Reasonably Optimistic – Details, episodes & analysis

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Reasonably Optimistic

The Washington Post

News

Technology

Frequency: 1 episode/5d. Total Eps: 172

Enough with the doom and gloom — we’re ready to talk about how America can thrive. Hosted by Washington Post Opinion columnist Megan McArdle, “Reasonably Optimistic” is your weekly conversation about how America can get unstuck and build a better future. Stop feeding your rage and start embracing our possibilities. Episodes drop Wednesdays.

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Apple

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Apple Podcasts

🇨🇦 Canada - newsCommentary
23/08/2026
#58
🇩🇪 Germany - newsCommentary
23/08/2026
#32
🇺🇸 USA - newsCommentary
23/08/2026
#42
🇫🇷 France - newsCommentary
23/08/2026
#72
🇩🇪 Germany - newsCommentary
22/08/2026
#53
🇺🇸 USA - newsCommentary
22/08/2026
#41
🇫🇷 France - newsCommentary
22/08/2026
#45
🇺🇸 USA - newsCommentary
21/08/2026
#48
🇺🇸 USA - newsCommentary
20/08/2026
#43
🇫🇷 France - newsCommentary
20/08/2026
#75

Spotify

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https://subscribe.washingtonpost.com/acquisition/?s_l=OFFSITE_PODCAST&amp
182 shares
http://washingtonpost.com/subscribe?utm_source=podcasts&amp
6 shares
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/interactive/2024/john-lanchester-consumer-price-index-who-is-government/?utm_source=podcasts&amp
4 shares

https://news.gallup.com/poll/644570/immigration-named-top-problem-third-straight-month.aspx
1 share
https://www.fastcompany.com/90999268/unsold-evs-are-piling-up-at-car-dealerships-what-does-that-mean-for-the-auto-industry#:~:text=Sales%20of%20electric%20vehicles%20hit
1 share
https://coltura.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Gasoline-Superusers-3.0-Executive-Summary-Coltura-2024.pdf
1 share

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/09/30/remote-work-amazon-office-jobs/?utm_source=podcasts&amp
1 share
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/03/18/amazon-apprentice-first-season-trump/?utm_source=podcasts&amp
1 share
https://www.amazon.com/Prisoner-Prison-Solitary-Confinement-High-Stakes-Extraordinary/dp/0062691570
1 share

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Score global : 63%

Publication history

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What do men want?

Tuesday, September 3, 2024 • Duration 30:49

The evidence is in. American men are facing a crisis — in health, in education and in the labor force. But under all of that runs deeper trends — disconnection, loneliness and a lack of role models. Columnists Theodore Johnson and Shadi Hamid talk with Richard Reeves, founder of the American Institute for Boys and Men, about the dueling visions of masculinity on the political stage and a hopeful way forward for the modern man.

Check out some of the work Richard Reeves mentioned in the show:

“Men are having a health crisis. Why aren’t we paying attention?”

“The State of Working Class Men”

And read more from Washington Post Opinions on this topic:

Theodore Johnson: “I grappled with masculinity. My mother showed me the truth.”

Christine Emba: “ Men are lost. Here’s a map out of the wilderness.”

Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

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Why not pay teachers $100,000?

Tuesday, August 27, 2024 • Duration 13:00

As American kids head back to school, columnist Daniel Pink makes the case for paying teachers more money. High-quality teachers, he argues, significantly improve student learning, so shouldn’t they be paid as much as somebody assessing insurance premiums on your car? Plus, humor columnist Alexandra Petri discusses sending her child to school for the first time.

This essay by Daniel Pink is part of a year-long project with Washington Post Opinions called “Why Not?” Check out some of the other columns in his series:

Why not ban left turns on busy streets?

Why not shake up the Olympics?

Why not overhaul America’s national holidays?

Why not require a civics test as a rite of passage for all Americans?

Don’t miss any of Daniel Pink’s “Why Not?” columns. You can follow his LinkedIn newsletter here.

Subscribe to The Washington Post .

America, we love you. But it’s hard.

Wednesday, July 3, 2024 • Duration 16:58

It’s the week of the Fourth of July and the word patriotism is as divisive as the rest of American politics. Theodore Johnson, Karen Attiah and Jason Rezaian discuss the good and the bad about the United States, and how to reconcile its shortcomings while pushing for a better future.

Read more from some of our columnists —

Ted Johnson: “American democracy is fine. It's the republic that's in trouble.”

“Buck up, America. Help is on the way.”

Karen Attiah: “How to reckon with the cult of the gun”

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Biden finally overshadowed Trump, in all the wrong ways

Friday, June 28, 2024 • Duration 19:33

President Biden’s debate performance has Democrats in a panic and Donald Trump supporters gleeful. Columnists Karen Tumulty, Dana Milbank and Jim Geraghty process how things feel the morning after, whether the president should step aside and how the truth was the night’s biggest loser.

Read more from our columnists about the debate:

Karen Tumulty: “The Great Democratic Freakout is upon us”

Dana Milbank: “If America is failing, that debate showed why”

Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

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Is the smartphone panic dumb?

Wednesday, June 26, 2024 • Duration 22:55

Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy recommended putting a warning on social media for minors last week, while governors from coast to coast have pushed for restrictions on teen phone use. But how worried should we really be, and what is there to do about it? Post columnists Amanda Ripley, Molly Roberts and Theodore Johnson talk through the dumbphone trend, how explicit lyric warnings on CDs backfired and what actually worked in the campaigns to stop kids from smoking.

Listen to Murthy talking to our colleagues on the daily news podcast, Post Reports, about why he sees social media as such a threat to young people.

"How bullying shaped the surgeon general's fight against social media"

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Why can't Americans agree on immigration?

Wednesday, June 12, 2024 • Duration 20:08

A quarter of Americans, most of them Republicans, say immigration is the most pressing issue facing the country. Post columnists Karen Tumulty, León Krauze and Jim Geraghty discuss why this issue is top of mind for so many people, how politics continues to thwart policy and whether Americans still see our country as a cultural melting pot.

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An impromptu ‘Impromptu’: Processing Trump’s conviction

Friday, May 31, 2024 • Duration 25:12

Ruth Marcus, Dana Milbank and Karen Tumulty got together to talk about their immediate reactions to Donald Trump’s guilty verdict, the quality of his defense, and why the most knowledgeable people in Washington were expecting something different.

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Do we actually want AI that seems human?

Wednesday, May 29, 2024 • Duration 19:35

Do we actually want AI that seems human?

Chatbots are being made to act and sound like humans. That makes them easier to talk to, but there could be other consequences. As our relationships with artificial intelligence evolve, do we need to draw a brighter line between what is technology and what is us? Opinions columnists Josh Tyrangiel, Bina Venkataraman and Amanda Ripley talk about what we really want out of AI.

Read more on AI from our Washington Post columnists.

Josh Tyrangiel:

“Honestly, I love when AI hallucinates”

“Let AI remake the whole U.S. government (oh, and save the country)”

“College students are dropping out in droves. Two sisters could fix that.”

Bina Venkataraman:

“When technology of the future traps people in the past”

“Can AI solve medical mysteries? It's worth finding out.”

Reasonably Optimistic – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Reasonably Optimistic – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

The Washington Post99+

Other17

Amazon6

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

The Washington Post99+

Other17

Amazon6

Apple Podcasts

Spotify