Mary in America

Mary in America is a weekly conversation about how the machine of society works. Journalist and author Mary Childs jumps into the minds of the greatest, most interesting people who are shaping the world we live in, to understand the structures we build, the stories we tell, the games we play, and the choices we make.Why is it like that? Who made it that way? Should we change it? Can we?

Mary in America is a society podcast hosted by Mary Childs, with 19 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Mary Childs hosts Mary in America, a society show with 19 episodes published.

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  Episode #19

  Min Jin Lee on Education, Grudges, and Her Current and Future Novels

  Oct 1, 202636 min

  When novelist Min Jin Lee writes a book, she goes deep. She spends years researching, interviewing relevant people whose experiences and jobs will comprise her characters and plot. In her new book American Hagwon, she threw herself into the intense schooling and education systems, and extracted lessons that are sincerely useful, which she unpacks in this episode, including: a focus on achievement obscures the point of learning; community is how to survive; karma is real, just be patient; and how – unprompted! – it all goes back to bond markets.   Further reading/listening: Min Jin Lee: American Hagwon Min Jin Lee: Pachinko Planet Money: Economic fact in literary fiction   Subscribe to the show! YouTube Instagram TikTok Website

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  Episode #18

  Why Being Unpopular is Expensive for Countries

  Sep 24, 202638 min

  Being a country’s central banker is a technical job. But, just like high school, if you are a popular central banker, it pays off. Aditi Sahasrabuddhe is a political scientist at Brown University , and has researched just how much it pays to be popular. It’s the kind of question that the field of economics largely neglects. Aditi looks at central-bank-likeability through the manifestation of swap lines, currency exchanges made available between two economies. These become especially important in a moment of crisis, and a close connection between central bankers can mean the difference between an economy that sinks and one that swims.  Further Reading: Aditi Sahasrabuddhe: Banker’s Trust Liaquat Ahamed: Lords of Finance Financial Times: Swap lines are geopolitical infrastructure Financial Times: A less independent Fed raises risks to a key crisis tool Financial Times: Will the Fed continue to assume its global responsibilities?   Subscribe to the show! YouTube Instagram TikTok Website

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  Episode #17

  Emily Oster Doesn't Mind the Haters

  Sep 17, 202641 min

  Emily Oster is not a doctor. She’s an economics professor at Brown University, and for years she’s been applying her economics lens and ability to read studies and analyze data to help decode health research. Her conclusions sometimes produce runaway hits – as in Expecting Better , her book upending the “conventional pregnancy wisdom” – and at other times are wildly unpopular – as with her recommendation to re-open schools while the pandemic was still raging. Emily tells us about the gaps that open up as science progresses, and how people jump into those gaps with theories, political agendas, and grifts. We talk about why we tend to make health and science a political team sport, if we can learn to parse data ourselves, and how to practice living with uncertainty. Further reading: Expecting Better , by Emily Oster Schools Aren’t Super-Spreaders by Emily Oster The Safety Turducken by Emily Oster Can America’s Students Recover What They Lost During the Pandemic? by Alec MacGillis Transformative Experience by L. A. Paul The Rise of Female Autonomy and the Decline of Fertility: The Role of Mismatch , by Claudia Goldin Earthing the Human Body Influences Physiologic Processes   Subscribe to the show! YouTube Instagram TikTok Website

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  Episode #16

  The Bond Market Rules Everything Around Me/You/Us

  Sep 10, 202640 min

  Bonds around the world have been selling off, kind of a lot. And that selloff has sent interest rates on government debt to or near their highest in decades— for US government debt, but also debt from the UK, Germany, France, Japan. What gives? We pulled in one of the people who buys and sells those bonds, Ed Al-Hussainy , at Columbia Threadneedle, which manages a lot of money for other people and institutions. Ed reads the market tea leaves for us about why this is happening, what it means for participants in the US economy, and how much we need to worry.  Further Reading: Harper’s : Debt Reckoning , by Mary Childs WSJ: The Bond Market Issues World Leaders a Failing Grade , by Greg Ip Goldman Sachs : Why Global Bond Yields Are Expected to Stay Elevated Subscribe to the show! YouTube Instagram TikTok Website

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  Episode #15

  Why do we love gold so much?

  Sep 3, 202639 min

  Gold was on a tear in August. People, investors, and central banks around the world were buying more and more, in large part because it’s seen as a stable alternative to the dollar, or to any currency. But…why? Why gold? What makes it so special? Friend of the show Jacob Goldstein wrote a book called Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing , and he explains the real, physical reasons why we love gold so much, and the long history of our collective obsession. Further Reading Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing , by Jacob Goldstein ThePollenNation.com America Is Having A Fiscal Midlife Crisis Subscribe to the show! YouTube Instagram TikTok Website

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