Innovation Hub

Marc Edwards was one of the first scientists to confirm lead poisoning in Flint. But it’s the second time he found himself battling the EPA. He tells us why our country’s lead crisis will only get worse.

Three things to know: Con men - and women - have been around for as long as we’ve been around. So why do we keep falling for their tricks? Maria Konnikova explains the science of the swindle. There’s no international law on time zones or daylight savings. And the result? Chaos. But Steve Hanke has a simple solution: universal time. Flint, Michigan, was just the beginning. Marc Edwards says that our country is relying on a network of very old pipes, many of them lined with lead.

What if the spread of violence was treated like the spread of a disease? University of Illinois at Chicago’s Gary Slutkin tells us why we need to take a public health approach to preventing violence in America.

Chocolate’s melting point makes it one of the most fickle sweets in the world. It also prevents manufacturers from transporting it to large swaths of the globe. But the discovery of one of its most important genes could make a big difference.

Violence is usually seen as some sort of moral failing. Gary Slutkin says we should instead treat it like a disease. As anyone who’s left a Hershey’s bar too long in their pocket can tell you… chocolate melts pretty easily. A scientist has uncovered the gene that could change that. The shape and form of the book hasn’t changed all that much since the Middle Ages. But it has definitely changed us.

One man’s life turns around because, of all things, nougat. We recount the surprising rise of a giant in the world of candy.

From illuminated manuscripts to your dog-eared copy of The Hobbit, the book has had a tremendously important place in human history. Keith Houston talks about how books changed the world.

This just in: reading just might help you live longer. Bookworms everywhere celebrate by going to the library.

Winter can be the hardest time of the year to stay in shape. But now that the holidays have passed, many Americans are looking to lose a few pounds in preparation for beach weather. It's a perfect time to focus in on our country’s growing obesity problem -- what’s caused it and what we can do about it.

We get high from making money. Literally. Former Wall Street executive and author Kabir Sehgal explains our obsession with cash and coin.

What would the internet look like if you owned a piece of it? Nathan Schneider thinks it's time for some of the biggest internet players to get cut down to size.

Once upon a time, women didn't smoke cigarettes. Until a PR maestro linked smoking with both femininity and female empowerment. Then, brain scans of a person high on cocaine and of a person expecting a cash windfall look almost identical. Kabir Sehgal tells us why we love money SO much. And finally, Nathan Schneider explains how we can own the web.

Spin may have been a part of American life since the beginning, but PR began in the early 20th century.

Some of America’s best scientists (think Einstein and Tesla) immigrated here from other countries. We talk with a few economists who’ve calculated their impact on American innovation.

How’s Silicon Valley reacting to Trump’s immigration ban? We talk with Bilal Zuberi to find out.

Where else have we seen an immigration ban like Trump's? Walter Isaacson walks us through the history of immigration and innovation.

American workers are becoming less mobile. Abigail Wozniak explains what that can tell us about our economy.

First, Walter Isaacson walks us through the historical links between innovation and immigration. Then, how’s Silicon Valley taking Trump’s immigration orders? And finally, Americans are moving less because new jobs aren’t worth it. Abigail Wozniak explains the declining dynamism of the job market.

Money and politics go together like Thelma and Louise. But that relationship has started to spin out of control. Plus, Tim Wu explains how advertising has infiltrated our lives. And finally, we talk with psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic about how incompetent managers always seem to find their way to the top, and why that's bad for women.

Money and politics have always been paired. But journalist Jane Mayer and professor Theda Skocpol both say that something new is afoot, thanks in part to a couple of very rich brothers.

Is a patent troll coming after your idea? Well, maybe you should check out Alex Reben's algorithm.

Buy this! Drink that! Does it ever feel like advertisements are becoming more and more omnipresent? Author Tim Wu explains.

One of the reasons there aren't more women in leadership positions? Professor Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic says that it's our inability to differentiate between confidence and competence.

Judy Cockerton saw a problem and decided to do something about it. At 48, she shut down her toy store and created a village of sixty homes. The catch? They were reserved for seniors and families with foster kids. We visited Cockerton's village to learn how she built it.

The Industrial Revolution spawned more than just machinery. Author Chris Jennings says it was a catalyst for a pretty old idea: that heaven could be found on Earth. Plus, Judy Cockerton saw a problem and set out to fix it. And finally, something surprising: the Amish have wildly successful businesses, often without using cell phones, websites or email addresses.

What would your personal utopia look like? Well, it probably wouldn't involve furniture making and no sex. Chris Jennings talks 19th century American utopias.

Even without cars and computers, the Amish have managed to start and grow successful businesses. Professor Donald Kraybill tells us how they've developed a surprising culture of innovation without the help of the latest tech.

Our leaders should be deeply empathetic people, right? Well, according to Paul Bloom, empathy can actually get in the way of helping people. Mandatory voting, a council of presidents, more bureaucrats... Parag Khanna says that this is what American democracy should look like. Man-made climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. So why exactly aren’t we doing more about it?

Parag Khanna believes technocrats get a bad rap in America, and our country could improve - and recover from what he calls “degenerative politics” - if it had more of them in office.

Empathy is an inherently good human quality. So, why is Yale psychologist Paul Bloom against it? We talk with him about why feeling others' pain makes for bad public policy.

Climate change looks like it will drastically change all of our lives. So why aren’t we doing more about it? We’ll take a look at why some are reticent to accept the consensus view on climate science, and what those in power are doing now to prepare for a new world.

Camilla Benbow and David Lubinski spent their lives studying child geniuses. Their advice on how to create a baby Einstein? Do nothing. Plus, conspiracy theories have gotten a lot of attention in the last year, but psychologist Rob Brotherton says they've been around for a long time. And finally, Thomas Gilovich thinks he can make you wise... or at least, the wisest person in the room.

Do you believe that the illuminati run the world? That there was a second gunman? That everything is NOT WHAT IT APPEARS? Well, even if you don't, conspiracy theories help shape our world. We look at the psychology behind them.

Want to become wise? Well, you should first figure out what wisdom actually is. Psychology Professor Thomas Gilovich explains.

What makes a genius? Camilla Benbow and David Lubinski have worked on that question for decades; they think they might have some answers.

It's been quite a year. Whether you started 2016 on the Trump train, heavily invested in the rising British pound, or confident that Pantone's color of the year was an accurate forecast of the twelve months to come, you're probably surprised. Don’t worry -- we are too. But thankfully, we've curated some of our favorite segments to help you bookmark a very surreal year.

A winter chill is in the air, and there's way too much Christmas music being played. So curl up in an armchair, grab yourself a mug of something, and take a mental vacation with some fascinating conversations from Innovation Hub.

If you want to live near a vibrant downtown but don't want to share a walk-in-closet with eleven roommates… maybe you should consider someplace other than San Francisco or New York. And yes, we know, self-driving cars are coming. But you'll never guess how they're actually going to change your city. Finally, refugee camps are becoming more and more permanent. And we need to build them better.

There's an invisible world that’s right at your fingertips. Literally. Trillions and trillions of tiny microbes live alongside us in our cities and we don't even see them. A team of scientists recently swiped a whole bunch of ATM keypads in New York, looking for evidence of our minuscule neighbors.

Kilian Kleinschmidt thinks we need to wake up to the world's refugee crisis. And it starts by reimagining where they live.

Back in the mid-20th century, wealthy people fled big cities in droves for a quiet life in the suburbs. Now they're coming back. Alan Ehrenhalt, author of The Great Inversion and the Future of the American City, tells us why, and how it's going to change.

Self-driving cars are going to be a thing. Soon. But how are they going to reshape cities?

First, If you want to learn how to roast the perfect chicken, you’ve come to the right place. Mark Bittman talks about cooking - and eating - without fear. Then, Your dream job doesn’t always turn out to be your dream job. Millennial’s Megan Tan explains how she turned her part-time passion into her full-time career. Finally, Having trouble learning something? Take a break. Barbara Oakley dives into how we actually learn.

Here’s the story of a culinary experience you’ve almost certainly had - with a backstory you may not know as well.

Megan Tan’s portfolio project accidentally became a certified hit. Here’s how she created Millennial.

Want to know anything and everything about cooking? There’s one person you should turn to. Mark Bittman.

Want to be a scientist, but never made it past high school algebra? Barbara Oakley talks with us about why there may still be hope for you - and why you might even have a leg up.

You can read a book from 100 years ago… but will your descendants be able to access a USB drive? A look at the world of digital memory.

Less than a century ago, chicken was as expensive as lobster. Now, Americans eat. 6 million pounds of chicken every hour of every day. Emelyn Rude tells us how thinking about the chicken as a piece of technology can help explain this change.

Why do we use mice for medical research? As I-Hub's Caroline Lester found out, it all started with fancy mice.