Before we get to this week’s episode, we want to hear from YOU for a couple of upcoming episodes. And make sure to scroll down to the very end of this post for a hint at the next chapter of NO SUCH THING.

First, TEXTING ETIQUETTE: Do you have a bad texter in your life? What’s your philosophy?Send us your texting thoughts and horror stories.

And second: we’re taking on GENTLE PARENTING: What does it mean to you? Do you think it works? Let us know what you think.

As always, Leave us a voicemail at (860) 325-0286 or send us an email at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com.

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This weekend, nearly 60,000 runners and millions of spectators will hit the five boroughs for the New York City Marathon. But when, and how, did we all become so obsessed with running?

Folks, this episode has it all: the financial and political moves behind the rise of the marathon (and the yuppie), the worldwide impacts of climate change on running races, and what drives a marathon devotee to take on 26.2-mile gauntlets all over the world.

Our guests this week are:

• Historian Dylan Gottlieb

  • Check out his book Yuppies: The Bankers, Lawyers, Joggers, and Gourmands Who Conquered New York

• Journalist and founder

  • Marathon Runners Are Training for a Hotter World (Bloomberg)

• Marathoner Amy Leavitt Knepper

• Check out Team Andi

If you’re not already a subscriber, make sure you’re signed up. Next week, we’ll be sharing an exclusive announcement of a new era of the podcast: NST GOLD, coming soon.

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Thanks for sticking around and good luck to all of the runners out there this weekend!

Before we get into today’s episode…are you a bad texter? Are any of your friends bad texters? Do you hate bad texters or is it fine? Do you have any texting-related horror stories? We want to hear from you! Email us (mannynoahdevan@gmail.com), or more preferably, call (860) 325-0286 and leave us a voicemail with your thoughts.

Okay! On today's episode, myself, Noah, and Devan are joined by esteemed journalist Emmanuel Dzotsi, host of the Big Lives podcast and producer on “This American Life,” to break down what happened to the rom-com genre of film. We also hear from repeat guest Walt Hickey, author of You Are What You Watch, who explains the financial incentive (and lack thereof) of filmmaking.

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Why do you think the rom-com fell off? Sound off below. And if you like this episode, check out our previous movie-related Walt Hickey episode, Why we're sick of franchise movies.

Numlock News

The best way to start your morning. Numlock celebrates great stories buried in the news that you won't find elsewhere. It's snappy, funny, and informative, plus it's ad-free. Try it out and see why thousands of people wake up to Numlock every single day.

By Walter Hickey

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Enjoy the episode, and as always, please leave us a 5 star review wherever you get your podcasts.

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Our guests this week are:

• Bruce Houghton, founder and president of Skyline and senior advisor at Bandsintown

• Ethan Beck, culture reporter at The Washington Post

• Sarah Carver & Jennifer Griffith, Social Security whistleblowers

Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (860) 325-0286.

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If you like the show, drop us a five-star review wherever you listen to podcasts, and share with a friend, family member, coworker, neighbor, mail deliverer, and/or roommate. It really helps a lot!

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Our guests this week are:

• Joshua Hook, Professor of Psychology at the University of North Texas

• Sam Corbin, columnist at The New York Times

@goodhangwithamyWe did in fact cut none of this out. #enneagram #goodhangwithamypoehler

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Take the Enneagram yourself and tag us (@nosuchthing.show) in your results on your IG stories.

Links:

• The Enneagram: A systematic review of the literature and directions for future research

• We Know Why You Love Personality Quizzes

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If you like the show, drop us a five-star review wherever you listen to podcasts, and share with a friend, family member, coworker, neighbor, mail deliverer, and/or roommate. It really helps a lot!

In 1999, Coca-Cola’s CEO floated raising prices on hotter days using new technology in their vending machines. This caused an avalanche of bad press and the company backed off their plan. Today, that sort of variable pricing is commonplace, with companies hiding behind algorithms and economic shocks to shield themselves from malicious price gouging tactics. This week, we find out how we lost control of the concept of a “fair price.”

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Our guest this week is Lindsay Owens, President and CEO of the Groundwork Collaborative and author of the new book Gouged: The End of a Fair Price — and What That Means for Your Wallet.

What’s the most egregious price you’ve run into lately? Let us know in the comments below, and scroll down for links to research and stories discussed in the episode.

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• More on the Instacart experiment is available here.

• If you want to check out the survey we discuss in the episode and test the fairness of your friends and family, check it out here: Fairness as a Constraint on Profit Seeking: Entitlements in the Market

• The New York Times, 1999: Coke Tests Vending Unit That Can Hike Prices in Hot Weather

Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286.

If you like the show, please share with a friend and leave us a five-star rating wherever you listen to our show. Thanks and we’ll be back next week with a new episode!

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Our guests this week are:

• Rachel, E. Hein, M.D.

• Kate Lindsay, listen to ICYMI and follow her substack Embedded

  Embedded

  Your essential guide to what’s good on the internet. Written by Kate Lindsay and edited by Nick Catucci.

  By Nick Catucci

Read Kate’s Atlantic article Why Are Dogs So Obsessed With Lamb Chop?

Check out Kate’s other episodes with the NST crew:

• What’s the best way to split the bill?

• Why can’t adults order from the kids’ menu?

• Are outdoor cats happier than indoor cats?

Buy Manny’s book “Colored People Time: A Case for (Casual) Rebellion here and follow NST on Instagram.

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If you like the show, drop us a five-star review wherever you listen to podcasts, and share with a friend, family member, coworker, neighbor, mail deliverer, and/or roommate. It really helps a lot!

This week, things got ugly…The boys and I debate whether there’s a such thing as an “ugly tax,” or social penalties for being unattractive. The more academic term for this is “lookism,” which is the discrimination against people for the way that they look. A bunch of data shows that less attractive people are discriminated against in myriad ways, So should they be part of a protected class of minority?

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To get to the bottom of this, I interviewed Thomas Spiegel, professor of philosophy at the Miyazaki International University in Tokyo, and Stephanie Fairyington, author of “Ugly: A Letter to My Daughter.”

If you liked this episode, check out: How many people are actually 7 feet tall?

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Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286.

‘Til next time!

This week we have a two-part series for you all on AI music.

On Wednesday, we dropped Part 1 in which we discuss the various goings on in AI music generation. Manny “creates” a few different versions of the NO SUCH THING theme song (that he actually produced without AI) using Suno’s generative AI, and we hear from Charlie Harding, audio engineer and host of the Switched on Pop podcast, to learn just how much AI is being used in the music industry today and where he sees it all heading in the future.

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And today we’re dropping Part 2, where I confront a musician who was my #1 played artist on Apple Music for August and who goes by the name of 1010benja on why he decided to use generative AI on his new EP 1010: Time Has Nothing To Do With What You Choose….

ICYMI, this week Suno announced a deal with Warner Music Group to launch new AI music models.

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If you like the show, drop us a five-star review wherever you listen to podcasts, and share with a friend, family member, coworker, neighbor, mail deliverer, and/or roommate. It really helps a lot!

Surprise surprise! We’re back and there are some great episodes on the horizon, including one of my favorite mailbags we’ve ever done.

Today’s episode is making headlines, so we’re dropping it on a Monday. It’s all about Flock, the controversial nationwide network of artificial-intelligence roadside cameras. Drew Harwell, a tech reporter at The Washington Post, explains his reporting on cops using the technology as a tool for stalking and the victims and advocates fighting for change.

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Check out Drew’s reporting:

• How rogue officers turned a nationwide camera network into a tool for stalking

• Police departments weren’t looking for officers abusing Flock. We did it for them.

• Flock unveils changes after Post report on police misuse of vast camera network

404 Media has also done some great reporting on Flock and The New York Times also recently did a deep dive on the tech.

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If you like the show, drop us a five-star review wherever you listen to podcasts, and share with a friend, family member, coworker, neighbor, mail deliverer, and/or roommate. It really helps a lot!

First up, we’re bringing back fan-favorite guest Patric Richardson aka The Laundry Evangelist aka TV’s The Laundry Guy to answer MORE questions. So please send in any remaining laundry asks by leaving a voicemail at (860) 325-0286, shooting us an email at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or simply dropping a comment below!

Leave a comment

In case you missed it, check out Patric’s original NST appearance here:

We’re now enjoying our August break, so in lieu of a new episode, we’re sharing a remastered version of one of our very first episodes.

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Do you think you’d be able to successfully land a plane, with no prior pilot experience and relying only on air traffic control assistance? A YouGov survey found 13% of people are “very confident” that they could. In this episode, we explore why some people (like Manny) are prone to overconfidence, with help from social psychologist and professor David Dunning.

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Take a listen (or a relisten) and we’ll be back in September with new episodes and more updates. And once again, you can reach us by leaving a voicemail at (860) 325-0286, sending an email to mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or commenting below.

Thanks!

First up, some housekeeping: NST will be taking August off to work on some new episodes. We’ll be keeping the feed going with a few remastered classics and episodes of other shows we love. Thanks for listening and you’ll hear from us again in September!

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This week, we dive into a heated debate: When flying, is it ever acceptable to recline your seat and claim those precious extra inches of space? Is there an ethical argument for reclining? Ergonomically, what is the most comfortable position? Why do we act like completely different people when we’re up in the air? And is this all a distraction from the real villains, greedy airlines?

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Our guest this week is Joshua Rothman, staff writer at .

• Read Josh’s New Yorker column: Should you recline your airplane seat?

• Travel + Leisure: Then vs. Now: The Evolution of Airfare Costs Over the Years

• AP: Scott Mayerowitz’s story on the” Knee Defender” flight diversion

Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286

If you like the show, please share it with a friend and leave us a 5-star rating wherever you listen. Thanks, and see you in September!

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Our guests this week are:

• Sadie from Bring Back Doors

• Katie Deighton from The Wall Street Journal, who reported on hotels removing bathroom doors earlier this year

• Charlotte Gartenberg from the upcoming podcast Welcome to the Bathroom

• Julia Lindsay, lock aficionado

ICYMI listen to Devan Design Week I (Tesla door handles, microwave buttons, modern-day couches)

Tag us in your favorite and least favorite bathroom locks on Instagram (@nosuchthing.show).

Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286

Subscribe now

If you like the show, drop us a five-star review wherever you listen to podcasts, and share with a friend, family member, coworker, neighbor, mail deliverer, and/or roommate. It really helps a lot!

This week, we unpack what makes a generation. From the Silent Generation to the Zoomers and beyond, are these groupings only useful to stir up competition and resentment? How did Gen Z become more conservative, more pessimistic AND more empathetic than their predecessors? We also explore recent research on a troubling trend of declining IQ scores. Does this back up an argument that millennials are the group most well-equipped for life in the modern age?

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Our guests this week are researcher Elizabeth M. Dworak from Northwestern University and Jean M. Twenge PhD, author of Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents—and What They Mean for America’s Future. (Buy the book here.)

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Related links

• Dr. Dworak’s IQ research: Looking for Flynn effects in a recent online U.S. adult sample: Examining shifts within the SAPA Project

• James Flynn’s TED Talk: Why our IQ levels are higher than our grandparents’

• The New Yorker on Jean Twenge: Where Millennials Come From (2017)

• Tom Wolfe for New York Magazine: The “Me” Decade (1976)

• An interesting counterpoint, on Bobby Duffy’s “The Generation Myth”: It’s Time to Stop Talking About Generations

• More on the Reverse Flynn Effect from New York Mag: A Theory of Dumb

You might also like NST #59:

Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286

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On this episode, we’re joined by the hosts of the Soccernomics podcast — Stefan Szymanski and Ashish Malhotra — to discuss the overlap between Soccer, economics, and culture. Is soccer a form of human trafficking? What's the real reason why the English hate the word soccer? Why does the US men's soccer team struggle, historically?

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If you liked this, check out our other sports-adjacent episodes:

Have a question you want us to tackle? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286, and please leave us a five-star rating wherever you listen to podcasts and write a nice review.

See you again soon!

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Our guests this week are:

• Lizzie Post, co-president of the Emily Post Institute and co-host of the Awesome Etiquette Podcast and Emily Post’s Wedding Stories podcast.

• Beth Pinsker, a columnist at MarketWatch, Certified Financial Planner, and author of My Mother’s Money.

Listen to ICYMI with Kate Lindsay and follow her Substack:

Embedded

Your essential guide to what’s good on the internet. Written by Kate Lindsay and edited by Nick Catucci.

By Nick Catucci

Check out Kate’s other episodes with the NST crew:

• Why can’t adults order from the kids’ menu?

• Are outdoor cats happier than indoor cats?

Subscribe now

If you like the show, drop us a five-star review wherever you listen to podcasts, and share with a friend, family member, coworker, neighbor, mail deliverer, and/or roommate. It really helps a lot!

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Our guests this week are:

• , diet soda head, journalist, and creator of the Two Percent podcast and newsletter.

• Adam Chandler, food columnist at The Wall Street Journal.

• Giles Yeo, author of Why Calories Don’t Count and a professor at the University of Cambridge who studies the genetics of body weight and how the brain controls feeding behavior.

New here? You may also like our episode on Dasani…

Watch Manny do a blind taste test to see if he can tell the difference between Coke, Diet Coke, and Coke Zero.

And watch Fat Joe reaveal he’s addicted to Diet Pepsi

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If you like the show, drop us a five-star review wherever you listen to podcasts, and share with a friend, family member, coworker, neighbor, mail deliverer, and/or roommate. It really helps a lot!

First order of business: Next week, we’re recording a finance mailbag! Please send us your money questions, horror stories, or anything else. Leave a voicemail at (860) 325-0286 or email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com.

You can hardly go for a drive, take a walk in the neighborhood, or turn on a television without being bombarded by ridiculous ads for personal injury lawyers. Are these flamboyant characters legitimate legal representation or scammers? This week, we find out how personal injury firms work, why they advertise so heavily, and how to discern a legit lawyer from a scammy “settlement mill” looking for a quick pay-day.

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Our guests this week are personal injury lawyer John Morgan (Morgan & Morgan), Stanford legal scholar Nora Freeman Engstrom and journalist Jose Martinez from The City Reporter.

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If you like this episode, you’ll enjoy our look into the world of dentistry:

Related Links:

• Read about Prof. Engstrom’s paper on competition and contingency fees here. (Full paper available here)

• Jose Martinez for The City Reporter: ‘Billboard Lawyers’ Defend Ads and Tactics Amid MTA Push for Lawsuit Reform

• You can buy John Morgan’s memoir “Life is Luck” here.

• Didn’t make it into the episode but I highly recommend this great and extremely relevant story by Patrick Radden Keefe for The New Yorker: The Car-Crash Conspiracy.

Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286

Thanks and we’ll see you next week!

I recently had a child. Or more accurately, my wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl while I stood next to her giving words of encouragement like a tennis coach. It’s been almost 5 months since then, and I think it’s the most important and meaningful thing I’ve ever taken part in.

It turns out though, that having a kid (or multiple kids) is becoming increasingly uncommon. According to data from the CDC, the birth rate here in the states is on a steep decline. In the 60s, American families were having 3.5 kids on average, and today, we’re only popping out ~1.6. The “replacement rate,” which is the number all of the experts are concerned about, is 2.1, meaning one person has to give birth to 2.1 kids on average in order for the society that person lives in to replace its population (the 0.1 number compensates for kids who don’t make it to adulthood, and the fact that for whatever reason, the human race produces more men than women).

On today’s episode, I ask whether Noah and Devan want kids, as part of a conversation about why the birth rate is declining around the world. Then we hear from Anna Louie Sussman, author of the upcoming book “Inconceivable: The Impossibility of Family in an Age of Uncertainty,” about what’s actually causing the birth rate to decline, and then I have a heartfelt conversation with writer (and fellow dad) .

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Preorder Anna’s book here, and check out Derek’s Substack here.

Derek Thompson

A newsletter about abundance and building a better world.

And one more thing… Are you a diet soda head? We want to hear from you! Call us at (860) 325-0286 or send us a voice memo at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com. Tell us three things:

1. What’s your diet soda of choice?

2. Why do you drink it? (taste/health)

3. How often do you have one?

If you like the show, drop us a five-star review wherever you listen to podcasts! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Our guests are Robert Klemko, an investigative journalist at ESPN who previously reported on auditors and cop watchers for The Washington Post, and Dale Hiller, creator of the LackLuster YouTube channel and co-founder of Attorney Shield.

If you’re new here, listen to episode 28: Inside the violent world of online pedophile hunters and check out our NST starter pack.

The audit that led to Turner v. Driver

Robert’s ride-along with Chris Ruff

The incident that helped launch Dale’s YouTube channel

Follow us on Instagram @nosuchthing.show.

Have a question you want us to answer? Email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286

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If you like the show, drop us a five-star review wherever you listen to podcasts, and share with a friend, family member, coworker, neighbor, mail deliverer, and/or roommate. It really helps a lot!

We’re back with another episode of NO SUCH THING. This week, we’re talking about so-called “Super-Agers,” the term used to describe people who are at least 80 years old, but are still sharp as a tack.

Maury Povich. Joy Behar. Anthony Fauci. Bernie Sanders. Martha Stewart. There are a ton of octogenarians who are cognitively impressive. Of course, there are many who… aren’t. What differentiates these two groups?

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A new study out of Northwestern endeavors to answer that question, and in today’s episode, we talked to one of the study’s authors, and to one of the super-agers in question.

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Below are some of the clips we refer to in the episode, as well as the memory test I made Noah take.

• Take the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning test I made Noah do a version of (requires downloading an app).

And if you liked this episode, you might be interested in this one from a year ago:

Any lingering questions? Let us know in the comments below, email us at mannynoahdevan@gmail.com, or leave a voicemail at ‪(860) 325-0286.

And as always, if you’re a fan of the show, please leave us a five-star rating wherever you listen to podcasts and write a nice review. It really helps a lot.

That’s all for now!