The Prof G Pod

Debra Soh: "We're Having Less Sex Than Ever" — Here's Why

I think when we outsource our personal lives, and especially things like emotional intimacy and sexual intimacy, to these platforms that are not necessarily looking out for our best interests or treating us as individuals who have dreams and the desire to fall in love, um that can be potentially very unhelpful and frustrating to people.

Book of the Day

Authors Annie Hartnett and Kevin Wilson on writing road trip novels | NPR's Book of the Day

I think that that's the magic of road trips in real life is how quickly you can get an impression of a place, how many weird things and weird people you encounter if you do take a cross-country road trip.

It's Been a Minute

What's a pathway to freedom? Reading.

We often get confused. We imagine that the thing that connects us is like our skin color, our complexion, our culture, our profession. But but it's not. It's the ability to be touched by a story.

TED

Why AI Will Never Replace a Great Teacher | Matt Wu | TED

We're investing billions into making sure we put the very best AI tools onto every screen on the planet. But with all this technology at our fingertips, why aren't we investing just as urgently into making sure every student can connect with the people who will change their life?

TED

Why AI Will Never Replace a Great Teacher | Matt Wu | TED

AI is making knowledge more accessible, more personalized, and more intuitive than we ever thought possible. But ask any student what has changed their life the most, and they won't tell you about a technology. They'll tell you about a person.

TED

Why AI Will Never Replace a Great Teacher | Matt Wu | TED

Ask any student what has changed their life the most, and they won't tell you about a technology. They'll tell you about a person. A teacher who believed in them before they believed in themselves.

TED

Why AI Will Never Replace a Great Teacher | Matt Wu | TED

That is what makes education human. Not just the transfer of knowledge, but the ability to understand others and use that to shape your own perspective.

Fresh Air

Jia Tolentino on ‘Our Plastic Surgery Nightmare’

The face is traditionally how we come to know each other, how we the first glimpse we have of a person's temperament and soul and life history and disposition. It tells us it answers so many questions. Also, you can tell if a person is tired. You can tell if they're sick. You can tell their emotions. Do they laugh a lot by their laugh lines?

EconTalk

Dwayne Betts on the Iliad

It's a conversation about reading as communion--and how a 2,800-year-old story became, unexpectedly, a way of connecting to each other.

Hidden Brain

Waking Up Your Spiritual Brain: Part 1

People who have these experiences feel that they've encountered a reality that's even more real than the things we see and touch in everyday life. And what's especially interesting is that these experiences also appear to change people. They feel a greater sense of connection with others. They feel less fear about death.

It's Been a Minute

Has the internet killed social etiquette? | It's Been a Minute

Our screens have become this dashboard or this interface in a way where we flatten the human experience.

Hidden Brain

A Secret Source of Connection

Most of us think of the things we have in common with other people as a source of connection. But Inbar and his colleagues have found something surprising: the things that make us different can be just as powerful — and sometimes more powerful — at bringing people together.

Fresh Air

'Daily Show' comic Josh Johnson

One of the most connected attributes of the human condition ... is just being flawed. We really connect with people on their faults.

Office Hours

Scott Answers: Is AI Replacing Middle Management? | Office Hours

Management is an ability to soften the chaos created by leaders. The notion that your AI is going to bring everybody in and they're not going to need to have contact with anybody else and the AI will manage them, tell them what to do, and at the end of the year give them their performance review and a bonus. Even if that was possible, which I don't think it is, it's a nihilistic, [ __ ] up vision of the world.

The New York Times

Why Ukrainian Postal Workers Risk Their Lives to Deliver Mail on The Front Lines

Larysa delivers more than just mail. She brings income and also groceries, medicines, the news and a familiar face to chat with for those living in isolation.

Fresh Air

Palestinian & Israeli activists share a vision of peace

People, I think, don't realize one small action, one kind word. You never leave the person you meet the same after you've interacted with them, and I wanted to do that for Ma'oz and for others.

TED

A Different Way to Measure Success in Health Care | Andrew Bastawrous | TED

The greatest gift I could give her was not her sight but to have her be truly seen.

Fresh Air

Best Of: Delroy Lindo / Tayari Jones on ‘Kin’

When you're friends with someone, you know, your name will not be listed in any obituary, but it breaks your heart to lose your friend.