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More Americans use cannabis every day, or almost every day, than use alcohol on a daily basis. That's in large part because marijuana is a lot more accessible than it used to be. More than half of us …

More Americans use c…

More Americans use cannabis every day, or almost every day, than use alcohol on a daily basis. That's in large part because marijuana is a lot more accessible than it used to be. More than half of us live in a state where marijuana is recreationally legal.  Nearly 8 in 10 live in a county with a marijuana dispensary.But marijuana is still illegal in the eyes of the federal government, which means legalization is being managed almost entirely by a patchwork of state policies. Doctors and scientists are starting to worry about what that means for public health. Is marijuana legalization wo…

They started off as ideological enemies.Mark Rosenberg pioneered the public health approach to preventing gun violence and opened a branch of the CDC to fund that research. Jay Dickey, the "NRA's …

They started off as …

They started off as ideological enemies.Mark Rosenberg pioneered the public health approach to preventing gun violence and opened a branch of the CDC to fund that research. Jay Dickey, the "NRA's point man in Congress", pushed a ban on CDC funding for gun violence research that lasted 20 years – and got Rosenberg fired. On this episode of Top of Mind, we tell the unlikely story of their friendship and what it can teach us about reducing gun violence in America.Americans are split right down the middle on whether it's more important to control gun ownership or protect the right to own…

It’s been about two years since the public got a taste of ChatGPT for the first time. Now, Artificial Intelligence has seeped into nearly every aspect of our lives. You can use AI to check your gram…

It’s been about tw…

It’s been about two years since the public got a taste of ChatGPT for the first time. Now, artificial intelligence has seeped into nearly every aspect of our lives. You can use AI to check your grammar or to generate content for social media. Students use it to write essays. AI can also generate artwork, music or audio in seconds. We’re relying more and more on generative AI tools like MidJourney, DALL-E, Claude, Perplexity, and Copilot—and the more we use it, the better it gets. But can AI really be creative? What does it even mean to be creative in the age of AI?Guests: Kate Bruno…

A 2024 Knight Foundation report found one in four college students think schools need to protect students by banning speech they may find offensive or biased, the largest share of students to answer t…

A 2024 Knight Founda…

A 2024 Knight Foundation report found one in four college students think schools need to protect students by banning speech they may find offensive or biased, the largest share of students to answer that way since the survey first asked the question in 2016. 2024 also set a record for the number of attempts to disrupt or disinvite speaker, cancel performances, take down art exhibits and prevent the screening of films on US college campuses, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). What do these competing interests--to encourage student wellbeing and protect�…

In his parting prescription for the country, outgoing US Surgeon General, Doctor Vivek Murthy writes that he is worried about how exhausted and alone Americans are. Public health experts say lonelines…

In his parting presc…

In his parting prescription for the country, outgoing US Surgeon General, Doctor Vivek Murthy writes that he is worried about how exhausted and alone Americans are. Public health experts say loneliness has become an epidemic. Research shows social disconnection is about as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and more harmful than obesity.But loneliness in America is hardly new. Sociologists like Robert Putnam, author of the groundbreaking book Bowling Alone, have been sounding the alarm for nearly 25 years. In that time, loneliness has only accelerated, with online interacti…

Why is insulting someone’s intelligence such a potent put down? It’s more than saying someone lacks knowledge or book learning. It’s a statement of a person’s worth – of their potential to b…

Why is insulting som…

Why is insulting someone’s intelligence such a potent put down? It’s more than saying someone lacks knowledge or book learning. It’s a statement of a person’s worth – of their potential to be successful. And for that, we can thank the IQ test. In this podcast episode, we explore how the IQ test was created and continues to shape our collective understanding of intelligence and disability. We hear from a mother struggling with the pros and cons of having her daughter with Down Syndrome routinely IQ tested at school. A school psychologist tackles common misconceptions about the nature …

More than a quarter of Americans are estranged from at least one family member. Parent/child estrangement is the most common – especially between dads and their kids. There’s a lot about modern Am…

More than a quarter …

More than a quarter of Americans are estranged from at least one family member. Parent/child estrangement is the most common – especially between dads and their kids. There’s a lot about modern American life that has made family estrangement more common, and younger generations are more willing to talk about it on social media. But reconciliation happens more than you might think. On this episode of Top of Mind, we explore the reality of estrangement from both the parent and the child's perspective. And we hear what it takes to reconcile.Guests: Charlotte Gill, author of Almost Brown: A …

Can America guarantee free expression of religion in public as an officially secular, but culturally Christian nation? Expressing religious faith in public is both protected by law and socially accept…

Can America guarante…

Can America guarantee free expression of religion in public as an officially secular, but culturally Christian nation? Expressing religious faith in public is both protected by law and socially acceptable. As a secular nation, the US has no official religion, but since two-thirds of American are Christian, most of the displays of religion in public places we see represent one faith. For example, Christmas is the only religious holiday observed by the that’s also a federal holiday when all government services and most private businesses are closed. And some argue that, because of our history …

The pandemic shook America’s trust, especially in vaccines. But it also taught us something about building trust in institutions. During the pandemic, Americans lost trust across the board. Today, t…

The pandemic shook A…

The pandemic shook America’s trust, especially in vaccines. But it also taught us something about building trust in institutions. During the pandemic, Americans lost trust across the board. Today, trust in institutions like the media, the medical system, public schools, and all branches of government is at an all-time low.Before the pandemic, three in four Americans said science had mostly positive effects on society. Today, that's down to barely half. When it comes to vaccines specifically, fewer than half of Americans think childhood vaccines are "extremely important." That's the lowest…

Care work is the labor essential to life. But two-thirds of Caregiving goes uncompensated. What do we miss when we don’t value care work and how does this affect care workers? If we multiplied all t…

Care work is the lab…

Care work is the labor essential to life. But two-thirds of caregiving goes uncompensated. What do we miss when we don’t value care work and how does this affect care workers? If we multiplied all the hours spent in a year on unpaid caregiving in America by the local minimum wage, it would be worth one trillion dollars. Yet none of it is accounted for in the official measures of the nation's economic health or productivity. And the vast majority is done by women. Meanwhile, the paid care sector has a critical shortage of daycare staff, home health aides and certified Nursing assistants. Amer…

There are more than 100,000 people on the waitlist for an organ transplant. Every day 17 of them die. Most organs for transplant come from deceased donors. But the organs in highest demand for transpl…

There are more than …

There are more than 100,000 people on the waitlist for an organ transplant. Every day 17 of them die. Most organs for transplant come from deceased donors. But the organs in highest demand for transplantation are kidneys and livers – both of which can be donated while a person is still alive. So, we could save thousands of lives each year if more people were willing make a living organ donation. Some advocates say giving donors Money would increase organ donations enough to eliminate the entire waitlist. But federal law makes it illegal to buy or sell organs. Ethicists have real concerns abo…

Meet the teams behind Top of Mind and Uncomfy in this special crossover episode, where we share stories of sticking with a challenging perspective while working on the shows. We are exposed to a lot o…

Meet the teams behin…

Meet the teams behind Top of Mind and Uncomfy in this special crossover episode, where we share stories of sticking with a challenging perspective while working on the shows. We are exposed to a lot of nuanced viewpoints as we put podcast episodes together, which gives us the perfect opportunity to practice what we preach: choosing to lean into discomfort instead of lashing out or shying away. We’ve found Clarity about our own beliefs, empathy for the people around us, and also developed the skills to tackle tough conversations. Tune in to Top of Mind to practice engaging with important, com…

Only 44% of Americans say they have a "great deal" or "quite a bit of confidence" that the results of the 2024 election will be accurate. But party affiliation is a big part of the story. If you break…

Only 44% of American…

Only 44% of Americans say they have a "great deal" or "quite a bit of confidence" that the results of the 2024 election will be accurate. But party affiliation is a big part of the story. If you break down that 44%, only 1 in 4 Republicans have high confidence, compared to nearly 3 out of 4 Democrats. The reasons that so many Americans currently lack trust in elections differ on the political left and right, but a representative democracy like ours relies on all voters having a high level of confidence in the results of an election no matter who wins. Without it, people stop voting, losing can…

Presidential elections in the US are twice as expensive as they were just a decade ago, and so are the most competitive Congressional races. Even state and local elections now routinely see record spe…

Presidential electio…

Presidential elections in the US are twice as expensive as they were just a decade ago, and so are the most competitive Congressional races. Even state and local elections now routinely see record spending – typically from “outside groups” that have no restrictions on what they can raise or spend.The current state of money in politics is a rare point of bipartisan agreement in America. Overwhelming majorities of Republicans and Democrats think the cost of campaigns makes it hard for good people to run for office and that big donors and special interest groups have too much influence o…

A trial by jury is an important American right, enshrined in the 6th and 7th amendments of the constitution. But do jury trials work the way we want them to? Not all countries use citizen juries in t…

A trial by jury is a…

A trial by jury is an important American right, enshrined in the 6th and 7th amendments of the constitution. But do jury trials work the way we want them to? Not all countries use citizen juries in their justice systems, and the ones that do generally don't give them quite as much power as America does. But juries are also becoming rare in the United States. Only 2% of criminal trials ever make it in front of a jury because prosecutors pressure defendants to take plea deals as a faster, cheaper alternative to trial. And most of us dread getting called to serve on a jury. Should America contin…

Why is it so hard to draw the line between what’s funny or offensive? We love to laugh and we prize a good sense of humor in ourselves and others. But the ancient Greeks – Aristotle and Plato – …

Why is it so hard to…

Why is it so hard to draw the line between what’s funny or offensive? We love to laugh and we prize a good sense of humor in ourselves and others. But the ancient Greeks – Aristotle and Plato – said humor was bad for society: they thought of it mainly as mockery and laughing was a loss of self-control. When you consider how quickly humor can go wrong in the hands of a bully or an edgy standup routine, you have to wonder - were the Greek philosophers right? In this podcast episode we meet a biracial standup comic who jokes often about race and thinks comedians should be able to joke about…

For a century, the ACT and SAT played a central role in filtering college applicants. Most colleges and universities stopped requiring standardized test scores during the pandemic; that change has tur…

For a century, the A…

For a century, the ACT and SAT played a central role in filtering college applicants. Most colleges and universities stopped requiring standardized test scores during the pandemic; that change has turned into a permanent shift across higher Education. A lot of people think that's for the better, particularly since the tests have long been shown to disadvantage students of color and those with fewer economic resources. But now a growing number of elite schools - including Harvard, MIT and Dartmouth - are reinstating the test requirement. Why are they struggling to make up their minds? Meanwh…

Most Americans are anxious about when – or even if – they’ll be able to retire. And we’re not wrong. Social Security is on shaky footing. Half of Americans on the cusp of Retirement have no mo…

Most Americans are a…

Most Americans are anxious about when – or even if – they’ll be able to retire. And we’re not wrong. Social Security is on shaky footing. Half of Americans on the cusp of retirement have no money saved for it. This isn’t how retirement in America was supposed to work. But 40 years ago, Congress shifted the US away from employer pensions and toward a do-it-yourself system based on 401K retirement saving plans. It’s not going well. In this episode we get to the bottom of why so many Americans are unable to retire comfortably and end up, instead, living in poverty or working well past…