668. Do Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny Have Blood on Their Hands?

As one researcher told us: “We’ve engineered a world where the most distracting device ever made is also the one we use to listen to music in the car." A new study tries to measure the cost.

SOURCES: •

Bapu Jena • , economist, physician, and professor at Harvard Medical School.

Chris Worsham • , pulmonary and critical-care physician at Mass General Hospital, health-policy and public-health researcher at Harvard Medical School.

Vishal Patel • , surgery resident at Brigham and Women's Hospital, researcher at Harvard Medical School.

RESOURCES: •

• " Smartphones, Online Music Streaming, and Traffic Fatalities • ," by Vishal Patel, Christopher Worsham, Michael Liu, and Bapu Jena (NBER, • 2026).

Random Acts of Medicine: The Hidden Forces That Sway Doctors, Impact Patients, and Shape Our Health • , by Anupam Jena and Christopher Worsham (2023).

• " Mortality and treatment patterns among patients hospitalized with acute cardiovascular conditions during dates of national cardiology meetings • ," by Bapu Jena, Vinay Prasad, Dana Goldman, and John Romley (JAMA Internal Medicine, • 2015).

• " Road Crash Fatalities on US Income Tax Days • ," by Donald Redelmeier and Christopher Yarnell (JAMA, • 2012).

• " Memories of colonoscopy: a randomized trial • ," by Donald Redelmeier, Joel Katz, and Daniel Kahneman (PAIN, • 2003).

EXTRAS: •

• " Why Is There So Much Fraud in Academia? • " by Freakonomics Radio • (2024).

• " Why Is Flying Safer Than Driving? • " by Freakonomics Radio • (2023).

• " Why Is the U.S. So Good at Killing Pedestrians? • " by Freakonomics Radio • (2023).

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.