Innovation Hub

The U.S. does not fare well in math when compared with other industrialized nations, as demonstrated by international tests like the PISA. So, for parents who want to help their students get ahead in math and can afford it, after-school programs that focus deeply on the subject have become attractive. There are plenty of extracurricular math programs around, but one run by the Russian School of Mathematics (RSM) for students from kindergarten through 12th grade, is particularly popular, serving over 30,000 students around the country. (Innovation Hub senior producer, Elizabeth Ross, visited the program’s headquarters in Newton, Massachusetts and found a lot of enthusiastic students and parents, as you’ll hear in our report.) Masha Gershman, the director of outreach at the Russian School of Mathematics and the daughter of one of its co-founders, says that the former Soviet Union’s method of math instruction has a lot to teach American kids, particularly when it comes to higher-level and conceptual learning.

Today, American voters are likely to describe issues about immigration as a major concern, and much of that concern began with a landmark commission a century ago. Author Katherine Benton-Cohen discusses how America transformed from a country with relaxed immigration policies to one with a massive, new immigration infrastructure. Beer, airlines, retail, and many other industries are increasingly controlled by a few big players. The Brookings Institution’s David Wessel explains how corporate consolidation happens. And why it can lead to less competition, higher prices, lower wages... and less creative thinking. When Amazon was looking for a home for its second headquarters, multiple cities and states offered billions of dollars in tax incentives to woo the company. But Nathan Jensen, a professor of government at the University of Texas, questions whether government incentives to attract big companies are worth it in the end.

First: Scurvy. Website design. Store promotions. Turns out, randomized trials affect many parts of our daily lives. Then: The Origin of Species… actually has a pretty interesting - and unexpected - origin. Finally: In news that shouldn’t shock anyone who has ever been to a meeting, they can make you less productive. But how about the toll they take even before they start?

Today, the Food Network is a touchstone of the entertainment industry. But it took a decade for the channel to make money. Chef Sara Moulton and author Allen Salkin tell us about the rise and influence of the cooking channel. Plus: If you use Uber Eats more than you use your stove, you're in good company — 90 percent of Americans either don't like to cook or are on the fence about it. With cooking becoming more hobby than necessity, we look at how the food industry is trying to keep up. Finally: 100 years ago, Schrafft's restaurants transformed dining out — by letting women eat with other women. Yale historian Paul Freedman talks with us about the restaurants that changed the way America eats.

First, a look at creative efforts to improve our health care system at the local level. Jon Gruber, an architect of the Affordable Care Act, and Sarah Kliff, a senior policy correspondent at Vox, discuss innovative steps that some states are taking to control health care costs and improve outcomes, including an effort to reduce the rate of premature birth. Hotels have shaped American life from the Civil War to the civil rights movement. A.K. Sandoval-Strausz, author of “Hotel: An American History,” explains why the U.S. invented the modern hotel - and how the industry has influenced our country.

A potent issue dominated the midterms this fall: health care. It was a top concern for voters, and it ultimately shaped the outcome of races across the country. Jonathan Gruber, an economics professor at MIT and an architect of the Affordable Care Act, and Sarah Kliff, senior policy correspondent at Vox and host of the podcast The Impact, weigh in on the future of health care. With a divided Congress, Kliff and Gruber suggest that state governments and possibly the  private sector will be the places to watch for reform in the short-term.

After he was elected, President George Washington traveled through our newly-formed country. And along the way, he stayed at a series of inns and taverns. How did they stack up? Well, let’s just say our first president wasn’t much kinder than a modern-day disgruntled Yelp reviewer about his experiences. Washington wrote in his diary that he found, “No rooms or beds which appeared tolerable.” While places to stay were rudimentary during Washington’s day, hotels eventually came to signify American progress. A.K. Sandoval-Strausz, an associate professor of history at Penn State and the author of “Hotel: An American History,” talks about how entrepreneurs in the early United States invented hotels, the hospitality industry, and how, in turn, hotels influenced American culture and commerce.

Whether you like it or not, our life is made of plastic. It’s a material we use for almost everything, from toothbrushes to spacecrafts. But its convenience and low costs might not outweigh the effects it has on our health and environment. Science journalist Susan Freinkel walks us through the history of how we fell in love with plastics and considers the risks they pose. In the past, you might have seen your grandfather sending checks to a big charity every year, but charitable priorities are changing. Stacy Palmer, editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, explains how social, technological, and cultural changes have impacted who is giving and who is receiving... and just how much. You’ve probably seen a “Made in China” label on your T-shirt, your electronics, and in children’s toys. But did you know that when you get your medicine from a local drug store, it may well have traveled all the way from China? Rosemary Gibson, author of “China Rx: Exposing the Risks of America’s Dependence on China for Medicine

Plastics are colorful, shiny, and flexible. They can also be sturdy, monochrome, and opaque. They come in different shapes and sizes, too. In fact, we’ve become so good at creating and molding plastics into whatever we want them to be that author Susan Freinkel says: it’s hard to imagine a world without them. In her book, Plastics: A Toxic Love Story, Freinkel chronicles the history of plastics and explores how, for better or worse, the material shapes our lives.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy has long kept tabs on charitable giving, but recently the publication unveiled a new ranking, which reveals that how we give and who is giving has been radically upended in America. Stacy Palmer, the editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, discusses the current trends in giving and what they reveal about our country - including the growing economic divide in the wake of the Great Recession. And she offers some advice about how to choose causes that make a real difference.

In the ‘90s, most of the world’s medicines were manufactured in the United States, Europe and Japan. Today, almost 80% of them come from China. In her book, “China Rx: Exposing The Risks Of America’s Dependence On China For Medicine,” Rosemary Gibson says that China is becoming the world’s pharmacy, but that development, she argues, comes with many risks.

First: ‘Tis the season for giving and sharing… and holiday shopping. Whether it’s toys, clothes, books, or electronics, chances are that most of these items were manufactured in factories. Joshua Freeman walks us through the history of factories, and how they continue to shape our modern world. Next: Do you ever find yourself flipping through photo albums and feeling nostalgic for old times? Well, according to Krystine Batcho, longing for the past can shape how we think about the present. And in some case, it can be beneficial. Finally: In the era of fake news and sensationalist media, public trust in local and national news outlets is waning. But libraries are increasingly coming to the rescue and in the process are steadily reshaping the face of journalism.

First, in the late 1950s, Berry Gordy Jr. - who had worked for Ford Motor Company, been a boxer, and owned a record store - had a vision. He wanted to introduce the world to a new sound: the sound of Motown. And with every hit he produced, Gordy slowly but surely began to transform American culture. Then, we know that the heart is a symbol of love and emotion. But for doctors, of course, the heart is a sensitive and vital organ that affects the entire body. Cardiologist and author Sandeep Jauhar argues that the health of our hearts depends not just on things like cholesterol and blood pressure but also on psychosocial factors - including friendship, affection, and community.

Shortly after Michael Jackson died in 2009, Helen Brown, a music critic for the Daily Telegraph wrote that the Jackson 5’s 1969 single “I Want You Back,”  is “certainly the fastest man-made route to pure joy.” And while Michael, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Jackie may have stolen the spotlight, the group - like so many others - emerged from a hit factory created by a man named Berry Gordy Jr. Gordy founded Motown after stints as a boxer and as a worker in a Lincoln-Mercury plant. And he quickly turned the label into a force to be reckoned with, drawing on a formula of quality control he had learned at the auto factory, taking raw talent like Diana Ross and Smokey Robinson, and refining them into international stars. As a result, Motown became one of the most successful black-owned music companies in American history. We talk to music journalist Adam White, author of  “Motown: The Sound of Young America,” about Gordy’s meteoric rise and his lasting legacy.

The Grinch’s is two sizes too small. All Green wants to know how you can mend a broken one. You can destroy them, steal them, break them. They can pine or ache or wander. Suffice it to say, hearts are a big part of our culture. After all, though our kidneys are vital, there aren’t many pop songs about them. Still, as important as they are to our culture, our hearts are even more important to our health. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, and chances are that you know someone who has been affected by heart issues. Dr. Sandeep Jauhar, the director of the Heart Failure Program at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and author of “Heart: A History,” takes a look at how we address heart health, and how we could do better.

First: in the early 1970s, the average age of first-time moms was 21. Now, the average is 26. We talk with economist Caitlin Knowles Myers and New York Times correspondent Claire Cain Miller about why so many couples are putting off having kids and we also consider how education, politics and geography intersect with that decision. Next, dear listeners, you had some thoughts about our show regarding the future of work. We’ve highlighted some of your workplace experiences with technology. Both the good and the bad.** ** Then: what if a personality test dictated the course of your career? For many, over the past several decades, the Myers-Briggs did just that. And it opened the door for personality testing in corporate America, the military, and even the church.

The American family is changing in many different ways. But one of the most important is that, on average, American women are giving birth later. And birth rates have hit a 30-year low. In the early 1970s, the average age of first-time moms was 21… it’s now 26. The same trend is impacting fathers - their age has gone from 27 to 31 over the same time period. But why did this change happen? And what does it mean for our society, our economy, and our families? To find out, we talked to Caitlin Knowles Myers, an economist at Middlebury College who’s studied female fertility, and Claire Cain Miller, a correspondent for The New York Times who’s written extensively about the topic. Then, dear listeners, you had some thoughts about our show regarding the future of work. We’ve highlighted some of your workplace experiences with technology. Both the good and the bad.

If you were asked to describe your personality, you might choose words such as “funny” and “outgoing,” or “shy” and “quiet.” But what if those were not quite the right words? The Myers-Briggs - which many of us have taken - promises to assess your personality, and assign you a specific “type.” In her book, “The Personality Brokers: The Strange History of Myers-Briggs and the birth of Personality Testing” Merve Emre examines the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (which is its full name), and how it has transformed the way we think about ourselves and those around us.

First, small businesses are the backbone of America. Or are they? Economist Robert Atkinson wants you to hold your horses and think again. He says we often favor small businesses and villainize large corporations, despite the fact that being big may enable companies to potentially contribute more to diversity, fair wages, and more generous employee benefits. Next, many of us may have a bit of a precision fetish, according to author Simon Winchester. Consider car commercials or watches that tout precision engineering. But how did we get to a place where precision has become so important? Winchester notes that it goes all the way back to the 18th century. And without precision engineering - without replaceable batteries and reliable mass production - our lives would be very, very different. Then, you and your best friends have more in common than you probably think. In fact, it’s likely your brain and your friend’s brain react in really similar ways to certain prompts. UCLA’s Carolyn Parkinson compared brain

First, swing states have a ton of power in determining control of Congress and many of the people living in those states have experienced the effects of automation in the workplace. Author Brian Alexander explains how technological progress has created fear, uncertainty, and shattered communities in swing states including Ohio. But it isn’t entirely fair to blame technology for *all *of our problems, including the challenges created by the gig economy. Historian Louis Hyman says temp work in America existed long before Uber and TaskRabbit. What do the people making robots or dreaming up new tech policy think of Americans’ conflicted feelings about what technological advances have meant for our economy? It’s complicated, but they say including more workers in conversations about new tech is crucial.