Choiceology with Katy Milkman

Across all kinds of decisions—from our salaries to our weekend plans—we tend to prefer options that progressively get better, if given the choice. Why is it that our minds place such a high premium on an upward trajectory? In this episode of Choiceology with Katy Milkman , we look at why we're drawn to experiences that appear to improve over time. Katy speaks with Jerald Podair , Robert S. French...

We've been taught that oversharing is a major social sin. We cringe at the thought of unloading emotional baggage on a stranger or admitting a flaw to our boss. So most of us default to silence. But what if not sharing is the bigger mistake?  In this episode of Choiceology with Katy Milkman , we look at some of the surprising costs of keeping quiet, why we misjudge the risks of revealing our...

Are your instincts talking you out of your own happiness? Every day, we make split-second decisions to avoid the people around us. We put in our earbuds on the train, stare at our phones, and assume the stranger next to us prefers to be left alone. Our brain tells us that reaching out will be awkward or intrusive. But what if those instincts are wrong? In this episode of Choiceology with Katy Milk...

How did small index cards help a high school football team pull off a legendary 151-game winning streak? And what can a 1960s Queens housewife teach us about sticking to our goals? In this episode of Choiceology with Katy Milkman , we explore why some goals are easier to achieve than others—and how the people around us can change whether we abandon a goal or follow through. Natalia Mehlman Petrzel...

What happens to our judgment when we measure our success against others? How might the language we speak shape the way we save money and make health decisions? And why are our expectations about connecting with other people so often wrong? In the new season of Choiceology , host Katy Milkman explores the psychological forces that shape our decisions, relationships, and behavior.  We'll relive a hi...

Teamwork is an essential part of everyday life, at work, school, and home. But what allows some teams to thrive under intense pressure while others buckle? In this episode of Choiceology with  Katy Milkman , we explore how candid cultures that invite ideas from every level of an organization can be the difference between failure and a miracle. Jonathan Franklin, an award-winning journalist based i...

From stocks to fitness to video games, real-time performance data is available everywhere these days. Seeing desirable upward trends feels amazing. But when there's a drop, it can feel like the world is ending.  In this episode of Choiceology with  Katy Milkman , we explore what happens when we judge performance too much in the short term. Cora Kennedy takes us inside the world of collegiate espor...

Imagine you're cleaning out your grandmother's attic when you notice a floorboard that doesn't quite sit right. You pry it up—and find $10,000 hidden beneath it. It's a startling discovery, but also a window into another way of thinking about money. Your grandmother was likely part of a generation that lived through hard financial times—a depression, unemployment—and saved for a rainy day, even wh...

Ranked lists are everywhere—top hospitals, best colleges, must-visit cities. A single number can influence what we notice, what we value, and the decisions we make. Yet behind these rankings are hidden assumptions, and they don't always reflect what matters most to you.  In this episode of Choiceology with  Katy Milkman , we explore how rankings shape attention, guide choices, and subtly steer beh...

Have you ever bought a pair of shoes that never really fit, but you kept wearing them in hopes you’d break them in? All because you didn’t want to feel your money had gone to waste—even as you felt blisters forming? In this episode of Choiceology with  Katy Milkman , we explore how focusing on past, irrecoverable costs can skew our judgment and future commitments. Bill Kolb takes us inside the Eve...

Every day, we face choices that could change outcomes in business, health, or life itself. Increasingly, computers are offering guidance. What happens when that advice clashes with human intuition? In this episode of Choiceology with Katy Milkman , we explore the high-stakes friction between human intuition and algorithmic guidance. Dean Oliver, a data scientist at ESPN and author of Basketball on...

It's a new season of Choiceology , an original podcast from Charles Schwab.  Each episode tells true stories involving high-stakes moments and explores the latest research to help you make better judgments and avoid costly mistakes. This season, we go underground to one of the most dramatic mining rescues in history and step onto the court during a pivotal Boston Celtics roster shakeup. We hear fr...

As a special addition to this week's episode, you can see Katy's full sit-down interview with Angela Duckworth, where they also explore the relationship between self-control and grit. Watch or listen to their conversation on YouTube or Spotify . When your emotions flare or temptation calls, what does it take to hold back? Whether it’s resisting the urge to lash out or the pull of short-term pleasu...

In this bonus addition of Choiceology,  Katy Milkman sits down with psychologist and Grit author Dr. Angela Duckworth , a leading expert on self-control. She breaks down what science tells us about managing impulses, why willpower by itself falls short, and how simple environmental tweaks and practical strategies can help anyone delay gratification and make smarter choices. Katy and Angela's conve...

Most of us label ourselves early on as academic (or not), athletic (or not), or talented (or not). But even if you feel like you're lacking in natural talent or ability in certain areas, approaching new skills or challenges with openness, effort, and curiosity can take you farther than you might expect. In this episode of Choiceology with  Katy Milkman , we look at the stories we tell ourselves ab...

If you've ever gotten well into a project—maybe a DIY renovation—and then realized that you've taken the wrong approach, you probably know that it's very tempting to just stay the course. Starting all over again would be so painful, even if starting over is clearly the best option. Or maybe you've taken a wrong turn on a hike and only noticed it a mile later. You know the dread of going back. Even...

What makes an effective team? Talent? Skill? Discipline? In this episode of Choiceology with  Katy Milkman , we're looking at some of the more surprising ingredients of successful teams, according to science. Teams where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. You'll hear the story of the Kon-Tiki expedition—a harrowing journey across the Pacific Ocean led by Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerd...

We've all been there. Maybe you fumbled a line in a presentation. Or tripped on a shoelace. Or suffered a bad hair day. It can feel like the whole world is watching you—and judging you—in those embarrassing moments. But are people paying as much attention to you as you think? In this episode of Choiceology with  Katy Milkman , we explore why we tend to blow our own missteps out of proportion. We g...

You've probably been in situations where multiple friends recommend the same product. It must be great, if everyone is talking about it, right? But then you find out that those friends had all just seen the same product on a popular TV show. What seemed like independent recommendations really came from a single source. In this episode of Choiceology with  Katy Milkman , we consider the consequence...

It's a new season of Choiceology, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. New episodes arrive every two weeks, so please follow us in your favorite podcasting app. Important Disclosures The comments, views, and opinions expressed in the podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily represent the views of Charles Schwab. Data contained herein from third party providers is obtained from...

Were you the kind of kid who devoured all your Halloween candy in one sitting—or savored it daily until, somehow, it was Easter? And when it comes to bad news, do you prefer it all at once or with some time in between? Turns out, the way we bundle or separate life's highs and lows can influence our happiness.  In this episode of Choiceology with  Katy Milkman , we consider a mental accounting tric...

Would you pay more for a car with 29,999 miles than one with 30,000? The answer should be no—it's a negligible difference, after all—but research shows that people often do pay more than they should for cars that are just short of certain odometer thresholds. In this episode of Choiceology with  Katy Milkman , we look at why a price or an age or a test score that falls just under a round number ha...

Streaks have long been logged in the world of sports. And for tracking habits, like daily writing. But now apps encourage us to keep streaks going for just about anything. Messaging friends, learning new languages, meditating, exercising, you name it.  In this episode of Choiceology with  Katy Milkman , we explore the motivational power of streaks. And we look at ways to alleviate the demotivating...

First-born children tend to believe that their parents were harder on them than their siblings are willing to grant. Football fans take disproportionate note of the challenging games on their team's schedules. We're wired to interpret our challenges as bigger than our advantages, even if the reality is more balanced. In this episode of Choiceology with  Katy Milkman , we consider our tendency to f...

Is it ever possible to see the world objectively, as it is? Turn on the news, open social media, engage with that family member at Thanksgiving, and it appears to some the answer is yes. But what if our biggest blind spot is thinking we don't have a blind spot?  In this episode of Choiceology with  Katy Milkman , we look at how we can easily be fooled into believing that our subjective experience...