Wharton faculty on love, finance, AI, and the Olympics
The latest installments of the Wharton School’s faculty research podcast, ‘Ripple Effect,’ explores online dating, the future of global finance, sports and advertising, and how AI is informing human decision-making.
2 min. read
Aligning with Valentine’s Day and the 2026 Winter Olympics, the February episodes of Wharton’s faculty podcast “The Ripple Effect” feature host Dan Loney interviewing experts on timely topics, including finding love on a dating app, and the peak advertising season of the Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl. Experts also weigh in on the ever-present topic of global finance and artificial intelligence.
Finance professors Joao Gomes and Itay Goldstein discuss the forces reshaping global finance in “Future of Finance,” and takeaways from the 2026 Future of Finance Forum, an event that convened academics, policymakers, and industry leaders to discuss digital assets, central banking, the U.S. federal debt, artificial intelligence, geopolitics, and private markets.
In ”Olympic Games Advertising,” senior marketing lecturer Annie Wilson explores how companies advertise during the biggest sporting events of the year, and explains how they are a boon for brands that know how to capitalize on the moment.
When the Schuylkill swallowed the city: Lessons from Hurricane Ida’s historic flood
New Penn research shows that Hurricane Ida wasn’t a once-in-a-century anomaly but a preview of how climate change, urbanization, and aging infrastructure are rewriting flood risk.
The Fed explained: What it does and why it matters
Former Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker and financial historian Peter Conti-Brown, both Wharton professors, unpack the central bank’s origins, its unusual structure, and the quiet ways it shapes the economy
How population changes are impacting primary education worldwide
Research from Penn sociologist Emily Hannum and colleagues reveals regional trends in whether school-age populations are increasing, plateauing, or decreasing—and shows how different countries are responding.
A bioengineered bean gum from the lab of Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell is found to reduce the levels of three microbes associated with head and neck squamous cell cancer to almost zero, without affecting the beneficial bacteria normally found in the mouth.
Fighting oral cancer with bioengineered chewing gum
Research led by Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell shows that antiviral and antibacterial chewing gums reduce the levels of three microbes linked to worse outcomes in oral cancers, paving the way for more effective and affordable therapies.
