Is parenthood selfish or selfless? It’s both.
Guest post by Darby Saxbe
PsychologyPhilosophy
Small Potatoes.
Paul Bloom on psychology, philosophy, and the complexities of human nature.
Recent essays
30 of 35Moneyball for book publishers and Substack writers
Why it will never work
The End of Loneliness
A live performance of my New Yorker article
"Nobody can touch you without your consent"
Some exceptions and why they matter
Intelligence Testy
Podcast with Robert Wright
Is it good to be famous?
Don't believe Bill Murray
A lot of developmental psychology isn't worth doing
A complaint about my field
28 Days Later
Three surprises from my first month with a newborn
"Nobody can touch you without your consent"
Some exceptions and why they matter
Small Potato
Some personal news
Nobody finishes reading my books
Or anyone else's either
Reading other people's mail
Should we be ashamed?
The AI Apocalypse Cometh?
Podcast with Robert Wright
Assistant to the Regional Manager
The problem with utopia
Moltbook, mansplaining, and how we ended up in the Epstein files
Podcast with Robert Wright
Is there a God-shaped hole?
New findings about the appetite for transcendence
Rosebud
Podcast with Robert Wright
19 pieces of teaching advice
Because it's a new semester
Why are so many professors conservative?
Two theories
2025: A Reckoning
Podcast with Robert Wright (and this one has no paywall)
Is it irresponsible for academics to refuse to use AI?
Maybe not yet—but we’re getting there
Musk, Trump, Fuentes
Podcast with Robert Wright
Viewpoint diversity and its limits
Affirmative action for iconoclasts?
Your followers might hate you
[This is a reposting of something I wrote just when I started Small Potatoes. I’ve substantially edited and revised it, but kept some of the old-timey examples.]
Wokeness and effective altruism
Birds of a feather
Larry Summers; Olivia Nuzzi; Pluribus
Podcast with Robert Wright
Viewpoint diversity and its limits
Affirmative action for iconoclasts?
Would you still love me if I was a worm?
An investigation
Gatekeepers, antisemitism, and the greatest World Series ever
Podcast with Robert Wright
Five recommendations
1.