Meet people in Butler Township, PA around something worth discussing
Begin with a current story, public event, campus article, book, podcast, or thoughtful question. Then continue the conversation online or meet at a nearby Roundtable.
From Common Quandary Today
Current stories with more than one reasonable way to see them.
Scientists have created robots the size of a pencil tip intended to travel through the body to deliver medicine to infections inside a beating heart. The bots, designed to replace risky open-heart surgery and ineffective IV-drug therapy to treat life-threatening heart infections, could also be used to less invasively and more precisely treat other hard-to-reach diseases, including cancer. “With just a little…
Consumers who buy Affordable Care Act health insurance are going to see changes both big and small as open enrollment for 2027 coverage kicks off. These include premium increases, possible additional identity checks, potential delays in working with a broker, and new limits on which immigrants can get subsidies. Shoppers need to plan accordingly. Open enrollment starts Nov. 1 in most states. Idaho, Connecticut, and…
Halloween excitement, not sugar, may be behind your child’s “sugar rush,” experts say. Your child eats a handful of Halloween candy and suddenly seems to be bouncing off the walls. It may be tempting to blame the sugar, but there could be a simpler explanation: Halloween is exciting. Kids are dressing up, running around the neighborhood, seeing friends, and coming home with a haul of treats they don’t usually have.…
OTM producer, Molly Rosen, has been on a mission to find out what technology her two-year-old kid will confront when he’s old enough to go to school. In a recent interview she did with a New Yorker staff writer, Jessica Winter, about how AI chatbots are infiltrating schools, Moll
Polling is facing an existential crisis. People aren't picking up the phone. Nobody wants to talk to pollsters. Trust is on the line. We pluck a solution from the economics canon and convince a polling firm to let us test it. Today on the show, we head to Marist College — home of
My guest today is Bill Gates, co-founder and former CEO of Microsoft and chairman of the Gates Foundation. You may have noticed Bill in the news more lately — he’s been on something of a tour for the past few months talking about AI risk, and how crucial it is that we start takin
Aviv Shapira, the CEO of Xtend, says the company has sent 10,000 drones to the Israel Defense Forces since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. “It’s not a gamification," he says. "It’s more of a modernization.”
You love the free sample but will never buy it. How many times may you circle back?
A warehouse store is offering delicious samples. You have no intention of purchasing the product, but the employee seems bored and has trays to spare. After taking two, you consider removing your jacket and returning for a third.
Someone holds a grocery line spot while their partner fills the cart. Is that cutting?
A shopper with one item stands ahead of you in a long checkout line. Just before reaching the register, their partner arrives with a cart packed to the top and joins them. They insist they were shopping together all along.