Have you ever heard a commonly held belief or a fast-developing worldview and asked: Is that idea right? Or just good on paper? Each week, host Jerusalem Demsas and a guest take a closer look at the facts and research that challenge the popular narratives of the day, to better understand why we believe what we believe.
Site
RSS
Apple
Données mises à jour le 04/07/2026
Classements récents
Dernières positions dans les classements Apple Podcasts et Spotify.
Liens partagés entre épisodes et podcasts
Liens présents dans les descriptions d'épisodes et autres podcasts les utilisant également.
Découvrez des podcasts liées à Good on Paper. Explorez des podcasts avec des thèmes, sujets, et formats similaires. Ces similarités sont calculées grâce à des données tangibles, pas d'extrapolations !
The ’90s are sometimes described as the beginning of the postfeminist era. But if feminism died 30 years ago, who killed it? The Atlantic staff writer Sophie Gilbert seeks to answer this question in her new book, Girl on Girl, and finds a likely suspect in the contemporaneous rise of internet pornography.
Further reading:
Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves, by Sophie Gilbert
“Don’t Call Them Trash,” by Sophie Gilbert
“Would You Give PornHub Your ID?,” by Jerusalem Demsas
“Romantic Love Is an Under-Rated Driver of Gender Equality,” by Alice Evans
Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Problem of Finding a Marriageable Man
Épisode 48
mardi 29 avril 2025 • Durée 49:37
Women now outnumber men on U.S. college campuses. There’s a common belief that the college gender gap has led to a decrease in marriage rates for college-educated women, but the economist Benny Goldman says the data just don’t support that narrative. Instead, shifts in educational attainment and marriage rates have had a much starker effect on non-college-educated women and low-earning men.
Further reading:
“Bachelors Without Bachelor’s: Gender Gaps in Education and Declining Marriage Rates,” by Benjamin Goldman, Clara Chambers, and Joseph Winkelmann
“Marriage Market Sorting in the U.S,” by Anton Cheremukhin, Paulina Restrepo-Echavarria, and Antonella Tutino
Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization, by Brad Wilcox
Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It, by Richard Reeves
Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Minority Rule in America
Épisode 47
mardi 22 avril 2025 • Durée 54:12
The Framers of the U.S. Constitution designed a government that they hoped would be impervious to tyranny of the majority. What they didn’t spend much time worrying about was the reverse: a tyranny of the minority. The political scientist Steve Teles explains how very small minorities have come to dominate government and what should be done about it.
Further Reading:
“Minoritarianism Is Everywhere,” by Steve Teles
Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point, by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
“The Great Political Sort Is Happening at the Office,” by Jerusalem Demsas
Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Can We Stop Kids From Watching Porn?
Épisode 46
mardi 15 avril 2025 • Durée 51:48
States are cracking down on online porn—but is it working? The researcher Zeve Sanderson explains how age-verification laws backfire, why teens outsmart them, and what that means for the future of internet regulation.
Further reading:
“Do Age-Verification Bills Change Search Behavior? A Pre-Registered Synthetic Control Multiverse,” by David Lang, Zeve Sanderson, et al.
“The Online Porn Free-for-All Is Coming to an End,” by Marc Novicoff
Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Did Busing Turn Kids Into Democrats?
Épisode 45
mardi 8 avril 2025 • Durée 54:33
In the summer of 1975, white schoolchildren at some Louisville, Kentucky, public schools were faced with a choice: stay in the school system and undergo busing to integrate the schools, or leave the system entirely. A remarkable new study by the economist Ethan Kaplan shows that for students who stayed, busing had lasting effects on their political identities, making them more likely to identify as Democrats, support unions, and say that the world is not inherently fair.
Further reading:
“A Different World: Enduring Effects of School Desegregation on Ideology and Attitudes,” by Ethan Kaplan, Jorg L. Spenkuch, and Cody Tuttle
The Nature of Prejudice, by Gordon Allport
Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In Search of 100-Year-Old Paper Trails
Épisode 44
mardi 1 avril 2025 • Durée 51:23
Researchers have suggested that lifestyle choices explain the remarkably high number of very old people living healthy lives in regions of the world known as “blue zones.” That research has spawned cookbooks, docuseries, and diets and turned blue zones into a household name. Today’s episode is a conversation with Dr. Saul Newman, who has upended the field by questioning the underlying data and research methods that hold up the now-controversial theory.
Further reading:
“Supercentenarian and remarkable age records exhibit patterns indicative of clerical errors and pension fraud,” by Saul Newman
“The Science Behind Blue Zones: Demographers Debunk the Critics”—an open letter signed by scientists and demographers supporting the “blue zones” theory
“Sorry, No Secret to Life Is Going to Make You Live to 110,” by Saul Newman for The New York Times
Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Politicians Think Voters Are Dumb. Are They Right?
Épisode 43
mardi 25 mars 2025 • Durée 01:00:36
What do politicians really think of their voters? A new study looking at 11 different democracies finds that politicians hold an unflattering view of their constituents, while voters view themselves as thoughtful, policy-oriented decision makers. The political scientist Jack Lucas explains why politicians think voters are dumb and why they might be wrong.
Further reading:
“Politicians’ Theories of Voting Behavior,” by Jack Lucas, et al.
“Are politicians democratic realists?,” by Jack Lucas, Lior Sheffer, and Peter John Loewen
Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government, by Christopher H. Achen and Larry M. Bartels
“‘Everything Is Terrible, but I’m Fine,’” by Derek Thompson
Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Derek Thompson and Ezra Klein on Abundance
Épisode 42
mardi 18 mars 2025 • Durée 01:21:52
Donald Trump won back the White House last year by stoking fears of scarcity. The zero-sum thinking of the right that says there aren’t enough houses or jobs to go around laid the groundwork for the forces of illiberalism currently at play in the federal government. In their new book, Abundance, Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson argue that to combat the politics of scarcity, liberals at every level of government must embrace abundance.
Further reading:
Abundance, by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson
Why We’re Polarized, by Ezra Klein
“Do Democrats Need to Learn How to Build?,” by Benjamin Wallace-Wells
“A Simple Plan to Solve All of America’s Problems,” by Derek Thompson
“Blue States Gave Trump and Vance an Opening,” by Jerusalem Demsas
Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Scientific Controversy That’s Tearing Families Apart
Épisode 41
mardi 11 mars 2025 • Durée 51:53
Shaken baby syndrome has been discredited, criticized, and even classified as “junk science” by a New Jersey judge, so why is it often being treated as settled fact in hospitals and courtrooms? The neuroscience researcher Cyrille Rossant was plunged headfirst into the controversy of shaken baby syndrome, now called “abusive head trauma,” when his child was believed to have been shaken by a nanny. After years of research, Rossant is now a leading voice among skeptics who say shaken baby syndrome isn’t backed by scientific proof.
Further reading:
Shaken Baby Syndrome: Investigating the Abusive Head Trauma Controversy, co-authored by Cyrille Rossant
“How Antiscience Creates Confusion About the Diagnosis of Abusive Head Trauma,” by John Leventhal, et al.
“No Science Supports the Diagnostic Methods for Abusive Head Trauma,” by Cyrille Rossant, et al.
“False Confessions: Causes, Consequences, and Implications for Reform,” by Saul Kassin
Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Best of: Is Wokeness Dead?
Épisode 40
mardi 4 mars 2025 • Durée 45:35
As the second Trump administration dismantles federal DEI programs and removes trans Americans from the military, the crusade on “wokeness” seems to be a core focus of the president’s second term. In this encore episode, host Jerusalem Demsas speaks with the New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg about the end of wokeness and why we might miss it when it’s gone.
Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices