Check out this sneak peek of Question of the Day, launching on August 31st! Co-hosted by Stephen J. Dubner and James Altucher, it's the show for listeners who are short on time and long on curiosity. Subscribe now, and you won't miss a thing.

Question of the Day

Stephen J. Dubner and James Altucher: longtime friends and backgammon nemeses. Together they tackle questions from <a href="http://quora.com/">quora.com</a>. First up: the pros and cons of punching the clock.

1. Welcome to QOD: Why Work a Nine-To-Six Job?

Ever wonder why your voice sounds so strange when you hear it recorded? Ever want to hear Stephen and James sing “Welcome Back Kotter?” Yikes.

5. The Voices in Our Heads

From mnemonics to mirroring, Stephen and James pick apart some psychological life hacks to see how useful they really are. Some help you remember names, while others can do wonders for your love life.

14. Luke, You Make Me Want to Puke

James wants to know a shortcut around the "10,000 Hour Rule". Stephen may not hold the answer, but he definitely knows which questions to ask.

33. Shortcuts From the Stars

What's the most effective means of advertising, and at what point can you tell if your strategy is working? Stephen and James look into this expensive endeavor on today's episode of QOD.

36. Does Marketing Pay Off?

About to make a pitch to potential investors for the first time? Today, James reveals some typical rookie moves, and why veteran entrepreneurs don't make those same mistakes.

39. Common Mistakes of First-Time Entrepreneurs

Actions speak louder than words, but what specific actions or situations tell the most about a person? In a world of hypothetical possibilities, what would be the single most revealing thing about a person?

42. The Big Reveal

Are New Year’s resolutions worth making even if they’re not sustainable throughout the year? Stephen thinks a carefully chosen fresh start may be worthwhile, but can he convince James?

57. What Is a Good New Year's Resolution to Make?

What "stupid, corny habit" does James have which has changed his life completely, and continues to do so even today? Today, Stephen and James list the habits they've adopted which have done the most to improve their lives.

72. What Are Some Habits That Have Improved Your Life?

Has 'the language of literature' become an obsolete form of writing in our blog-centric society? Is it more advantageous to simply 'writing like you speak'? James and Stephen, who have both made careers writing narrative non-fiction, are on the case.

73. Is Writing Like You Speak a Good Idea?

James thinks that human beings' ability to accept and process new information is what put our species on top. But what does that say about famous politicians, pundits, and other 'experts' who only use facts that solidify their concrete opinions?

75. What Makes Intelligent People Intelligent?

Have Millennials been raised in a culture where they not only expect all media to be free, but also feel compelled to publicly complain if the content doesn’t exceed their standards? Also today, James and Stephen discuss the death of the print encyclopedia, selling books on Amazon, and why Wi-Fi on Amtrak is so slow.

84. What is the Value of Free?

Are all facts false? On today's show, James tries to convince Stephen that time and again, known truths including the hard sciences are revised, expanded upon, or disproved, though they are still considered the absolute truth at the time. Also, what does Stephen's hometown have to do with the American Revolutionary War?

109. Are There Facts?

If Donald Trump gets elected to be the next President of the United States, would all of his detractors' fears become realized, or might he actually do a decent job? James poses this hot button issue as a theoretical exercise for Stephen, who takes a plunge into the murky political waters. Regardless of his opinions, however, Stephen does have an interesting take on Trump's bravado, stemming from a confidant of another New York billionaire-turned-government executive, Michael Bloomberg.

113. Could Donald Trump Be a Good President?

Learning from your mistakes at work is one of the surest self-teaching methods to improve your professional future. James' query to Stephen today about the lessons he's learned helps explain Stephen's writing path from graduate school to the journalist he is today. Meanwhile, fake internet-doctor James (sans lab coat today) gets prescriptive, converting Stephen's life lessons into actionable items for self-improvement.

114. What Can You Learn From Your Biggest Career Mistake?

Adults have a much more difficult time mastering new skills, from foreign languages to perfecting a golf swing, than adolescents. Stephen and James believe that the principles of deliberate practice, as opposed to experiential repetition, may be able to help those over the age of thirty cognitively develop the skills that they're emotionally ready to learn. Listen on to hear the pillars of deliberate practice built up one by one.

118. How Can Deliberate Practice Help Adults Learn New Skills?

After an initial discussion about the beach season initiated by Memorial Day weekend in the United States, James changes the topic to the soldiers being remembered due to their deaths during American military conflicts. Our hosts eventually fall into a discussion about what would make a war worthy of fighting, whether participants truly gain anything at the end of a war, and how Stephen would feel about his teenage son enlisting in the armed services.

137. Are Any Wars Justifiable?

A QOD Twitter follower asks, "Seeing as how our ancestors have lived off the land for thousands of years, why is there severe hunger in parts of the world today?" James insists that the problem is caused by humans having been dominated by another species on the planet. Stephen is hesitant to accept James' answer, but eventually finds compelling evidence to bolster his theory. Our hosts also tackle the political costs of trying to fight famine, and come up with solutions involving cryptocurrencies, steak-like substances, and tax amnesty to fight corruption.

147. Why Is There Still World Hunger?

Negin Farsad joins Stephen and James again today, and we learn that while all three are some sort of professional public speaker, it remains the group's greatest source of social anxiety. Listen on as our hosts self-deprecate while extolling their fears, including a traumatizing experience James had in the first grade. Also, Stephen throws back to last week's episode 156 by remembering something else he learned in college!

158. How Do You Get Over Social Anxiety?

Do you feel the need to shake up your work life after twenty-plus years in the job market? Professional self re-inventors Stephen and James are here to help. Both hosts have pivoted their careers multiple times, some of which while keeping their former full-time jobs, and today they give advice and examples to what their methods have been to keep them on their toes creatively.
This episode is sponsored Mott &amp; Bow.

160. How Can You Shake Up Your Work Life After Age 40?

Is there an effective way for a novelist or non-fiction author to capture people's attention nowadays? If Stephen were to begin his writing career today, would he still have pursued a track through newspaper editorial to major-publisher book writing? Do people retain enough information from reading a book to make it a worthwhile endeavor? All of these questions and more get answered on today's episode of Question of the Day.
This episode is sponsored by Magoosh.

161. Is Professional Writing Dead?

Are you pouring your productive potential down the drain when you spend your free time playing games? Today, James argues that deep knowledge of a game's rules and strategy could be beneficial in a way similar to learning a new language. However, Stephen's research has shown that the return-on-investment of actual language learning is incredibly low. Still, our hosts' personal and professional relationship with each other has been cultivated over years of backgammon playing. Who will triumph in today's verbal tug-of-war?
This episode is sponsored by Magoosh.

163. Are Games a Waste of Time?

How do you when your podcast co-host sponsors the same English soccer team as you? What about when your comedian friend gets her own TV show and major movie deals? The intersection of competition and cooperation are just the beginning of today's engaging conversation between our hosts and guest Marina Franklin.

168. How Do You Handle Your Friends' Successes?

What can James take away from having a comedian in the booth with him for four days? Today, on Marina Franklin's final guest co-hosting episode, James and Stephen give Marina a lightning round of questions about comedy and the comedy business. Some of the topics touched upon include: Getting your set ready for late night talk shows, Jerry Seinfeld's mom jeans, and Marina's one piece of advice for up-and-coming comedians.
This episode is sponsored by Magoosh.

169. What Can Marina Franklin Teach Us About Comedy?

Are Stephen and James recommending "The Purge"? No, but today they and QOD social media followers are chiming in on what single law they think should be eliminated. James channels his inner-Ron Paul and makes a stance that the FDA should be abolished or drastically weakened, but can he convince Stephen that it's a legitimately good idea?

170. What One Law Would You Get Rid Of?

If NASA were to give the opportunity to leave everything behind and settle on Mars, with no return ticket, would you take them up on the offer? Some might jump at the offer, but many people haven't even explored outside of their own country, nonetheless planet. Today, James and Stephen discuss the prospects of leaving the Earth, literally, as well as what other options might present themselves for people who aren't trying to escape the bulk of humanity.

171. One Way Ticket To Mars

You have to get uptown to your office for a meeting. You can hail an Uber and be there in 8 minutes, or you can walk and arrive in 24 minutes. Which option is the "lazy" one? This disagreement is the crux of today's conversation about what constitutes laziness and to what degree it is actually a productive creative trait. Would you pay to sit in the car and arrive quickly, or do the exercise but arrive later than the person you're meeting?

This episode is sponsored by Magoosh.

172. What Is the Right Amount of Lazy to Be?

What's the greatest factor that lead to Donald Trump securing the Republican presidential nomination? If you're Stephen Dubner, you'll say that electoral politics is a form of entertainment and Donald Trump has put in lots of deliberate practice as an entertainer, while 'traditional' politicians only appear in the spotlight every two-to-six years. However, will Trump's entertaining expertise and the billions of dollars of free airtime he's receiving be enough to secure the White House?
This episode is sponsored by Wealthfront Veritone.

173. Does Anyone Actually Like Donald Trump?

Two questions in one day? Today, James and Stephen take on questions from two listeners who want to know if a more active and socially engaged electorate would create a better political system. Would the populace actually be better informed by watching cable news on a regular basis and reading their tabloid or broadsheet of choice, or would they just be further cementing the ideological divide that media outlets are polarized to? Our hosts also discuss the potential for compulsory mail-in and internet voting and see if maybe the Swiss are on to something that America's missing.
This episode is sponsored by Squarespace.

174. Would Politics Work Better If Everyone Was Informed and Voted?

Is it more important to set an actual price when you're negotiating a deal, or to control the terms on which a price is to be set? When James was selling his first company, he ended up with millions less than he anticipated because the other party tipped the scales in their favor. Now, James uses this same technique in his own favor when he's sitting at the negotiating table. Learn more about this technique and how Stephen crowdsourced the asking price of his house on today's Question of the Day.
This episode is sponsored by Warby Parker.

175. Who Sets the First Number in a Negotiation?

Why didn't Stephen invite James to his children's bar and bat mitzvahs? Did it have something to do with how James acted at Stephen's 50th birthday party? Today, James and Stephen contemplate what it's like making new friends as middle-aged introverts compared to during adolescence, and discuss how it's easier to broadcast your social signals as mature adults.

176. Friendships at Age 50

How do two friends say goodbye to each other? If you're Stephen Dubner and James Altucher, you do so by recording a podcast. Question of the Day has produced 177 episodes and a live special over the span of just one year, and now our hosts are putting the show on hiatus in order to launch and grow their other endeavors. On today's final episode, for now, hear James and Stephen talk about goodbyes, backgammon matches, what they've learned, and what they'll miss once this episode comes to a close.
This episode is sponsored by Squarespace.

177. How Do You Say Goodbye?

Question of the Day is the show for listeners who are short on time and long on curiosity. It is a fast-paced conversation between author and entrepreneur James Altucher and Freakonomics co-author Stephen Dubner: two smart, unconventional thinkers who have been talking together for years, often over a long-running backgammon match. Now they are letting you in on the game, too. You will quickly become addicted to their wonderful, wry observations as they ponder each Question of the Day. The answers await you every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Question of the Day

Popular tracks