social policy

Today it’s great to have Paige Harden on the podcast. Dr. Harden is a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, where is the director of the Developmental Behavior Genetics lab and co-director of the Texas Twin Project. Her new book is called The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality.

Topics

· Heritability does not imply determinism

· What is the value of the heritability coefficient?

· Nature and nurture are always intertwined

· Genes, giftedness, and responsibility

· Separating individual differences from hierarchy

· Genetics as a tool for social policy

· Can we systematically improve general intelligence?

· Prioritizing self-actualization in education

· Group differences data, racism, inequality

· Anti-eugenics and the great synthesis

· Polygenic scores: evaluations, correlations, and applications

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Even as recently as a year ago, even the most cleareyed analysts thought it was a long shot. But this week, a child tax credit is expected to be passed into law, as part of the economic stimulus bill.

The child tax credit is an income guarantee for American families with children. It will provide a monthly check of up to $300 per child — no matter how many children.

We look at why this provision is so revolutionary and what has changed in the policy landscape to allow its passage.  

Guest: Jason DeParle, a senior writer for The New York Times and frequent contributor to The Times Magazine. 

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Background reading: 

• The $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package moving through Congress advances an idea that Democrats have been nurturing for decades: establishing a guaranteed income for families with children.
• What’s in the stimulus bill? Here is a guide to where the money will be going. 

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.