Understanding Risk, Living With Uncertainty

ParentData with Emily Oster

In the last month, we've aired podcast conversations with Dr. Nathan Fox and Dr. Bapu Jena, and though the content is different, there’s an underlying thread that connects them both: what it means to deal with risk, and uncertainty. And not lose your mind.

Economists deal with this constantly, and so do parents, but not in the same way. Economists learn not to panic in ways that parents, understandably, have a really hard time with. We’re trained to read the studies, and spot their holes, or their aims and impacts. Yes, we live in a world with trace amounts of lead in Cheerios, and sometimes it can feel scary to leave the house. But things that are low risk are low risk, no matter how scary they feel.

Today on ParentData, Emily reads her recent article on risk and uncertainty aloud, and encourages us all to think about risk like economists, so that we can internalize it as sane parents.

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This episode is generously supported by:

• Hatch
• LMNT
• Little Sesame
• StrollerCoaster Podcast