17. Emily Oster: “I Am a Woman Who Is Prominently Discussing Vaginas.”

Emily Oster, a Brown University economist and bestselling author, reveals how her journey from academic research to public intellectual began not with a plan, but with a personal crisis: pregnancy. Frustrated by patronizing, non-data-driven advice for expectant mothers, she wrote *Expecting Better*—a book that combined rigorous data analysis with personal narrative, empowering women to make informed choices. This approach, rooted in transparency and skepticism of authority, became her hallmark. When the pandemic hit, she pivoted to creating the COVID School Dashboard, aggregating real-time data on school reopenings and infection rates. Her findings—low transmission in schools, especially among children—led her to become a vocal advocate for reopening, despite fierce backlash. What makes her stand out isn’t just her data fluency, but her willingness to admit when she’s wrong: she publicly retracted a major paper linking hepatitis B to gender imbalance in Asia after better data disproved it, a rare act of scientific integrity. Her most radical insight? That people often avoid knowing the truth—whether about their health, their future, or their children’s well-being—because the anticipation of a good life is more valuable than certainty. And in a world obsessed with being right, she’s chosen to be honest instead. Oster’s work challenges the myth that expertise requires silence.