© 2025 Boise State Public Radio
NPR in Idaho
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

The Ethicist

New York Times and All Things Considered Ethicist Randy Cohen joins NPR's Steve Inskeep and listener Amy Meltzer from Ashland, Ore., to solve the problem of the mistake on the cake. Meltzer was overcharged for the wrong birthday cake, which ended up adding a real surprise to her surprise party. Randy Cohen explains who is ethically responsible for the overpayment.

Copyright 2002 NPR

Steve Inskeep is a host of NPR's Morning Edition, as well as NPR's morning news podcast Up First.
Randy Cohen
Randy Cohen was born in Charleston, S.C., and raised in Reading, Pa. He attended graduate school at the California Institute of the Arts as a music major studying composition.

You make stories like this possible.

The biggest portion of Boise State Public Radio's funding comes from readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

Your donation today helps make our local reporting free for our entire community.