Would You Take the Check? The Answer Is Complicated

Solving America's Problems · Jun 17, 2026 · 24m

Dalton Conley tells Jerremy Alexander Newsome and Dave: yes, he'd take the UBI check — because you don't have a choice. A thousand dollars a month transforms life in rural Mississippi and barely registers in New York City. Jerremy says he'd opt out; Conley says almost nobody thinks that way. Social Security is untouchable because it's near-universal and tied to work — UBI needs that same armor. Conley's lab found that a kid genetically predisposed to insomnia raises parents' drinking and smoking for decades after they leave the house.

(00:14) Yes, Conley takes the check – because universal…