473. Emily Oster, Economist, Author, Professor, Runner

Ali on the Run Show

Ali Feller

Run, Health & Fitness, Women, Inspiration, Runner, Entrepreneur, Sports, Fitness, Health, Running

4.9 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 3 February 2022

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"Running has served many purposes over my whole life. But in this particular set of moments now — where so much of what I’m doing is not exactly about metrics, but about data and trying to achieve or accomplish something — I realized that trying to meet some particular bar or some standard with running was not the relationship I wanted to have with that activity. I want running to be something I do for me... It’s supposed to be fun."

If you're a parent, you're probably familiar with Emily Oster. She's an economist and professor of economics at Brown University, but among the child-rearing set, she's best known as the author of Expecting Better, Cribsheet, and The Family Firm. And while the media loves to call Emily a "parenting expert," Emily's actual goal is to use a data-driven approach to help parents feel more relaxed about their decisions. And while Emily swears by research and numbers in most aspects of her life, there's one area where she opts to ditch the data: on the run. Emily is a lifelong runner, and on this episode she talks about how she got into running, how she finds time to run as a busy mom of two, and how her relationship with running has evolved over the past few years.

SPONSOR: Shokz — Visit shokz.com/ontherun for 15% off wireless headphones.

What you’ll get on this episode:

How was Emily’s run today? (5:30)
How Emily became an author who tackles hot parenting topics from a data-driven perspective (9:15)
Why Emily wants to create a world with more relaxed pregnant women and parents (14:00)
Why Emily started diving into pandemic-related data in March 2020 (20:00)
On tackling tough topics, and having thick skin (23:30)
What are Emily’s work-life boundaries like these days? (28:00)
Emily’s approach to running (34:00)
How Emily got into running, and what her family and childhood were like (36:45)
Emily’s advice for aspiring early morning runners (49:00)
Emily’s advice for parents who are having a tough time right now, and advice for device-addicted runners (57:30)

Check out:

"Emily Oster: Through the Looking Glass," via Tracksmith

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode of The Alley on the Run Show is brought to you by Shocks.
0:04.2	Go to Shocks.com slash on the run to say 15% on all wireless headphones.
0:10.4	Welcome to The Alley on the Run Show.
0:17.1	I'm your host Allie Feller and every week I talk with people who are doing exciting things
0:22.8	on the run and beyond. We all share that love for running and that's what brings us all together.
0:28.1	But of course there's more to life than what happens on the run itself.
0:32.0	And this show is about exploring those in-between.
0:35.1	We're talking about the moments and decisions that have shaped who we are today and the wise.
0:40.1	Why do we do what we do and how does getting sweaty factor in?
0:44.8	It is very cool to have Emily Oster on the show today.
0:49.8	Emily Oster is an economist and a professor at Brown University.
0:54.4	She is the author of the best-selling books, Expecting Better,
0:58.7	Crib Sheet and the Family Farm and you will hear me gush all about expecting better in this episode.
1:04.6	Because that book helped preserve some of my sanity during pregnancy and my immediate postpartum days.
1:10.6	So very grateful for her and her work.
1:13.4	Emily's approach to pretty much everything is data driven.
1:16.3	I mean that's her job that is her livelihood.
1:19.2	We talk on this episode about what it means to be a parenting expert,
1:23.2	which is what the media tends to call her.
1:25.3	But Emily will tell you that she's a data expert.
1:28.8	She's able to look at information and make decisions based on that.
1:32.6	I was really eager to talk to her in part because I tend to be an emotional decision-maker
	...

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