the politics of scarcity, liberals at every level of government must embrace abundance. Further reading: Abundance, by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson Why We’re Polarized, by Ezra Klein “Do Democrats Need to Learn How to Build?,” by Benjamin Wallace-Wells “A Simple Plan to Solve All of America’s Problems,” by Derek Thompson “Blue States Gave Trump and Vance an Opening,” by Jerusalem Demsas Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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” Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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: Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence, by Jens Ludwig Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much, by Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir The study behind Ludwig’s Good on Paper answer: “The Effect of Mentoring on School Attendance and Academic Outcomes: A Randomized Evaluation of the Check & Connect Program” Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Editor’s note: After this episode aired, MIT issued a statement raising concerns about the integrity of Aidan Toner-Rodgers's working paper “Artificial Intelligence, Scientific Discovery, and Product Innovation,” and recommending that the paper be withdrawn. The open-access research repository arXiv, where the paper was originally posted, has removed it from its archive, citing “concerns about the validity of the data and incomplete Institutional Review Board requirements.” The Atlantic reached out to Toner-Rodgers for comment but has so far not received a response. 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. Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices