Q&A: The Male Brain

Despite all that old talk about Mars and Venus, men and women are much more biologically alike than not. But differences in the way our brains are built shed light on everything from the way we flirt, to the way we fight, to how we raise our boys, argues neuropsychiatrist Dr. Louann Brizendine in her provocative new book, The Male Brain. She and I talked about what neurology tells us about sex, the daddy brain, and why some men cheat. Read the interview here.

Why do Americans eat so much salt?

Pepsi's plans for "designer salt" that preserves taste while slashing sodium content are intended to combat a growing public-health problem: Americans consume about twice as much salt as our bodies need, a habit that contributes to hypertension and heart disease. We started developing our salt addiction after World War II, and today it's tough to tell how much we're ingesting. My piece in the mag this week explores why.

The New Sexism

The blatant sexism of eras past, author Susan Douglas argues in our interview up today (available here), has been supplanted by a more insidious form of bias, which suggests that sexist messages are O.K. if delivered with a wink and a nod. (It's fine to enjoy watching catty contestants on The Bachelor snipe at one another — because, come on, we all know most women aren't like that. Ha-ha. Right?) We talked about the economic plight of women today, the dangers of powerful female TV characters and the future of feminism.

How Trust Creates Wealth

I chatted with the interesting Anna Bernasek about her new book, The Economics of Integrity, and how trust is one of the most valuable economic assets we have. She argues that too often we labor under the mistaken impression that doing the right thing keeps us from getting ahead--and that in fact, it's just the opposite.