Freakonomics Radio
Discover the hidden side of everything with Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of the Freakonomics books. Each week, Freakonomics Radio tells you things you always thought you knew (but didn’t) and things you never thought you wanted to know (but do) — from the economics of sleep to how to become great at just about anything. Dubner speaks with Nobel laureates and provocateurs, intellectuals and entrepreneurs, and various other underachievers. The entire archive, going back to 2010, is available on the Stitcher podcast app and at freakonomics.com.
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The biggest sports league in history had a problem: While most of its players were Black, almost none of its head coaches were. So the N.F.L.00:47:51 19/09/2024 -
We revisit an episode from 2016 that asks: Has our culture’s obsession with innovation led us to neglect the fact that things also need to00:42:37 16/09/2024
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Young people have been reporting a sharp rise in anxiety and depression. This maps neatly onto the global rise of the smartphone. Some researchers00:40:29 12/09/2024
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Only a tiny number of “supertaskers” are capable of doing two things at once. The rest of us are just making ourselves miserable, and less00:58:04 05/09/2024
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Educators and economists tell us all the reasons college enrollment has been dropping, especially for men, and how to stop the bleeding. (Part00:49:17 29/08/2024
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Stephen Dubner appears as a guest on Fail Better, a new podcast hosted by David Duchovny. The two of them trade stories about failure,00:40:04 26/08/2024
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America’s top colleges are facing record demand. So why don’t they increase supply? (Part 2 of our series from 2022, “Freakonomics01:11:10 22/08/2024
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We think of them as intellectual enclaves and the surest route to a better life. But U.S. colleges also operate like firms, trying to differentiate00:50:15 15/08/2024
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There are a lot of factors that go into greatness, many of which are not obvious. As the Olympics come to a close, we revisit a 2018 episode01:05:34 12/08/2024
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Tania Tetlow, a former federal prosecutor and now the president of Fordham University, thinks the modern campus could use a dose of old-fashioned00:44:47 08/08/2024
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It’s not oil or water or plutonium — it’s human hours. We've got an idea for putting them to use, and for building a more human-centered economy.00:40:08 01/08/2024
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A new proposal from the Biden administration calls for a nationwide cap on rent increases. Economists think that’s a terrible idea. We revisit00:48:22 29/07/2024
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That’s the worry. Even the humble eyeglass industry is dominated by a single firm. We look into the global spike in myopia, how the00:37:11 25/07/2024
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A single company, EssilorLuxottica, owns so much of the eyewear industry that it’s hard to escape their gravitational pull — or their “obscene”00:54:39 18/07/2024
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You wouldn’t think you could win a Nobel Prize for showing that humans tend to make irrational decisions. But that’s what Richard Thaler has00:53:13 15/07/2024
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Daniel Kahneman left his mark on academia (and the real world) in countless ways. A group of his friends and colleagues recently gathered00:52:41 11/07/2024
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American politics is trapped in a duopoly, with two all-powerful parties colluding to stifle competition. We revisit a 2018 episode to explain01:01:50 04/07/2024
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It’s hard to know whether the benefits of hiring a celebrity are worth the risk. We dig into one gruesome story of an endorsement gone wrong,00:43:38 27/06/2024
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Broadway operates on a winner-take-most business model. A runaway hit like Stereophonic — which just won five Tony Awards — will create00:49:39 20/06/2024
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The Berlin dance mecca Berghain is known for its eight-hour line and inscrutable door policy. PJ Vogt, host of the podcast Search Engine,00:44:58 17/06/2024
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Hit by Covid, runaway costs, and a zillion streams of competition, serious theater is in serious trouble. A new hit play called Stereophonic01:05:08 13/06/2024
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Every December, a British man named Tom Whitwell publishes a list of 52 things he’s learned that year. These fascinating facts reveal the00:53:20 06/06/2024
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An update of our 2020 series, in which we spoke with physicians, researchers, and addicts about the root causes of the crisis — and the tension00:41:59 03/06/2024
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Thanks to legal settlements with drug makers and distributors, states have plenty of money to boost prevention and treatment. Will it work?00:40:56 30/05/2024
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Most epidemics flare up, do their damage, and fade away. This one has been raging for almost 30 years. To find out why, it’s time to ask some00:48:33 23/05/2024
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Presenting two stories from The Economics of Everyday Things: Why does it seem like every car is black, white, or gray these days? And:00:35:15 20/05/2024
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The economist and social critic Glenn Loury has led a remarkably turbulent life, both professionally and personally. In a new memoir, he has00:56:40 16/05/2024
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The employee ownership movement is growing, and one of its biggest champions is also a private equity heavyweight. Is this meaningful change,00:46:33 09/05/2024
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From politics and economics to psychology and the arts, many of the modern ideas we take for granted emerged a century ago from a single European00:57:19 02/05/2024
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Five years ago, we published an episode about the boom in home DNA testing kits, focusing on the high-flying firm 23andMe and its C.E.O. Anne01:02:04 29/04/2024
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Justin Trudeau, facing record-low approval numbers, is doubling down on his progressive agenda. But he is so upbeat (and Canada-polite) that00:52:26 25/04/2024
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So you want to help people? That’s great — but beware the law of unintended consequences. Three stories from the modern workplace. SOURCES:00:43:42 18/04/2024
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The psychologist Daniel Kahneman — a Nobel laureate and the author of Thinking, Fast and Slow — recently died at age 90. Along with00:34:51 14/04/2024
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People who are good at their jobs routinely get promoted into bigger jobs they’re bad at. We explain why firms keep producing incompetent00:49:41 11/04/2024
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Fareed Zakaria says yes. But it’s not just political revolution — it’s economic, technological, even emotional. He doesn’t offer easy solutions01:02:43 04/04/2024
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The political debates over immigration can generate a lot of fuzzy facts. We wanted to test Americans’ knowledge — so, to wrap up our special00:27:39 01/04/2024
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As the U.S. tries to fix its messy immigration system, our neighbor to the north is scooping up more talented newcomers every year. Are the00:49:47 28/03/2024
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The U.S. immigration system is a massively complicated machine, with a lot of worn-out parts. How to fix it? Step one: Get hold of some actual00:55:50 21/03/2024
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She arrived in the U.S. as an 11-year-old refugee, then rose to become Secretary of State. Her views on immigration, nationalism, and borders,00:29:04 18/03/2024
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How did a nation of immigrants come to hate immigration? We start at the beginning, sort through the evidence, and explain why your grandfather00:55:05 14/03/2024
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Economists have discovered an odd phenomenon: many people who use social media (even you, maybe?) wish it didn’t exist. But that doesn’t mean00:42:16 07/03/2024
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In ancient Rome, it was bread and circuses. Today, it’s a World Cup, an Olympics, and a new Saudi-backed golf league that’s challenging the01:05:17 04/03/2024
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What surprises lurk in our sewage? How did racist city planners end up saving Black lives? Why does Arizona grow hay for cows in Saudi Arabia?00:52:14 29/02/2024
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It used to feel like magic. Now it can feel like a set of cheap tricks. Is the problem with Google — or with us? And is Google Search finally00:56:53 22/02/2024
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A wide-open conversation with three women who guided Richard Feynman through some big adventures at the Esalen Institute. (Part of our00:47:31 19/02/2024
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In his final years, Richard Feynman's curiosity took him to some surprising places. We hear from his companions on the trips he took — and01:01:04 15/02/2024
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What happens when an existentially depressed and recently widowed young physicist from Queens gets a fresh start in California? We follow00:52:41 08/02/2024
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They’re heading to the Super Bowl for the second time in five years. But back in 2018, they were coming off a long losing streak — and that’s01:03:46 05/02/2024
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From the Manhattan Project to the Challenger investigation, the physicist Richard Feynman loved to shoot down what he called “lousy ideas.”01:02:22 01/02/2024
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Michael Roth of Wesleyan University doesn’t hang out with other university presidents. He also thinks some of them have failed a basic test00:46:51 25/01/2024
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We all like to throw around terms that describe human behavior — “bystander apathy” and “steep learning curve” and “hard-wired.” Most of the00:49:12 22/01/2024
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Probably not — the incentives are too strong. Scholarly publishing is a $28 billion global industry, with misconduct at every level. But a01:02:32 18/01/2024
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Some of the biggest names in behavioral science stand accused of faking their results. Last year, an astonishing 10,000 research papers were01:14:06 11/01/2024
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In a special episode of The Economics of Everyday Things, host Zachary Crockett explains what millennials do to show they care, how00:49:25 04/01/2024
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In a special episode of People I (Mostly) Admire, Steve Levitt talks to Cat Bohannon about her new book Eve: How the Female Body00:46:02 28/12/2023
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In a special episode of No Stupid Questions, Angela Duckworth and Mike Maughan talk about unfinished tasks, recurring arguments, and Irish00:39:34 21/12/2023
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Lewis got incredible access to Sam Bankman-Fried, the billionaire behind the spectacular FTX fraud. His book is a bestseller, but some critics01:00:36 14/12/2023
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In policing, as in most vocations, the best employees are often promoted into leadership without much training. One economist thinks he can00:47:39 07/12/2023
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It boosts economic opportunity and social mobility. It’s good for the environment. So why do we charge people to use it? The short answer:00:56:10 30/11/2023
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Most industries have become more productive over time. But not construction! We identify the causes — and possible solutions. (Can you say00:54:45 23/11/2023
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Pro footballer and star podcaster Jason Kelce is ubiquitous right now (almost as ubiquitous as his brother and co-host Travis, who's been00:56:39 19/11/2023
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They say they make companies more efficient through savvy management. Critics say they bend the rules to enrich themselves at the expense00:51:17 16/11/2023
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Evidence from Nazi Germany and 1940’s America (and pretty much everywhere else) shows that discrimination is incredibly costly — to the victims,00:57:50 09/11/2023
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Everyone makes mistakes. How do you learn from them? Lessons from the classroom, the Air Force, and the world’s deadliest infectious disease. RESOURCES:00:52:00 02/11/2023
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Giving up can be painful. That's why we need to talk about it. Today: stories about glitchy apps, leaky paint cans, broken sculptures — and01:03:37 26/10/2023
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In medicine, failure can be catastrophic. It can also produce discoveries that save millions of lives. Tales from the front line, the lab,00:54:03 19/10/2023
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We tend to think of tragedies as a single terrible moment, rather than the result of multiple bad decisions. Can this pattern be reversed?00:55:18 12/10/2023
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Claudia Goldin is the newest winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics. We spoke with her in 2016 about why women earn so much less than men00:44:33 10/10/2023
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John Ray is an emergency C.E.O., a bankruptcy expert who takes over companies that have succumbed to failure or fraud. He’s currently cleaning00:40:07 05/10/2023
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If two parents can run a family, why shouldn’t two executives run a company? We dig into the research and hear firsthand stories of both triumph00:50:35 28/09/2023
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In her new book The Two-Parent Privilege, the economist Melissa Kearney says it’s time for liberals to face the facts: U.S. marriage01:04:07 21/09/2023
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The union that represents N.F.L. players conducted their first-ever survey of workplace conditions, and issued a report card to all 32 teams.01:00:53 14/09/2023
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For all the speculation about the future, A.I. tools can be useful right now. Adam Davidson discovers what they can help us do, how we can00:48:34 07/09/2023
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Guest host Adam Davidson looks at what might happen to your job in a world of human-level artificial intelligence, and asks when it might00:47:33 31/08/2023
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Artificial intelligence, we’ve been told, will destroy humankind. No, wait — it will usher in a new age of human flourishing! Guest host Adam00:48:05 24/08/2023
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The famously profane politician and operative is now U.S. ambassador to Japan, where he’s trying to rewrite the rules of diplomacy. But don’t00:56:21 17/08/2023
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Americans are so accustomed to the standard intersection that we rarely consider how dangerous it can be — as well as costly, time-wasting,00:46:48 10/08/2023
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Bjorn Andersen killed 111 minke whales this season. He tells us how he does it, why he does it, and what he thinks would happen if whale-hunting00:26:42 06/08/2023
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In three stories from our newest podcast, host Zachary Crockett digs into sports mascots, cashmere sweaters, and dinosaur skeletons.00:47:17 03/08/2023
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In the final episode of our whale series, we learn about fecal plumes, shipping noise, and why "Moby-Dick" is still worth reading. (Part 300:47:45 27/07/2023
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For years, whale oil was used as lighting fuel, industrial lubricant, and the main ingredient in (yum!) margarine. Whale meat was also on00:37:11 20/07/2023
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Whaling was, in the words of one scholar, “early capitalism unleashed on the high seas.” How did the U.S. come to dominate the whale market?00:43:51 13/07/2023
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Actually, the reasons are pretty clear. The harder question is: Will we ever care enough to stop?00:44:57 06/07/2023
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Sure, you were “in love.” But economists — using evidence from Bridgerton to Tinder — point to what’s called “assortative mating.”00:47:04 29/06/2023
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But as C.E.O. of the resurgent Microsoft, he is firmly at the center of the A.I. revolution. We speak with him about the perils and blessings00:36:45 22/06/2023
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Probably not. The economist Kelly Shue argues that E.S.G. investing just gives more money to firms that are already green while depriving00:54:38 15/06/2023
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Gun control, abortion rights, drug legalization — it seems like every argument these days claims that if X happens, then Y will follow, and00:44:11 08/06/2023
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He turned a small Hollywood talent agency into a massive sports-and-entertainment empire. In a freewheeling conversation, he explains how01:05:47 01/06/2023
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Sure, markets work well in general. But for some transactions — like school admissions and organ transplants — money alone can’t solve the01:08:49 25/05/2023
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Museums are purging their collections of looted treasures. Can they also get something in return? And what does it mean to be a museum in00:51:38 18/05/2023
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The world’s great museums are full of art and artifacts that were plundered during an era when plunder was the norm. Now there’s a push to00:52:11 11/05/2023
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How did a freshly looted Egyptian antiquity end up in the Metropolitan Museum of Art? Why did it take Kim Kardashian to crack the case? And00:53:29 04/05/2023
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Whether it’s a giant infrastructure plan or a humble kitchen renovation, it’ll inevitably take way too long and cost way too much. That’s00:42:58 27/04/2023
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Every language has its taboo words (which many people use all the time). But the list of forbidden words is always changing — and those changes00:45:10 20/04/2023
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Delaware is beloved by corporations, bankruptcy lawyers, tax avoiders, and money launderers. Critics say the Delaware “franchise” is undemocratic00:46:59 13/04/2023
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Many companies say they want to create more opportunities for Black Americans. One company is doing something concrete about it. We visit00:47:30 06/04/2023
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Every year, Americans short the I.R.S. nearly half a trillion dollars. Most ideas to increase compliance are more stick than carrot — scary00:43:29 30/03/2023
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In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, the economist Amy Finkelstein explains why insurance markets are broken and how to00:52:32 23/03/2023
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People who are good at their jobs routinely get promoted into bigger jobs they’re bad at. We explain why firms keep producing incompetent00:49:53 16/03/2023
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Most travelers want the cheapest flight they can find. Airlines, meanwhile, need to manage volatile fuel costs, a pricey workforce, and complex00:58:00 09/03/2023
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Thanks to decades of work by airlines and regulators, plane crashes are nearly a thing of the past. Can we do the same for cars? (Part 2 of00:56:20 02/03/2023
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It’s an unnatural activity that has become normal. You’re stuck in a metal tube with hundreds of strangers (and strange smells), defying gravity00:58:20 23/02/2023
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Adam Smith famously argued that specialization is the key to prosperity. In the N.F.L., the long snapper is proof of that argument. Here’s00:53:00 16/02/2023
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Hotel guests adore those cute little soaps, but is it just a one-night stand? In our fourth episode of The Economics of Everyday Things,00:16:59 13/02/2023
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For decades, the U.S. let globalization run its course and hoped China would be an ally. Now the Biden administration is spending billions00:50:39 09/02/2023
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Can a hit single from four decades ago still pay the bills? Zachary Crockett f-f-f-finds out in the third episode of our newest podcast, The00:18:18 06/02/2023
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The economist Kate Raworth says the aggressive pursuit of G.D.P. is trashing the planet and shortchanging too many people. She has proposed00:41:45 02/02/2023
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How does America's cutest sales force get billions of Thin Mints, Samoas, and Tagalongs into our hands every year? Zachary Crockett finds00:14:14 30/01/2023
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When small businesses get bought by big investors, the name may stay the same — but customers and employees can feel the difference. (Part00:46:42 26/01/2023
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A new podcast hosted by Zachary Crockett. In the first episode: Gas stations. When gas prices skyrocket, do station owners get a windfall?00:15:23 23/01/2023
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Big investors are buying up local veterinary practices (and pretty much everything else). What does this mean for scruffy little Max* — and00:42:05 19/01/2023
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And with her book "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat," she succeeded. Now she's not so sure how to feel about all the attention.00:39:06 16/01/2023
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We tend to look down on artists who can't match their breakthrough success. Should we be celebrating them instead?00:49:16 12/01/2023
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In a special episode of No Stupid Questions, Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth discuss classroom design, open offices, and cognitive00:46:42 05/01/2023
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In this special episode of People I (Mostly) Admire, Steve Levitt talks to the best-selling author of Sapiens and Homo Deus00:51:59 29/12/2022
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Labor exploitation! Corporate profiteering! Government corruption! The 21st century can look a lot like the 18th. In the final episode of00:48:49 22/12/2022
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Economists and politicians have turned him into a mascot for free-market ideology. Some on the left say the right has badly misread him. Prepare01:09:01 15/12/2022
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A sneak peek at an upcoming series — and a call for would-be radio reporters.00:05:55 12/12/2022
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How did an affable 18th-century “moral philosopher” become the patron saint of cutthroat capitalism? Does “the invisible hand” mean what everyone00:46:42 08/12/2022
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In this special episode of Freakonomics, M.D., host Bapu Jena looks at a clever new study that could help answer one of parenting’s00:31:30 01/12/2022
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No — but he does have a knack for stumbling into the perfect moment, including the recent FTX debacle. In this installment of the Freakonomics00:52:58 24/11/2022
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It used to feel like magic. Now it can feel like a set of cheap tricks. Is the problem with Google — or with us?00:53:05 17/11/2022
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The banana, once a luxury good, rose to become America’s favorite fruit. Now a deadly fungus threatens to wipe it out. Can it be saved?00:39:04 10/11/2022
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It’s fun to obsess over pop stars and racecar drivers — but is fandom making our politics even more toxic?00:44:18 03/11/2022
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The last two years have radically changed the way we work — producing winners, losers, and a lot of surprises.00:40:10 27/10/2022
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It was supposed to boost prosperity and democracy at the same time. What really happened? According to the legal scholar Anthea Roberts, it00:46:03 20/10/2022
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One Yale economist certainly thinks so. But even if he’s right, are economists any better?01:01:38 13/10/2022
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New research finds that bosses who went to business school pay their workers less. So what are M.B.A. programs teaching — and should they00:47:35 06/10/2022
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The pandemic provided city dwellers with a break from the din of the modern world. Now the noise is coming back. What does that mean for our00:51:34 29/09/2022
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Liberals endorse harm reduction when it comes to the opioid epidemic. Are they ready to take the same approach to climate change?00:54:16 22/09/2022
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The documentary filmmaker, known for The Civil War, Jazz, and Baseball, turns his attention to the Holocaust, and asks00:46:08 19/09/2022
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The pandemic moved a lot of religious activity onto the internet. With faith-based apps, Silicon Valley is turning virtual prayers into earthly00:44:32 15/09/2022
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As the Biden administration rushes to address climate change, Stephen Dubner looks at another, hidden cost of air pollution — one that’s affecting00:48:18 08/09/2022
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The controversial Harvard economist, recently back from a suspension, “broke a lot of glass early in my career,” he says. His research on00:59:54 01/09/2022
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It boosts economic opportunity and social mobility. It’s good for the environment. So why do we charge people to use it? The short answer:00:45:32 25/08/2022
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Breaking news! Sources say American journalism exploits our negativity bias to maximize profits, and social media algorithms add fuel to the00:47:47 18/08/2022
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According to a decades-long research project, the U.S. is not only the most individualistic country on earth; we’re also high on indulgence,00:48:06 11/08/2022
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We often look to other countries for smart policies on education, healthcare, infrastructure, etc. But can a smart policy be simply transplanted00:51:36 04/08/2022
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It used to be at the center of our conversations about politics and society. Scott Hershovitz (author of Nasty, Brutish, and Short)00:49:52 28/07/2022
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Sure, you were “in love.” But economists — using evidence from Bridgerton to Tinder — point to what’s called “assortative mating.”00:46:06 21/07/2022
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In one of the earliest Freakonomics Radio episodes, we asked a bunch of economists with young kids how they approached child-rearing.00:51:23 14/07/2022
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Boosters say blockchain technology will usher in a brave new era of decentralization. Are they right — and would it be a dream or a nightmare?00:52:11 07/07/2022
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Some of them are. With others, it’s more complicated (and more promising). We try to get past the Bored Apes and the ripoffs to see if we00:48:04 30/06/2022
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No. But now is a good time to sort out the potential from the hype. Whether you’re bullish, bearish, or just confused, we’re here to explain00:49:30 23/06/2022
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Kevin Kelly calls himself “the most optimistic person in the world.” And he has a lot to say about parenting, travel, A.I., being luckier00:40:23 16/06/2022
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In ancient Rome, it was bread and circuses. Today, it’s a World Cup, an Olympics, and a new Saudi-backed golf league that’s challenging the00:50:16 09/06/2022
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When the world went into lockdown, experts predicted a rise in intimate-partner assaults. What actually happened was more complicated.00:50:59 02/06/2022
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In this new podcast from the Freakonomics Radio Network, dog-cognition expert and bestselling author Alexandra Horowitz (Inside of a Dog)00:38:50 26/05/2022
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Educators and economists tell us all the reasons college enrollment has been dropping, especially for men, and how to stop the bleeding. (Part00:48:27 19/05/2022
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As the Supreme Court considers overturning Roe v. Wade, we look back at Steve Levitt’s controversial research on an unintended consequence00:58:01 12/05/2022
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Enrollment is down for the first time in memory, and critics complain college is too expensive, too elitist, and too politicized. The economist00:44:27 05/05/2022
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00:59:06 28/04/2022
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We think of them as intellectual enclaves and the surest route to a better life. But U.S. colleges also operate like firms, trying to differentiate00:45:44 21/04/2022
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The political scientist Yuen Yuen Ang argues that different forms of government create different styles of corruption. The U.S. and China01:07:34 14/04/2022
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The British art superstar Flora Yukhnovich, the Freakonomist Steve Levitt, and the upstart American Basketball Association were all unafraid00:37:37 07/04/2022
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After a huge false start, electric cars are finally about to flourish. We speak with a technology historian about this all-too-common story,00:43:17 31/03/2022
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Every year, there are more than a million collisions in the U.S. between drivers and deer. The result: hundreds of deaths, thousands of injuries,00:46:40 24/03/2022
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There are a lot of barriers to changing your mind: ego, overconfidence, inertia — and cost. Politicians who flip-flop get mocked; family and00:47:59 17/03/2022
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Organized labor hasn’t had this much public support in 50 years, and yet the percentage of Americans in a union is near a record low. A.F.L-C.I.O.00:51:32 10/03/2022
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People who are good at their jobs routinely get promoted into bigger jobs they’re bad at. We explain why firms keep producing incompetent00:48:34 03/03/2022
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In a new book called The Voltage Effect, the economist John List — who has already revolutionized how his profession does research00:48:54 24/02/2022
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Among O.E.C.D. nations, the U.S. has one of the highest rates of child poverty. Until recently, it looked as if Washington was about to change00:53:40 17/02/2022
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Adam Smith famously argued that specialization is the key to prosperity. In the N.F.L., the long snapper is proof of that argument. Just in00:50:48 10/02/2022
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Behavioral scientists have been exploring if — and when — a psychological reset can lead to lasting change. We survey evidence from the London00:44:43 03/02/2022
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Frisco used to be just another sleepy bedroom community outside of Dallas. Now it’s got corporate headquarters, billions of investment dollars,00:39:19 27/01/2022
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When Stephen Dubner learned that Dallas–Fort Worth will soon overtake Chicago as the third-biggest metro area in the U.S., he got on a plane00:48:27 20/01/2022
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Curses and other superstitions may have no basis in reality, but that doesn’t stop us from believing.00:47:01 13/01/2022
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In this special episode of No Stupid Questions, Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth discuss the consequences of seeing every glass00:36:19 06/01/2022
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In this special episode of People I (Mostly) Admire, Steve Levitt speaks with the palliative physician B.J. Miller about modern medicine’s00:53:58 30/12/2021
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In this special episode of Freakonomics, M.D., host Bapu Jena looks at data from birthday parties, March Madness parties, and a Freakonomics00:31:11 23/12/2021
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Is art really meant to be an “asset class”? Will the digital revolution finally democratize a market that just keeps getting more elitist?00:42:21 16/12/2021
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The more successful an artist is, the more likely their work will later be resold at auction for a huge markup — and they receive nothing.00:46:24 09/12/2021
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The art market is so opaque and illiquid that it barely functions like a market at all. A handful of big names get all the headlines (and00:52:42 02/12/2021
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Patients in the U.S. healthcare system often feel they’re treated with a lack of empathy. Doctors and nurses have tragically high levels of00:51:00 25/11/2021
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You know the saying: “There are no shortcuts in life.” What if that saying is just wrong? In his new book Thinking Better: The Art of the00:43:20 18/11/2021
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The U.S. is home to seven of the world’s 10 biggest companies. How did that happen? The answer may come down to two little letters: V.C. Is00:45:35 11/11/2021
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A new book by an unorthodox political scientist argues that the two rivals have more in common than we’d like to admit. It’s just that most00:55:44 04/11/2021
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Evidence from Nazi Germany and 1940’s America (and pretty much everywhere else) shows that discrimination is incredibly costly — to the victims,00:53:19 28/10/2021
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In one of the earliest Freakonomics Radio episodes (No. 39!), we asked a bunch of economists with young kids how they approached child-rearing.00:51:02 21/10/2021
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Arthur Brooks is an economist who for 10 years ran the American Enterprise Institute, one of the most influential conservative think tanks00:42:20 14/10/2021
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Breaking news! Sources say American journalism exploits our negativity bias to maximize profits, and social media algorithms add fuel to the00:47:13 07/10/2021
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Verbal tic or strategic rejoinder? Whatever the case: it’s rare to come across an interview these days where at least one question isn’t a00:19:28 30/09/2021
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The N.B.A. superstar Chris Bosh was still competing at the highest level when a blood clot abruptly ended his career. In his new book, Letters00:32:40 27/09/2021
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The U.S. is an outlier when it comes to policing, as evidenced by more than 1,000 fatal shootings by police each year. But we’re an outlier00:45:58 23/09/2021
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Among O.E.C.D. nations, the U.S. has one of the highest rates of child poverty. How can that be? To find out, Stephen Dubner speaks with a00:48:51 16/09/2021
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When Richard Thaler published Nudge in 2008 (with co-author Cass Sunstein), the world was just starting to believe in his brand of00:58:47 09/09/2021
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That’s what some health officials are saying, but the data aren’t so clear. We look into what’s known (and not known) about the prevalence00:35:54 02/09/2021
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In a conversation fresh from the Freakonomics Radio Network’s podcast laboratory, Michèle Flournoy (one of the highest-ranking women in Defense00:47:02 26/08/2021
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Humans have a built-in “negativity bias,” which means we give bad news much more power than good. Would the Covid-19 crisis be an opportune00:52:35 19/08/2021
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Air pollution is estimated to cause 7 million deaths a year and cost the global economy nearly $3 trillion. But is the true cost even higher?00:46:01 12/08/2021
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While other countries seem to build spectacular bridges, dams, and even entire cities with ease, the U.S. is stuck in pothole-fixing mode.00:49:08 05/08/2021
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The environmentalists say we’re doomed if we don’t drastically reduce consumption. The technologists say that human ingenuity can solve just00:53:28 29/07/2021
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According to a decades-long research project, the U.S. is not only the most individualistic country on earth; we’re also high on indulgence,00:47:30 22/07/2021
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We often look to other countries for smart policies on education, healthcare, infrastructure, etc. But can a smart policy be simply transplanted00:50:19 15/07/2021
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The benefits of sleep are by now well established, and yet many people don’t get enough. A new study suggests we should channel our inner00:36:50 08/07/2021
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Nearly two percent of America is grassy green. Sure, lawns are beautiful and useful and they smell great. But are the costs — financial, environmental00:27:23 01/07/2021
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Bren Smith, who grew up fishing and fighting, is now part of a movement that seeks to feed the planet while putting less environmental stress00:42:55 24/06/2021
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Cecilia Rouse, the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, is as cold-blooded as any economist. But she admits that her profession00:45:13 17/06/2021
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Bapu Jena was already a double threat: a doctor who’s also an economist. Now he’s a podcast host too. In this sneak preview of the Freakonomics00:23:09 10/06/2021
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The pandemic may be winding down, but that doesn’t mean we’ll return to full-time commuting and packed office buildings. The greatest accidental00:48:04 03/06/2021
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The social psychologist Robert Cialdini is a pioneer in the science of persuasion. His 1984 book Influence is a classic, and he has00:58:03 27/05/2021
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The human foot is an evolutionary masterpiece, far more functional than we give it credit for. So why do we encase it in “a coffin” (as one00:39:51 20/05/2021
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The man who wants America to “think harder” has parlayed his quixotic presidential campaign into front-runner status in New York’s mayoral00:42:38 13/05/2021
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It’s true that robots (and other smart technologies) will kill many jobs. It may also be true that newer collaborative robots (“cobots”) will00:48:22 06/05/2021
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Backers of a $15 federal wage say it’s a no-brainer if you want to fight poverty. Critics say it’s a blunt instrument that leads to job loss.00:44:15 29/04/2021
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The state-by-state rollout of legalized weed has given economists a perfect natural experiment to measure its effects. Here’s what we know00:35:24 22/04/2021
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In this special crossover episode, People I (Mostly) Admire host Steve Levitt admits to No Stupid Questions co-host Angela00:51:26 15/04/2021
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Kidney failure is such a catastrophic (and expensive) disease that Medicare covers treatment for anyone, regardless of age. Since Medicare00:53:28 08/04/2021
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Medicine has evolved from a calling into an industry, adept at dispensing procedures and pills (and gigantic bills), but less good at actual00:49:50 01/04/2021
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Why do so many promising solutions — in education, medicine, criminal justice, etc. — fail to scale up into great policy? And can a new breed00:46:01 25/03/2021
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In a word: networks. Once it embraced information as its main currency, New York was able to climb out of a deep fiscal (and psychic) pit.00:52:28 21/03/2021
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Behavioral scientists have been exploring if — and when — a psychological reset can lead to lasting change. We survey evidence from the London00:42:03 18/03/2021
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Americans are so accustomed to the standard intersection that we rarely consider how dangerous it can be — as well as costly, time-wasting,00:44:48 11/03/2021
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New York Times columnist Charles Blow argues that white supremacy in America will never fully recede, and that it’s time for Black00:56:47 04/03/2021
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Researchers are trying to figure out who gets bored — and why — and what it means for ourselves and the economy. But maybe there’s an upside00:39:12 25/02/2021
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Not so long ago, G.E. was the most valuable company in the world, a conglomerate that included everything from light bulbs and jet engines00:45:48 18/02/2021
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Most of us are are afraid to ask sensitive questions about money, sex, politics, etc. New research shows this fear is largely unfounded. Time00:42:44 11/02/2021
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Caitlin Doughty is a mortician who would like to put herself out of business. Our corporate funeral industry, she argues, has made us forget00:57:38 04/02/2021
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For all the progress made in fighting cancer, it still kills 10 million people a year, and some types remain especially hard to detect and00:44:16 28/01/2021
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It’s a powerful biological response that has preserved our species for millennia. But now it may be keeping us from pursuing strategies that00:45:39 21/01/2021
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They can’t vote or hire lobbyists. The policies we create to help them aren’t always so helpful. Consider the car seat: parents hate it, the00:47:45 14/01/2021
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We’ve collected some of our favorite moments from People I (Mostly) Admire, the latest show from the Freakonomics Radio Network.00:40:20 07/01/2021
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Societies where people trust one another are healthier and wealthier. In the U.S. (and the U.K. and elsewhere), social trust has been falling00:30:55 31/12/2020
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In this episode of No Stupid Questions — a Freakonomics Radio Network show launched earlier this year — Stephen Dubner and Angela00:36:56 24/12/2020
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Patients in the U.S. healthcare system often feel they’re treated with a lack of empathy. Doctors and nurses have tragically high levels of00:48:50 17/12/2020
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The incoming president argues that the economy and the environment are deeply connected. This is reflected in his choice for National Economic00:43:16 10/12/2020
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Tony Hsieh, the longtime C.E.O. of Zappos, was an iconoclast and a dreamer. Five years ago, we sat down with him around a desert campfire00:57:02 06/12/2020
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G.M. produces more than 20 times as many cars as Tesla, but Tesla is worth nearly 10 times as much. Mary Barra, the C.E.O. of G.M., is trying00:44:41 03/12/2020
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Google and Facebook are worth a combined $2 trillion, with the vast majority of their revenue coming from advertising. In our previous episode,00:48:21 26/11/2020
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Companies around the world spend more than half-a-trillion dollars each year on ads. The ad industry swears by its efficacy — but00:37:12 19/11/2020
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The modern world overwhelms us with sounds we didn’t ask for, like car alarms and cell-phone “halfalogues.” What does all this noise cost00:49:41 12/11/2020
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John Mackey, the C.E.O. of Whole Foods, has learned the perils of speaking his mind. But he still says what he thinks about everything from00:47:31 05/11/2020
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The sociologist Sudhir Venkatesh spent years studying crack dealers, sex workers, and the offspring of billionaires. Then he wandered into00:45:19 31/10/2020
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A fine reading of most policies for “business interruption” reveals that viral outbreaks aren’t covered. Some legislators are demanding that00:40:51 29/10/2020
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As beloved and familiar as they are, we rarely stop to consider life from the dog’s point of view. That stops now. In this latest installment00:57:37 22/10/2020
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It isn’t just supply and demand. We look at the complicated history and skewed incentives that make “affordable housing” more punch line00:44:54 15/10/2020
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The pandemic has hit America's biggest city particularly hard. Amidst a deep fiscal hole, rising homicides, and a flight to the suburbs, some00:49:04 08/10/2020
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It was only in his late twenties that America’s favorite brainiac began to seriously embrace his love of trivia. Now he holds the “Greatest00:47:08 03/10/2020
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Three leading researchers from the Mount Sinai Health System discuss how ketamine, cannabis, and ecstasy are being used (or studied) to treat00:53:33 01/10/2020
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The families of U.S. troops killed and wounded in Afghanistan are suing several companies that did reconstruction there. Why? These companies,00:47:57 24/09/2020
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The dean of Yale’s School of Management grew up in a small village in Guyana. During his unlikely journey, he has researched video-gaming00:39:29 19/09/2020
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Trump says it would destroy us. Biden needs the voters who support it (especially the Bernie voters). The majority of millennials would like00:44:24 17/09/2020
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Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings came to believe that corporate rules can kill creativity and innovation. In this latest edition of the Freakonomics00:55:06 12/09/2020
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Thanks to daily Covid testing and regimented protocols, the new football season is underway. Meanwhile, most teachers, students, and parents00:49:37 10/09/2020
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She’s best known for playing neurobiologist Amy Farrah Fowler on The Big Bang Theory, but the award-winning actress has a rich life00:45:27 05/09/2020
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We all know our political system is “broken” — but what if that’s not true? Some say the Republicans and Democrats constitute a wildly successful00:53:00 03/09/2020
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We explore the science, scalability, and (of course) economics surrounding the global vaccine race. Guests include the chief medical officer00:58:24 27/08/2020
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A new interview show with host Steve Levitt. Today he speaks with the Harvard psychologist and linguist Steven Pinker. By cataloging the steady00:42:52 22/08/2020
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What happens when tens of millions of fantasy-sports players are suddenly able to bet real money on real games? We’re about to find out. A00:54:42 20/08/2020
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The endless pursuit of G.D.P., argues the economist Kate Raworth, shortchanges too many people and also trashes the planet. Economic theory,00:41:07 13/08/2020
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Aisle upon aisle of fresh produce, cheap meat, and sugary cereal — a delicious embodiment of free-market capitalism, right? Not quite. The00:43:48 06/08/2020
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Everyone agrees that massive deforestation is an environmental disaster. But most of the standard solutions — scolding the Brazilians, invoking00:32:14 30/07/2020
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Most Americans agree that racial discrimination has been, and remains, a big problem. But that is where the agreement ends.00:40:07 23/07/2020
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The racial wealth gap in the U.S. is massive. We explore the causes, consequences, and potential solutions. Also: another story of discrimination00:44:02 16/07/2020
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Christina Romer was a top White House economist during the Great Recession. As a researcher, she specializes in the Great Depression. She00:51:40 09/07/2020
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Before she decided to become a poker pro, Maria Konnikova didn’t know how many cards are in a deck. But she did have a Ph.D. in psychology,01:00:04 02/07/2020
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Thanks to the pandemic, the telehealth revolution we’ve been promised for decades has finally arrived. Will it stick? Will it cut costs —00:52:35 25/06/2020
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In this new addition to the Freakonomics Radio Network, co-hosts Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth discuss the relationship between age00:33:56 18/06/2020
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Millions and millions are out of work, with some jobs never coming back. We speak with four economists — and one former presidential candidate00:37:39 11/06/2020
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Covid-19 is the biggest job killer in a century. As the lockdown eases, what does re-employment look like? Who will be first and who last?00:42:08 04/06/2020
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In the U.S. alone, we hold 55 million meetings a day. Most of them are woefully unproductive, and tyrannize our offices. The revolution begins00:42:37 28/05/2020
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The accidental futurist Kevin Kelly on why enthusiasm beats intelligence, how to really listen, and why the solution to bad technology is00:37:29 21/05/2020
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Three university presidents try to answer our listeners’ questions. The result? Not much pomp and a whole lot of circumstance.00:55:49 14/05/2020
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Humans have a built-in “negativity bias,” which means we give bad news much more power than good. Would the Covid-19 crisis be an opportune00:49:58 07/05/2020
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We speak with a governor, a former C.D.C. director, a pandemic forecaster, a hard-charging pharmacist, and a pair of economists — who say00:53:50 30/04/2020
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As a former top adviser to presidents Clinton and Obama, he believes in the power of the federal government. But as former mayor of Chicago,00:46:52 27/04/2020
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The U.S. spent the past few decades waiting for China to act like the global citizen it said it wanted to be. The waiting may be over.00:57:43 23/04/2020
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Should a nurse or doctor who gets sick treating Covid-19 patients have priority access to a potentially life-saving healthcare device? Americans00:48:05 16/04/2020
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Covid-19 has shocked our food-supply system like nothing in modern history. We examine the winners, the losers, the unintended consequences00:45:59 09/04/2020
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Congress just passed the biggest aid package in modern history. We ask six former White House economic advisors and one U.S. Senator: Will00:53:10 02/04/2020
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There are a lot of upsides to urban density — but viral contagion is not one of them. Also: a nationwide lockdown will show if familiarity00:40:01 26/03/2020
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In just a few weeks, the novel coronavirus has undone a century’s worth of our economic and social habits. What consequences will this have00:47:57 19/03/2020
-
As cities become ever-more expensive, politicians and housing advocates keep calling for rent control. Economists think that’s a terrible00:47:02 12/03/2020
-
Trump says it would destroy us. Sanders says it will save us. The majority of millennials would like it to replace capitalism. But what is00:43:27 05/03/2020
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That’s what some health officials are saying, but the data aren’t so clear. We look into what’s known (and not known) about the prevalence00:33:26 27/02/2020
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When he became chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai announced that he was going to take a “weed whacker” to Obama-era00:48:02 20/02/2020
-
Why do so many promising solutions — in education, medicine, criminal justice, etc. — fail to scale up into great policy? And can a new breed00:44:30 13/02/2020
-
We asked this same question nearly a decade ago. The answer then: probably not. But a lot has changed since then, and we’re three years into00:52:29 06/02/2020
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One of the most storied (and valuable) sports franchises in the world had fallen far. So they decided to do a full reboot — and it worked:01:01:11 30/01/2020
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One prescription drug is keeping some addicts from dying. So why isn’t it more widespread? A story of regulation, stigma, and the potentially00:46:23 23/01/2020
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How pharma greed, government subsidies, and a push to make pain the “fifth vital sign” kicked off a crisis that costs $80 billion a year and00:47:31 16/01/2020
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We all like to throw around terms that describe human behavior — “bystander apathy” and “steep learning curve” and “hard-wired.” Most of the00:48:05 09/01/2020
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There is strong evidence that exercise is wildly beneficial. There is even stronger evidence that most people hate to exercise. So if a pill00:38:42 02/01/2020
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In a special holiday episode, Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth take turns asking each other questions about charisma, wealth vs. intellect,00:33:50 26/12/2019
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A year ago, nobody was taking Andrew Yang very seriously. Now he is America’s favorite entrepre-nerd, with a candidacy that keeps gaining00:59:02 19/12/2019
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Every year, Americans short the I.R.S. nearly half a trillion dollars. Most ideas to increase compliance are more stick than carrot — scary00:42:37 12/12/2019
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Innovation experts have long overlooked where a lot of innovation actually happens. The personal computer, the mountain bike, the artificial00:43:19 05/12/2019
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There are a lot of barriers to changing your mind: ego, overconfidence, inertia — and cost. Politicians who flip-flop get mocked; family and00:45:04 28/11/2019
-
A recent outbreak of illness and death has gotten everyone’s attention — including late-to-the-game regulators. But would a ban on e-cigarettes00:44:12 21/11/2019
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For nearly a decade, governments have been using behavioral nudges to solve problems — and the strategy is catching on in healthcare, firefighting,00:45:09 14/11/2019
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It’s an acutely haphazard way of paying workers, and yet it keeps expanding. We dig into the data to find out why.00:47:00 07/11/2019
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Do economic sanctions work? Are big democracies any good at spreading democracy? What is the root cause of terrorism? It turns out that data01:03:23 31/10/2019
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For decades, there’s been a huge gender disparity both on-screen and behind the scenes. But it seems like cold, hard data — with an assist00:50:03 24/10/2019
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It used to be a global capital of innovation, invention, and exploration. Now it’s best known for its messy European divorce. We visit London01:00:06 17/10/2019
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In 2016, David Cameron held a referendum on whether the U.K. should stay in the European Union. A longtime Euroskeptic, he nevertheless led00:52:10 10/10/2019
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Most high-school math classes are still preparing students for the Sputnik era. Steve Levitt wants to get rid of the “geometry sandwich” and00:45:48 03/10/2019
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Mary Daly rose from high-school dropout to president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. She thinks the central bank needs an upgrade00:41:46 26/09/2019
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In the U.S. alone, we hold 55 million meetings a day. Most of them are woefully unproductive, and tyrannize our offices. The revolution begins00:41:42 19/09/2019
-
It began as a post-war dream for a more collaborative and egalitarian workplace. It has evolved into a nightmare of noise and discomfort.00:41:40 12/09/2019
-
What happens when tens of millions of fantasy-sports players are suddenly able to bet real money on real games? We’re about to find out. A00:54:53 05/09/2019
-
Global demand for beef, chicken, and pork continues to rise. So do concerns about environmental and other costs. Will reconciling these two00:53:16 29/08/2019
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The quirky little grocery chain with California roots and German ownership has a lot to teach all of us about choice architecture, efficiency,00:47:40 22/08/2019
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Research shows that having a distinctively black name doesn’t affect your economic future. But what is the day-to-day reality of living with00:38:47 15/08/2019
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A kid’s name can tell us something about his parents — their race, social standing, even their politics. But is your name really your destiny?00:51:24 08/08/2019
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Aisle upon aisle of fresh produce, cheap meat, and sugary cereal — a delicious embodiment of free-market capitalism, right? Not quite. The00:39:30 01/08/2019
-
We all know our political system is “broken” — but what if that’s not true? Some say the Republicans and Democrats constitute a wildly successful00:52:55 25/07/2019
-
They — along with a great many other high-achieving women — were all once Girl Scouts. So was Sylvia Acevedo. Raised in a poor, immigrant00:35:31 18/07/2019
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The controversial theory linking Roe v. Wade to a massive crime drop is back in the spotlight as several states introduce abortion00:55:19 11/07/2019
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Takeru Kobayashi revolutionized the sport of competitive eating. What can the rest of us learn from his breakthrough?00:26:56 04/07/2019
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There is strong evidence that exercise is wildly beneficial. There is even stronger evidence that most people hate to exercise. So if a pill00:37:23 27/06/2019
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An all-star team of behavioral scientists discovers that humans are stubborn (and lazy, and sometimes dumber than dogs). We also hear about00:51:03 20/06/2019
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Recorded live in San Francisco. Guests include the keeper of a 10,000-year clock, the co-founder of Lyft, a pioneer in male birth control,00:49:56 13/06/2019
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Recorded live in Los Angeles. Guests include Mayor Eric Garcetti, the “Earthquake Lady,” the head of the Port of L.A., and a scientist with00:50:22 06/06/2019
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There are a lot of barriers to changing your mind: ego, overconfidence, inertia — and cost. Politicians who flip-flop get mocked; family and00:45:51 30/05/2019
-
Whether it’s a giant infrastructure plan or a humble kitchen renovation, it’ll inevitably take way too long and cost way too much. That’s00:41:46 23/05/2019
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The revolution in home DNA testing is giving consumers important, possibly life-changing information. It’s also building a gigantic database00:49:26 16/05/2019
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As the cost of college skyrocketed, it created a debt burden that’s putting a drag on the economy. One possible solution: shifting the risk00:48:02 09/05/2019
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Humans have been having kids forever, so why are modern parents so bewildered? The economist Emily Oster marshals the evidence on the most00:49:59 02/05/2019
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Humans, it has long been thought, are the only animal to engage in economic activity. But what if we've had it exactly backward?00:47:00 25/04/2019
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The banana used to be a luxury good. Now it’s the most popular fruit in the U.S. and elsewhere. But the production efficiencies that made00:36:40 18/04/2019
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Daniel Ek, a 23-year-old Swede who grew up on pirated music, made the record labels an offer they couldn’t refuse: a legal platform to stream00:57:35 11/04/2019
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As cities become ever-more expensive, politicians and housing advocates keep calling for rent control. Economists think that’s a terrible00:48:18 04/04/2019
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What your disgust level says about your politics, how Napoleon influenced opera, why New York City’s subways may finally run on time, and00:53:53 28/03/2019
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Kenji Lopez-Alt became a rock star of the food world by bringing science into the kitchen in a way that everyday cooks can appreciate. Then00:48:57 21/03/2019
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For years, Gary Cohn thought he’d be the next C.E.O. of Goldman Sachs. Instead, he became the “adult in the room” in a chaotic administration.00:48:23 14/03/2019
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The road to success is paved with failure, so you might as well learn to do it right. (Ep. 5 of the00:40:39 07/03/2019
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Whether you’re building a business or a cathedral, execution is everything. We ask artists, scientists, and inventors how they turned ideas00:54:28 28/02/2019
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Whether you’re mapping the universe, hosting a late-night talk show, or running a meeting, there are a lot of ways to up your idea game. Plus:01:01:34 21/02/2019
-
Global demand for beef, chicken, and pork continues to rise. So do concerns about environmental and other costs. Will reconciling these two00:51:47 14/02/2019
-
In 2005, Raghuram Rajan said the financial system was at risk “of a catastrophic meltdown.” After stints at the I.M.F. and India’s central00:49:08 07/02/2019
-
Stephen Dubner’s conversation with the former N.F.L. player, union official, and all-around sports thinker, recorded for our01:29:52 02/02/2019
-
If you think talent and hard work give top athletes all the leverage to succeed, think again. As employees in the Sports-Industrial Complex,01:00:07 31/01/2019
-
A conversation with the Shark Tank star, entrepreneur, and Dallas Mavericks owner recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series00:42:04 26/01/2019
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For most of us, the athletes are what make sports interesting. But if you own the team or run the league, your players are essentially very00:52:50 24/01/2019
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A conversation with former Major League Baseball player and current ESPN analyst Mark Teixeira, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio00:58:39 19/01/2019
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Great athletes aren’t just great at the physical stuff. They’ve also learned how to handle pressure, overcome fear, and stay focused. Here’s00:55:05 17/01/2019
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Jim Yong Kim has an unorthodox background for a World Bank president — and his reign has been just as unorthodox. He has just announced he’s00:35:40 12/01/2019
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In the American Dream sweepstakes, Andrew Yang was a pretty big winner. But for every winner, he came to realize, there are thousands upon00:52:10 10/01/2019
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The U.N.’s World Happiness Report — created to curtail our unhealthy obsession with G.D.P. — is dominated every year by the Nordic countries.00:37:41 03/01/2019
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Games are as old as civilization itself, and some people think they have huge social value regardless of whether you win or lose. Tom Whipple00:52:29 27/12/2018
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You wouldn’t think you could win a Nobel Prize for showing that humans tend to make irrational decisions. But that’s what Richard Thaler has00:57:57 20/12/2018
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We learn how to be less impatient, how to tell fake news from real, and the simple trick that nurses used to make better predictions than00:56:39 15/12/2018
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Our co-host is comedian Christian Finnegan, and we learn: the difference between danger and fear; the role of clouds in climate change; and00:55:20 15/12/2018
-
Celebrity chef Alex Guarnaschelli joins us to co-host an evening of delicious fact-finding: where a trillion oysters went, whether a soda00:56:55 15/12/2018
-
Our co-host is Grit author Angela Duckworth, and we learn fascinating, Freakonomical facts from a parade of guests. For instance:01:00:27 13/12/2018
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In the early 20th century, Max Weber argued that Protestantism created wealth. Finally, there are data to prove if he was right. All it took00:40:30 06/12/2018
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The quirky little grocery chain with California roots and German ownership has a lot to teach all of us about choice architecture, efficiency,00:47:01 29/11/2018
-
Some people argue that sugar should be regulated, like alcohol and tobacco, on the grounds that it’s addictive and toxic. How much sense does00:47:06 22/11/2018
-
It began as a post-war dream for a more collaborative and egalitarian workplace. It has evolved into a nightmare of noise and discomfort.00:40:32 15/11/2018
-
The Ford Motor Company is ditching its legacy sedans, doubling down on trucks, and trying to steer its stock price out of a long skid. But00:54:04 08/11/2018
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We all know our political system is “broken” — but what if that’s not true? Some say the Republicans and Democrats constitute a wildly successful00:54:15 01/11/2018
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A conversation with the iconic singer-songwriter, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “How to Be Creative.”01:19:31 27/10/2018
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Family environments and “diversifying experiences” (including the early death of a parent); intrinsic versus extrinsic motivations; schools01:13:43 25/10/2018
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A conversation with veteran NBA point guard Jeremy Lin, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “00:43:17 20/10/2018
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There are thousands of books on the subject, but what do we actually know about creativity? In this new series, we talk to the researchers00:52:32 18/10/2018
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You said, “I’m sorry,” but somehow you haven’t been forgiven. Why? Because you’re doing it wrong! A report from the front lines of apology00:49:16 11/10/2018
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The World Trade Organization is the referee for 164 trading partners, each with their own political and economic agendas. Lately, those agendas00:42:43 04/10/2018
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A conversation with 2008 Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “01:07:16 01/10/2018
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There are a lot of factors that go into greatness, many of which are not obvious. A variety of Olympic and professional athletes tell us how01:07:43 27/09/2018
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Stephen Dubner’s conversations with members of the San Francisco 49ers offense, recorded for Freakonomics Radio episode No. 350,01:20:11 23/09/2018
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The San Francisco 49ers, one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world, also used to be one of the best. But they’ve been losing01:00:48 20/09/2018
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Dollar-wise, the sports industry is surprisingly small, about the same size as the cardboard-box industry. So why does it make so much noise?00:52:06 13/09/2018
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We all know the standard story: our economy would be more dynamic if only the government would get out of the way. The economist Mariana Mazzucato00:34:43 06/09/2018
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Kenji Lopez-Alt became a rock star of the food world by bringing science into the kitchen in a way that everyday cooks can appreciate. Then00:37:17 30/08/2018
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The environmentalists say we’re doomed if we don’t drastically reduce consumption. The technologists say that human ingenuity can solve just00:51:22 23/08/2018
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The U.N.’s World Happiness Report — created to curtail our unhealthy obsession with G.D.P. — is dominated every year by the Nordic countries.00:37:30 16/08/2018
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After every mass shooting or terrorist attack, victims and survivors receive a huge outpouring of support — including a massive pool of compensation00:38:10 09/08/2018
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One of the world’s biggest and best-known companies just announced that its C.E.O. would be stepping down in the fall. We interviewed her00:45:45 07/08/2018
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In this live episode of “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know,” we learn why New York has skinny skyscrapers, how to weaponize water, and what astronauts00:53:36 02/08/2018
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He was once the most lionized athlete on the planet, with seven straight Tour de France wins and a victory over cancer too. Then the doping00:50:37 26/07/2018
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It happens to just about everyone, whether you’re going for Olympic gold or giving a wedding toast. We hear from psychologists, economists,00:44:38 19/07/2018
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You wouldn’t think you could win a Nobel Prize for showing that humans tend to make irrational decisions. But that’s what Richard Thaler has00:57:00 12/07/2018
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After 8 years and more than 300 episodes, it was time to either 1) quit, or 2) make the show bigger and better. We voted for number 2. Here’s00:35:59 03/07/2018
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What do Renaissance painting, civil-rights movements, and Olympic cycling have in common? In each case, huge breakthroughs came from taking00:49:21 28/06/2018
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Has our culture's obsession with innovation led us to neglect the fact that things also need to be taken care of?00:42:16 21/06/2018
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For soccer fans, it's easy. For the rest of us? Not so much, especially since the U.S. team didn't qualify. So here's what to watch for even00:56:44 14/06/2018
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We are in the midst of a historic (and wholly unpredicted) rise in urbanization. But it's hard to retrofit old cities for the 21st century.00:39:06 07/06/2018
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Nearly two percent of America is grassy green. Sure, lawns are beautiful and useful and they smell great. But are the costs — financial, environmental00:28:26 31/05/2018
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Pharmaceutical firms donate an enormous amount of their products (and some cash too). But it doesn't seem to be helping their reputation.00:33:24 24/05/2018
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Corporate Social Responsibility programs can attract better job applicants who'll work for less money. But they also encourage employees to00:36:53 17/05/2018
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We all like to throw around terms that describe human behavior — “bystander apathy” and “steep learning curve” and “hard-wired.” Most of the00:49:36 10/05/2018
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A breakthrough in genetic technology has given humans more power than ever to change nature. It could help eliminate hunger and disease; it00:35:32 03/05/2018
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Sure, medical progress has been astounding. But today the U.S. spends more on healthcare than any other country, with so-so outcomes. Atul00:52:00 26/04/2018
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Three former White House economists weigh in on the new tax bill. A sample: "The overwhelming evidence is that the trickle-down, magic-beanstalk00:44:59 19/04/2018
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Kevin Hassett, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, explains the thinking behind the controversial new Republican tax package — and00:45:27 12/04/2018
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Stephen Dubner's conversation with the founder and longtime C.E.O. of Bridgewater Associates, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The01:17:11 09/04/2018
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Humans, it has long been thought, are the only animal to engage in economic activity. But what if we've had it exactly backward?00:48:20 05/04/2018
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Stephen Dubner's conversation with the Facebook founder and C.E.O., recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Secret Life of a C.E.O.”00:45:34 02/04/2018
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The bad news: roughly 70 percent of Americans are financially illiterate. The good news: all the important stuff can fit on one index card.00:44:47 29/03/2018
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Stephen Dubner's conversation with the former C.E.O. of Yahoo, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Secret Life of a C.E.O.”00:50:38 26/03/2018
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It's hard enough to save for a house, tuition, or retirement. So why are we willing to pay big fees for subpar investment returns? Enter the00:46:38 22/03/2018
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Stephen Dubner's conversation with the former longtime C.E.O. of General Electric, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Secret00:55:47 19/03/2018
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Every 12 years, there's a spike in births among certain communities across the globe, including the U.S. Why? Because the Year of the Dragon,00:35:30 15/03/2018
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Stephen Dubner's conversation with the C.E.O. of Microsoft, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Secret Life of a C.E.O.”00:39:39 12/03/2018
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Whether it's a giant infrastructure plan or a humble kitchen renovation, it'll inevitably take way too long and cost way too much. That's00:41:13 08/03/2018
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Stephen Dubner's conversation with the co-founder and longtime co-C.E.O. of the Carlyle Group, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series01:28:59 05/03/2018
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In our collective zeal to reform schools and close the achievement gap, we may have lost sight of where most learning really happens — at00:46:33 01/03/2018
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Stephen Dubner's conversation with the Virgin Group founder, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Secret Life of a C.E.O.”00:53:34 26/02/2018
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If you're a C.E.O., there are a lot of ways to leave your job, from abrupt firing to carefully planned succession (which may still go spectacularly00:45:06 22/02/2018
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Only 5 percent of Fortune 500 companies are run by women. Why? Research shows that female executives are more likely to be put in charge of00:52:26 15/02/2018
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No, it's not your fault the economy crashed. Or that consumer preferences changed. Or that new technologies have blown apart your business00:44:06 08/02/2018
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The gig economy offers the ultimate flexibility to set your own hours. That's why economists thought it would help eliminate the gender pay00:42:32 06/02/2018
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We assembled a panel of smart dudes -- a two-time Super Bowl champ; a couple of N.F.L. linemen, including one who's getting a math Ph.D. at00:27:37 03/02/2018
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Indra Nooyi became C.E.O. of PepsiCo just in time for a global financial meltdown. She also had a portfolio full of junk food just as the00:48:03 01/02/2018
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Mark Zuckerberg's dentist dad was an early adopter of digital x-rays. Jack Welch blew the roof off a factory. Carol Bartz was a Wisconsin00:44:23 25/01/2018
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They're paid a fortune — but for what, exactly? What makes a good C.E.O. — and how can you even tell? Is "leadership science" a real thing00:38:37 18/01/2018
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Gina Raimondo, the governor of tiny Rhode Island, has taken on unions, boosted big business, and made friends with Republicans. She is also00:38:07 11/01/2018
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Most of us feel we face more headwinds and obstacles than everyone else — which breeds resentment. We also undervalue the tailwinds that help00:30:10 04/01/2018
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Societies where people trust one another are healthier and wealthier. In the U.S. (and the U.K. and elsewhere), social trust has been falling00:30:00 28/12/2017
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Sure, markets generally work well. But for some transactions — like school admissions and organ transplants — money alone can't solve the00:52:47 21/12/2017
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The International Monetary Fund has long been the "lender of last resort" for economies in crisis. Christine Lagarde, who runs the institution,00:38:22 14/12/2017
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The public has almost no chance to buy good tickets to the best events. Ticket brokers, meanwhile, make huge profits on the secondary markets.00:47:41 07/12/2017
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Economists have a hard time explaining why productivity growth has been shrinking. One theory: true innovation has gotten much harder – and00:37:00 30/11/2017
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Most people don't enjoy the simple, boring act of putting money in a savings account. But we do love to play the lottery. So what if you combine00:45:16 23/11/2017
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They are the most-trusted profession in America (and with good reason). They are critical to patient outcomes (especially in primary care).00:57:47 16/11/2017
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Dubner and his Freakonomics co-author Steve Levitt answer your questions about crime, traffic, real-estate agents, the Ph.D. glut, and how00:43:28 09/11/2017
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In this live episode of "Tell Me Something I Don't Know," you'll learn about carcass balancing, teen sleeping, and brand naming.00:43:26 07/11/2017
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Corporations and rich people donate billions to their favorite think tanks and foundations. Should we be grateful for their generosity — or00:38:50 02/11/2017
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Academic studies are nice, and so are Nobel Prizes. But to truly prove the value of a new idea, you have to unleash it to the masses. That's00:44:44 26/10/2017
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Celiac disease is thought to affect roughly one percent of the population. The good news: it can be treated by quitting gluten. The bad news:00:43:58 19/10/2017
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00:57:08 12/10/2017
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Stephen J. Dubner hosts an episode full of the world's most renowned behavior change experts, including Colin Camerer, Ayelet Fishbach, David00:54:11 01/10/2017
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He's been U.S. Treasury Secretary, a chief economist for the Obama White House and the World Bank, and president of Harvard. He's one of the00:50:25 28/09/2017
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A language invented in the 19th century, and meant to be universal, it never really caught on. So why does a group of Esperantists from around00:30:59 26/09/2017
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We explore votes for English, Indonesian, and … Esperanto! The search for a common language goes back millennia, but so much still gets lost00:41:07 21/09/2017
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There are 7,000 languages spoken on Earth. What are the costs — and benefits — of our modern-day Tower of Babel?00:43:06 14/09/2017
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John Urschel was the only player in the N.F.L. simultaneously getting a math Ph.D. at M.I.T. But after a new study came out linking football00:47:08 07/09/2017
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By some estimates, medical error is the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. How can that be? And what's to be done? Our third and final00:48:40 31/08/2017
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How do so many ineffective and even dangerous drugs make it to market? One reason is that clinical trials are often run on "dream patients"00:45:39 24/08/2017
-
We tend to think of medicine as a science, but for most of human history it has been scientific-ish at best. In the first episode of a three-part00:44:05 17/08/2017
-
Standing in line represents a particularly sloppy — and frustrating — way for supply and demand to meet. Why haven't we found a better way00:36:22 10/08/2017
-
The bad news: roughly 70 percent of Americans are financially illiterate. The good news: all the important stuff can fit on one index card.00:44:04 03/08/2017
-
It's hard enough to save for a house, tuition, or retirement. So why are we willing to pay big fees for subpar investment returns? Enter the00:48:04 27/07/2017
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The human foot is an evolutionary masterpiece, far more functional than we give it credit for. So why do we encase it in "a coffin"00:39:16 20/07/2017
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Good intentions are nice, but with so many resources poured into social programs, wouldn't it be even nicer to know what actually works?00:51:29 13/07/2017
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Over 40 percent of U.S. births are to unmarried mothers, and the numbers are especially high among the less-educated. Why? One argument is00:43:58 06/07/2017
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How a pain-in-the-neck girl from rural Virginia came to run the most powerful university in the world.00:39:21 29/06/2017
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Charles Koch, the mega-billionaire CEO of Koch Industries and half of the infamous political machine, sees himself as a classical liberal.00:37:15 23/06/2017
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Charles Koch, the mega-billionaire CEO of Koch Industries and half of the infamous political machine, sees himself as a classical liberal.00:44:31 22/06/2017
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Steve Levitt, Scott Turow and Bridget Gainer are panelists. For the "Freakonomics" co-author, the attorney and novelist, and the00:57:16 20/06/2017
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A breakthrough in genetic technology has given humans more power than ever to change nature. It could help eliminate hunger and disease; it00:35:43 15/06/2017
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Steve Hilton was the man behind David Cameron's push to remake British politics. Things didn't work out so well there. Now he's trying to00:42:16 08/06/2017
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Nearly two percent of America is grassy green. Sure, lawns are beautiful and useful and they smell great. But are the costs — financial, environmental00:28:01 01/06/2017
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A series of academic studies suggest that the wealthy are, to put it bluntly, selfish jerks. It's an easy narrative to swallow — but is it00:42:24 25/05/2017
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As CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer was famous for over-the-top enthusiasm. Now he's brought that same passion to the N.B.A. -- and to a pet00:39:23 18/05/2017
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On the Internet, people say all kinds of things they'd never say aloud -- about sex and race, about their true wants and fears. Seth Stephens-Davidowitz00:34:02 11/05/2017
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A kitchen wizard and a nutrition detective talk about the perfect hamburger, getting the most out of garlic, and why you should use vodka00:36:46 04/05/2017
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Some people argue that sugar should be regulated, like alcohol and tobacco, on the grounds that it's addictive and toxic. How much sense does00:45:40 27/04/2017
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In pursuit of a more perfect economy, we discuss the future of work; the toxic remnants of colonization; and whether giving everyone a basic00:40:57 20/04/2017
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If we could reboot the planet and create new systems and institutions from scratch, would they be any better than what we've blundered our00:42:53 13/04/2017
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The biggest problem with humanity is humans themselves. Too often, we make choices — what we eat, how we spend our money and time — that undermine00:35:23 06/04/2017
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By day, two leaders of Britain's famous Nudge Unit use behavioral tricks to make better government policy. By night, they repurpose those00:30:46 30/03/2017
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Hear live journalism wrapped in a game show package and hosted by Stephen J. Dubner. In this episode, Tim Ferriss, Eugene Mirman and Anne00:51:22 28/03/2017
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Economists preach the gospel of "creative destruction," whereby new industries -- and jobs -- replace the old ones. But has creative00:33:20 23/03/2017
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Most of us feel we face more headwinds and obstacles than everyone else — which breeds resentment. We also undervalue the tailwinds that help00:30:32 16/03/2017
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The pizza-and-gaming emporium prides itself on affordability, which means its arcade games are really cheap to play. Does that lead to kids00:31:22 09/03/2017
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The serial entrepreneur Miki Agrawal loves to talk about the bodily functions that make most people flinch. That's why she's building a business00:32:09 02/03/2017
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In their chase for a global audience, American movie studios spend billions to make their films look amazing. But almost none of those dollars00:55:46 23/02/2017
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What happens when a public-health researcher deep in coal country argues that mountaintop mining endangers the entire community? Hint: it00:37:04 16/02/2017
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The psychologist Angela Duckworth argues that a person's level of stick-to-itiveness is directly related to their level of success. No big00:42:10 09/02/2017
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We assembled a panel of smart dudes -- a two-time Super Bowl champ; a couple of NFL linemen, including one who's getting a math Ph.D. at MIT;00:28:27 02/02/2017
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For years, economists promised that global free trade would be mostly win-win. Now they admit the pace of change has been "traumatic."00:38:24 26/01/2017
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Just a few decades ago, more than 90 percent of 30-year-olds earned more than their parents had earned at the same age. Now it's only about00:39:29 19/01/2017
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The Daily Show host grew up as a poor, mixed-race South African kid going to three churches every Sunday. So he has a sui generis view of00:35:22 12/01/2017
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Starting in the late 1960s, the Israeli psychologists Amos Tversky and Danny Kahneman began to redefine how the human mind actually works.00:35:09 05/01/2017
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What if the thing we call "talent" is grotesquely overrated? And what if deliberate practice is the secret to excellence? Those00:50:11 29/12/2016
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In this busy time of year, we could all use some tips on how to get more done in less time. First, however, a warning: there's a big difference00:39:23 22/12/2016
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By some estimates, medical error is the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. How can that be? And what's to be done? Our third and final00:48:34 15/12/2016
-
How do so many ineffective and even dangerous drugs make it to market? One reason is that clinical trials are often run on "dream patients"00:45:21 08/12/2016
-
We tend to think of medicine as a science, but for most of human history it has been scientific-ish at best. In the first episode of a three-part00:44:54 01/12/2016
-
The restaurant business model is warped: kitchen wages are too low to hire cooks, while diners are put in charge of paying the waitstaff.00:44:25 24/11/2016
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Some of our most important decisions are shaped by something as random as the order in which we make them. The gambler's fallacy, as it's00:35:44 17/11/2016
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"Tell Me Something I Don't Know" is a live game show hosted by Stephen J. Dubner of "Freakonomics Radio." He has always00:53:22 15/11/2016
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Societies where people trust one another are healthier and wealthier. In the U.S. (and the U.K. and elsewhere), social trust has been falling00:27:42 10/11/2016
-
The U.S. president is often called the "leader of free world." But if you ask an economist or a Constitutional scholar how much00:33:26 09/11/2016
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A tiny behavioral-sciences startup is trying to improve the way federal agencies do their work. Considering the size (and habits) of most00:42:18 03/11/2016
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What do Renaissance painting, civil-rights movements, and Olympic cycling have in common? In each case, huge breakthroughs came from taking00:48:33 27/10/2016
-
Has our culture's obsession with innovation led us to neglect the fact that things also need to be taken care of?00:41:44 20/10/2016
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Neuroscientists still have a great deal to learn about the human brain. One recent MRI study sheds some light, finding that a certain kind00:45:23 13/10/2016
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The process is famously secretive (and conducted in Swedish!) but we pry the lid off at least a little bit.00:44:31 06/10/2016
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It facilitates crime, bribery, and tax evasion -- and yet some governments (including ours) are printing more cash than ever. Other countries,00:42:58 29/09/2016
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Sure, we all pay lip service to the Madisonian system of checks and balances. But as one legal scholar argues, presidents have been running00:47:47 22/09/2016
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Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party's presidential candidate, likes to say that most Americans are libertarians but don't know it yet. So00:50:42 15/09/2016
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To you, it's just a ride-sharing app that gets you where you're going. But to an economist, Uber is a massive repository of moment-by-moment00:38:28 08/09/2016
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Internet pioneer Kevin Kelly tries to predict the future by identifying what's truly inevitable. How worried should we be? Yes, robots will00:35:01 01/09/2016
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The gist: we spend billions on end-of-life healthcare that doesn’t do much good. So what if a patient could forego the standard treatment00:37:49 25/08/2016
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The comedian, actor -- and now, author -- answers our FREAK-quently Asked Questions.00:31:28 18/08/2016
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Standing in line represents a particularly sloppy - and frustrating - way for supply and demand to meet. Why haven't we found a better way00:34:56 11/08/2016
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We seem to have decided that ethnic food tastes better when it's served by people of that ethnicity (or at least something close). Does this00:51:59 04/08/2016
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We Americans may love our democracy -- at least in theory -- but at the moment our feelings toward the federal government lie somewhere between00:43:03 28/07/2016
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Overt discrimination in the labor markets may be on the wane, but women are still subtly penalized by all sorts of societal conventions. How00:36:32 21/07/2016
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It's a remarkable ecosystem that allows each of us to exercise control over our lives. But how much control do we truly have? How many of00:47:58 14/07/2016
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Eric Garcetti, the mayor of Los Angeles, has big ambitions but knows he must first master the small stuff. He's also a polymath who relies00:43:48 07/07/2016
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There are more than twice as many suicides as murders in the U.S., but suicide attracts far less scrutiny. Freakonomics Radio digs through00:57:26 30/06/2016
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The U.S. president is often called the "leader of free world." But if you ask an economist or a Constitutional scholar how much00:33:28 23/06/2016
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There are all kinds of civics-class answers to that question. But how true are they? Could it be that we like to read about war, politics,00:35:49 16/06/2016
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You've seen them — everywhere! — and often clustered together, as if central planners across America decided that what every city really needs00:36:45 09/06/2016
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Public bathrooms are noisy, poorly designed, and often nonexistent. What to do?00:31:48 09/06/2016
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Patrick Smith, the author of Cockpit Confidential, answers every question we can throw at him about what really happens up in the air. Just00:43:45 02/06/2016
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When the uncelebrated Leicester City Football Club won the English Premier League, it wasn't just the biggest underdog story in recent history.00:43:03 26/05/2016
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Our Self-Improvement Month concludes with a man whose entire life and career are one big pile of self-improvement. Nutrition? Check. Bizarre00:41:31 19/05/2016
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Games are as old as civilization itself, and some people think they have huge social value regardless of whether you win or lose. Tom Whipple00:52:31 12/05/2016
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The psychologist Angela Duckworth argues that a person's level of stick-to-itiveness is directly related to their level of success. No big00:44:29 05/05/2016
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"Books are a pain in the ass," says Gladwell, who has written some of the most popular, influential, and beloved non-fiction books00:28:20 02/05/2016
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What if the thing we call "talent" is grotesquely overrated? And what if deliberate practice is the secret to excellence? Those are the claims00:48:04 28/04/2016
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It's Self-Improvement Month at Freakonomics Radio. We begin with a topic that seems to be on everyone's mind: how to get more done in less00:38:37 21/04/2016
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A lot of full-time jobs in the modern economy simply don't pay a living wage. And even those jobs may be obliterated by new technologies.00:36:42 14/04/2016
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Critics -- including President Obama -- say short-term, high-interest loans are predatory, trapping borrowers in a cycle of debt. But some00:49:40 07/04/2016
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People who sleep better earn more money. Now all we have to do is teach everyone to sleep better.00:42:50 31/03/2016
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Could a lack of sleep help explain why some people get much sicker than others?00:45:41 24/03/2016
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As sexy as the digital revolution may be, it can't compare to the Second Industrial Revolution (electricity! the gas engine! antibiotics!),00:33:32 17/03/2016
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The restaurant business model is warped: kitchen wages are too low to hire cooks, while diners are put in charge of paying the waitstaff.00:43:18 11/03/2016
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The junior U.S. Senator from New Jersey thinks bipartisanship is right around the corner. Is he just an idealistic newbie or does he see a00:39:21 03/03/2016
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Now and again, Freakonomics Radio puts hat in hand and asks listeners to donate to the public-radio station that produces the show. Why on00:41:43 25/02/2016
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A famous economics essay features a pencil (yes, a pencil) arguing that “not a single person on the face of this earth knows how to make me.”00:40:52 18/02/2016
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The digital age is making pen and paper seem obsolete. But what are we giving up if we give up on handwriting?00:39:36 11/02/2016
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Okay, maybe the steps aren't so easy. But a program run out of a Toronto housing project has had great success in turning around kids who00:29:15 04/02/2016
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If U.S. schoolteachers are indeed "just a little bit below average," it's not really their fault. So what should be done about it?00:36:39 28/01/2016
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The Montgomery Bus Boycott, the South African divestment campaign, Chick-fil-A! Almost anyone can launch a boycott, and the media loves to00:37:26 21/01/2016
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Experts and pundits are notoriously bad at forecasting, in part because they aren't punished for bad predictions. Also, they tend to be deeply00:46:56 14/01/2016
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Discrimination can't explain why women earn so much less than men. If only it were that easy.00:43:27 07/01/2016
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Sure, we all want to make good personal decisions, but it doesn't always work out. That's where "temptation bundling" comes in.00:31:02 31/12/2015
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A team of economists has been running the numbers on the U.N.'s development goals. They have a different view of how those billions of dollars00:41:59 24/12/2015
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The argument for open borders is compelling -- and deeply problematic.01:00:58 17/12/2015
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One woman's quest to find the best burger in town can teach all of us to eat smarter.00:32:07 10/12/2015
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He was handed the keys to the global economy just as it started heading off a cliff. Fortunately, he'd seen this movie before.00:47:05 03/12/2015
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Even a brutal natural disaster doesn't diminish our appetite for procreating. This surely means we're heading toward massive overpopulation,00:40:03 26/11/2015
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In our collective zeal to reform schools and close the achievement gap, we may have lost sight of where most learning really happens -- at00:45:56 19/11/2015
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Lessons from Tom Petty's rise and another rocker's fall.00:45:31 12/11/2015
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A kitchen wizard and a nutrition detective talk about the perfect hamburger, getting the most out of garlic, and why you should use vodka00:38:23 05/11/2015
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Researchers are trying to figure out who gets bored - and why - and what it means for ourselves and the economy. But maybe there's an upside00:39:32 29/10/2015
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Doctors, chefs, and other experts are much more likely than the rest of us to buy store-brand products. What do they know that we don't?00:36:27 22/10/2015
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The process is famously secretive (and conducted in Swedish!) but we pry the lid off at least a little bit.00:45:27 15/10/2015
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When one athlete turned pro, his mom asked him for $1 million. Our modern sensibilities tell us she doesn't have a case. But should she?00:47:22 08/10/2015
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Anne-Marie Slaughter was best known for her adamant views on Syria when she accidentally became a poster girl for modern feminism. As it turns00:42:10 01/10/2015
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Suspenders may work better, but the dork factor is too high. How did an organ-squeezing belly tourniquet become part of our everyday wardrobe00:30:56 24/09/2015
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From domestic abusers to former child soldiers, there is increasing evidence that behavioral therapy can turn them around.00:46:53 17/09/2015
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Conventional programs tend to be expensive, onerous, and ineffective. Could something as simple (and cheap) as cognitive behavioral therapy00:41:33 10/09/2015
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How a pain-in-the-neck girl from rural Virginia came to run the most powerful university in the world.00:38:52 03/09/2015
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We spend billions on end-of-life healthcare that doesn't do much good. So what if a patient could forego the standard treatment and get a00:36:55 27/08/2015
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Step 1: Hire a Harvard psych professor as the pitchman. Step 2: Have him help write the script ...00:30:34 20/08/2015
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What do NASCAR drivers, Glenn Beck and the hit men of the NFL have in common?00:30:57 13/08/2015
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There are all kinds of civics-class answers to that question. But how true are they? Could it be that we like to read about war, politics,00:35:51 06/08/2015
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Why is soccer the best sport? How has Harlan Coben sold 70 million books? And why does "Apollo 13" keep you enthralled even when00:39:21 30/07/2015
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The comedian, actor -- and now, author -- answers our FREAK-quently Asked Questions00:32:02 23/07/2015
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People who sleep better earn more money. Now all we have to do is teach everyone to sleep better.00:43:28 16/07/2015
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Could a lack of sleep help explain why some people get much sicker than others?00:45:00 09/07/2015
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Takeru Kobayashi revolutionized the sport of competitive eating. What can the rest of us learn from his breakthrough?00:28:06 02/07/2015
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We seem to have decided that ethnic food tastes better when it's served by people of that ethnicity (or at least something close). Does this00:53:56 25/06/2015
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Sure, markets generally work well. But for some transactions -- like school admissions and organ transplants -- money alone can't solve the00:50:22 18/06/2015
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Sure, sex crimes are horrific, and the perpetrators deserve to be punished harshly. But society keeps exacting costs -- out-of-pocket and00:35:29 11/06/2015
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One man's attempt to remake his life in the mold of homo economicus.00:54:47 04/06/2015
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The debut of a live game show from Freakonomics Radio, with judges Malcolm Gladwell, Ana Gasteyer, and David Paterson.01:02:56 28/05/2015
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In which we argue that failure should not only be tolerated but celebrated.00:31:48 21/05/2015
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Dubner and Levitt are live onstage at the 92nd Street Y in New York to celebrate their new book "When to Rob a Bank" -- and a decade00:46:02 14/05/2015
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Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh has a wild vision and the dollars to try to make it real. But it still might be the biggest gamble in town.00:55:16 07/05/2015
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When it comes to generating ideas and asking questions it can be really fruitful to have the mentality of an eight year old.00:29:43 30/04/2015
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America's favorite statistical guru answers our FREAK-quently Asked Questions, and more.00:39:08 23/04/2015
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It may seem like winning a valuable diamond is an unalloyed victory. It's not. It's not even clear that a diamond is so valuable.00:40:29 16/04/2015
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The practice of medicine has been subsumed by the business of medicine. This is great news for healthcare shareholders -- and bad news for00:53:55 09/04/2015
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A lot of the conventional wisdom in medicine is nothing more than hunch or wishful thinking. A new breed of data detectives is hoping to change00:41:52 02/04/2015
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If you are driving and kill a pedestrian, there's a good chance you'll barely be punished. Why?00:29:35 26/03/2015
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Thick markets, thin markets, and the triumph of attributes over compatibility.00:40:11 19/03/2015
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Sure, we all want to make good personal decisions, but it doesn't always work out. That's where "temptation bundling" comes in.00:33:03 12/03/2015
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Every year, Edge.org asks its salon of big thinkers to answer one big question. This year's question borders on heresy: what scientific idea00:54:33 05/03/2015
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Advertisers have always been adept at manipulating our emotions. Now they're using behavioral economics to get even better.00:32:56 26/02/2015
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Jim Yong Kim has an unorthodox background for a World Bank president — and his reign thus far is just as unorthodox.00:36:00 19/02/2015
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The White House is hosting an anti-terror summit next week. Summits being what they are, we try to offer some useful advice.00:42:48 12/02/2015
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It's a centerpiece of U.S. climate policy and a sacred cow among environmentalists. Does it work?00:32:35 05/02/2015
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Economists preach the gospel of "creative destruction," whereby new industries -- and jobs -- replace the old ones. But has creative00:33:38 29/01/2015
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As Kevin Kelly tells it, the hippie revolution and the computer revolution are nearly one and the same.00:29:15 22/01/2015
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Verbal tic or strategic rejoinder? Whatever the case: it’s rare to come across an interview these days where at least one question isn’t a00:25:23 15/01/2015
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Influenza kills, but you’d never know it by how few of us get the vaccine.00:36:16 08/01/2015
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Most people blame lack of time for being out of shape. So maybe the solution is to exercise more efficiently.00:15:20 01/01/2015
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Imagine that both substances were undiscovered until today. How would we think about their relative risks?00:25:22 25/12/2014
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Public bathrooms are noisy, poorly designed, and often nonexistent. What to do?00:34:45 18/12/2014
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We spend billions on our pets, and one of the fastest-growing costs is pet "aftercare." But are those cremated remains you got back00:44:38 11/12/2014
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Okay, maybe the steps aren’t so easy. But a program run out of a Toronto housing project has had great success in turning around kids who00:29:18 04/12/2014
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If U.S. schoolteachers are indeed “just a little bit below average,” it’s not really their fault. So what should be done about it?00:34:24 27/11/2014
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Boris Johnson -- mayor of London, biographer of Churchill, cheese-box painter and tennis-racket collector -- answers our FREAK-quently Asked00:27:44 20/11/2014
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Even a brutal natural disaster doesn’t diminish our appetite for procreating. This surely means we’re heading toward massive overpopulation,00:38:33 13/11/2014
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Corporations around the world are consolidating like never before. If it’s good enough for companies, why not countries? Welcome to Amexico!00:55:59 06/11/2014
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A lot! “The Economics of the Undead” is a book about dating strategy, job creation, and whether there should be a legal market for blood.00:24:51 30/10/2014
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The debut of a live game show from Freakonomics Radio, with judges Malcolm Gladwell, Ana Gasteyer, and David Paterson.01:02:28 23/10/2014
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00:36:11 16/10/2014
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The science of what works -- and doesn't work -- in fund-raising00:33:15 09/10/2014
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A team of economists has been running the numbers on the U.N.'s development goals. They have a different view of how those billions of dollars00:41:59 02/10/2014
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Markets are hardly perfect, but the results can be ugly when you try to subvert them.00:30:42 25/09/2014
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What does it mean to pursue something that everyone else thinks is nuts? And what does it take to succeed?00:40:25 18/09/2014
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Doctors, chefs, and other experts are much more likely than the rest of us to buy store-brand products. What do they know that we don’t?00:33:41 11/09/2014
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Airbnb, Uber, Lyft, EatWith, and other companies in the “sharing economy” are practically daring government regulators to shut them down.00:56:13 04/09/2014
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The online universe doesn't have nearly as many rules, or rulemakers, as the real world. Discuss.00:32:15 28/08/2014
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There ain't no such thing as a free parking spot. Somebody has to pay for it -- and that somebody is everybody.00:35:08 21/08/2014
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A look at whether spite pays -- and if it even exists.00:39:06 14/08/2014
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It's awkward, random, confusing -- and probably discriminatory too.00:40:31 07/08/2014
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00:52:00 31/07/2014
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It’s a hard question to answer, but we do our best.00:28:36 24/07/2014
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Educational messaging looks good on paper but kids don’t respond to it -- and adults aren’t much better.00:27:33 17/07/2014
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It isn’t easy to separate the guilty from the innocent, but a clever bit of game theory can help.00:33:04 10/07/2014
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Takeru Kobayashi revolutionized the sport of competitive eating. What can the rest of us learn from his breakthrough?00:26:04 03/07/2014
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Dubner and Levitt answer reader questions in this first installment of the “Think Like a Freak” Book Club.00:25:51 26/06/2014
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Is it really in a restaurant’s best interest to give customers free bread or chips before they even order?00:36:23 19/06/2014
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Every four years, the U.S. takes a look at the World Cup and develops a slight crush. What would it take to really fall in love?00:37:13 12/06/2014
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