Emily Oster is an economics professor and author whose hugely popular books—Expecting Better, Cribsheet, and her latest, The Family Firm—help parents make better decisions by analyzing data. Expecting Better was recommended to me by friend of show Mary Katharine Ham when I was pregnant with Elliot and I've been a fan ever since. She's written numerous pieces during the pandemic about analyzing risk. Also, she holds a PhD from Harvard! We talked about what she loves about research, growing up the daughter of two Yale professors, the sausage roll disaster of 2020, whether she always wanted children, knowing she was done after two, her relationship with decisions, living in Rhode Island and why I should move there, hiking, being a morning person, what she was like in college, why you're probably wrong about economics (I was), her newsletter, her favorite class in school and so much more. We also did a round of Just Me Or Everyone, HGFY and answered your questions. Products I Use/Recommend/Love: http://amazon.com/shop/alisonrosen Check us out on Patreon: http://patreon.com/alisonrosen   Buy Alison's Book: Tropical Attire Encouraged (and Other Phrases That Scare Me)  https://amzn.to/2JuOqcd This show is brought to you by: BETTER HELP: http://BetterHelp.com/BESTFRIEND (use code BESTFRIEND for 10% off) ROTHYS: http://rothys.com/alison PURPLE: http://purple.com/bestfriend10 (use promo code bestfriend10 for 10% off any order of $200 or more) You probably need to buy the HGFY ringtone! https://www.alisonrosen.com/store/