Who's In Your Inner Circle?

This Hidden Brain episode explores assortative mating—the tendency for people to marry those similar to themselves in background, education, and wealth. The interview with economist Luigi Pistaferri uses data from Norway (where wealth information is publicly accessible) to demonstrate how this phenomenon exacerbates wealth inequality, as high-return individuals tend to marry each other, accelerating wealth accumulation across generations. The podcast also features Matthew Jackson, who uses Facebook data to show how economic connectedness (friendships between people of different socioeconomic statuses) is a key predictor of upward mobility, suggesting that fostering cross-class connections could improve economic equality. A final segment highlights a listener's story of being defended from a hateful attack by a stranger, illustrating the positive impact of unexpected cross-group connections. The episode concludes by emphasizing the importance of consciously building diverse social networks to counteract the negative consequences of homophily.