C.V.

Peter McGraw

I host solo.

The Wall Street Journal teaches you how to buy luxury products and services

Which of the following “luxury” items do you want to learn how to buy? A) Rare wines B) Helicopters C) Face lifts D) Estate jewelry E) Vintage cars F) Investment handbags Well, you can learn how to purchase all of the in this week’s Wall Street Journal magazine.  The most intriguing “how to” is a […]

Does the Second Amendment cause people to take matters into their own hands?

Co-authored with Dan Bartels A small Church in Gainesville, FL recently planned to burn Qurans as part of a protest against “the radical element of Islam.” The burning was to be conducted on September 11, 2010. In response to public and government outcry, the Church’s Pastor called off the protest. Terry Jones, Pastor. How would […]

TEDxBoulder Speaker, Video Game Journalist, and PhD in Planning and Design, David Thomas answers the question, “What makes things fun?”

Before TEDxBoulder, I had a chance to conduct a brief interview with David Thomas, co-editor of the Videogame Journalism Style Guide and Reference Manual.  He also blogs on occasion: www.buzzcut.com I asked him, “What makes a place fun?,” which happened to be the title of his talk. His complete TEDxBoulder talk can be found HERE […]

What does(n’t) the TSA allow you to put in your checked baggage?

The other day, a co-author, Bridget Leonard, was preparing a poster for the upcoming Association for Consumer Research conference. She needed to bring thumbtacks with her on the plane and was not sure would be able to carry them on. I was not sure either. Seriously. If you have spent any time traveling by air, […]

Guest Post by Jennifer Jordan: What do you and Elliot Spitzer have in common?

In September of 2002 Fortune Magazine profiled up-and-coming attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, describing him as “unequivocal” in his targeted crackdown of the corruption pervading Wall Street. Later, in his role as governor of New York, this dynamo signed into law strong legislation against prostitution. Less than a year after enacting this crackdown on prostitution, Spitzer […]

A brief introduction to moral flexibility and the Moral Research Lab

Dan Bartels and I co-direct the Moral Research Lab, or as we call it, MoRL. The lab investigates the mental processes underlying morally-motivated judgment and choice, with a focus on consumer behavior and implications for public policy. What makes MoRL different from many other research labs is that we hold our lab meetings virtually via […]

How airlines use reference points to arrive early.

I recent flew between Denver to Philadelphia. We were about 30 minutes early. My return flight was 35 minutes early. Too good to be true, right? Right. How dare Southwest be early! How is it possible that an airline can achieve that kind of efficiency? They certainly didn’t fly faster. That would cost too much […]

The Takeaway claims that Colorado is the humor research capital of the world.

The Takeaway is in Denver for a few days. I woke up early this morning (4:15 am MST) to appear in studio with the lovely Celeste Headlee. The Takeaway is a national morning news program produced in partnership with The New York Times, the BBC World Service, WNYC, Public Radio International and WGBH Boston. We had […]