Reasonably Optimistic

Walkable neighborhoods, vibrant nightlife, the sheer bounty of it all. City living isn't for everyone, but it's amazing for the people who want it. Unless, that is, they also want a family.Today's cities are designed for demographic churn — as a rest stop en route to the suburbs, rather than a place you can live a full life. That's bad for families and for America. Bobby Fijan is one of the people trying to fix that. He is the co-founder of The American Housing Corporation, a real estate development company building affordable, family-sized rowhomes in cities across America.Fijan joins host Megan McArdle to explain how urban housing pushed families out of cities and how his company plans to bring them back.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

This month marks the 10-year anniversary of Jason Rezaian’s release from imprisonment in Iran. In 2014, Rezaian — then The Washington Post’s Tehran bureau chief — was arrested with his wife at their home and detained in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison. He joins host Megan McArdle to discuss his time in captivity, Iran’s trajectory since his release, and what his experience reveals about press freedom — and its fragility — around the world. Read more in Rezaian’s book, “Prisoner: My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison.”Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

When Renée Good was fatally shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis, it reignited a familiar debate. Was this another case of police brutality, or an act of self-defense? Protests followed. Politicians and public figures weighed in. But why does this keep happening—and how do we make policing better and safer for everyone?Host Megan McArdle speaks with former New York City police commissioner William Bratton and former NYPD chief Kenneth E. Corey. They join Megan to discuss their work at University of Chicago’s Policing Leadership Academy, and advocate that the program, and more like it, can reduce violence and improve fairness in policing.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Journalist Katie Herzog was 12 years old when she first drank alcohol. It wasn’t until her 30s that she decided to quit. She tried everything — Alcoholics Anonymous, cleanses, therapy, yoga — but nothing stuck. Eventually, she turned to an unorthodox approach: the Sinclair Method.Katie joins host Megan McArdle to explain this science-based path to sobriety and how it inspired her book, "Drink Your Way Sober."Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Early on Jan 3, news broke that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had been captured by U.S. troops and was being flown to New York to stand trial. Later that day, President Donald Trump said the United States would take control of Venezuela’s massive oil reserves. Protests erupted almost immediately, reviving the Iraq War–era slogan, “no blood for oil.”Host Megan McArdle breaks down the long, troubled history of Venezuelan oil and explains why the U.S. has a responsibility to help rebuild the country's economy.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Matthew Yglesias has been a disrupter his entire career. He started as an early adapter to the web, running a blog before blogs were a thing. He went on to co-found the media company Vox and has written all over the internet. He joins host Megan McArdle to discuss their career trajectories and how the internet has changed both media and politics. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

After Charlie Kirk’s death on her campus, Utah Valley University president Astrid Tuminez found herself in an impossible position. She was at the helm of Utah’s largest public university and had to find a way to lead her campus after the tragedy. Now, at the end of the fall semester, she joins host Megan McArdle to discuss how her faith, upbringing and love for her community gave her the strength and wisdom to get through. Plus, she shares the lessons she learned through the process to help other leaders — including the president of Brown University — who may find themselves in a similar position.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

There’s no one in politics quite like the Democratic governor of Colorado, Jared Polis. He's a serial entrepreneur who cashed in on the dot-com boom and has pushed back on over-regulation of artificial intelligence and the tech industry. He’s in favor of abortion rights, but was against overregulation of mask mandates. He's pro-business and pro-weed. The “pro-liberty” governor joins host Megan McArdle to discuss Trump’s tariff and immigration policies, transgender care and how to make housing and health care more affordable.Timecodes00:00 Welcome Gov. Jared Polis01:27 Jared Polis’s entrepreneurial start03:54 Three most important qualities in an entrepreneur04:28 Most important qualities in a governor05:00 Transition from tech to government05:52 Transition from Congress to governor07:03 First year as Governor08:20 Regulation of Tech Companies11:45 The “Pro-business,” “Pro-trade” Party15:02 Are tariffs shifting voters?16:35 Being pro-freedom17:22 The only Democrat in The Liberty Caucus 18:39 The polarization of transgender care22:59 The Jared Polis brand of politics23:29 Making health care more affordable27:40 Making housing more affordable31:14 Does his politics have national appeal?32:22 Jared Polis’s MAGA uncle33:24 Can Americans be civil again?34:55 How to fix Congress 36:02 The activist base of the Democratic Party37:36 One thing to praise Trump on 38:32 Collecting Coins41:02 What is Jared Polis reasonably optimistic about?Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Science fiction writer Neal Stephenson predicted the metaverse, wearable tech and artificial intelligence long before those technologies arrived. What does he think of it all now? Host Megan McArdle talks to Stephenson about the future of AI, education and social media — and how his fiction became a window into the culture of Silicon Valley.Timecodes0:00 Welcome to Reasonably Optimistic0:33 Who is Neal Stephenson?1:19 Living in the future3:25 Neal's origin story 5:18 The disruptive effects of new technology 8:18 The premise of The Diamond Age  14:23 AI’s confident wrongness17:43 What AI is good at18:56 Is AI good for kids?20:03 Fixing education in an AI world 23:14 Will AI make nerds less valuable?26:44 AI is eliminating entry level jobs29:45 How tech founders got political34:37 Is Neal Stephenson’s work political?36:50 Technology is easier to predict than culture40:11 What is Neal Stephenson reasonably optimistic about?Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

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.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

After chemotherapy, Post Opinions writer Rachel Manteuffel felt like she was encountering a bald stranger every time she looked in the bathroom mirror. But then came the curls and lots of other surprising phenomena that science hasn’t been quite able to explain. She shares her story and her conversation with YouTuber and science explainer Hank Green, who had similar strange experiences with his post-chemo self.See Rachel’s hair transformation here: My cool cancer story | OpinionSubscribe to The Washington Post here.

Where have all the benches gone? Deputy Opinion Editor Mark Lasswell reflects on the causes and consequences of the “defensive architecture” replacing seating in public spaces. Plus, contributing columnist Rick Reilly shares just how hard it’s become to find an Airbnb or VRBO that doesn’t feel like the inside of a Target.Additional reading by our columnists:Mark Lasswell: This punctuation mark is semi-dead. People have thoughts.Rick Reilly: I have decided never to go outside againSubscribe to The Washington Post here.

American women have grown more independent economically in recent decades, giving them greater choice in whom to date or marry — and the choice to opt out altogether. But where does women's rising stock leave men, and how is it connected with today’s so-called masculinity crisis? Post columnist Shadi Hamid talks with Richard Reeves, founder of the American Institute for Boys and Men, about why to pay on the first date, whether we’re heading toward a world of surplus men and how to be a man women want to marry.Here’s the study Richard mentions from the American Institute for Boys and Men: Will college educated women find someone to marry?Additional reading by our columnists:Shadi Hamid: Men are struggling to find love. Here’s why.Rahm Emanuel: What’s really depressing America’s young menJulien Berman: No, Gen-Z men aren’t specialSubscribe to The Washington Post here.

Additional reading by Washington Post columnists:Colbert I. King: The spirit of Old Dixie rises in D.C.Shadi Hamid: My gut instinct on Trump’s D.C. power grab was wrongMegan McArdle: D.C. has a real crime problem. Federal control won’t solve it.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

We’ve got some news.Read more about Dana’s new venture: We are losing our humanity. I am searching for an antidote.Enjoy some of our favorite episodes:What do men want?Is it time to delete our social media accounts?What the ‘tradwife’ trend says about modern lifeRemote work changed the country. Can it change back?AI is getting smarter. But are we?Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Try as he might, President Trump cannot seem to shake the controversy over his former friend Jeffrey Epstein. Why are people so interested in this case, and what are the political opportunities and costs? Dana Milbank, Jason Willick and James Hohmann discuss how this story might end, and whether it’s the one scandal that could finally stick to “the Teflon Don.”Additional reading:Jason Willick: Trump’s subordinates ran an Epstein Ponzi scheme. Now comes the bank run.Editorial Board: Conspiracy theories take root when government misleadsSubscribe to The Washington Post here.

It’s summertime, and when you’re traveling by air, flights are often overbooked, seats are cramped, and unexpected cancellations and delays feel all too frequent. Why do passengers find themselves in this situation, and is there a way to make it better? This week, we’re revisiting an episode with Charles Lane, Catherine Rampell and Marc Fisher exploring how, when people primarily look for the lowest price, airline travel becomes a race to the bottom.Additional reading by our columnists:Bina Venkataraman: Flying is a nightmare. But it could be fixed.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

The weapons deal President Trump announced this week marks a shift in his attitude toward Russian President Vladimir Putin and the full-scale invasion in Ukraine. But can it shift the trajectory of the war? If not, what will? Damir Marusic, Max Boot and Kori Schake discuss what the deal means for Ukraine and how Trump’s growing hawkishness will play to his “America First” supporters.  Read more from our columnists:Max Boot: Putin took Trump for granted. He’s going to pay for his mistake.David Ignatius: In squeezing Putin, Trump ‘escalates to de-escalate’Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

A lot of famous bands go on long past their prime, doing nostalgia tours and squeezing their hits for all they’re worth. But not R.E.M., one of the biggest bands in the world during a stretch of the 1990s. The band went from regularly playing shows for more than 100,000 people to calling it quits. Contributor Will Leitch, who occasionally bumps into the former members of R.E.M. in the grocery store, talks about how rare and admirable it is to know when to move on, and how the music is still there for all of us even if the band is not. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.