This is Viral

Wednesday, June 19, 2013
By Sharad Goel
Viral dots

If the nineteenth century French sociologist Gustav Le Bon were alive today, he’d probably be running a wildly successful viral marketing firm. Alas, Le Bon was a hundred years ahead of his time. In his influential work, “The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind,” Le Bon argues that, “the opinions and beliefs of... »

For Love and/or Money: Financial Autonomy in Marriage

Saturday, April 13, 2013
By Bethany Soule
money changing hands and a crying baby

This is a guest post by Bethany Soule with assistance from Daniel Reeves. Prescript: We realize how crazy this all sounds! Nonetheless, we’re perfectly serious, and do actually pay each other to put our kids to bed and whatnot. We think we have quite clever mechanisms for deciding who does what and keeping things... »

Lies, Damned Lies, Rape, and Statistics

Friday, January 25, 2013
By Sharad Goel
Black ribbon

The vicious gang rape of a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern in Delhi last month is tragically just one of many attacks on women that occur every day in India. In 2011 alone, there were more than 24,000 reported rapes in the country, with likely many times that number going unreported. This horrific incident has... »


The Irrationality of Rationing

Thursday, November 15, 2012
By Sharad Goel
Out of gas

More than two weeks after the largest Atlantic hurricane on record hit the Eastern Seaboard, the bridges and tunnels have opened, the subways are running, and a degree of normalcy has succeeded the initial panic and confusion. But the gas... »

Email Snooze and Gmail Zero

Friday, October 19, 2012
By dreeves
A mouse happy with Gmail Zero

Two years ago, when I still had a day job and Beeminder was just a side project, I wrote about my epic struggle with email: My email is dysfunctional. ... »

Olympic Records

Sunday, September 16, 2012
By Jake Hofman
runners through the ages

This is a guest post by Jake Hofman, part of the original MESS in Messy Matters and now a researcher at Microsoft Research - New York City. We’re not sure where Jake’s own PRs would appear on... »