Hi there's

since we released our last episode

there's been a very sad development in the field of behavioral economics

which forms the backbone of this show

Daniel Kahneman, repeat choiceology guest,

Nobel Laureate, National Medal of Honor recipient,

International Best-Selling author of Thinking fast and slow as well as noise and the father of behavioral economics

passed away at the age of 90.

Danny was not only a towering figure in psychology and economics, he was also a mensch.

One of my fondest and most awkward memories of Danny is of a visit I made to his New York apartment

in 2019 to record a choiceology interview about his work on Prospect Theory.

If you're a regular listener, you'll probably recognize that term.

Prospect Theory is an integrative model Danny built in the 1970s with the late great Amos Diverseki to accurately describe how people make choices when facing risk.

I remember sitting down in Danny's living room across from him

and waiting while a sound engineer adjusted a fancy portable microphone to sit

right in front of his mouth, which Danny found enormously uncomfortable.

Despite wanting to do nothing more than move that mic,

Danny was incredibly gracious,

and he gave a terrifically thoughtful interview.

He even made time to take me out for lunch

afterwards at his favorite Japanese restaurant.

He was argumentative, brilliant, generous, and an exceptional communicator.

...