August 25, 2016

EP. 171 — One Way Ticket To Mars

If NASA were to give the opportunity to leave everything behind and settle on Mars, with no return ticket, would you take them up on the offer? Some might jump at the offer, but many people haven’t even explored outside of their own country, nonetheless planet. Today, James and Stephen discuss the prospects of leaving the Earth, literally, as well as what other options might present themselves for people who aren’t trying to escape the bulk of humanity.

Recent Episodes

September 8, 2016

How do two friends say goodbye to each other? If you’re Stephen Dubner and James Altucher, you do so by recording a podcast. Question of the Day has produced 177 episodes and a live special over the span of just one year, and now our hosts are putting the show on hiatus in order to launch and grow their other endeavors. On today’s final episode, for now, hear James and Stephen talk about goodbyes, backgammon matches, what they’ve learned, and what they’ll miss once this episode comes to a close.

This episode is sponsored by Squarespace.

September 7, 2016

Why didn’t Stephen invite James to his children’s bar and bat mitzvahs? Did it have something to do with how James acted at Stephen’s 50th birthday party? Today, James and Stephen contemplate what it’s like making new friends as middle-aged introverts compared to during adolescence, and discuss how it’s easier to broadcast your social signals as mature adults.

September 6, 2016

Is it more important to set an actual price when you’re negotiating a deal, or to control the terms on which a price is to be set? When James was selling his first company, he ended up with millions less than he anticipated because the other party tipped the scales in their favor. Now, James uses this same technique in his own favor when he’s sitting at the negotiating table. Learn more about this technique and how Stephen crowdsourced the asking price of his house on today’s Question of the Day.

This episode is sponsored by Warby Parker.