Pod Paper Scissors

When your interaction with another person has an end date, like moving out of a shared apartment, do you still do the dishes? In this episode we talk about repeated prisoner's dilemmas when and end is in sight, and how things fall apart.Full transcript on our web site.

The real world is full of "repeated prisoners' dilemmas" in which we face the same situations over and over with the same people. In this episode we discuss the optimal solutions, going all the way back to a contest that required people to mail in computer code. Full transcript at https://podpaperscissors.com/transcripts/19-iterated.html

Buying a house isn't as straightforward as offering a price. Contracts are malleable and buyer and seller are also negotiating who will bear the risks. Learn how game theory underlies this process.Transcript available at https://podpaperscissors.com/transcripts/18-contingencies.html .

We discuss a different kind of auction: the second price auction. It resolves many of the problems of the usual auctions, but the game is played a little differently.Full transcript on our web site.

Sometimes winners feel like losers. In this episode we talk about auctions, including the concept of the winner's curse and Memorial Day sales.

Why does money have value? Why did every child want a Furby for one holiday season? On this episode, we explore how people's preferences are shaped by what they think other people want.

Journalist and author Elizabeth Becker is our guest as we contemplate how to use game theory to think about travel.

In the Before Times (and in the Future Times), there were a lot of different kinds of travel experiences you could choose, and the ones you went for might have said a lot about your "crowding type." Plus, listen to our new shanty "Tweedom by the Sea."

After a musical interlude about data loss, we invite Kevin Zollman back to discuss evolutionary game theory and delve into the origins of altruism.

We all send signals to other people to present ourselves in certain ways -- the clothes we wear, the drinks we order, the concert seats we book(in pre-COVID times). Animals do it too. Learn how game theory can help us understand how humans and animals communicate in this episode, the first of a two-part series about evolutionary game theory.

Parents are having a tough time in the COVID-19 era. But you can use the tools of game theory to negotiate with your kids and work toward peace in your household. Kevin Zollman from Carnegie Mellon University is our guest.

If it rains on your picnic but you knew there was a 10% chance of showers, should you regret your decision to eat outside? Let's explore what it means to regret when you made a decision based on information available at the time.

In this episode, we discuss the concept of a Nash Equilibrium by inventing dating apps that cater to people with different relationship goals. Is there room in the world for "Stars and Swipes," "L-aid," and "Sound of Settling?"

In this episode, we take the activity of flirting apart using the tools of game theory. What are the incentives? Should you keep your intentions secret? Liz shares some dating horror stories and Ben reveals the real meaning of a popular R.E.M. song.

What do we mean by "play" anyway? Historian Johan Huizinga wrote all about this in the 1930s. Let's take a look at his theory of play and how we can apply it to everyday situations. We end with a new original song by Liz Landau called "Queen of the Quarantine."

Climate change is one of the most important issues of our time. Two solutions have been proposed to reduce emissions: taxes and a cap-and-trade system. We discuss the benefits and failings of each scheme and check in on countries that have tried them.

Do you remember the idea of the "tragedy of the commons" from school? You probably heard it in the context of people taking too many resources for themselves or polluting a shared space. But originally, scholars who used this term had a totally different agenda in mind.

The Chicago school of economics, the carbon tax, and ticket takers who burn your entry fee right in front of you.

What do Ulysses, unions, and The Wire have in common?

Why did I have to worry about a toilet paper collapse during the coronavirus outbreak but not a bank collapse?