Reasonably Optimistic

The Washington Post

Enough with the doom and gloom — we’re ready to talk about how America can thrive. Hosted by Washington Post Opinion columnist Megan McArdle, “Reasonably Optimistic” is your weekly conversation about how America can get unstuck and build a better future. Stop feeding your rage and start embracing our possibilities. Episodes drop Wednesdays.

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Reasonably Optimistic

Episodes (126)

Yesterday Forget the best president. Who was the most underrated?
Saturday Dating is a market. Here's how to hack it.
Wed Feb 11th An economist explains why he’s still ‘bullish on America’ — AI and all

Reasonably Optimistic

Feb 18, 2026
28 minutes
0

This week, we celebrated Presidents Day, which makes it a fitting time to recognize one of America’s most underrated presidents. Herbert Hoover presided over the onset of the Great Depression and is widely viewed as the inferior predecessor to Franklin D. Roosevelt. But, as host Megan McArdle explains, that judgment is unfair to Hoover. It also reflects a larger problem: the assumption that a president can singlehandedly fix or wreck the economy. Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Reasonably Optimistic

Forget the best president. Who was the most underrated?

The Washington Post

00:00 -28:02