I am here to tell you what is good for you.

This is good for you.

Ok, so this post really has nothing to do with my Peace Corps service, but just like I'm all about reducing the number of starving children in Africa, I also wholeheartedly support the current trend in the media of discussing normally intimidating and abstruse subjects in a way that makes them more accessible to the public. This world's got enough pretension already (I say as I tell you what's good for you...).

I never listened to podcasts in America, but here in Senegal they save my life on a daily basis. As I take my evening bucket bath in the village, I always hook my iPod up to my speakers and listen to a podcast. I especially enjoy NPR's Planet Money podcast: only slightly socially awkward econ geeks getting together and spending 10 to 20 minutes talking about a current issue in economics in language I can understand. They often discuss the economics of development, attempting to answer questions like, "Why are poor countries poor and rich countries rich?" by conducting interviews with economists like Amartya Sen and, most recently, traveling to Haiti. They've also done a better job explaining the recent global economic turmoil than anyone else I've found.

In a similar vein, I recently came across Steven Strogatz's New York Times math series linked above. His most recent piece explains limits, the conceptual foundation of calculus, in an extremely clear way. Run along and enjoy it and feel both smarter and more beautiful.