Top all-time · #5933
Emily Oster
Personal blog · emilyoster.substack.comdataeconomicshealth
Emily Oster writes On Substack, a personal blog at emilyoster.substack.com about data, economics and health. Since 2020, 13 different Hacker News readers have linked it 14 times, most often “Reopening Schools: What's It Going to Take?”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-30, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (5) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link Emily Oster's ParentData newsletter, which reads the academic studies behind parenting and health decisions, including COVID risks for children, air quality, and coffee research.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 5 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Author of Expecting Better, Cribsheet and The Family Firm. Writer of ParentData. Mom. Economics Professor.
Most-linked posts?
- Reopening Schools: What's It Going to Take?2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2020-07-02
- /2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2020-07-21
What Hacker News says?
I don't think we should do domestic cooking with gas for reasons that include respiratory health, but it's worth noting that the link between modern domestic gas ovens and childhood asthma is very weak relative to other risk factors, which might be why it's not mentioned in the article. "When the meta-analysis puts everything together, they come to the conclusion that gas cooking produces a small increase in asthma…
Comment linking /p/gas-stoves-finally
on “The health benefits of better air”Submitted Zero Covid isn’t realistic, for kids or anyone as a story · 12 points
HN discussionAre you also going to prohibit your kids from riding in a car because the chances of a traffic accident are non zero? Asking because kids 1-4 are being hospitalized for COVID at the rate of 1.6/100,000, deaths are at 2/1,000,000 and traffic accident mortality is 11/100,000. https://emilyoster.substack.com/p/covid-risks-for-small-chil... https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/state...
Comment linking /p/covid-risks-for-small-children
on “More Americans are saying they’re ‘vaxxed and done’”Submitted FDA Releases Data on Covid Vaccine for Kids as a story · 4 points
HN discussionEmily Oster has a useful post about why, despite the effort, its is difficult to control for everything that matters in observational studies: https://emilyoster.substack.com/p/coffee-definitely-either-k... Specifically: > As result, in the data, sugar starts to look…a lot worse for you over time. In the earliest period of the data there is no observed correlation between the sugar measure and BMI (see below) but by…
Comment linking /p/coffee-definitely-either-kills-you?s=w
on “Coffee drinking linked to lower mortality risk, new study finds”Submitted Reopening Schools: What's It Going to Take? as a story · 4 points
HN discussionEmily Oster's books and recently her newsletter. They're not for everyone but they are definitely for the type of person who asks for parenting advice on Hacker News :P She's a professor of economics and her main shtick is that she evaluates the academic literature behind a lot of the big decisions facing new parents during pregnancy and early childhood. Personally the parts I found most useful are areas where peopl…
Comment linking /
on “Ask HN: Is There a Manual for Babies?”Submitted How Should I Think About School and Childcare Now? as a story · 3 points
HN discussionI've got a few that I read most, if not every time they hit my inbox: Slow Boring by Matthew Yglesias: https://www.slowboring.com/ - Daily column of moderate/rational takes on politics and government. ParentData by Emily Oster: https://emilyoster.substack.com/ - She's an economist who writes about parenting by just reading the relevant studies. If you've got kids or are planning to, start with her book Cribsheet. Ja…
Comment linking /
on “Ask HN: Which substacks do you read as soon as it hits your inbox?”Submitted Schools Usually Call Moms as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Is Aspartame Linked to Cancer? as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Schools: What’s It Going to Take? as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Marriage Happiness Declines with Children as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted School Rankings: Framing (Slightly) Differently as a story · 1 points
HN discussion
