When Ignorance is Bliss – Emily Ho

Combining therapy with the psychedelic drugs

Psilocybin, in combination with behavioral interventions, found in meta-analysis to diminish anxiety and depression among those with elevated symptoms.

No single solution helps all students complete MOOCs

Behavioral interventions found to hold limited promise in bolstering persistence in massive open online courses.

Reducing deforestation by helping people out of poverty

Anti-poverty program which gave cash to the poor unexpectedly found to be associated with a 30% drop in deforestation in Indonesia.

Sex in America

Study finds that 7% more American men were sexually inactive in 2018 than in 2000, with 1/3 of 18- to 24-year-olds reporting no sexual encounters during the past year.

Dying to work

Unlike male workers w/ unemployment insurance (UI), women with UI less likely to have a heart attack or stroke or claim disability retirement. They also stay unemployed 4 days more and are less likely to use opioids, antidepressants, or claim disability.

White Americans who believe White Americans are wealthy

Study suggest that "White = wealthy" stereotypes may explain why so-called deaths of despair from drugs, alcohol, and suicide are rising among non-Hispanic White Americans - particularly among the poor - while decreasing among Black and LatinX Americans.

Face masks critical in preventing spread of COVID-19

Using a face mask reduced the number of COVID-19 infections by more than 78,000 in Italy from April 6-May 9 and by over 66,000 in New York City from April 17-May 9.

Upcoming guests

• Trevon D. Logan from Ohio State University’s Department of Economics will join us to discuss his article “Do Black Politicians Matter? Evidence from Reconstruction” [already recorded]
• Jordan Theriault from Northeastern University joins us to discuss his article “Theory of mind network activity is associated with metaethical judgment: An item analysis” [already recorded]
• Neil Garg from UCLA joins us to discuss his article “Electrochemical Oxidation of Δ9 Tetrahydrocannabinol: A Simple Strategy for Marijuana Detection” [already recorded]
• Richard Bomphrey from the Structure and Motion Laboratory at Royal Veterinary College joins us to discuss his article “Aerodynamic imaging by mosquitoes inspires a surface detector for autonomous flying vehicles” [already recorded]

Have a question for an upcoming guest? Ask here.