This Is Your Brain on Pollution (Update)

Jun 10, 2026 · 47 min

AI recap

A show-notes preview of how air pollution may shape thinking, learning, and policy

This updated episode revisits a 2022 look at air pollution’s less visible costs, framed by current environmental rollbacks. Based on the notes, it draws on economists and a psychologist to examine links between dirty air, cognition, student performance, and public policy.

**Preview based on the published show notes, not a transcript or recap of the audio.** If you’re wondering whether this episode is for you, the notes suggest a broad, research-driven conversation about air pollution that goes beyond lungs and smokestacks. The framing is timely: as the Trump administration rolls back environmental regulations, the show returns to a 2022 episode on the hidden costs of an “invisible threat.” What stands out from the listed sources is the mix of disciplines. The episode appears to bring together economics, psychology, and environmental policy, with contributors from the University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago, University of Toronto, Deakin University, and Boston College. That lineup hints at a discussion grounded in academic research rather than personal narrative. The resource list also gives a strong clue about the episode’s angle. Expect attention to how air pollution may affect **adult cognition** and **student performance**, alongside bigger-picture context from the World Health Organization, the U.S. Clean Air Act, and data on polluted cities. There also seems to be historical and distributional context, with resources on the decline of U.K. coal and the unequal burden of pollution. This may be a good listen if you like policy stories that connect everyday exposure to measurable outcomes, especially when the consequences are subtle rather than dramatic. If you want a preview of how environmental regulation can intersect with education, health, and economic research, the notes suggest this episode aims squarely at that overlap.

About this episode

As the Trump administration rolls back environmental regulations, we revisit a 2022 episode that explored the hidden cost of an invisible threat: air pollution. <ul> <li>SOURCES: <ul> <li><a href="https://angeladuckworth.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Angela Duckworth</a>, psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania.</li> <li><a href="https://michaelgreenstone.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Michael Greenstone</a>, economist at the University of Chicago, director of the Energy Policy Institute, co-director of the Climate Impact Lab.</li> <li><a href="https://sites.google.com/view/stephanheblich/about" rel="noopener noreferrer">Stephan Heblich</a>, economist at the University of Toronto.</li> <li><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/andrealanauze/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Andrea La Nauze</a>, economist at Deakin University.</li> <li><a href="https://freakonomics.com/author/steven-levitt/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Steve Levitt</a>, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Chicago.</li> <li><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/ersevernini/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Edson Severnini</a>, economist at Boston College.</li> </ul></li> </ul> <ul> <li>RESOURCES: <ul> <li>"<a href="https://www.lung.org/research/sota/city-rankings/most-polluted-cities" rel="noopener noreferrer">Most Polluted Cities</a>," (American Lung Association, 2026).</li> <li>"<a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/730390" rel="noopener noreferrer">Air Pollution and Adult Cognition: Evidence from Brain Training</a>," by Andrea La Nauze and Edson Severnini (Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, 2025).</li> <li>"<a href="https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w30061/w30061.pdf?utm_campaign=PANTHEON_STRIPPED&amp%3Butm_medium=PANTHEON_STRIPPED&amp%3Butm_source=PANTHEON_STRIPPED" rel="noopener noreferrer">Air Pollution and Student Performance in the U.S.</a>," by Michael Gilraine and Angela Zheng (NBER Working Papers, 2022).</li> <li>"<a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/04-04-2022-billions-of-people-still-breathe-unhealthy-air-new-who-data" rel="noopener noreferrer">Billions of people still breathe unhealthy air: new WHO data</a>," (World Health Organization, 2022).</li> <li>"<a href="https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/evolution-clean-air-act" rel="noopener noreferrer">Evolution of the Clean Air Act</a>," by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (2020).</li> <li>"<a href="https://ourworldindata.org/death-uk-coal" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Death of U.K. Coal in Five Charts</a>," by Hannah Ritchie (Our World in Data, 2019).</li> <li>"<a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2014/05/27/the-colour-of-pollution" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Colour of Pollution</a>," (The Economist, 2014).</li> </ul></li> </ul> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.