49. Unnatural Turkeys

Only a tiny number of “supertaskers” are capable of doing two things at once. The rest of us are just making ourselves miserable, and less productive. How can we put the — hang on a second, I've just got to get this.

Come see Stephen Dubner live! 

“A Questionable Evening: A strategic interrogation from two people who ask questions for a living,” featuring Stephen Dubner and PJ Vogt from Search Engine.

Thursday, Sept. 26th, at the Bell House in Brooklyn, NY. 

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-questionable-evening-evening-with-stephen-dubner-and-pj-vogt-tickets-1002544747327

• SOURCES:
  • Olivia Grace, senior product manager at Slack.
  • Gloria Mark, professor of computer science at the University of California, Irvine.
  • David Strayer, professor of cognition and neural science at the University of Utah.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Immersion in Nature Enhances Neural Indices of Executive Attention," by Amy S. McDonnell and David L. Strayer (Nature: Scientific Reports, 2024).
  • "Contribution to the Study on the ‘Right to Disconnect’ From Work. Are France and Spain Examples for Other Countries and E.U. Law?" by Loïc Lerouge and Francisco Trujillo Pons (European Labour Law Journal, 2022).
  • "Task Errors by Emergency Physicians Are Associated With Interruptions, Multitasking, Fatigue and Working Memory Capacity: A Prospective, Direct Observation Study," by Johanna I. Westbrook, Magdalena Z. Raban, Scott R. Walter, and Heather Douglas (BMJ Quality & Safety, 2018).
  • "Supertaskers: Profiles in Extraordinary Multitasking Ability," by Jason M. Watson and David L. Strayer (Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2010).
  • "The Effects of Video Game Playing on Attention, Memory, and Executive Control," by Walter R. Boot, Arthur F. Kramer, Daniel J. Simons, Monica Fabiani, and Gabriele Gratton (Acta Psychologica, 2008).
  • "'Constant, Constant, Multi-Tasking Craziness': Managing Multiple Working Spheres," by Victor M. González and Gloria Mark (Proceedings of the 2004 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI, 2004).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Why Is the U.S. So Good at Killing Pedestrians?" by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
  • "Why Did You Marry That Person?" by Freakonomics Radio (2022).
  • "How Much Should We Be Able to Customize Our World?" by No Stupid Questions (2021).

Educators and economists tell us all the reasons college enrollment has been dropping, especially for men, and how to stop the bleeding. (Part 3 of our series from 2022, “Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.”)

• SOURCES:
  • Zachary Bleemer, assistant professor of economics at Princeton University and faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
  • D'Wayne Edwards, founder and President of Pensole Lewis College.
  • Catharine Hill, former president of Vassar College; trustee at Yale University; and managing director at Ithaka S+R.
  • Pano Kanelos, founding president of the University of Austin.
  • Amalia Miller, professor of economics at the University of Virginia.
  • Donald Ruff, president and C.E.O. of the Eagle Academy Foundation.
  • Morton Schapiro, professor of economics and former president of Northwestern University.
  • Ruth Simmons, former president of Smith College, Brown University, and Prairie View A&M University.
  • Miguel Urquiola, professor of economics at Columbia University.

• RESOURCES:
  • "What Gay Men’s Stunning Success Might Teach Us About the Academic Gender Gap," by Joel Mittleman (The Washington Post, 2022).
  • "We Can't Wait for Universities to Fix Themselves. So We're Starting a New One," by Pano Kanelos (Common Sense, 2021).
  • "Academic Freedom in Crisis: Punishment, Political Discrimination, and Self-Censorship," by Eric Kaufmann (Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology, 2021).
  • “A Generation of American Men Give Up on College: ‘I Just Feel Lost’,” by Douglas Belkin (The Wall Street Journal, 2021).
  • "Community Colleges and Upward Mobility," by Jack Mountjoy (NBER Working Paper, 2021).
  • "Elite Schools and Opting In: Effects of College Selectivity on Career and Family Outcomes," by Suqin Ge, Elliott Isaac, and Amalia Miller (NBER Working Paper, 2019).
  • "Leaving Boys Behind: Gender Disparities in High Academic Achievement," by Nicole M. Fortin, Philip Oreopoulos, and Shelley Phipps (NBER Working Paper, 2013).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School," series by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
  • “'If We’re All in It for Ourselves, Who Are We?'” by Freakonomics Radio (2024).

Stephen Dubner appears as a guest on Fail Better, a new podcast hosted by David Duchovny. The two of them trade stories about failure, and ponder the lessons that success could never teach.

• SOURCES:
  • David Duchovny, actor, director, writer, and musician.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Martin Seligman and the Rise of Positive Psychology," by Peter Gibbon (Humanities, 2020).
  • "Rick Reilly: ‘Donald Trump Will Cheat You on the Golf Course and Then Buy You Lunch,'" by Donald McRae (The Guardian, 2019).
  • "How The X-Files Invented Modern Television," by Emily St. James (Vox, 2018).
  • "Happiness & the Gorilla," by Scott Galloway (No Mercy/No Malice, 2018).

• EXTRAS:
  • Fail Better with David Duchovny, podcast by Lemonada Media (2024).
  • "How to Succeed at Failing," series by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
  • "Annie Duke Thinks You Should Quit," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2022).
  • "The Upside of Quitting," by Freakonomics Radio (2011).

America’s top colleges are facing record demand. So why don’t they increase supply? (Part 2 of our series from 2022, “Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.”)

• SOURCES:
  • Peter Blair, professor of education at Harvard University and faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
  • Zachary Bleemer, assistant professor of economics at Princeton University and faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
  • Amalia Miller, professor of economics at the University of Virginia.
  • Morton Schapiro, professor of economics and former president of Northwestern University.
  • Miguel Urquiola, professor of economics at Columbia University.

• RESOURCES:
  • “Elite Schools and Opting In: Effects of College Selectivity on Career and Family Outcomes,” by Suqin Ge, Elliott Isaac, and Amalia Miller (Journal of Labor Economics, 2022).
  • “Why Don’t Elite Colleges Expand Supply?” by Peter Q. Blair & Kent Smetters (NBER Working Paper, 2021).
  • “Lori Loughlin Pleads Guilty via Zoom in College Admissions Case,” by Kate Taylor (The New York Times, 2020).
  • Markets, Minds, and Money: Why America Leads the World in University Research, by Miguel Urquiola (2020).
  • “To Cheat and Lie in L.A.: How the College-Admissions Scandal Ensnared the Richest Families in Southern California,” by Evgenia Peretz (Vanity Fair, 2019).
  • The Case Against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money, by Bryan Caplan (2018).
  • “The World Might Be Better Off Without College for Everyone,” by Bryan Caplan (The Atlantic, 2018).
  • “Are Tenure Track Professors Better Teachers?” by David N. Figlio, Morton O. Schapiro, and Kevin B. Soter (NBER Working Paper, 2013).
  • “Estimating the Payoff to Attending a More Selective College: An Application of Selection on Observables and Unobservables,” by Stacy Berg Dale and Alan Krueger (NBER Working Paper, 1999).
  • "Report on the University’s Role in Political and Social Action," by the Kalven Committee (1967).

• EXTRAS:
  • "What Exactly Is College For? (Update)," by Freakonomics Radio (2024).

We think of them as intellectual enclaves and the surest route to a better life. But U.S. colleges also operate like firms, trying to differentiate their products to win market share and prestige points. In the first episode of a special series originally published in 2022, we ask what our chaotic system gets right — and wrong. (Part 1 of “Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.”)

• SOURCES:
  • Peter Blair, faculty research Fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research and professor of education at Harvard University.
  • Catharine Hill, former president of Vassar College; trustee at Yale University; and managing director at Ithaka S+R.
  • Morton Schapiro, professor of economics and former president of Northwestern University.
  • Ruth Simmons, former president of Smith College, Brown University, and Prairie View A&M University.
  • Miguel Urquiola, professor of economics at Columbia University.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Progressivity of Pricing at U.S. Public Universities," by Emily E. Cook and Sarah Turner (NBER Working Paper, 2022).
  • "Community Colleges and Upward Mobility," by Jack Mountjoy (NBER Working Paper, 2021).
  • "How HBCUs Can Accelerate Black Economic Mobility," (McKinsey & Company, 2021).
  • Markets, Minds, and Money: Why America Leads the World in University Research, by Miguel Urquiola (2021).
  • "Mobility Report Cards: The Role of Colleges in Intergenerational Mobility," by Raj Chetty, John N. Friedman, Emmanuel Saez, Nicholas Turner, and Danny Yagan (NBER Working Paper, 2017).

• EXTRAS:
  • "'If We’re All in It for Ourselves, Who Are We?'" by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
  • "'A Low Moment in Higher Education,'" by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
  • "The $1.5 Trillion Question: How to Fix Student-Loan Debt?" by Freakonomics Radio (2019).
  • "Why Larry Summers Is the Economist Everyone Hates to Love," by Freakonomics Radio (2017).

There are a lot of factors that go into greatness, many of which are not obvious. As the Olympics come to a close, we revisit a 2018 episode in which top athletes from a variety of sports tell us how they made it, and what they sacrificed.

• SOURCES:
  • Lance Armstrong, former professional cyclist.
  • David Canton, director of African American studies and professor of history at the University of Florida.
  • David Epstein, science journalist and author.
  • Domonique Foxworth, former professional football player.
  • Justin Humphries, former professional baseball player.
  • Andre Ingram, professional basketball player.
  • Shawn Johnson, former professional gymnast and Olympian.
  • Steve Levitt, professor of economics at the University of Chicago.
  • Simone Manuel, professional swimmer and Olympian.
  • Brandon McCarthy, former professional baseball player.
  • Mike McGlinchey, offensive tackle for the Denver Broncos.
  • Daryl Morey, president of basketball operations of the Philadelphia 76ers.
  • Lauren Murphy, professional mixed martial artist.
  • Kim Ng, advisor with Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball, former general manager of the Miami Marlins.
  • JJ Redick, head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers.
  • Mikaela Shiffrin, professional alpine ski racer and Olympian.
  • Mark Teixeira, former professional baseball player.
  • Sudhir Venkatesh, professor of sociology at Columbia University.
  • Kerri Walsh-Jennings, professional beach volleyball player and Olympian.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Compromising Talent: Issues in Identifying and Selecting Talent in Sport," by Joseph Baker, Jörg Schorer, and Nick Wattie (Quest, 2017).
  • "Practice and Play in the Development of German Top-Level Professional Football Players," by Manuel Hornig, Friedhelm Aust, and Arne Güllich (European Journal of Sport Science, 2016).
  • The Sports Gene, by David Epstein (2013).
  • "The Effect of Deliberate Play on Tactical Performance in Basketball," by Pablo Greco, Daniel Memmert, and Juan Carlos Pérez Morales (Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2010).

• EXTRAS:
  • "The Hidden Side of Sports," series by Freakonomics Radio (2018).
  • “How to Become Great at Just About Anything” Freakonomics Radio (2016).

Tania Tetlow, a former federal prosecutor and now the president of Fordham University, thinks the modern campus could use a dose of old-fashioned values.

• SOURCE:
  • Tania Tetlow, president of Fordham University.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Not a Priest, Not a Man, but Ready to Run Fordham," by David Waldstein (The New York Times, 2024).
  • "Tech Glitch Upends Financial Aid for About a Million Students," by Oyin Adedoyin and Melissa Korn (The Wall Street Journal, 2024).
  • "Where Protesters on U.S. Campuses Have Been Arrested or Detained," by The New York Times (The New York Times, 2024).
  • "15 Arrested as NYPD Clears Protester Encampment at Fordham's Lincoln Center Campus," (NBC News, 2024).
  • "Inside the Week That Shook Columbia University," by Nicholas Fandos and Sharon Otterman (The New York Times, 2024).
  • "Address of his Holiness Pope Francis to the Members of the Blanquerna — Universitat Ramón Llull Foundation, Barcelona," by Pope Francis (The Holy See Press Office Bulletin, 2024).
  • "Why Don’t Elite Colleges Expand Supply?" by Peter Q. Blair and Kent Smetters (NBER Working Paper, 2021).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School," series by Freakonomics Radio (2022).

It’s not oil or water or plutonium — it’s human hours. We've got an idea for putting them to use, and for building a more human-centered economy. But we need your help.

• SOURCES:
  • Nathan Dietz, research director at the Do Good Institute at the University of Maryland.
  • Al Roth, professor of economics at Stanford University.
  • Krista Wyatt, C.E.O. of Timebanks.org.
  • Andrew Yang, co-chair of the Forward Party and former U.S. presidential candidate.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Where Are America's Volunteers," by Nathan Dietz and Robert T. Grimm Jr. (Do Good Institute, 2018).
  • "Believe in People," talk by Edgar Cahn at TEDxAshokaU (2010).
  • The Pencil, by Allan Ahlberg (2008).
  • No More Throw-Away People: The Co-Production Imperative, by Edgar S. Cahn (2000).
  • Time Dollars: The New Currency That Enables Americans to Turn Their Hidden Resource-Time-Into Personal Security and Community Renewal, by Edgar S. Cahn and Jonathan Rowe (1992).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Why Don’t We Have Better Candidates for President?" by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
  • “Andrew Yang Is Not Giving Up on Politics — or the U.S. — Yet,” by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021).
  • “The Future of New York City Is in Question. Could Andrew Yang Be the Answer?” by Freakonomics Radio (2021).
  • “Why Is This Man Running for President? (Update),” by Freakonomics Radio (2019).
  • "Make Me a Match," by Freakonomics Radio (2015).

A new proposal from the Biden administration calls for a nationwide cap on rent increases. Economists think that’s a terrible idea. We revisit a 2019 episode to hear why.

• SOURCES:
  • Tommy Andersson, professor of economics at Lund University.
  • Vicki Been, professor of law at New York University and former deputy mayor for housing and economic development in New York City.
  • Rebecca Diamond, professor of economics at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
  • David Eisenbach, history lecturer at the Manhattan School of Music and Columbia University.
  • Ed Glaeser, professor of economics at Harvard University.

• RESOURCES:
  • "The State of the Nation's Housing 2024," by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University (2024).
  • “The Effects of Rent Control Expansion on Tenants, Landlords, and Inequality: Evidence from San Francisco,” by Rebecca Diamond, Tim McQuade, and Franklin Qian (American Economic Review, 2019).
  • “Housing Market Spillovers: Evidence from the End of Rent Control in Cambridge, Massachusetts,” by David H. Autor, Christopher J. Palmer, and Parang A. Pathak (Journal of Political Economy, 2014).
  • “An Econometric Analysis of Rent Control,” by Edgar O. Olsen (Journal of Political Economy, 1972).
  • Roofs or Ceilings?: The Current Housing Problem, by Milton Friedman and George J. Stigler (1946).

That’s the worry. Even the humble eyeglass industry is dominated by a single firm. 

We look into the global spike in myopia, how the Lemtosh got its name, and what your eye doctor knows that you don’t. (Part two of a two-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Maria Liu, professor of clinical optometry at the University of California, Berkeley.
  • Harvey Moscot, C.E.O. of MOSCOT Eyewear and Eyecare.
  • Zachary Moscot, chief design officer of MOSCOT Eyewear and Eyecare.
  • Cédric Rossi, equity research analyst at Bryan Garnier.
  • Tim Wu, professor of law, science and technology at Columbia Law School.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Meta in Talks to Buy Stake in Eyewear Giant EssilorLuxottica," by Salvador Rodriguez and Lauren Thomas (The Wall Street Journal, 2024).
  • "The Story Behind Soaring Myopia Among Kids," by Manoush Zomorodi, Katie Monteleone, Sanaz Meshkinpour, and Rachel Faulkner White (Body Electric, 2024).
  • "Why So Many People Need Glasses Now," by Christophe Haubursin (Vox, 2023).
  • "Eyes on World Sight: Taking Action to Advance Eye Health in China," by EssilorLuxottica (2022).
  • "Global Prevalence of Myopia and High Myopia and Temporal Trends from 2000 through 2050," by Brien A. Holden, Timothy R. Fricke, Serge Resnikoff, et al. (Ophthalmology, 2016).
  • "Increased Prevalence of Myopia in the United States Between 1971-1972 and 1999-2004," by Susan Vitale, Robert D. Sperduto, and Frederick L. Ferris (Archives of Ophthalmology, 2009).

• EXTRAS:
  • "The Economics of Eyeglasses," series by Freakonomics Radio (2024).

Our annual Thanksgiving special with recipes and safety tips from the family for successfully cooking a turkey at the campsite, from doing so off-grid to smoking or even traditionally roasting - even in an RV. 

The StressLess Camping podcast is a weekly show with information, tips and tricks to help every RVer and camper enjoy some StressLess Camping.

Episode notes, details, RV discounts and more can be found here. 

The mother turkey and her young. By Karen Davis of United Poultry Concerns at UPC-Online.org.

Original post: https://www.upc-online.org/winter2008/mother-turkey-and-her-young.html 

United Poultry Concerns, founded by Karen Davis, is a nonprofit organization that promotes the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl including a sanctuary for chickens in Virginia. Karen is the author of numerous books, essays, articles and campaigns advocating for these birds. Her latest book is For the Birds: From Exploitation to Liberation: Essays on Chickens, Turkeys, and Other Domesticated Fowl. 

Also please check out their podcast called "Thinking Like a Chicken", hosted by Karen Davis. She shares information about chickens in 10-minute episodes every 2 weeks. I highly recommend it, and you can find it at UPC-online.org. 

How to support the podcast:
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#vegan #plantbased #veganpodcast #plantbasedpodcast #plantbasedbriefing #unitedpoultryconcerns #karendavis #animalcruelty #turkey #turkeys #thanksgiving #turkeyfarm #turkeyfarming #slaughter #turkeybreeding #compassion 

Mankind has manifested itself as the dominant species on planet earth. Man has violated almost every natural statute of nature, going far as controlling and manipulating Creation according to his material will and pursuit of material wealth. Natural breeding is dying due to the intervention of man with artificial insemination and recent emerging technologies, such as gene splicing to produce genetically modified organisms. We examine the god-like complexity of mankind as self-perceived perfect beings of the universe. Indeed, Higher Density Living repetitively criticized man-made pursuit to bend evolution by his own design. Humanity as a whole collective should be well-aware of each and every time we attempt to tame Creation sets up a precipice for disaster or result of a catastrophe. 

This is where the topic brings us to another podcast segment. Higher Density Living brings us the tale of Ilya Ivanov, the renowned soviet military scientist, and his wicked “Humanzee” experimental controversy. The “Humanzee” Russian project was a failed and high-profile former Soviet military project/experiment during the cold war. The idea was conducting cross-species breeding between humans and primates which was a primary objective to achieve ground force superiority against US infantry. Some aspects of this experiment included producing “super soldiers” for the Red Army. This project was devised by Joseph Stalin’s top-profile military scientist, army staff, and generals. Ilya Ivanov, the project’s leading figure, designed a bio chamber to nurse 20 experimental chimps. These chimps could have extraordinary capabilities such as enchanted mental capacity, impressive muscular-physical strength, and advanced physical mobility to perform superior combat skills compared to regular human soldiers. This was a truly terrifying prospect to induce unchecked mutant creatures. A would-be biological nightmare. 

In this episode, Alex and Jason introduce the Humanzee hybrid by backing up historical significance and context. Once again, the relative progress of evolution proves self-defeating assumptions to mainstream Darwinism. Artificial insemination gives another clue in the puzzle due to the fact that even man-made construction fails to enforce its theoretical assumption. This episode also features some opening remarks on the use of science as a political tool and instrument of power. Once again the government never fails us to amaze what unlimited power and wealth can do. Let’s join Alex and Jason as they discuss wild government projects and biological weapons. www.higherdensityliving.com