Solvable

How to Design a More Meaningful Life (with Dave Evans and Bill Burnett) from The Happiness Lab

25 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What does it mean to live a meaningful life? How do you find direction when you feel stuck or you’re unsure about your purpose? Dave Evans and B...

From The Kink Machine: The Hidden Business of Pleasure

10 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Streamed by millions every day, porn is everywhere. It shapes our culture, our relationships, and even technology. Yet, nobody seems to know who reall...

Decoding Psychedelics with Dr. Grace Blest-Hopley from Decoding Women's Health

27 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What if psychedelics could transform the way we treat trauma, chronic pain, and insomnia? This week, neuroscientist and psychedelic researcher Grace B...

Sneak Preview: The Other Side of Change by Maya Shankar

13 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Maya Shankar, host of Pushkin's A Slight Change of Plans podcast, just released a new book, "The Other Side of Change". To celebrate, we're sharing an...

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna: Creating Smarter Business with AI and Quantum

09 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Malcolm Gladwell sits down with IBM Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna in a special live episode of Smart Talks with IBM.&n...

How to Experience the Joy of Giving Right Now: A Giving Tuesday Special from The Happiness Lab

02 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

According to the science, it really is better to give than receive. Donating a dollar; sharing a kind word or lending someone a hand changes lives, bu...

Decoding Genetic Cancer Risk with Dr. Susan Domchek from Decoding Women's Health

04 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Dr. Susan Domchek joins the show to talk about the importance of knowing your genetic history, using genetic testin...

From Smart Talks with IBM: How AI Assistants Can Transform Education

12 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Malcolm Gladwell visits Kennesaw State University to learn about Jiwoo, an AI Assistant that helps future teachers practice responsive teaching by sim...

Introducing Weight For It from Ronald Young Jr.

22 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Former Solvable host Ronald Young Jr has a new podcast! “Weight For It unpacks the nuanced thoughts of fat folks, and of all folks who think about t...

Paul Rosolie, Protecting the Amazon Rainforest

13 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Paul Rosolie is an Amazon Rainforest conservationist, author, and filmmaker. He is the co-founder of Tamandua Expeditions and Junglekeepers.Here are l...

Sterlin Harjo, Reservation Dogs

09 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Sterlin Harjo strives to tell the stories of Native and Indigenous people by positioning beauty and triumphs alongside honest frailty and shortcomings...

Misogyny in Game Design is Solvable

09 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Laila Shabir is the co-founder and CEO of Girls Make Games. Here are some links to learn more about her game design studio, summer camp and quest to w...

Reality TV is Solvable

12 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Lizzy Pace and Chad Kultgen are the hosts of the podcast, Game of Roses and they have ideas about how to solve The Bachelor and reality TV more genera...

Solutions for 2022

22 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The staff of Solvable discuss the problems, big and small, that they'd like to see solved in 2022 and beyond.Special thanks to Maggie Taylor and Pushk...

Mike Gauyo: Insecure

15 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Mike Gauyo is a TV writer in LA. Credits include Insecure (HBO) and Ginny & Georgia (Netflix) among other projects. He’s the founder of The Blac...

Kidney Failure is Solvable

08 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Carmen Peralta is the Chief Medical Officer at Cricket Health. She co-founded the Kidney Health Research Collaborative at University of California...

adrienne maree brown: Cancel Culture is Solvable

01 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

adrienne maree brown is the author of We Will Not Cancel Us and Other Dreams of Transformative Justice, Holding Change: The Way of Emergent Strategy F...

Mary Aiken: Cybercrime is Solvable

24 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Mary Aiken is a Cyberpsychologist and Chair of the Department of Cyberpsychology Capitol Technology University in Laurel Maryland. She is a member of ...

Jade Begay: Indigenous People Were The First Climate Scientists

10 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Jade Begay is the NDN collective’s Climate Justice Campaign Director. She is Diné and Tesuque Pueblo, has a Master of Arts degree in Environmental ...

The Ozone Hole Was Solvable, And So Is Climate Change

03 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Susan Solomon’s research in the 1980’s confirmed that the presence of chlorofluorocarbons was largely responsible for the hole in the ozone an...

Malcolm Gladwell on Near Misses

27 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ronald Young Jr. talks with Malcolm Gladwell (author of David and Goliath and the co-founder of Pushkin Industries) about what we can learn about surv...

Native Erasure and Invisibility is Solvable

20 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Adrienne Keene is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. She’s an Assistant Professor of American Studies and Ethnic Studies at Brown University, co-...

Government Policy is Solvable (with behavioral science)

13 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Maya Shankar is the founder of the White House's Behavioral Science Team. She served as a senior advisor during the Obama administration and in 20...

Psychedelics May Help Solve Addiction

06 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Matthew Johnson is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University where research is underway to explore the therapeutic...

Climate Change Despondency is Solvable

29 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Host Ronald Young Jr. sits down with Malcolm Gladwell to talk about climate change: the power of individual choices, cultural shifts and what to expec...

Consumerism and Celebrity Culture in Faith Organizations are Solvable Problems

22 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ben Kirby is the founder of PreachersNSneakers, an Instagram account and book, that both ask, “how much is too much” to spend when it comes to pre...

The Lack of Creatives of Color in Positions of Power in Hollywood is Solvable

08 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Mike Gauyo is a TV writer in LA including work on Insecure (HBO) and Ginny & Georgia (Netflix). He’s the founder of The Black Boy Writes Black G...

Making Museums Relevant and Reflective is Solvable

01 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Stephanie Cunningham is the director of Museum Hue which supports people of color within the museum field and works to situate and promote culturally ...

The Scantiness of Mental Health Resources For Black People is Solvable

25 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Joy Harden Bradford is a licensed psychologist, author, podcast host and the founder of Therapy For Black Girls – an online resource, and podca...

The Demands of Fighting Racism are Solvable

18 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Ibram X. Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University and the founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist ...

Disordered Eating and Disconnection From Your Body are Solvable Problems

28 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Bri Campos is a licensed mental health counselor and body image coach. She works with clients to improve their relationships with food and with their ...

Hating Your Body Is Solvable

21 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Gabi Fresh is a body positive digital content creator. She was formerly an MTV Twitter Jockey and InStyle's first plus-size editor.Gabi Fresh on Insta...

Food Addiction is Solvable

14 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Moss is a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter and author of the books Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us and Hooked: Food, Free Will, a...

Mapping Catholic Lands Can Help Solve Biodiversity Loss and Climate Change

07 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Molly Burhans is the founder and executive director of GoodLands an organization that works to map the land holdings of the Catholic Church to encoura...

Malcolm Gladwell is All Riled Up

01 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’re excited to share with you the new season of Revisionist History, Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast that re-examines something from the past and ask...

Making Transportation Systems Eco-friendly is a Solvable Problem

30 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Laura Schewel is the CEO of StreetLight Data which provides data to help mold and monitor transportation systems to be more environmentally friendly. ...

Reopening New York Safely and Securely is Solvable

23 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Jason DiGianni is the project lead for the Excelsior Pass. He thinks the free digital tool (which confirms negative COVID-19 tests and positive vaccin...

Under-Representation in Robotics and AI is Solvable

16 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Ayanna Howard is the dean of the College of Engineering of the Ohio State University as well as the founder and president of the board of director...

Presenting: Be Antiracist with Ibram X. Kendi

09 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Host Ronald Young Jr. offers this sneak peak into Pushkin's newest show, Be Antiracist with Ibram X. Kendi. You can subscribe wherever you get your po...

Social Isolation is a Solvable Problem for People With Disabilities

02 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If the world has learned one thing in lockdown, it’s that staying isolated and confined to one place is hard. But for some people living with disabi...

Cultural Asymmetry in Music Technology is Solvable

26 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A lot of popular music is dominated by the western musical constructions of scale and time but when it comes to creative work -- why be so limited? Kh...

Addiction to Fossil Fuels is Solvable

19 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Host Ronald Young Jr. speaks with Bill McKibben about how to break our destructive climate habits and about why we need a course correction urgently. ...

Introducing Ronald Young Jr. Solvable’s Newest Host

12 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ronald Young Jr is the newest host of Solvable. Jacob Weisberg and Ronald Young Jr. talk about some of their hosting inspirations from Larry King, Stu...

Being Victimized by Scams is Solvable

05 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Maria Konnikova is the New York Times-bestselling author of The Biggest Bluff, The Confidence Game, and Mastermind: How To Think Like Sherlock Holmes....

Setbacks: Global Hunger is Solvable

28 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Abby Maxman is President and CEO of Oxfam America and says “there's no reason in the 21st century that people should be going hungry.”Want to lear...

Presenting: An Excerpt from The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell

27 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Bomber Mafia is the new audiobook by Revisionist History host (and Pushkin co-founder) Malcolm Gladwell. It examines the rise of air power, which...

Setbacks: Girls' Exclusion from Education is Solvable

21 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Angeline Murimirwa is executive director of the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED). By engaging local communities in their nomination process, you...

Setbacks: Global Health Inequity is Solvable

14 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

As part of our Setbacks series examining the impact of COVID-19 on global development, Paul Farmer explains why he is still optimistic after working f...

Surgical Site Infections in Developing Countries Can be Solved

07 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dasia Taylor is a senior at Iowa City West High School. She’s working to develop and produce medical sutures, dyed with beets, that can detect infec...

Psychological Manipulation is a Solvable Problem

31 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Cults and other manipulative groups are an issue of public health and Diane Benscoter has strategies that may help.Diane Benscoter is the founder of A...

Making Medical Deliveries by Drone is Solvable

24 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Keller Rinaudo is the CEO and Founder of Zipline International. Their “sky ambulance” service is delivering medical supplies to hard to reach plac...

Racialized Trauma is Solvable

17 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Resmaa Menakem is an author and psychotherapist working in Minneapolis Minnesota. As a specialist focused on racial trauma, Menakem works to help peop...

Extreme Poverty in New York City is Solvable

10 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Andrew Yang is running for Mayor of New York City and he thinks that extreme poverty is a solvable problem. Here are some links to learn more about un...

The Lack of Basic Sanitation in the United States is Solvable

03 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Catherine Coleman Flowers is the Founder and Director of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice. She was awarded a MacArthur Genius...

The Problems of Regulating Algorithms are Solvable

24 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Nathan Matias is a professor at Cornell University and leads the Citizens and Technology Lab. He believes that the strong tradition of scrappy, respon...

Designing Digital Spaces That Bring Us Together Is Solvable

17 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Eli Pariser is a social activist and technology entrepreneur. He sits on the U.S. Programs Board of the Open Society Foundation and the Information an...

Political Polarization is Solvable

10 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Anne Applebaum is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, contributing writer at The Atlantic and a co-host of Solvable and she believes that political po...

Civil War is Solvable (Again)

03 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Juan Manuel Santos is credited with ending the long and violent civil war in Colombia. He believes that every conflict can have a solution. This episo...

Rural Vaccine Distribution is Solvable

27 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Anne Zink is the Chief Medical Officer for the state of Alaska and has helped to coordinate one of the nation's most successful vaccine distributi...

Bad Habits are Solvable

20 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Wendy Wood is Provost Professor of Psychology and Business at the University of Southern California.Here are some links to the studies referenced ...

Vaccine Hesitancy is Solvable

13 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice is the President and Dean of the Morehouse School of Medicine. Even though systemic racism and a history of medical abuses...

Destructive Agriculture is Solvable

23 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Rachel Stroer is the acting president of the Land Institute. She believes that many of the ecological and economic problems stemming from our current ...

Identifying Cost Effective Charities is Solvable

16 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

With so many worthy causes out there, GiveWell helps donors evaluate charities based on their ability to save and improve the greatest number of lives...

The Tech Gender Gap is Solvable (again)

09 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Award-winning technologist Lady Mariéme Jamme is the founder of iamtheCODE. Her organization seeks to educate women and girls about coding and to emp...

Solvable: The Depression and Anxiety We Can All Expect During This Pandemic

25 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Astronaut Scott Kelly is no stranger to the impacts of social isolation after spending 520 days in space. He talks with Jacob Weisberg about how to co...

Remote Music Collaboration Online (in real time) is Solvable

18 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Mike Dickey is co-founder and chairman of the JackTrip Foundation and the creator of Virtual Studio.The awkward and disjointed experience of making mu...

Culturally Competent and Financially Sustainable Healthcare

11 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Lutfi Lokman co-founded Hospitals Beyond Boundaries to provide culturally competent and financially sustainable healthcare. His clinic follows a m...

Political Demonization is Solvable (again)

28 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Flavia Kleiner is the co-founder of Operation Libero. The organization works to combat populism in Switzerland. Operation Libero has launched and won ...

Disinformation is Solvable

21 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Emily Bazelon is a staff writer for the New York Times Magazine and the Truman Capote Fellow for Creative Writing and Law at Yale Law School. She beli...

Solvable: Stereotypical Refugee Narratives

07 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Ahmed Badr is an Iraqi-American writer, social entrepreneur, former refugee and the founder of Narratio. Narratio is a creative platform and set of in...

The Slow Regrowth of Vulnerable Coral Reefs is Solvable

30 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Saving coral reefs will take a lot of teamwork and collaboration across scientists, industries and individuals. One important tool is micro-fragmentat...

Wildfire Ignition is Solvable

23 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Eric Appel is a Professor of Materials Science & Engineering at Stanford University. His lab has designed an improved delivery system for fire ret...

COVID-19 Transmission is Solvable

16 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Mina is an epidemiologist and immunologist at the Harvard School of Public Health and a physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Here are a...

Cancel Culture is Solvable

09 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

John McWhorter is a linguistics professor at Columbia University, contributing writer at The Atlantic and hosts the podcast Lexicon Valley. He believe...

The Decline of Local News is Solvable

02 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Margaret Sullivan is the media columnist for The Washington Post and formerly the public editor with the New York Times. Her new book is called Ghosti...

Election Security is (mostly) Solvable

22 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist. He teaches cyber security at the Harvard Kennedy School. Schneier believes that e...

Voter Suppression is Solvable

15 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Kirsten Clarke is the president and executive director of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. The committee was established ...

A Low-Turnout Election is Solvable (Even During COVID-19)

08 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Waldman is the president of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. The non-partisan center works to strengthen America's democra...

Lack of Accountability for Police Violence is Solvable

01 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Chiraag Bains is the Director of Legal Strategies at Demos, a think tank focused on strengthening democracy and fighting for racial justice. He previo...

Mass Incarceration is Solvable

24 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Insha Rahman is the director of strategy and new initiatives at the Vera Institute of Justice. She believes that mass incarceration is solvable. At V...

Unjust Systems of Power are Solvable

17 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Host Anne Applebaum speaks with Srdja Popovic about how strategic nonviolent action can bring about lasting and meaningful social change.Srdja Popovic...

The Mental Health Crisis is Solvable

25 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Jacob Weisberg talks to Dixon Chibanda about giving access to mental health care in non-Western nations. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://...

Maternal Mortality is Solvable

18 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Anne Applebaum talks to Dr. Naveen Rao about fostering safe pregnancies and healthy deliveries worldwide. Learn more about your ad-choices at https:/...

Widespread Poverty is Solvable

11 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Jacob Weisberg talks to Michael Faye about cutting out the middle man in charitable donations via GiveDirectly. Learn more about your ad-choices at h...

Extreme Inequality is Solvable

04 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Jacob Weisberg talks with Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz about closing the wealth gap in the United States. Learn more about your ad-choices at https...

Youth Unemployment is Solvable

27 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Anne Applebaum talks with Nicola Galombik about increasing access to future work for young people in South Africa. Learn more about your ad-choices a...

Restriction of Speech Online is Solvable

20 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Jacob Weisberg talks with David Kaye about fostering public understanding of free speech on the internet and who should make the rules about regulatio...

Gender-Based Violence is Solvable

13 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Ahmed Ali Akbar talks with Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy about using film to tackle violence against women in Pakistan. Learn more about your ad-choices at h...

Racial Reconciliation is Solvable

06 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Malcolm Gladwell talks to former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu about mending race relations in the U.S. Learn more about your ad-choices at https:...

Poverty in Marginalized Communities is Solvable

30 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Malcolm Gladwell talks to Saumya Roy about using micro-financing to eliminate poverty amongst marginalized groups. Learn more about your ad-choices a...

Global Disease is Solvable

23 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Jacob Weisberg talks to global health advocate Steve Davis about eliminating or eradicating diseases causing great human suffering worldwide. Learn m...

Climate Change is Solvable

16 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Anne Applebaum talks to Anousheh Ansari about balancing the carbon cycle and fighting climate change through incentivized prizes and innovation. Lear...

Child Marriage is Solvable

09 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Jacob Weisberg talks to Mabel van Oranje, Chair of Girls Not Brides, about ending child marriage by 2030. Learn more about your ad-choices at https:/...

Educational Inequity is Solvable

02 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Anne Applebaum talks to Dr. Urvashi Sahni--a social entrepreneur, women rights activist and educationist--about redefining education and curricula. L...

US-China Conflict is Solvable

25 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Jacob Weisberg talks to Kevin Rudd about the need for diplomacy between China and the United States. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www....

Poor Nutrition is Solvable

18 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Jacob Weisberg talks to Roy Steiner about changing global diets. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystud...

Electricity for the Developing World is Solvable

11 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Anne Applebaum talks with Ashvin Dayal about creating worldwide access to electricity.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcas...

Global Poverty is Solvable

04 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Malcolm Gladwell talks with Dr. Shashi Buluswar about fighting global poverty with the Institute for Transformative Technologies. Learn more about yo...

Conflict is Solvable

28 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Jacob Weisberg talks to Victor Ochen, Founder and Executive Director for African Youth Initiative Network, about building peace in Africa. Learn more...

AIDS is Solvable

21 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Malcolm Gladwell talks to David Baltimore about his work that made a treatment for HIV/AIDS possible. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www...