537. “Insurance Is Sexy.” Discuss.
In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, the economist Amy Finkelstein explains why insurance markets are broken and how to fix them. Also: why can’t you buy divorce insurance?
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Why Are There So Many Bad Bosses? (Ep. 495 Replay)
People who are good at their jobs routinely get promoted into bigger jobs they’re bad at. We explain why firms keep producing incompetent managers — and why that’s unlikely to change.
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536. Is Your Plane Ticket Too Expensive — or Too Cheap?
Most travelers want the cheapest flight they can find. Airlines, meanwhile, need to manage volatile fuel costs, a pricey workforce, and complex logistics. So how do they make money — and how did America’s grubbiest airport suddenly turn into a palace
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535. Why Is Flying Safer Than Driving?
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 of “Freakonomics Radio Takes to the Skies.”)
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534. Air Travel Is a Miracle. Why Do We Hate It?
It’s an unnatural activity that has become normal. You’re stuck in a metal tube with hundreds of strangers (and strange smells), defying gravity and racing through the sky. But oh, the places you’ll go! We visit the world’s busiest airport to see ho
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Why Does the Most Monotonous Job in the World Pay $1 Million? (Ep. 493 Update)
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’s everything there is to know about a job that didn’t used to exist.
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The Economics of Everyday Things: Used Hotel Soaps
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," Zachary Crockett discovers what happens to those soaps when we love ’em and leave ’em.
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533. Will the Democrats “Make America Great Again”?
For decades, the U.S. let globalization run its course and hoped China would be an ally. Now the Biden administration is spending billions to bring high-tech manufacturing back home. Is this the beginning of a new industrial policy — or just another
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The Economics of Everyday Things: “My Sharona”
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, "The Economics of Everyday Things."
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Is Economic Growth the Wrong Goal? (Ep. 429 Update)
The economist Kate Raworth says the aggressive pursuit of G.D.P. is trashing the planet and shortchanging too many people. She has proposed an alternative — and the city of Amsterdam is giving it a try. How's it going?
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The Economics of Everyday Things: Girl Scout Cookies
How does America's cutest sales force get billions of Thin Mints, Samoas, and Tagalongs into our hands every year? Zachary Crockett finds out in the second episode of our newest podcast, "The Economics of Everyday Things."
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532. Do You Know Who Owns Your Vet?
When small businesses get bought by big investors, the name may stay the same — but customers and employees can feel the difference. (Part 2 of 2.)
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Introducing “The Economics of Everyday Things”
A new podcast hosted by Zachary Crockett. In the first episode: Gas stations. When gas prices skyrocket, do station owners get a windfall? And where do their profits really come from?
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531. Should You Trust Private Equity to Take Care of Your Dog?
Big investors are buying up local veterinary practices (and pretty much everything else). What does this mean for scruffy little Max* — and for the U.S. economy? (Part 1 of 2.) *The most popular dog name in the U.S. in 2022.
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Extra: Samin Nosrat Always Wanted to Be Famous
And with her book "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat," she succeeded. Now she's not so sure how to feel about all the attention.
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530. What's Wrong with Being a One-Hit Wonder?
We tend to look down on artists who can't match their breakthrough success. Should we be celebrating them instead?
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529. Can Our Surroundings Make Us Smarter?
In a special episode of No Stupid Questions, Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth discuss classroom design, open offices, and cognitive drift.
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528. Yuval Noah Harari Thinks Life is Meaningless and Amazing
In this special episode of People I (Mostly) Admire, Steve Levitt talks to the best-selling author of "Sapiens" and "Homo Deus" about finding the profound in the obvious.
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527. Can Adam Smith Fix Our Economy?
Labor exploitation! Corporate profiteering! Government corruption! The 21st century can look a lot like the 18th. In the final episode of a series, we turn to “the father of economics” for solutions. (Part 3 of “In Search of the Real Adam Smith.”)
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526. Was Adam Smith Really a Right-Winger?
Economists and politicians have turned him into a mascot for free-market ideology. Some on the left say the right has badly misread him. Prepare for a very Smithy tug of war. (Part 2 of “In Search of the Real Adam Smith.”)
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Freakonomics Radio Needs Your Help
A sneak peek at an upcoming series — and a call for would-be radio reporters.
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525. In Search of the Real Adam Smith
How did an affable 18th-century “moral philosopher” become the patron saint of cutthroat capitalism? Does “the invisible hand” mean what everyone thinks it does? We travel to Smith’s hometown in Scotland to uncover the man behind the myth. (Part 1 of
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524. How Important Is Breastfeeding, Really?
In this special episode of Freakonomics, M.D., host Bapu Jena looks at a clever new study that could help answer one of parenting’s most contentious questions.
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523. Did Michael Lewis Just Get Lucky with “Moneyball”?
No — but he does have a knack for stumbling into the perfect moment, including the recent FTX debacle. In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, we revisit the book that launched the analytics revolution.
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522. Is Google Getting Worse?
It used to feel like magic. Now it can feel like a set of cheap tricks. Is the problem with Google — or with us?
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The Most Interesting Fruit in the World (Ep. 375 Update)
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?
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521. I’m Your Biggest Fan!
It’s fun to obsess over pop stars and racecar drivers — but is fandom making our politics even more toxic?
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520. The Unintended Consequences of Working from Home
The last two years have radically changed the way we work — producing winners, losers, and a lot of surprises.
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519. Has Globalization Failed?
It was supposed to boost prosperity and democracy at the same time. What really happened? According to the legal scholar Anthea Roberts, it depends which story you believe.
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518. Are Personal Finance Gurus Giving You Bad Advice?
One Yale economist certainly thinks so. But even if he’s right, are economists any better?
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517. Are M.B.A.s to Blame for Wage Stagnation?
New research finds that bosses who went to business school pay their workers less. So what are M.B.A. programs teaching — and should they stop?
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Please Get Your Noise Out of My Ears (Ep. 439 Update)
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 our productivity, health, and basic sanity?
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516. Nuclear Power Isn’t Perfect. Is It Good Enough?
Liberals endorse harm reduction when it comes to the opioid epidemic. Are they ready to take the same approach to climate change?
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Extra: Ken Burns | People I (Mostly) Admire
The documentary filmmaker, known for "The Civil War," "Jazz," and "Baseball," turns his attention to the Holocaust, and asks what we can learn from the evils of the past.
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515. When You Pray to God Online, Who Else Is Listening?
The pandemic moved a lot of religious activity onto the internet. With faith-based apps, Silicon Valley is turning virtual prayers into earthly rewards. Does this mean sharing user data? Dear God, let’s hope not …
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This Is Your Brain on Pollution (Ep. 472 Update)
As the Biden administration rushes to address climate change, Stephen Dubner looks at another, hidden cost of air pollution — one that’s affecting how we think.
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514. Roland Fryer Refuses to Lie to Black America
The controversial Harvard economist, recently back from a suspension, “broke a lot of glass early in my career,” he says. His research on school incentives and police brutality won him acclaim — but also enemies. Now he’s taking a hard look at corpor
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513. Should Public Transit Be Free?
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: it’s complicated.
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Why Is U.S. Media So Negative? (Ep. 477 Replay)
Breaking news! Sources say American journalism exploits our negativity bias to maximize profits, and social media algorithms add fuel to the fire. Stephen Dubner investigates.
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The Pros and Cons of America’s (Extreme) Individualism (Ep. 470 Replay)
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, short-term thinking, and masculinity (but low on “uncertainty avoidance,” if that makes you feel better). We
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The U.S. Is Just Different — So Let’s Stop Pretending We’re Not (Ep. 469 Replay)
We often look to other countries for smart policies on education, healthcare, infrastructure, etc. But can a smart policy be simply transplanted into a country as culturally unusual (and as supremely WEIRD) as America?
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512. Does Philosophy Still Matter?
It used to be at the center of our conversations about politics and society. Scott Hershovitz (author of "Nasty, Brutish, and Short") argues that philosophy still has a lot to say about work, justice, and parenthood. Our latest installment of the Fre
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511. Why Did You Marry That Person?
Sure, you were “in love.” But economists — using evidence from "Bridgerton" to Tinder — point to what’s called “assortative mating.” And it has some unpleasant consequences for society.
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The Economist’s Guide to Parenting: 10 Years Later (Ep. 479 Replay)
In one of the earliest Freakonomics Radio episodes, we asked a bunch of economists with young kids how they approached child-rearing. Now the kids are old enough to talk — and they have a lot to say. We hear about nature vs. nurture, capitalism vs. M
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510. What Problems Does Crypto Solve, Anyway?
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? (Part 3 of "What Can Blockchain Do for You?")
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509. Are N.F.T.s All Scams?
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 we can find art on the blockchain. (Part 2 of "What Can Blockchain Do for You?")
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508. Does the Crypto Crash Mean the Blockchain Is Over?
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 explain what the blockchain can do for you. (Part 1 of a series.)
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507. 103 Pieces of Advice That May or May Not Work
Kevin Kelly calls himself “the most optimistic person in the world.” And he has a lot to say about parenting, travel, A.I., being luckier — and why we should spend way more time on YouTube.
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506. What Is Sportswashing (and Does It Work)?
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 the P.G.A. Tour. Can a sporting event really repair a country’s reputation — or will it trigger the dreaded Streis
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505. Did Domestic Violence Really Spike During the Pandemic?
When the world went into lockdown, experts predicted a rise in intimate-partner assaults. What actually happened was more complicated.
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504. Introducing “Off Leash”
In this new podcast from the Freakonomics Radio Network, dog-cognition expert and bestselling author Alexandra Horowitz (Inside of a Dog) takes us inside the scruffy, curious, joyful world of dogs. This is the first episode of Off Leash; you can find
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503. What Is the Future of College — and Does It Have Room for Men?
Educators and economists tell us all the reasons college enrollment has been dropping, especially for men, and how to stop the bleeding. (Part 4 of “Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.”)
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Abortion and Crime, Revisited (Ep. 384 Update)
As the Supreme Court considers overturning Roe v. Wade, we look back at Steve Levitt’s controversial research on an unintended consequence of the 1973 ruling.
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502. “I Don’t Think the Country Is Turning Away From College.”
Enrollment is down for the first time in memory, and critics complain college is too expensive, too elitist, and too politicized. The economist Chris Paxson — who happens to be the president of Brown University — does not agree. (Part 3 of “Freakonom
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501. The University of Impossible-to-Get-Into
America’s top colleges are facing record demand. So why don’t they increase supply? (Part 2 of “Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.”)
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500. What Exactly Is College For?
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 differentiate their products to win market share and prestige points. In the first episode of a special series, we a
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Is the U.S. Really Less Corrupt Than China — and How About Russia? (Ep. 481 Update)
The political scientist Yuen Yuen Ang argues that different forms of government create different styles of corruption. The U.S. and China have more in common than we’d like to admit — but Russia is a different story, which could explain its willingne
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499. Don't Worry, Be Tacky
The British art superstar Flora Yukhnovich, the Freakonomist Steve Levitt, and the upstart American Basketball Association were all unafraid to follow their joy — despite sneers from the Establishment. Should we all be more willing to embrace the déc
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498. In the 1890s, the Best-Selling Car Was … Electric
After a huge false start, electric cars are finally about to flourish. We speak with a technology historian about this all-too-common story, and what it means for innovation everywhere.
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497. Can the Big Bad Wolf Save Your Life?
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, and billions in damages. Enter the wolf …
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How to Change Your Mind (Ep. 379 Update)
There are a lot of barriers to changing your mind: ego, overconfidence, inertia — and cost. Politicians who flip-flop get mocked; family and friends who cross tribal borders are shunned. But shouldn’t we be encouraging people to change their minds? A
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496. Do Unions Still Work?
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. president Liz Shuler tries to explain this gap — and persuade Stephen Dubner that “the folks who brough
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495. Why Are There So Many Bad Bosses?
People who are good at their jobs routinely get promoted into bigger jobs they’re bad at. We explain why firms keep producing incompetent managers — and why that’s unlikely to change.
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494. Why Do Most Ideas Fail to Scale?
In a new book called "The Voltage Effect," the economist John List — who has already revolutionized how his profession does research — is trying to start a scaling revolution. In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, List teaches us h
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Why Does the Richest Country in the World Have So Many Poor Kids? (Ep. 475 Update)
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 change that. But then … Washington happened.
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493. Why Does the Most Monotonous Job in the World Pay $1 Million?
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 in time for the Super Bowl, here’s everything there is to know about a job that didn’t used to exist.
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Are You Ready for a Fresh Start? (Ep. 455 Replay)
Behavioral scientists have been exploring if — and when — a psychological reset can lead to lasting change. We survey evidence from the London Underground, Major League Baseball, and New Year’s resolutions; we look at accidental fresh starts, forced
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492. How Did a Hayfield Become One of America’s Hottest Cities?
Frisco used to be just another sleepy bedroom community outside of Dallas. Now it’s got corporate headquarters, billions of investment dollars, and a bunch of Democrats in a place that used to be deep red. Is Frisco nothing more than a suburb on ster
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491. Why Is Everyone Moving to Dallas?
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 plane to find out why. Despite getting stood up by the mayor, nearly drowning on a highway, and eating way too much
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490. What Do Broken-Hearted Knitters, Urinating Goalkeepers, and the C.I.A. Have in Common?
Curses and other superstitions may have no basis in reality, but that doesn’t stop us from believing.
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489. Is “Toxic Positivity” a Thing?
In this special episode of No Stupid Questions, Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth discuss the consequences of seeing every glass as at least half-full.
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488. Does Death Have to Be a Death Sentence?
In this special episode of People I (Mostly) Admire, Steve Levitt speaks with the palliative physician B.J. Miller about modern medicine’s goal of “protecting a pulse at all costs.” Is there a better, even beautiful way to think about death and dying
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487. Is It Okay to Have a Party Yet?
In this special episode of Freakonomics, M.D., host Bapu Jena looks at data from birthday parties, March Madness parties, and a Freakonomics Radio holiday party to help us all manage our risk of Covid-19 exposure.
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486. “The Art Market Is in Massive Disruption.”
Is art really meant to be an “asset class”? Will the digital revolution finally democratize a market that just keeps getting more elitist? And what will happen to the last painting Alice Neel ever made? (Part 3 of “The Hidden Side of the Art Market.”
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485. “I’ve Been Working My Ass Off for You to Make that Profit?”
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. Should that change? Also: why doesn’t contemporary art impact society the way music and film do? (Part 2 of “Th
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484. “A Fascinating, Sexy, Intellectually Compelling, Unregulated Global Market.”
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 (and most of the dollars). Beneath the surface is a tangled web of dealers, curators, auction houses, speculators — a
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How Do You Cure a Compassion Crisis? (Ep. 444 Replay)
Patients in the U.S. healthcare system often feel they’re treated with a lack of empathy. Doctors and nurses have tragically high levels of burnout. Could fixing the first problem solve the second? And does the rest of society need more compassion to
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483. What’s Wrong With Shortcuts?
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 the Shortcut in Math and Life," the mathematician Marcus du Sautoy argues that shortcuts can be applied to practica
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482. Is Venture Capital the Secret Sauce of the American Economy?
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. Is venture capital good for society, or does it just help the rich get richer? Stephen Dubner invests the time to
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481. Is the U.S. Really Less Corrupt Than China?
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 most American corruption is essentially legal.
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480. How Much Does Discrimination Hurt the Economy?
Evidence from Nazi Germany and 1940’s America (and pretty much everywhere else) shows that discrimination is incredibly costly — to the victims, of course, but also the perpetrators. One modern solution is to invoke a diversity mandate. But new resea
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479. The Economist’s Guide to Parenting: 10 Years Later
In one of the earliest Freakonomics Radio episodes (No. 39!), we asked a bunch of economists with young kids how they approached child-rearing. Now the kids are old enough to talk — and they have a lot to say. We hear about nature vs. nurture, capita
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478. How Can We Break Our Addiction to Contempt?
Arthur Brooks is an economist who for 10 years ran the American Enterprise Institute, one of the most influential conservative think tanks in the world. He has come to believe there is only one weapon that can defeat our extreme political polarizatio
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477. Why Is U.S. Media So Negative?
Breaking news! Sources say American journalism exploits our negativity bias to maximize profits, and social media algorithms add fuel to the fire. Stephen Dubner investigates.
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That’s a Great Question! (Ep. 192 Rebroadcast)
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 a “great” one.
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“This Didn't End the Way It’s Supposed to End.” (Bonus)
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, Letters to a Young Athlete, Bosh covers the highlights and the struggles. In this installment of the Freakonomics R
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476. What Are the Police for, Anyway?
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 outlier in other ways too: a heavily-armed populace, a fragile mental-health system, and the fact that we spend so muc
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475. Why Does the Richest Country in the World Have So Many Poor Kids?
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 a Republican senator, a Democratic mayor, and a large cast of econo-nerds. Along the way, we hear some surprising
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474. All You Need Is Nudge
When Richard Thaler published Nudge in 2008 (with co-author Cass Sunstein), the world was just starting to believe in his brand of behavioral economics. How did nudge theory hold up in the face of a global financial meltdown, a pandemic, and other ex
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Is There Really a “Loneliness Epidemic”? (Ep. 407 Rebroadcast)
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 prevalence and effects of loneliness — including the possible upsides.
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473. These Jobs Were Not Posted on ZipRecruiter
In a conversation fresh from the Freakonomics Radio Network’s podcast laboratory, Michèle Flournoy (one of the highest-ranking women in Defense Department history) speaks with Cecil Haney (one of the U.S. Navy’s first Black four-star admirals) about
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Reasons to Be Cheerful (Ep. 417 Rebroadcast)
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 opportune time to reverse this tendency?
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472. This Is Your Brain on Pollution
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? Stephen Dubner explores the links between pollution and cognitive function, and enlists two fellow Freakonom
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471. Mayor Pete and Elaine Chao Hit the Road
While other countries seem to build spectacular bridges, dams, and even entire cities with ease, the U.S. is stuck in pothole-fixing mode. We speak with an array of transportation nerds — including the secretary of transportation and his immediate pr
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Two (Totally Opposite) Ways to Save the Planet (Ep. 346 Rebroadcast)
The environmentalists say we’re doomed if we don’t drastically reduce consumption. The technologists say that human ingenuity can solve just about any problem. A debate that’s been around for decades has become a shouting match. Is anyone right?
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470. The Pros and Cons of America’s (Extreme) Individualism
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, short-term thinking, and masculinity (but low on “uncertainty avoidance,” if that makes you feel better). We
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469. The U.S. Is Just Different — So Let’s Stop Pretending We’re Not
We often look to other countries for smart policies on education, healthcare, infrastructure, etc. But can a smart policy be simply transplanted into a country as culturally unusual (and as supremely WEIRD) as America?
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468. Nap Time for Everyone!
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 inner toddler and get 30 minutes of shut-eye in the afternoon. But are we ready for a napping revolution?
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467. Is the Future of Farming in the Ocean?
Bren Smith, who grew up fishing and fighting, is now part of a movement that seeks to feed the planet while putting less environmental stress on it. He makes his argument in a book called Eat Like a Fish; his secret ingredient: kelp. But don’t worry,
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466. She’s From the Government, and She’s Here to Help
Cecilia Rouse, the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, is as cold-blooded as any economist. But she admits that her profession would do well to focus on policy that actually helps people. Rouse explains why President Biden wants to
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465. Introducing a New “Freakonomics of Medicine” Podcast
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 Freakonomics Radio Network’s newest show, Bapu discovers that marathons can be deadly — but not for the reasons you ma
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464. Will Work-from-Home Work Forever?
The pandemic may be winding down, but that doesn’t mean we’ll return to full-time commuting and packed office buildings. The greatest accidental experiment in the history of labor has lessons to teach us about productivity, flexibility, and even reve
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463. How to Get Anyone to Do Anything
The social psychologist Robert Cialdini is a pioneer in the science of persuasion. His 1984 book Influence is a classic, and he has just published an expanded and revised edition. In this episode of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, he gives a master
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These Shoes Are Killing Me! (Ep. 296 Rebroadcast)
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 one foot scholar calls it) that stymies so much of its ability — and may create more problems than it solves?
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462. The Future of New York City Is in Question. Could Andrew Yang Be the Answer?
The man who wants America to “think harder” has parlayed his quixotic presidential campaign into front-runner status in New York’s mayoral election. And he has some big plans.
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461. How to Stop Worrying and Love the Robot Apocalypse
It’s true that robots (and other smart technologies) will kill many jobs. It may also be true that newer collaborative robots (“cobots”) will totally reinvigorate how work gets done. That, at least, is what the economists are telling us. Should we be
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460. The True Story of the Minimum-Wage Fight
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. Even the economists can’t agree! We talk to a bunch of them — and a U.S. Senator — to sort it out, and learn
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459. Let’s Be Blunt: Marijuana Is a Boon for Older Workers
The state-by-state rollout of legalized weed has given economists a perfect natural experiment to measure its effects. Here’s what we know so far — and don’t know — about the costs and benefits of legalization.
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458. How to Manage Your Goal Hierarchy
In this special crossover episode, People I (Mostly) Admire host Steve Levitt admits to No Stupid Questions co-host Angela Duckworth that he knows almost nothing about psychology. But once Angela gives Steve a quick tutorial on “goal conflict,” he is
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457. Is Dialysis a Test Case of Medicare for All?
Kidney failure is such a catastrophic (and expensive) disease that Medicare covers treatment for anyone, regardless of age. Since Medicare reimbursement rates are fairly low, the dialysis industry had to find a way to tweak the system if they wanted
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456. How to Fix the Hot Mess of U.S. Healthcare
Medicine has evolved from a calling into an industry, adept at dispensing procedures and pills (and gigantic bills), but less good at actual health. Most reformers call for big, bold action. What happens if, instead, you think small?
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Policymaking Is Not a Science (Yet) (Ep. 405 Rebroadcast)
Why do so many promising solutions — in education, medicine, criminal justice, etc. — fail to scale up into great policy? And can a new breed of “implementation scientists” crack the code?
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How Does New York City Keep Reinventing Itself? (Bonus)
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. Will that magic trick still work after Covid? In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, guest ho
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455. Are You Ready for a Fresh Start?
Behavioral scientists have been exploring if — and when — a psychological reset can lead to lasting change. We survey evidence from the London Underground, Major League Baseball, and New Year’s resolutions; we look at accidental fresh starts, forced
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454. Should Traffic Lights Be Abolished?
Americans are so accustomed to the standard intersection that we rarely consider how dangerous it can be — as well as costly, time-wasting, and polluting. Is it time to embrace the lowly, lovely roundabout?
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453. A Rescue Plan for Black America
New York Times columnist Charles Blow argues that white supremacy in America will never fully recede, and that it’s time for Black people to do something radical about it. In The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto, he urges a “reverse migration”
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Am I Boring You? (Ep. 225 Rebroadcast)
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 upside to boredom?
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452. Jeff Immelt Knows He Let You Down
Not so long ago, G.E. was the most valuable company in the world, a conglomerate that included everything from light bulbs and jet engines to financial services and The Apprentice. Now it’s selling off body parts to survive. What does the C.E.O. who
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451. Can I Ask You a Ridiculously Personal Question?
Most of us are are afraid to ask sensitive questions about money, sex, politics, etc. New research shows this fear is largely unfounded. Time for some interesting conversations!
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450. How to Be Better at Death
Caitlin Doughty is a mortician who would like to put herself out of business. Our corporate funeral industry, she argues, has made us forget how to offer our loved ones an authentic sendoff. Doughty is the author of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other
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449. How to Fix the Incentives in Cancer Research
For all the progress made in fighting cancer, it still kills 10 million people a year, and some types remain especially hard to detect and treat. Pancreatic cancer, for instance, is nearly always fatal. A new clinical-trial platform could change that
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448. The Downside of Disgust
It’s a powerful biological response that has preserved our species for millennia. But now it may be keeping us from pursuing strategies that would improve the environment, the economy, even our own health. So is it time to dial down our disgust refle
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447. How Much Do We Really Care About Children?
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, the safety data are unconvincing, and new evidence suggests an unintended consequence that is as anti-child as it
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446. “We Get All Our Great Stuff from Europe — Including Witch Hunting.”
We’ve collected some of our favorite moments from People I (Mostly) Admire, the latest show from the Freakonomics Radio Network. Host Steve Levitt seeks advice from scientists and inventors, memory wizards and basketball champions — even his fellow e
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Trust Me (Ep. 266 Rebroadcast)
Societies where people trust one another are healthier and wealthier. In the U.S. (and the U.K. and elsewhere), social trust has been falling for decades — in part because our populations are more diverse. What can we do to fix it?
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445. Why Do We Seek Comfort in the Familiar?
In this episode of No Stupid Questions — a Freakonomics Radio Network show launched earlier this year — Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth debate why we watch, read, and eat familiar things during a crisis, and if it might in fact be better to try n
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444. How Do You Cure a Compassion Crisis?
Patients in the U.S. healthcare system often feel they’re treated with a lack of empathy. Doctors and nurses have tragically high levels of burnout. Could fixing the first problem solve the second? And does the rest of society need more compassion to
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443. A Sneak Peek at Biden’s Top Economist
The incoming president argues that the economy and the environment are deeply connected. This is reflected in his choice for National Economic Council director — Brian Deese, a climate-policy wonk and veteran of the no-drama-Obama era. But don’t mist
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PLAYBACK (2015): Could the Next Brooklyn Be ... Las Vegas?!
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 campfire to talk about those dreams. Hsieh died recently from injuries sustained in a house fire; he was 46.
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442. Is it Too Late for General Motors to Go Electric?
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 trying to fix that. We speak with her about the race toward an electrified (and autonomous) future, China and Trump
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441. Does Advertising Actually Work? (Part 2: Digital)
Google and Facebook are worth a combined $2 trillion, with the vast majority of their revenue coming from advertising. In our previous episode, we learned that TV advertising is much less effective than the industry says. Is digital any better? Some
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440. Does Advertising Actually Work? (Part 1: TV)
Companies around the world spend more than half-a-trillion dollars each year on ads. The ad industry swears by its efficacy — but a massive new study tells a different story.
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439. Please Get Your Noise Out of My Ears
The modern world overwhelms us with sounds we didn’t ask for, like car alarms and cell-phone “halfalogues.” What does all this noise cost us in terms of productivity, health, and basic sanity?
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438. How to Succeed by Being Authentic (Hint: Carefully)
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 from “conscious leadership” to the behavioral roots of the obesity epidemic. He also argues for a style of capitali
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Why the Left Had to Steal the Right’s Dark-Money Playbook
The sociologist Sudhir Venkatesh spent years studying crack dealers, sex workers, and the offspring of billionaires. Then he wandered into an even stranger world: social media. He spent the past five years at Facebook and Twitter. Now that he’s back
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437. Many Businesses Thought They Were Insured for a Pandemic. They Weren’t.
A fine reading of most policies for “business interruption” reveals that viral outbreaks aren’t covered. Some legislators are demanding that insurance firms pay up anyway. Is it time to rethink insurance entirely?
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436. Forget Everything You Know About Your Dog
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 installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, we discuss Inside of a Dog with the cognitive scientist (and dog devote
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435. Why Are Cities (Still) So Expensive?
It isn’t just supply and demand. We look at the complicated history and skewed incentives that make “affordable housing” more punch line than reality in cities from New York and San Francisco to Flint, Michigan (!).
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434. Is New York City Over?
The pandemic has hit America's biggest city particularly hard. Amidst a deep fiscal hole, rising homicides, and a flight to the suburbs, some people think the city is heading back to the bad old 1970s. We look at the history — and the data — to see w
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“Don’t Neglect the Thing That Makes You Weird” | People I (Mostly) Admire: Ken Jennings
It was only in his late twenties that America’s favorite brainiac began to seriously embrace his love of trivia. Now he holds the “Greatest of All Time” title on Jeopardy! Steve Levitt digs into how he trained for the show, what it means to have a "g
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433. How Are Psychedelics and Other Party Drugs Changing Psychiatry?
Three leading researchers from the Mount Sinai Health System discuss how ketamine, cannabis, and ecstasy are being used (or studied) to treat everything from severe depression to addiction to PTSD. We discuss the upsides, downsides, and regulatory pu
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432. When Your Safety Becomes My Danger
The families of U.S. troops killed and wounded in Afghanistan are suing several companies that did reconstruction there. Why? These companies, they say, paid the Taliban protection money, which gave them the funding — and opportunity — to attack U.S.
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“One Does Not Know Where an Insight Will Come From” | People I (Mostly) Admire: Kerwin Charles
The dean of Yale’s School of Management grew up in a small village in Guyana. During his unlikely journey, he has researched video-gaming habits, communicable disease, and why so many African-Americans haven’t had the kind of success he’s had. Steve
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Does Anyone Really Know What Socialism Is? (Ep. 408 Rebroadcast)
Trump says it would destroy us. Biden needs the voters who support it (especially the Bernie voters). The majority of millennials would like it to replace capitalism. But what is “it”? We bring in the economists to sort things out and tell us what th
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What if Your Company Had No Rules?
Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings came to believe that corporate rules can kill creativity and innovation. In this latest edition of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, guest host Maria Konnikova talks to Hastings about his new book, No Rules Rules, and
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431. Why Can’t Schools Get What the N.F.L. Has?
Thanks to daily Covid testing and regimented protocols, the new football season is underway. Meanwhile, most teachers, students, and parents are essentially waiting for the storm to pass. And school isn’t even a contact sport (usually).
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"I Started Crying When I Realized How Beautiful the Universe Is” | People I (Mostly) Admire Ep. 2: Mayim Bialik
She’s best known for playing neurobiologist Amy Farrah Fowler on The Big Bang Theory, but the award-winning actress has a rich life outside of her acting career, as a teacher, mother — and a real-life neuroscientist. Steve Levitt tries to learn more
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America’s Hidden Duopoly (Ep. 356 Rebroadcast)
We all know our political system is “broken” — but what if that’s not true? Some say the Republicans and Democrats constitute a wildly successful industry that has colluded to kill off competition, stifle reform, and drive the country apart. So what
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430. Will a Covid-19 Vaccine Change the Future of Medical Research?
We explore the science, scalability, and (of course) economics surrounding the global vaccine race. Guests include the chief medical officer of the first U.S. firm to go to Phase 3 trials with a vaccine candidate; a former F.D.A. commissioner who’s b
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Introducing “People I (Mostly) Admire"
A new interview show with host Steve Levitt. Today he speaks with the Harvard psychologist and linguist Steven Pinker. By cataloging the steady march of human progress, the self-declared “polite Canadian” has managed to enrage people on opposite ends
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The Economics of Sports Gambling (Ep. 388 Rebroadcast)
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. A recent Supreme Court decision has cleared the way to bring an estimated $300 billion in black-market sports bet
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429. Is Economic Growth the Wrong Goal?
The endless pursuit of G.D.P., argues the economist Kate Raworth, shortchanges too many people and also trashes the planet. Economic theory, she says, “needs to be rewritten” — and Raworth has tried, in a book called Doughnut Economics. It has found
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How the Supermarket Helped America Win the Cold War (Ep. 386 Rebroadcast)
Aisle upon aisle of fresh produce, cheap meat, and sugary cereal — a delicious embodiment of free-market capitalism, right? Not quite. The supermarket was in fact the endpoint of the U.S. government’s battle for agricultural abundance against the U.S
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428. The Simple Economics of Saving the Amazon Rain Forest
Everyone agrees that massive deforestation is an environmental disaster. But most of the standard solutions — scolding the Brazilians, invoking universal morality — ignore the one solution that might actually work
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427. The Pros and Cons of Reparations
Most Americans agree that racial discrimination has been, and remains, a big problem. But that is where the agreement ends.
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426. Should America (and FIFA) Pay Reparations?
The racial wealth gap in the U.S. is massive. We explore the causes, consequences, and potential solutions. Also: another story of discrimination and economic disparity, this one perpetrated by an international sporting authority. The first of a two-
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425. Remembrance of Economic Crises Past
Christina Romer was a top White House economist during the Great Recession. As a researcher, she specializes in the Great Depression. She tells us what those disasters can (and can’t) teach us about the Covid crash.
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424. How to Make Your Own Luck
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, a brilliant coach, and a burning desire to know whether life is driven more by skill or chance. She found some
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423. The Doctor Will Zoom You Now
Thanks to the pandemic, the telehealth revolution we’ve been promised for decades has finally arrived. Will it stick? Will it cut costs — and improve outcomes? We ring up two doctors and, of course, an economist to find out.
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422. Introducing "No Stupid Questions"
In this new addition to the Freakonomics Radio Network, co-hosts Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth discuss the relationship between age and happiness. Also: does all creativity come from pain? New episodes of "No Stupid Questions" are released ever
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421. How to Prevent Another Great Depression
Millions and millions are out of work, with some jobs never coming back. We speak with four economists — and one former presidential candidate — about the best policy options and the lessons (good and bad) from the past.
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420. Which Jobs Will Come Back, and When?
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? Which sectors will surge and which will disappear? Welcome to the Great Labor Reallocation of 2020.
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How to Make Meetings Less Terrible (Ep. 389 Rebroadcast)
In the U.S. alone, we hold 55 million meetings a day. Most of them are woefully unproductive, and tyrannize our offices. The revolution begins now — with better agendas, smaller invite lists, and an embrace of healthy conflict.
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419. 68 Ways to Be Better at Life
The accidental futurist Kevin Kelly on why enthusiasm beats intelligence, how to really listen, and why the solution to bad technology is more technology.
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418. What Will College Look Like in the Fall (and Beyond)?
Three university presidents try to answer our listeners’ questions. The result? Not much pomp and a whole lot of circumstance.
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417. Reasons to Be Cheerful
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 opportune time to reverse this tendency?
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416. How Do You Reopen a Country?
We speak with a governor, a former C.D.C. director, a pandemic forecaster, a hard-charging pharmacist, and a pair of economists — who say it’s all about the incentives. (Pandemillions, anyone?)
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415. How Rahm Emanuel Would Run the World
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, he says that cities are where real problems get solved — especially in the era of Covid-19.
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414. Will Covid-19 Spark a Cold War (or Worse) With China?
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.
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413. Who Gets the Ventilator?
Should a nurse or doctor who gets sick treating Covid-19 patients have priority access to a potentially life-saving healthcare device? Americans aren’t used to rationing in medicine, but it’s time to think about it. We consult a lung specialist, a bi
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412. What Happens When Everyone Stays Home to Eat?
Covid-19 has shocked our food-supply system like nothing in modern history. We examine the winners, the losers, the unintended consequences — and just how much toilet paper one household really needs.
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411. Is $2 Trillion the Right Medicine for a Sick Economy?
Congress just passed the biggest aid package in modern history. We ask six former White House economic advisors and one U.S. Senator: Will it actually work? What are its best and worst features? Where does $2 trillion come from, and what are the long
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410. What Does Covid-19 Mean for Cities (and Marriages)?
There are a lot of upsides to urban density — but viral contagion is not one of them. Also: a nationwide lockdown will show if familiarity really breeds contempt. And: how to help your neighbor.
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409. The Side Effects of Social Distancing
In just a few weeks, the novel coronavirus has undone a century’s worth of our economic and social habits. What consequences will this have on our future — and is there a silver lining in this very black pandemic cloud?
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Why Rent Control Doesn’t Work (Ep. 373 Rebroadcast)
As cities become ever-more expensive, politicians and housing advocates keep calling for rent control. Economists think that’s a terrible idea. They say it helps a small (albeit noisy) group of renters, but keeps overall rents artificially high by di
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408. Does Anyone Really Know What Socialism Is?
Trump says it would destroy us. Sanders says it will save us. The majority of millennials would like it to replace capitalism. But what is “it”? We bring in the economists to sort things out and tell us what the U.S. can learn from the good (and bad)
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407. Is There Really a “Loneliness Epidemic”?
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 prevalence and effects of loneliness — including the possible upsides.
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406. Can You Hear Me Now?
When he became chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai announced that he was going to take a “weed whacker” to Obama-era regulations. So far, he’s kept his promise, and earned the internet’s ire for reversing the agency’s position
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405. Policymaking Is Not a Science (Yet)
Why do so many promising solutions — in education, medicine, criminal justice, etc. — fail to scale up into great policy? And can a new breed of “implementation scientists” crack the code?
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404. Does the President Matter as Much as You Think?
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 into one of the most anomalous presidencies in American history. So once again we try to sort out presidential sig
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How the San Francisco 49ers Stopped Being Losers (Ep. 350 Update)
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: this week, they are headed back to the Super Bowl. Before the 2018 season, we sat down with the team’s owner, h
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403. The Opioid Tragedy, Part 2: “It’s Not a Death Sentence”
One prescription drug is keeping some addicts from dying. So why isn’t it more widespread? A story of regulation, stigma, and the potentially fatal faith in abstinence.
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402. The Opioid Tragedy, Part 1: “We’ve Addicted an Entire Generation”
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 and has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans.
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5 Psychology Terms You’re Probably Misusing (Rebroadcast)
We all like to throw around terms that describe human behavior — “bystander apathy” and “steep learning curve” and “hard-wired.” Most of the time, they don’t actually mean what we think they mean. But don’t worry — the experts are getting it wrong, t
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The Zero-Minute Workout (Rebroadcast)
There is strong evidence that exercise is wildly beneficial. There is even stronger evidence that most people hate to exercise. So if a pill could mimic the effects of working out, why wouldn’t we want to take it?
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401. How Many Prince Charleses Can There Be in One Room?
In a special holiday episode, Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth take turns asking each other questions about charisma, wealth vs. intellect, and (of course) grit.
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Why Is This Man Running for President? (Update)
A year ago, nobody was taking Andrew Yang very seriously. Now he is America’s favorite entrepre-nerd, with a candidacy that keeps gaining momentum. This episode includes our Jan. 2019 conversation with the leader of the Yang Gang and a fresh intervie
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400. How to Hate Taxes a Little Bit Less
Every year, Americans short the I.R.S. nearly half a trillion dollars. Most ideas to increase compliance are more stick than carrot — scary letters, audits, and penalties. But what if we gave taxpayers a chance to allocate how their money is spent, o
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399. Honey, I Grew the Economy
Innovation experts have long overlooked where a lot of innovation actually happens. The personal computer, the mountain bike, the artificial pancreas — none of these came from some big R&D lab, but from users tinkering in their homes. Acknowledging t
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How to Change Your Mind (Rebroadcast)
There are a lot of barriers to changing your mind: ego, overconfidence, inertia — and cost. Politicians who flip-flop get mocked; family and friends who cross tribal borders are shunned. But shouldn’t we be encouraging people to change their minds? A
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398. The Truth About the Vaping Crisis
A recent outbreak of illness and death has gotten everyone’s attention — including late-to-the-game regulators. But would a ban on e-cigarettes do more harm than good? We smoke out the facts.
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397. How to Save $32 Million in One Hour
For nearly a decade, governments have been using behavioral nudges to solve problems — and the strategy is catching on in healthcare, firefighting, and policing. But is that thinking too small? Could nudging be used to fight income inequality and ach
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396. Why Does Tipping Still Exist?
It’s an acutely haphazard way of paying workers, and yet it keeps expanding. We dig into the data to find out why.
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395. Speak Softly and Carry Big Data
Do economic sanctions work? Are big democracies any good at spreading democracy? What is the root cause of terrorism? It turns out that data analysis can help answer all these questions — and make better foreign-policy decisions. Guests include forme
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394. Does Hollywood Still Have a Princess Problem?
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 assist from the actor Geena Davis — may finally be moving the needle.
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393. Can Britain Get Its “Great” Back?
It used to be a global capital of innovation, invention, and exploration. Now it’s best known for its messy European divorce. We visit London to see if the British spirit of discovery is still alive. Guests include the mayor of London, undersea explo
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392. The Prime Minister Who Cried Brexit
In 2016, David Cameron held a referendum on whether the U.K. should stay in the European Union. A longtime Euroskeptic, he nevertheless led the Remain campaign. So what did Cameron really want? We ask him that and much more — including why he left of
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391. America’s Math Curriculum Doesn’t Add Up
Most high-school math classes are still preparing students for the Sputnik era. Steve Levitt wants to get rid of the “geometry sandwich” and instead have kids learn what they really need in the modern era: data fluency.
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390. Fed Up
Mary Daly rose from high-school dropout to president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. She thinks the central bank needs an upgrade too. It starts with recognizing that the economy is made up of actual humans.
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389. How to Make Meetings Less Terrible
In the U.S. alone, we hold 55 million meetings a day. Most of them are woefully unproductive, and tyrannize our offices. The revolution begins now — with better agendas, smaller invite lists, and an embrace of healthy conflict.
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Yes, the Open Office Is Terrible — But It Doesn’t Have to Be (Rebroadcast)
It began as a post-war dream for a more collaborative and egalitarian workplace. It has evolved into a nightmare of noise and discomfort. Can the open office be saved, or should we all just be working from home?
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388. The Economics of Sports Gambling
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. A recent Supreme Court decision has cleared the way to bring an estimated $300 billion in black-market sports bet
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The Future of Meat (Rebroadcast)
Global demand for beef, chicken, and pork continues to rise. So do concerns about environmental and other costs. Will reconciling these two forces be possible — or, even better, Impossible™?
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Should America Be Run by … Trader Joe’s? (Rebroadcast)
The quirky little grocery chain with California roots and German ownership has a lot to teach all of us about choice architecture, efficiency, frugality, collaboration, and team spirit.
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387. Hello, My Name Is Marijuana Pepsi!
Research shows that having a distinctively black name doesn’t affect your economic future. But what is the day-to-day reality of living with such a name? Marijuana Pepsi Vandyck, a newly-minted Ph.D., is well-qualified to answer this question. Her ve
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386. How the Supermarket Helped America Win the Cold War
Aisle upon aisle of fresh produce, cheap meat, and sugary cereal — a delicious embodiment of free-market capitalism, right? Not quite. The supermarket was in fact the endpoint of the U.S. government’s battle for agricultural abundance against the U.S
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America’s Hidden Duopoly (Rebroadcast)
We all know our political system is “broken” — but what if that’s not true? Some say the Republicans and Democrats constitute a wildly successful industry that has colluded to kill off competition, stifle reform, and drive the country apart. So what
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385. What Do Nancy Pelosi, Taylor Swift, and Serena Williams Have in Common?
They — along with a great many other high-achieving women — were all once Girl Scouts. So was Sylvia Acevedo. Raised in a poor, immigrant family, she was told that “girls like her” didn’t go to college. But she did, and then became a rocket scientist
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384. Abortion and Crime, Revisited
The controversial theory linking Roe v. Wade to a massive crime drop is back in the spotlight as several states introduce abortion restrictions. Steve Levitt and John Donohue discuss their original research, the challenges to its legitimacy, and thei
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383. The Zero-Minute Workout
There is strong evidence that exercise is wildly beneficial. There is even stronger evidence that most people hate to exercise. So if a pill could mimic the effects of working out, why wouldn’t we want to take it?
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382. How Goes the Behavior-Change Revolution?
An all-star team of behavioral scientists discovers that humans are stubborn (and lazy, and sometimes dumber than dogs). We also hear about binge drinking, humblebragging, and regrets. Recorded live in Philadelphia with guests including Richard Thale
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381. Long-Term Thinking in a Start-Up Town
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, a specialist in water security, and a psychology professor who is also a puppy. With co-host Angela Duckworth,
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380. Notes From an Imperfect Paradise
Recorded live in Los Angeles. Guests include Mayor Eric Garcetti, the “Earthquake Lady,” the head of the Port of L.A., and a scientist with NASA’s Planetary Protection team. With co-host Angela Duckworth, fact-checker Mike Maughan, and the worldwide
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379. How to Change Your Mind
There are a lot of barriers to changing your mind: ego, overconfidence, inertia — and cost. Politicians who flip-flop get mocked; family and friends who cross tribal borders are shunned. But shouldn’t we be encouraging people to change their minds? A
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Here’s Why All Your Projects Are Always Late — and What to Do About It (Rebroadcast)
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’s because you suffer from “the planning fallacy.” (You also have an “optimism bias” and a bad case of overconfiden
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378. 23andMe (and You, and Everyone Else)
The revolution in home DNA testing is giving consumers important, possibly life-changing information. It’s also building a gigantic database that could lead to medical breakthroughs. But how will you deal with upsetting news? What if your privacy is
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377. The $1.5 Trillion Question-How to fix student loan debt?
As the cost of college skyrocketed, it created a debt burden that’s putting a drag on the economy. One possible solution: shifting the risk of debt away from students and onto investors looking for a cut of the graduates’ earning power.
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376. The Data-Driven Guide to Sane Parenting
Humans have been having kids forever, so why are modern parents so bewildered? The economist Emily Oster marshals the evidence on the most contentious topics — breastfeeding and sleep training, vaccines and screen time — and tells her fellow parents
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The Invisible Paw (Rebroadcast)
Humans, it has long been thought, are the only animal to engage in economic activity. But what if we've had it exactly backward?
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375. The Most Interesting Fruit in the World
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 made it so cheap have also made it vulnerable to a deadly fungus that may wipe out the one variety most of us eat. Sc
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374. How Spotify Saved the Music Industry (But Not Necessarily Musicians)
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 stream all the world’s music. Spotify reversed the labels’ fortunes, made Ek rich, and thrilled millions of music f
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373. Why Rent Control Doesn’t Work
As cities become ever-more expensive, politicians and housing advocates keep calling for rent control. Economists think that’s a terrible idea. They say it helps a small (albeit noisy) group of renters, but keeps overall rents artificially high by di
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372. Freakonomics Radio Live: “Would You Eat a Piece of Chocolate Shaped Like Dog Poop?”
What your disgust level says about your politics, how Napoleon influenced opera, why New York City’s subways may finally run on time, and more. Five compelling guests tell Stephen Dubner, co-host Angela Duckworth, and fact-checker Jody Avirgan lots o
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Why You Shouldn’t Open a Restaurant (Update)
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. Then he dared to start his own restaurant — and discovered problems that even science can’t solve.
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371. A Free-Trade Democrat in the Trump White House
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. Cohn talks about the fights he won, the fights he lost, and the fights he was no longer willing to have. Al
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370. How to Fail Like a Pro
The road to success is paved with failure, so you might as well learn to do it right. (Ep. 5 of the “How to Be Creative” series.)
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369. A Good Idea Is Not Good Enough
Whether you’re building a business or a cathedral, execution is everything. We ask artists, scientists, and inventors how they turned ideas into reality. And we find out why it’s so hard for a group to get things done — and what you can do about it.
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368. Where Do Good Ideas Come From?
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: the truth about brainstorming. (Ep. 3 of the “How to Be Creative” series.)
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367. The Future of Meat
Global demand for beef, chicken, and pork continues to rise. So do concerns about environmental and other costs. Will reconciling these two forces be possible — or, even better, Impossible™?
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366. This Economist Predicted the Last Crisis. What’s the Next One?
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 central bank, he sees another potential crisis — and he offers a solution. Is it stronger governments? Freer markets? R
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Extra: Domonique Foxworth Full Interview
Stephen Dubner’s conversation with the former N.F.L. player, union official, and all-around sports thinker, recorded for our “Hidden Side of Sports” series.
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365. Not Just Another Labor Force
If you think talent and hard work give top athletes all the leverage to succeed, think again. As employees in the Sports-Industrial Complex, they’ve got a tight earnings window, a high injury rate, little choice in where they work — and a very early
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Extra: Mark Cuban Full Interview
A conversation with the Shark Tank star, entrepreneur, and Dallas Mavericks owner recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Hidden Side of Sports.”
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364. Inside the Sports-Industrial Complex
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 very expensive migrant workers who eat into your profits. We talk to N.F.L., N.B.A., and U.F.C. executives about la
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Extra: Mark Teixeira Full Interview
A conversation with former Major League Baseball player and current ESPN analyst Mark Teixeira, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Hidden Side of Sports.”
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363. Think Like a Winner
Great athletes aren’t just great at the physical stuff. They’ve also learned how to handle pressure, overcome fear, and stay focused. Here’s the good news: you don’t have to be an athlete to use what they know. (Ep. 4 of “The Hidden Side of Sports” s
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Hacking the World Bank (Update)
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’s stepping down, well before his term is over; we recorded this interview with him in 2015.
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362. Why Is This Man Running for President?
In the American Dream sweepstakes, Andrew Yang was a pretty big winner. But for every winner, he came to realize, there are thousands upon thousands of losers — a “war on normal people,” he calls it. Here’s what he plans to do about it.
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How to Be Happy (Rebroadcast)
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. We head to Denmark to learn the secrets of this happiness epidemic (and to see if we should steal them).
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How to Win Games and Beat People (Rebroadcast)
Games are as old as civilization itself, and some people think they have huge social value regardless of whether you win or lose. Tom Whipple is not one of those people. That’s why he consulted an army of preposterously overqualified experts to find
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People Aren’t Dumb. The World Is Hard. (Rebroadcast)
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 has done. The founder of behavioral economics describes his unlikely route to success; his reputation for being l
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Freakonomics Radio Live: “The World’s a Mess. But Oysters, They Hold it Down.”
Celebrity chef Alex Guarnaschelli joins us to co-host an evening of delicious fact-finding: where a trillion oysters went, whether a soda tax can work, and how beer helped build an empire. Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri is our real-time fa
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Freakonomics Radio Live: “We Thought of a Way to Manipulate Your Perception of Time.”
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 than doctors. Journalist Manoush Zomorodi co-hosts; our real-time fact-checker is the author and humorist A.J. Jacobs
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Freakonomics Radio Live: “Where Does Fear Live in the Brain?”
Our co-host is comedian Christian Finnegan, and we learn: the difference between danger and fear; the role of clouds in climate change; and why (and when) politicians are bad at math. Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri is our real-time fact-ch
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361. Freakonomics Radio Live: “Jesus Could Have Been a Pigeon.”
Our co-host is Grit author Angela Duckworth, and we learn fascinating, Freakonomical facts from a parade of guests. For instance: what we all get wrong about Darwin; what an iPod has in common with the “hell ant”; and how a “memory athlete” memorizes
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360. Is the Protestant Work Ethic Real?
In the early 20th century, Max Weber argued that Protestantism created wealth. Finally, there are data to prove if he was right. All it took were some missionary experiments in the Philippines and a clever map-matching trick that goes back to 16th-ce
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359. Should America Be Run by … Trader Joe’s?
The quirky little grocery chain with California roots and German ownership has a lot to teach all of us about choice architecture, efficiency, frugality, collaboration, and team spirit.
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There’s a War on Sugar. Is It Justified? (Rebroadcast)
Some people argue that sugar should be regulated, like alcohol and tobacco, on the grounds that it’s addictive and toxic. How much sense does that make? We hear from a regulatory advocate, an evidence-based skeptic, a former F.D.A. commissioner — and
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358. Yes, the Open Office Is Terrible — But It Doesn’t Have to Be
It began as a post-war dream for a more collaborative and egalitarian workplace. It has evolved into a nightmare of noise and discomfort. Can the open office be saved, or should we all just be working from home?
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357. Can an Industrial Giant Become a Tech Darling?
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. But C.E.O. Jim Hackett has even bigger plans: to turn a century-old automaker into the nucleus of a “transportation
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356. America’s Hidden Duopoly
We all know our political system is “broken” — but what if that’s not true? Some say the Republicans and Democrats constitute a wildly successful industry that has colluded to kill off competition, stifle reform, and drive the country apart. So what
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Extra: Elvis Costello Full Interview
A conversation with the iconic singer-songwriter, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “How to Be Creative.”
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355. Where Does Creativity Come From (and Why Do Schools Kill It Off)?
Family environments and “diversifying experiences” (including the early death of a parent); intrinsic versus extrinsic motivations; schools that value assessments, but don't assess the things we value. All these elements factor into the long, mysteri
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Extra: Jeremy Lin Full Interview
A conversation with veteran NBA point guard Jeremy Lin, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Hidden Side of Sports.”
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354. How to Be Creative
There are thousands of books on the subject, but what do we actually know about creativity? In this new series, we talk to the researchers who study it as well as artists, inventors, and pathbreakers who live it every day: Ai Weiwei, James Dyson, Elv
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353. How to Optimize Your Apology
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 apology science.
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352. Can This Man Stop a Trade War?
The World Trade Organization is the referee for 164 trading partners, each with their own political and economic agendas. Lately, those agendas have gotten more complicated — especially with President Trump’s tariff blitz. Roberto Azevêdo, head of th
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Extra: Shawn Johnson Full Interview
A conversation with 2008 Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Hidden Side of Sports.”
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351. Here’s Why You’re Not an Elite Athlete
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 how they made it and what they sacrificed to get there. And if you can identify the sport most likely to get a ki
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Extra: Full Interviews With Jimmy Garoppolo, Joe Staley, Mike McGlinchey, and Kyle Juszczyk
Stephen Dubner’s conversations with members of the San Francisco 49ers offense, recorded for Freakonomics Radio episode No. 350, part of the “Hidden Side of Sports” series.
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350. How to Stop Being a Loser
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 losing lately — a lot — and one of their players launched a controversy by taking a knee during the national anthem. S
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349. How Sports Became Us
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? Because it reflects — and often amplifies — just about every political, economic, and social issue of the da
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348. Is the Government More Entrepreneurial Than You Think?
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 Mazzucato says we’ve got that story backward. She argues that the government, by funding so much early-stage rese
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347. Why You Shouldn’t Open a Restaurant
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. Then he dared to start his own restaurant — and discovered problems that even science can’t solve.
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346. Two (Totally Opposite) Ways to Save the Planet
The environmentalists say we’re doomed if we don’t drastically reduce consumption. The technologists say that human ingenuity can solve just about any problem. A debate that’s been around for decades has become a shouting match. Is anyone right?
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345. How to Be Happy
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. We head to Denmark to learn the secrets of this happiness epidemic (and to see if we should steal them).
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344. Who Decides How Much a Life Is Worth?
After every mass shooting or terrorist attack, victims and survivors receive a huge outpouring of support — including a massive pool of compensation money. How should that money be allocated? We speak with the man who’s done that job after many trage
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A Conversation With PepsiCo C.E.O. Indra Nooyi (Ep. 316 Update)
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 her as part of our series “The Secret Life of a C.E.O.," and we thought you might like to hear that episode again, o
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343. An Astronaut, a Catalan, and Two Linguists Walk Into a Bar…
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 astronauts talk about in space. Joining Stephen J. Dubner as co-host is the linguist John McWhorter; Bari Weiss (
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342. Has Lance Armstrong Finally Come Clean?
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 doping charges caught up with him. When he finally confessed to Oprah, he admits, “it didn’t go well at all.” That’s
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341. Why We Choke Under Pressure (and How Not To)
It happens to just about everyone, whether you’re going for Olympic gold or giving a wedding toast. We hear from psychologists, economists, and the golfer who some say committed the greatest choke of all time.
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340. People Aren’t Dumb. The World Is Hard.
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 has done. The founder of behavioral economics describes his unlikely route to success; his reputation for being l
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339. The Future of Freakonomics Radio
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’s a peek behind the curtain and a preview of what you’ll be hearing next.
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In Praise of Incrementalism (Rebroadcast)
What do Renaissance painting, civil-rights movements, and Olympic cycling have in common? In each case, huge breakthroughs came from taking tiny steps. In a world where everyone is looking for the next moonshot, we shouldn’t ignore the power of incre
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In Praise of Maintenance (Rebroadcast)
Has our culture's obsession with innovation led us to neglect the fact that things also need to be taken care of?
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338. How to Catch World Cup Fever
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 even if you have no team to root for. Because the World Cup isn't just a gargantuan sporting evént; it's a microco
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337. How to Build a Smart City
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. Enter Dan Doctoroff. The man who helped modernize New York City — and tried to bring the Olympics there — is n
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How Stupid Is Our Obsession With Lawns? (Rebroadcast)
Nearly two percent of America is grassy green. Sure, lawns are beautiful and useful and they smell great. But are the costs — financial, environmental and otherwise — worth the benefits?
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336. The Most Vilified Industry in America Is Also the Most Charitable
Pharmaceutical firms donate an enormous amount of their products (and some cash too). But it doesn't seem to be helping their reputation. We ask Pfizer's generosity chief why the company gives so much, who it really helps, and whether all this philan
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335. Does Doing Good Give You License to Be Bad?
Corporate Social Responsibility programs can attract better job applicants who'll work for less money. But they also encourage employees to misbehave. Don't laugh — you too probably engage in “moral licensing,” even if you don't know it.
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334. 5 Psychology Terms You’re Probably Misusing
We all like to throw around terms that describe human behavior — “bystander apathy” and “steep learning curve” and “hard-wired.” Most of the time, they don't actually mean what we think they mean. But don't worry — the experts are getting it wrong, t
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Evolution, Accelerated (Rebroadcast)
A breakthrough in genetic technology has given humans more power than ever to change nature. It could help eliminate hunger and disease; it could also lead to the sort of dystopia we used to only read about in sci-fi novels. So what happens next?
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333. The Most Ambitious Thing Humans Have Ever Attempted
Sure, medical progress has been astounding. But today the U.S. spends more on healthcare than any other country, with so-so outcomes. Atul Gawande — cancer surgeon, public-health researcher, and best-selling author — has some simple ideas for treatin
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332. Why the Trump Tax Cuts Are Terrible/Awesome (Part 2)
Three former White House economists weigh in on the new tax bill. A sample: "The overwhelming evidence is that the trickle-down, magic-beanstalk beans argument — that's just nonsense."
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331. Why the Trump Tax Cuts are Awesome/Terrible (Part 1)
Kevin Hassett, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, explains the thinking behind the controversial new Republican tax package — and why its critics are wrong. (Next week, we'll hear from the critics.)
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330. Extra: Ray Dalio Full Interview
Stephen Dubner's conversation with the founder and longtime C.E.O. of Bridgewater Associates, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Secret Life of a C.E.O.”
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329. The Invisible Paw
Humans, it has long been thought, are the only animal to engage in economic activity. But what if we've had it exactly backward?
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328. Extra: Mark Zuckerberg Full Interview
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.”
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Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Money (But Were Afraid to Ask) (Rebroadcast)
The bad news: roughly 70 percent of Americans are financially illiterate. The good news: all the important stuff can fit on one index card. Here's how to become your own financial superhero.
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327. Extra: Carol Bartz Full Interview
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.”
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The Stupidest Thing You Can Do With Your Money (Rebroadcast)
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 the low-cost index fund. The revolution will not be monetized.
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326. Extra: Jack Welch Full Interview
Stephen Dubner's conversation with the former longtime C.E.O. of General Electric, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Secret Life of a C.E.O.”
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325. How to Train Your Dragon Child
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, according to Chinese folk belief, confers power, fortune, and more. We look at what happens to Dragon babies
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324. Extra: Satya Nadella Full Interview
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.”
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323. Here’s Why All Your Projects Are Always Late — and What to Do About It
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's because you suffer from “the planning fallacy.” (You also have an “optimism bias” and a bad case of overconfiden
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322. Extra: David Rubenstein Full Interview
Stephen Dubner's conversation with the co-founder and longtime co-C.E.O. of the Carlyle Group, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Secret Life of a C.E.O.”
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Does “Early Education” Come Way Too Late? (Rebroadcast)
In our collective zeal to reform schools and close the achievement gap, we may have lost sight of where most learning really happens — at home.
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321. Extra: Richard Branson Full Interview
Stephen Dubner's conversation with the Virgin Group founder, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Secret Life of a C.E.O.”
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320. Letting Go
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 spectacularly wrong). In this final episode of our "Secret Life of a C.E.O." series, we hear those stories and many
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319. After the Glass Ceiling, a Glass Cliff
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 of firms that are already in crisis. Are they being set up to fail? (Part 5 of a special series, "The Secret Life
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318. It’s Your Problem Now
No, it's not your fault the economy crashed. Or that consumer preferences changed. Or that new technologies have blown apart your business model. But if you're the C.E.O., it is your problem. So what are you going to do about it? First-hand stories o
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317. What Can Uber Teach Us About the Gender Pay Gap?
The gig economy offers the ultimate flexibility to set your own hours. That's why economists thought it would help eliminate the gender pay gap. A new study, using data from over a million Uber drivers, finds the story isn't so simple.
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An Egghead’s Guide to the Super Bowl (Rebroadcast)
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. at MIT; and our resident economist -- to tell you what to watch for, whether you're a football fanatic or a total
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316. “I Wasn’t Stupid Enough to Say This Could Be Done Overnight”
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 the world decided that junk food is borderline toxic. Here's the story of how she overhauled that portfolio, stared
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315. How to Become a C.E.O.
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 Wisconsin farm girl who got into computers. No two C.E.O.'s have the same origin story — so we tell them all! How the lead
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314. What Does a C.E.O. Actually Do?
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 thing — or just airport-bookstore mumbo jumbo? We put these questions to Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson, Indra Nooy
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313. How to Be a Modern Democrat — and Win
Gina Raimondo, the governor of tiny Rhode Island, has taken on unions, boosted big business, and made friends with Republicans. She is also one of just 15 Democratic governors in the country. Would there be more of them if there were more like her?
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Why Is My Life So Hard? (Rebroadcast)
Most of us feel we face more headwinds and obstacles than everyone else — which breeds resentment. We also undervalue the tailwinds that help us — which leaves us ungrateful and unhappy. How can we avoid this trap?
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Trust Me (Rebroadcast)
Societies where people trust one another are healthier and wealthier. In the U.S. (and the U.K. and elsewhere), social trust has been falling for decades — in part because our populations are more diverse. What can we do to fix it?
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Make Me a Match (Rebroadcast)
Sure, markets generally work well. But for some transactions — like school admissions and organ transplants — money alone can't solve the problem. That's when you need a market-design wizard like Al Roth.
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312. Not Your Grandmother’s I.M.F.
The International Monetary Fund has long been the "lender of last resort" for economies in crisis. Christine Lagarde, who runs the institution, would like to prevent those crises from ever happening. She tells us her plans.
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311. Why Is the Live-Event Ticket Market So Screwed Up?
The public has almost no chance to buy good tickets to the best events. Ticket brokers, meanwhile, make huge profits on the secondary markets. Here's the story of how this market got so dysfunctional, how it can be fixed – and why it probably won't b
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310. Are We Running Out of Ideas?
Economists have a hard time explaining why productivity growth has been shrinking. One theory: true innovation has gotten much harder – and much more expensive. So what should we do next?
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Is America Ready for a “No-Lose Lottery”? (Update)
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 combine the two, creating a new kind of savings account with a lottery payout?
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309. Nurses to the Rescue!
They are the most-trusted profession in America (and with good reason). They are critical to patient outcomes (especially in primary care). Could the growing army of nurse practitioners be an answer to the doctor shortage? The data say yes but — big
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308. How Can I Do the Most Social Good With $100? And Other FREAK-quently Asked Questions
Dubner and his Freakonomics co-author Steve Levitt answer your questions about crime, traffic, real-estate agents, the Ph.D. glut, and how to not get eaten by a bear.
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Why Is There So Much Ground Beef in the World? (Special Feature)
In this live episode of "Tell Me Something I Don't Know," you'll learn about carcass balancing, teen sleeping, and brand naming. Joining Stephen J. Dubner as co-host is Alex Wagner (CBS This Morning Saturday); author A.J. Jacobs (It's All Relative) i
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307. Thinking Is Expensive. Who’s Supposed to Pay for It?
Corporations and rich people donate billions to their favorite think tanks and foundations. Should we be grateful for their generosity — or suspicious of their motives?
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306. How to Launch a Behavior-Change Revolution
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's what a dream team of social scientists is doing — and we sat in as they drew up their game plan.
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305. The Demonization of Gluten
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: many celiac patients haven't been diagnosed. The weird news: millions of people without celiac disease have
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304. What Are the Secrets of the German Economy — and Should We Steal Them?
Smart government policies, good industrial relations, and high-end products have helped German manufacturing beat back the threats of globalization.
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303. Why Larry Summers Is the Economist Everyone Hates to Love
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 the most brilliant economists of his generation (and perhaps the most irascible). And he thinks the Trump Adminis
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302. Why Learn Esperanto?
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 around the world gather once a year to celebrate their bond?
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301. What Would Be the Best Universal Language? (Earth 2.0 Series)
We explore votes for English, Indonesian, and … Esperanto! The search for a common language goes back millennia, but so much still gets lost in translation. Will technology finally solve that?
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300. Why Don’t We All Speak the Same Language? (Earth 2.0 Series)
There are 7,000 languages spoken on Earth. What are the costs — and benefits — of our modern-day Tower of Babel?
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299. "How Much Brain Damage Do I Have?"
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 football to brain damage, he abruptly retired. Here's the inside story — and a look at how we make decisions in the fa
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Bad Medicine, Part 3: Death by Diagnosis (Rebroadcast)
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 final episode in this series offers some encouraging answers.
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Bad Medicine, Part 2: (Drug) Trials and Tribulations (Rebroadcast)
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" who aren't representative of a larger population. On the other hand, sometimes the only thing worse than being
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Bad Medicine, Part 1: The Story of 98.6 (Rebroadcast)
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-part series, we look at the grotesque mistakes produced by centuries of trial-and-error, and ask whether the
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What Are You Waiting For? (Rebroadcast)
Standing in line represents a particularly sloppy — and frustrating — way for supply and demand to meet. Why haven't we found a better way to get what we want? Is it possible that we secretly enjoy waiting in line? And might it even be (gulp) good fo
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298. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Money (But Were Afraid to Ask)
The bad news: roughly 70 percent of Americans are financially illiterate. The good news: all the important stuff can fit on one index card. Here's how to become your own financial superhero.
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297. The Stupidest Thing You Can Do With Your Money
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 the low-cost index fund. The revolution will not be monetized.
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296. These Shoes Are Killing Me!
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 one foot scholar calls it) that stymies so much of its ability — and may create more problems than it solves?
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295. When Helping Hurts
Good intentions are nice, but with so many resources poured into social programs, wouldn't it be even nicer to know what actually works?
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294. The Fracking Boom, a Baby Boom, and the Retreat From Marriage
Over 40 percent of U.S. births are to unmarried mothers, and the numbers are especially high among the less-educated. Why? One argument is that the decline in good manufacturing jobs led to a decline in "marriageable" men. Surely the fracking boom re
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The Harvard President Will See You Now (Rebroadcast)
How a pain-in-the-neck girl from rural Virginia came to run the most powerful university in the world.
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293. Why Hate the Koch Brothers? (Part 2)
Charles Koch, the mega-billionaire CEO of Koch Industries and half of the infamous political machine, sees himself as a classical liberal. So why do most Democrats hate him so much? In a rare series of interviews, he explains his political awakening,
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292. Why Hate the Koch Brothers? (Part 1)
Charles Koch, the mega-billionaire CEO of Koch Industries and half of the infamous political machine, sees himself as a classical liberal. So why do most Democrats hate him so much? In a rare series of interviews, he explains his political awakening,
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"Tell Me Something I Don't Know" on the topic of Rivalry
Steve Levitt, Scott Turow and Bridget Gainer are panelists. For the "Freakonomics" co-author, the attorney and novelist, and the Cook County commissioner it's "game on!" as they tackle competition of all kinds: athletic, sexual, geopolitical, and the
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291. Evolution, Accelerated
A breakthrough in genetic technology has given humans more power than ever to change nature. It could help eliminate hunger and disease; it could also lead to the sort of dystopia we used to only read about in sci-fi novels. So what happens next? Hel
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290. He’s One of the Most Famous Political Operatives in America. America Just Doesn’t Know It Yet.
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 to launch a new political revolution – from sunny California.
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289. How Stupid Is Our Obsession With Lawns?
Nearly two percent of America is grassy green. Sure, lawns are beautiful and useful and they smell great. But are the costs — financial, environmental and otherwise — worth the benefits?
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288. Are the Rich Really Less Generous Than the Poor?
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 it true? A trio of economists set out to test the theory. All it took was a Dutch postal worker's uniform, some en
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287. Hoopers! Hoopers! Hoopers!
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 pet project called USAFacts, which performs a sort of fiscal colonoscopy on the American government.
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286. How Big is My Penis? (And Other Things We Ask Google)
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-Davidowitz has spent years parsing the data. His conclusion: our online searches are the reflection of our t
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Food + Science = Victory! (Rebroadcast)
A kitchen wizard and a nutrition detective talk about the perfect hamburger, getting the most out of garlic, and why you should use vodka in just about everything.
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285. There’s a War on Sugar. Is It Justified?
Some people argue that sugar should be regulated, like alcohol and tobacco, on the grounds that it's addictive and toxic. How much sense does that make? We hear from a regulatory advocate, an evidence-based skeptic, a former FDA commissioner — and th
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284. Is Income Inequality Inevitable? (Earth 2.0 Series)
In pursuit of a more perfect economy, we discuss the future of work; the toxic remnants of colonization; and whether giving everyone a basic income would be genius -- or maybe the worst idea ever.
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283. What Would Our Economy Look Like? (Earth 2.0 Series)
If we could reboot the planet and create new systems and institutions from scratch, would they be any better than what we've blundered our way into through trial and error? This is the first of a series of episodes that we'll release over several mon
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282. Could Solving This One Problem Solve All the Others?
The biggest problem with humanity is humans themselves. Too often, we make choices — what we eat, how we spend our money and time — that undermine our well-being. An all-star team of academic researchers thinks it has the solution: perfecting the sci
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281. Big Returns from Thinking Small
By day, two leaders of Britain's famous Nudge Unit use behavioral tricks to make better government policy. By night, they repurpose those tricks to improve their personal lives. They want to help you do the same.
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280. “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know” on the topic of Collections.
Hear live journalism wrapped in a game show package and hosted by Stephen J. Dubner. In this episode, Tim Ferriss, Eugene Mirman and Anne Pasternak are panelists. The self-help guru, the comedian and the Brooklyn Museum director talk about brainwaves
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How Safe Is Your Job? (Rebroadcast)
Economists preach the gospel of "creative destruction," whereby new industries -- and jobs -- replace the old ones. But has creative destruction become too destructive?
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279. Why Is My Life So Hard?
Most of us feel we face more headwinds and obstacles than everyone else — which breeds resentment. We also undervalue the tailwinds that help us — which leaves us ungrateful and unhappy. How can we avoid this trap?
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278. Chuck E. Cheese’s: Where a Kid Can Learn Price Theory
The pizza-and-gaming emporium prides itself on affordability, which means its arcade games are really cheap to play. Does that lead to kids hogging the best games — and parents starting those infamous YouTube brawls?
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277. The Taboo Trifecta
The serial entrepreneur Miki Agrawal loves to talk about the bodily functions that make most people flinch. That's why she's building a business around the three P's: periods, pee, and poop.
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276. No Hollywood Ending for the Visual-Effects Industry
In their chase for a global audience, American movie studios spend billions to make their films look amazing. But almost none of those dollars stay in America. What would it take to bring those jobs back -- and would it be worth it?
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275. Professor Hendryx vs. Big Coal
What happens when a public-health researcher deep in coal country argues that mountaintop mining endangers the entire community? Hint: it doesn't go very well.
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How to Get More Grit in Your Life
The psychologist Angela Duckworth argues that a person's level of stick-to-itiveness is directly related to their level of success. No big surprise there. But grit, she says, isn't something you're born with — it can be learned. Here's how.
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274. An Egghead’s Guide to the Super Bowl
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; and our resident economist -- to tell you what to watch for, whether you're a football fanatic or a total ne
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273. Did China Eat America’s Jobs?
For years, economists promised that global free trade would be mostly win-win. Now they admit the pace of change has been "traumatic." This has already led to a political insurrection -- so what's next?
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Is the American Dream Really Dead?
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 about 50 percent. What happened -- and what can be done about it?
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272. Trevor Noah Has a Lot to Say
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 of America — especially on race, politics, and religion — and he's not afraid to speak his mind.
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271. The Men Who Started a Thinking Revolution
Starting in the late 1960s, the Israeli psychologists Amos Tversky and Danny Kahneman began to redefine how the human mind actually works. Michael Lewis's new book The Undoing Project explains how the movement they started -- now known as behavioral
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How to Become Great at Just About Anything (Rebroadcast)
What if the thing we call "talent" is grotesquely overrated? And what if deliberate practice is the secret to excellence? Those are the claims of the research psychologist Anders Ericsson, who has been studying the science of expertise for decades. H
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How to Be More Productive (Rebroadcast)
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 difference between being busy and being productive.
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270. Bad Medicine, Part 3: Death by Diagnosis
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 final episode in this series offers some encouraging answers.
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269. Bad Medicine, Part 2: (Drug) Trials and Tribulations
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" who aren't representative of a larger population. On the other hand, sometimes the only thing worse than being
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268. Bad Medicine, Part 1: The Story of 98.6
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-part series, we look at the grotesque mistakes produced by centuries of trial-and-error, and ask whether the
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The No-Tipping Point (Rebroadcast)
The restaurant business model is warped: kitchen wages are too low to hire cooks, while diners are put in charge of paying the waitstaff. So what happens if you eliminate tipping, raise menu prices, and redistribute the wealth? New York restaurant ma
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267. How to Make a Bad Decision
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's known, affects loan officers, federal judges -- and probably you too. How to avoid it? The first step is to admi
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Introducing Stephen J. Dubner's new podcast, "Tell Me Something I Don't Know"
"Tell Me Something I Don't Know" is a live game show hosted by Stephen J. Dubner of "Freakonomics Radio." He has always had a mission: to tell you the things you thought you knew but didn't, and things you never thought you wanted to know, but do. No
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266. Trust Me
Societies where people trust one another are healthier and wealthier. In the U.S. (and the U.K. and elsewhere), social trust has been falling for decades -- in part because our populations are more diverse. What can we do to fix it?
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265. The White House Gets Into the Nudge Business
A tiny behavioral-sciences startup is trying to improve the way federal agencies do their work. Considering the size (and habits) of most federal agencies, this isn't so simple. But after a series of early victories -- and a helpful executive order f
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264. In Praise of Incrementalism
What do Renaissance painting, civil-rights movements, and Olympic cycling have in common? In each case, huge breakthroughs came from taking tiny steps. In a world where everyone is looking for the next moonshot, we shouldn't ignore the power of incre
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263. In Praise of Maintenance
Has our culture's obsession with innovation led us to neglect the fact that things also need to be taken care of?
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262. This Is Your Brain on Podcasts
Neuroscientists still have a great deal to learn about the human brain. One recent MRI study sheds some light, finding that a certain kind of storytelling stimulates enormous activity across broad swaths of the brain. The takeaway is obvious: you sho
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How To Win A Nobel Prize (Rebroadcast)
The process is famously secretive (and conducted in Swedish!) but we pry the lid off at least a little bit.
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261. Why Are We Still Using Cash?
It facilitates crime, bribery, and tax evasion -- and yet some governments (including ours) are printing more cash than ever. Other countries, meanwhile, are ditching cash entirely. And if Star Trek is right, we won't have money of any sort in the 24
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260. Has the U.S. Presidency Become a Dictatorship?
Sure, we all pay lip service to the Madisonian system of checks and balances. But as one legal scholar argues, presidents have been running roughshod over the system for decades. The result? An accumulation of power that's turned the presidency into
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259. Ten Signs You Might Be a Libertarian
Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party's presidential candidate, likes to say that most Americans are libertarians but don't know it yet. So why can't Libertarians (and other third parties) gain more political traction?
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258. Why Uber Is an Economist’s Dream
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-moment data that is helping answer some of the field's most elusive questions.
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257. The Future (Probably) Isn’t as Scary as You Think
Internet pioneer Kevin Kelly tries to predict the future by identifying what's truly inevitable. How worried should we be? Yes, robots will probably take your job -- but the future will still be pretty great.
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Are You Ready for a Glorious Sunset? (Rebroadcast)
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 treatment and get a cash rebate instead?
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Aziz Ansari Needs Another Toothbrush (Rebroadcast)
The comedian, actor -- and now, author -- answers our FREAK-quently Asked Questions.
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256. What Are You Waiting For?
Standing in line represents a particularly sloppy - and frustrating - way for supply and demand to meet. Why haven't we found a better way to get what we want? Is it possible that we secretly enjoy waiting in line? And might it even be (gulp) good fo
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Is It Okay for Restaurants to Racially Profile Their Employees? (Rebroadcast)
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 this make sense -- and is it legal?
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255. Ten Ideas to Make Politics Less Rotten
We Americans may love our democracy -- at least in theory -- but at the moment our feelings toward the federal government lie somewhere between disdain and hatred. Which electoral and political ideas should be killed off to make way for a saner syste
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254. What Are Gender Barriers Made Of?
Overt discrimination in the labor markets may be on the wane, but women are still subtly penalized by all sorts of societal conventions. How can those penalties be removed without burning down the house?
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253. Is the Internet Being Ruined?
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 of our decisions are really being made by Google and Facebook and Apple? And, perhaps most importantly: is the Inte
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252. Confessions of a Pothole Politician
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 relies heavily on data and new technologies. Could this be what modern politics is supposed to look like?
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How Much Does the President Really Matter? (Rebroadcast)
The U.S. president is often called the "leader of free world." But if you ask an economist or a Constitutional scholar how much the occupant of the Oval Office matters, they won't say much. We look at what the data have to say about measuring leaders
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Why Do We Really Follow the News? (Rebroadcast)
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, and miscellaneous heartbreak simply because it's (gasp) entertaining?
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251. Are We in a Mattress-Store Bubble?
You've seen them — everywhere! — and often clustered together, as if central planners across America decided that what every city really needs is a Mattress District. There are now dozens of online rivals too. Why are there so many stores selling som
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Time to Take Back the Toilet
Public bathrooms are noisy, poorly designed, and often nonexistent. What to do?
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250. Why Does Everyone Hate Flying? And Other Questions Only a Pilot Can Answer
Patrick Smith, the author of Cockpit Confidential, answers every question we can throw at him about what really happens up in the air. Just don't get him started on pilotless planes -- or whether the autopilot is actually doing the flying.
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249. The Longest Long Shot
When the uncelebrated Leicester City Football Club won the English Premier League, it wasn't just the biggest underdog story in recent history. It was a sign of changing economics — and that other impossible, wonderful events might be lurking just ar
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248. How to Be Tim Ferriss
Our Self-Improvement Month concludes with a man whose entire life and career are one big pile of self-improvement. Nutrition? Check. Bizarre physical activities? Check. Working less and earning more? Check. Tim Ferriss, creator of the Four-Hour unive
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247. How to Win Games and Beat People
Games are as old as civilization itself, and some people think they have huge social value regardless of whether you win or lose. Tom Whipple is not one of those people. That's why he consulted an army of preposterously overqualified experts to find
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246. How to Get More Grit in Your Life
The psychologist Angela Duckworth argues that a person's level of stick-to-itiveness is directly related to their level of success. No big surprise there. But grit, she says, isn't something you're born with -- it can be learned. Here's how.
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245. Being Malcolm Gladwell
"Books are a pain in the ass," says Gladwell, who has written some of the most popular, influential, and beloved non-fiction books in recent history. In this wide-ranging and candid conversation, he describes other pains in the ass -- as well as his
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244. How to Become Great at Just About Anything
What if the thing we call "talent" is grotesquely overrated? And what if deliberate practice is the secret to excellence? Those are the claims of the research psychologist Anders Ericsson, who has been studying the science of expertise for decades. H
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243. How to Be More Productive
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 less time. First, however, a warning: there's a big difference between being busy and being productive.
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242. Is the World Ready for a Guaranteed Basic Income?
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. What's to be done so that financially vulnerable people aren't just crushed? It may finally be time for an idea
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241. Are Payday Loans Really as Evil as People Say?
Critics -- including President Obama -- say short-term, high-interest loans are predatory, trapping borrowers in a cycle of debt. But some economists see them as a useful financial instrument for people who need them. As the Consumer Financial Protec
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The Economics of Sleep, Part 2 (Rebroadcast)
People who sleep better earn more money. Now all we have to do is teach everyone to sleep better.
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The Economics of Sleep, Part 1 (Rebroadcast)
Could a lack of sleep help explain why some people get much sicker than others?
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240. Yes, the American Economy Is in a Funk -- But Not for the Reasons You Think
As sexy as the digital revolution may be, it can't compare to the Second Industrial Revolution (electricity! the gas engine! antibiotics!), which created the biggest standard-of-living boost in U.S. history. The only problem, argues the economist Rob
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239. The No-Tipping Point
The restaurant business model is warped: kitchen wages are too low to hire cooks, while diners are put in charge of paying the waitstaff. So what happens if you eliminate tipping, raise menu prices, and redistribute the wealth? New York restaurant ma
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238. The United States of Cory Booker
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 a way forward that everyone else has missed?
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237. Ask Not What Your Podcast Can Do for You
Now and again, Freakonomics Radio puts hat in hand and asks listeners to donate to the public-radio station that produces the show. Why on earth should anyone pay good money for something that can be had for free? Here are a few reasons.
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236. How Can This Possibly Be True?
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.” Is the pencil just bragging? In any case, what can the pencil teach us about our global interdependence — an
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235. Who Needs Handwriting?
The digital age is making pen and paper seem obsolete. But what are we giving up if we give up on handwriting?
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How to Fix a Broken High Schooler, in Four Easy Steps (Rebroadcast)
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 who were headed for trouble.
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Is America’s Education Problem Really Just a Teacher Problem? (Rebroadcast)
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?
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234. Do Boycotts Work?
The Montgomery Bus Boycott, the South African divestment campaign, Chick-fil-A! Almost anyone can launch a boycott, and the media loves to cover them. But do boycotts actually produce the change they're fighting for?
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233. How to Be Less Terrible at Predicting the Future
Experts and pundits are notoriously bad at forecasting, in part because they aren't punished for bad predictions. Also, they tend to be deeply unscientific. The psychologist Philip Tetlock is finally turning prediction into a science -- and now even
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232. The True Story of the Gender Pay Gap
Discrimination can't explain why women earn so much less than men. If only it were that easy.
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When Willpower Isn’t Enough (Rebroadcast)
Sure, we all want to make good personal decisions, but it doesn't always work out. That's where "temptation bundling" comes in.
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Fixing the World, Bang-for-the-Buck Edition (Rebroadcast)
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 dollars should be spent.
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231. Is Migration a Basic Human Right?
The argument for open borders is compelling -- and deeply problematic.
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230. The Cheeseburger Diet
One woman's quest to find the best burger in town can teach all of us to eat smarter.
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229. Ben Bernanke Gives Himself a Grade
He was handed the keys to the global economy just as it started heading off a cliff. Fortunately, he'd seen this movie before.
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Why Do People Keep Having Children? (Rebroadcast)
Even a brutal natural disaster doesn't diminish our appetite for procreating. This surely means we're heading toward massive overpopulation, right? Probably not.
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228. Does “Early Education” Come Way Too Late?
In our collective zeal to reform schools and close the achievement gap, we may have lost sight of where most learning really happens -- at home.
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227. Should Everyone Be in a Rock Band?
Lessons from Tom Petty's rise and another rocker's fall.
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226. Food + Science = Victory!
A kitchen wizard and a nutrition detective talk about the perfect hamburger, getting the most out of garlic, and why you should use vodka in just about everything.
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225. Am I Boring You?
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 upside to boredom?
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How to Save $1 Billion Without Even Trying (Rebroadcast)
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?
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224. How To Win A Nobel Prize
The process is famously secretive (and conducted in Swedish!) but we pry the lid off at least a little bit.
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223. Should Kids Pay Back Their Parents for Raising Them?
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?
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222. Meet the Woman Who Said Women Can’t Have It All
Anne-Marie Slaughter was best known for her adamant views on Syria when she accidentally became a poster girl for modern feminism. As it turns out, she can be pretty adamant in that realm as well.
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221. How Did the Belt Win?
Suspenders may work better, but the dork factor is too high. How did an organ-squeezing belly tourniquet become part of our everyday wardrobe -- and what other suboptimal solutions do we routinely put up with?
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220. “I Don't Know What You've Done With My Husband, But He's a Changed Man.”
From domestic abusers to former child soldiers, there is increasing evidence that behavioral therapy can turn them around.
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219. Preventing Crime for Pennies on the Dollar
Conventional programs tend to be expensive, onerous, and ineffective. Could something as simple (and cheap) as cognitive behavioral therapy do the trick?
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218. The Harvard President Will See You Now
How a pain-in-the-neck girl from rural Virginia came to run the most powerful university in the world.
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217. Are You Ready for a Glorious Sunset?
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 a cash rebate instead?
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216. How to Make a Smart TV Ad
Step 1: Hire a Harvard psych professor as the pitchman. Step 2: Have him help write the script ...
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The Dangers of Safety (Rebroadcast)
What do NASCAR drivers, Glenn Beck and the hit men of the NFL have in common?
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215. Why Do We Really Follow the News?
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, and miscellaneous heartbreak simply because it's (gasp) entertaining?
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214. How to Create Suspense
Why is soccer the best sport? How has Harlan Coben sold 70 million books? And why does "Apollo 13" keep you enthralled even when you know the ending?
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213. Aziz Ansari Needs Another Toothbrush
The comedian, actor -- and now, author -- answers our FREAK-quently Asked Questions
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212. The Economics of Sleep, Part 2
People who sleep better earn more money. Now all we have to do is teach everyone to sleep better.
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211. The Economics of Sleep, Part 1
Could a lack of sleep help explain why some people get much sicker than others?
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A Better Way to Eat (Rebroadcast)
Takeru Kobayashi revolutionized the sport of competitive eating. What can the rest of us learn from his breakthrough?
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210. Is It Okay for Restaurants to Racially Profile Their Employees?
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 this make sense -- and is it legal?
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209. Make Me a Match
Sure, markets generally work well. But for some transactions -- like school admissions and organ transplants -- money alone can't solve the problem. That's when you need a market-design wizard like Al Roth.
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208. Making Sex Offenders Pay -- and Pay and Pay and Pay
Sure, sex crimes are horrific, and the perpetrators deserve to be punished harshly. But society keeps exacting costs -- out-of-pocket and otherwise -- long after the prison sentence has been served.
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207. Should We Really Behave Like Economists Say We Do?
One man's attempt to remake his life in the mold of homo economicus.
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Tell Me Something I Don’t Know (Rebroadcast)
The debut of a live game show from Freakonomics Radio, with judges Malcolm Gladwell, Ana Gasteyer, and David Paterson.
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Failure Is Your Friend (Rebroadcast)
In which we argue that failure should not only be tolerated but celebrated.
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206. Ten Years of Freakonomics
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 decade of working together.
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205. Could the Next Brooklyn Be ... Las Vegas?!
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.
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Think Like a Child (Rebroadcast)
When it comes to generating ideas and asking questions it can be really fruitful to have the mentality of an eight year old.
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204. Nate Silver Says: “Everyone Is Kind of Weird”
America's favorite statistical guru answers our FREAK-quently Asked Questions, and more.
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203. Diamonds Are a Marriage Counselor’s Best Friend
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.
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202. How Many Doctors Does It Take to Start a Healthcare Revolution?
The practice of medicine has been subsumed by the business of medicine. This is great news for healthcare shareholders -- and bad news for pretty much everyone else.
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201. How Do We Know What Really Works in Healthcare?
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 change that.
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The Perfect Crime (Rebroadcast)
If you are driving and kill a pedestrian, there's a good chance you'll barely be punished. Why?
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What You Don’t Know About Online Dating (Rebroadcast)
Thick markets, thin markets, and the triumph of attributes over compatibility.
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200. When Willpower Isn’t Enough
Sure, we all want to make good personal decisions, but it doesn't always work out. That's where "temptation bundling" comes in.
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199. This Idea Must Die
Every year, Edge.org asks its salon of big thinkers to answer one big question. This year's question borders on heresy: what scientific idea is ready for retirement?
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198. The Maddest Men of All
Advertisers have always been adept at manipulating our emotions. Now they're using behavioral economics to get even better.
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197. Hacking the World Bank
Jim Yong Kim has an unorthodox background for a World Bank president — and his reign thus far is just as unorthodox.
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196. Is There a Better Way to Fight Terrorism?
The White House is hosting an anti-terror summit next week. Summits being what they are, we try to offer some useful advice.
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195. How Efficient Is Energy Efficiency?
It's a centerpiece of U.S. climate policy and a sacred cow among environmentalists. Does it work?
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194. How Safe Is Your Job?
Economists preach the gospel of "creative destruction," whereby new industries -- and jobs -- replace the old ones. But has creative destruction become too destructive?
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193. Someone Else’s Acid Trip
As Kevin Kelly tells it, the hippie revolution and the computer revolution are nearly one and the same.
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192. That’s a Great Question!
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 a “great” one.
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191. Why Doesn’t Everyone Get the Flu Vaccine?
Influenza kills, but you’d never know it by how few of us get the vaccine.
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What’s the “Best” Exercise? (Rebroadcast)
Most people blame lack of time for being out of shape. So maybe the solution is to exercise more efficiently.
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What’s More Dangerous: Marijuana or Alcohol? (Rebroadcast)
Imagine that both substances were undiscovered until today. How would we think about their relative risks?
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190. Time to Take Back the Toilet
Public bathrooms are noisy, poorly designed, and often nonexistent. What to do?
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The Troubled Cremation of Stevie the Cat (Rebroadcast)
We spend billions on our pets, and one of the fastest-growing costs is pet "aftercare." But are those cremated remains you got back really from your pet?
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189. How to Fix a Broken High Schooler, in Four Easy Steps
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 who were headed for trouble.
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188. Is America’s Education Problem Really Just a Teacher Problem?
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?
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187. The Man Who Would Be Everything
Boris Johnson -- mayor of London, biographer of Churchill, cheese-box painter and tennis-racket collector -- answers our FREAK-quently Asked Questions.
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186. Why Do People Keep Having Children?
Even a brutal natural disaster doesn’t diminish our appetite for procreating. This surely means we’re heading toward massive overpopulation, right? Probably not.
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185. Should the U.S. Merge With Mexico?
Corporations around the world are consolidating like never before. If it’s good enough for companies, why not countries? Welcome to Amexico!
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184. What Can Vampires Teach Us About Economics?
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.
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183. “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know”
The debut of a live game show from Freakonomics Radio, with judges Malcolm Gladwell, Ana Gasteyer, and David Paterson.
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182. How Can Tiny Norway Afford to Buy So Many Teslas?
The Norwegian government parleys massive oil wealth into huge subsidies for electric cars. Is that carbon laundering or just pragmatic environmentalism?
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How to Raise Money Without Killing a Kitten (Rebroadcast)
The science of what works -- and doesn't work -- in fund-raising
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181. Fixing the World, Bang-for-the-Buck Edition
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 dollars should be spent.
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180. Fitness Apartheid
Markets are hardly perfect, but the results can be ugly when you try to subvert them.
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179. Outsiders by Design
What does it mean to pursue something that everyone else thinks is nuts? And what does it take to succeed?
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178. How to Save $1 Billion Without Even Trying
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?
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177. Regulate This!
Airbnb, Uber, Lyft, EatWith, and other companies in the “sharing economy” are practically daring government regulators to shut them down. The regulators are happy to comply.
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Who Runs the Internet? (Rebroadcast)
The online universe doesn't have nearly as many rules, or rulemakers, as the real world. Discuss.
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Parking Is Hell (Rebroadcast)
There ain't no such thing as a free parking spot. Somebody has to pay for it -- and that somebody is everybody.
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What Do Medieval Nuns and Bo Jackson Have in Common? (Rebroadcast)
A look at whether spite pays -- and if it even exists.
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Should Tipping be Banned? (Rebroadcast)
It's awkward, random, confusing -- and probably discriminatory too.
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How Much Does Your Name Matter? (Rebroadcast)
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?
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176. Does Religion Make You Happy?
It’s a hard question to answer, but we do our best.
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175. Why You Should Bribe Your Kids
Educational messaging looks good on paper but kids don’t respond to it -- and adults aren’t much better.
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174. What Do King Solomon and David Lee Roth Have in Common?
It isn’t easy to separate the guilty from the innocent, but a clever bit of game theory can help.
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173. A Better Way to Eat
Takeru Kobayashi revolutionized the sport of competitive eating. What can the rest of us learn from his breakthrough?
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172. How to Screen Job Applicants, Act Your Age, and Get Your Brain Off Autopilot
Dubner and Levitt answer reader questions in this first installment of the “Think Like a Freak” Book Club.
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171. There’s No Such Thing as a Free Appetizer
Is it really in a restaurant’s best interest to give customers free bread or chips before they even order?
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170. Why America Doesn’t Love Soccer (Yet)
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?
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169. Failure Is Your Friend
In which we argue that failure should not only be tolerated but celebrated.
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168. Think Like a Child
When it comes to generating ideas and asking questions it can be really fruitful to have the mentality of an eight year old.
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167. The Three Hardest Words in the English Language
Why learning to say “I don’t know” is one of the best things you can do.
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166. How to Think Like a Freak -- and Other FREAK-quently Asked Questions
Stephen Dubner and Steve Levitt talk about their new book and field questions about prestige, university life, and (yum yum) bacon.
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165. The Perfect Crime
If you are driving and kill a pedestrian, there's a good chance you'll barely be punished. Why?
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164. Which Came First, the Chicken or the Avocado?
When it comes to exercising outrage, people tend to be very selective. Could it be that humans are our least favorite animal?
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163. What’s More Dangerous: Marijuana or Alcohol?
Imagine that both substances were undiscovered until today. How would we think about their relative risks?
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162. “If Mayors Ruled the World”
Unlike certain elected officials in Washington, mayors all over the country actually get stuff done. So maybe we should ask them to do more?
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161. How to Make People Quit Smoking
The war on cigarettes has been fairly successful in some places. But 1 billion humans still smoke -- so what comes next?
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160. Why Everybody Who Doesn’t Hate Bitcoin Loves It
Thinking of Bitcoin as just a digital currency is like thinking about the Internet as just e-mail. Its potential is much more exciting than that.
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Women Are Not Men (Rebroadcast)
In many ways, the gender gap is closing. In others, not so much. And that's not always a bad thing.
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159. “It’s Fun to Smoke Marijuana”
A psychology professor argues that the brain's greatest attribute is knowing what other people are thinking. And that a Queen song, played backwards, can improve your mind-reading skills.
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158. Is Learning a Foreign Language Really Worth It?
Yes, it expands the mind but we usually don't retain much -- and then there's the opportunity cost.
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157. Why Are Japanese Homes Disposable?
In most countries, houses get more valuable over time. In Japan, a new buyer will often bulldoze the home. We'll tell you why.
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156. Why Marry? (Part 2)
The consequences of our low marriage rate -- and if the old model is less attractive, how about a new one?
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154. What You Don’t Know About Online Dating
Thick markets, thin markets, and the triumph of attributes over compatibility. This episode is included in the Freakonomics #smartbinge podcast playlist at wnyc.org/smartbinge
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153. Reasons to Not Be Ugly
The "beauty premium" is real, for everyone from babies to NFL quarterbacks.
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Fear Thy Nature (Rebroadcast)
What "Sleep No More" and the Stanford Prison Experiment tell us about who we really are.
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151. Are We Ready to Legalize Drugs? And Other FREAK-Quently Asked Questions
Dubner and Levitt talk about fixing the post office, putting cameras in the classroom, and wearing hats.
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150. What’s the “Best” Exercise?
Most people blame lack of time for being out of shape. So maybe the solution is to exercise more efficiently.
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Save Me From Myself (Rebroadcast)
A commitment device forces you to be the person you really want to be. What could possibly go wrong?
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149. Pontiff-icating on the Free-Market System
The Pope just gave it to the global economy with both barrels. Was he right to do so?
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148. Are Gay Men Really Rich?
It’s easy to get that idea. But is the stereotype true?
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147. The Most Dangerous Machine
More than 1 million people die worldwide each year from traffic accidents. But there's never been a safer time to drive.
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146. Fighting Poverty With Actual Evidence
It's time to do away with feel-good stories, gut hunches, and magical thinking.
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145. What Do Skating Rinks, Ultimate Frisbee, and the World Have in Common?
Spontaneous order is everywhere if you know where to look for it.
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144. Who Runs the Internet?
The online universe doesn't have nearly as many rules, or rulemakers, as the real world. Discuss.
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Freakonomics Goes to College, Part 2 (Rebroadcast)
College tends to make people happier, healthier, and wealthier. But how?
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Freakonomics Goes to College, Part 1 (Rebroadcast)
What's a college degree really worth these days?
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143. Why Bad Environmentalism Is Such an Easy Sell
Being green is rarely a black-and-white issue -- but that doesn't stop marketers and politicians from pretending it is.
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142. The Troubled Cremation of Stevie the Cat
We spend billions on our pets, and one of the fastest-growing costs is pet "aftercare." But are those cremated remains you got back really from your pet?
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141. How to Raise Money Without Killing a Kitten
The science of what works -- and doesn't work -- in fund-raising
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140. How to Think About Money, Choose Your Hometown, and Buy an Electric Toothbrush
Dubner and Levitt field your queries in this latest installment of our FREAK-quently Asked Questions.
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139. Would a Big Bucket of Cash Really Change Your Life?
A 19th-century Georgia land lottery may have something to teach us about today's income inequality.
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The Economist’s Guide to Parenting (Rebroadcast)
Think you know how much parents matter? Think again. Economists crunch the numbers to learn the ROI on child-rearing.
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138. Whatever Happened to the Carpal Tunnel Epidemic?
Once upon a time, office workers across America lived in fear of a dreaded infirmity. Was the computer keyboard really the villain -- and did carpal tunnel syndrome really go away?
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The Suicide Paradox (Rebroadcast)
There are more than twice as many suicides as murders in the U.S., but suicide attracts far less scrutiny. Freakonomics Radio digs through the numbers and finds all kinds of surprises.
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137. Who Are the Most Successful Immigrants in the World?
It's impossible to say for sure, but the Lebanese do remarkably well. Why?
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The Folly of Prediction (Rebroadcast)
Human beings love to predict the future, but we're quite terrible at it. So how about punishing all those bad predictions?
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136. The Middle of Everywhere
Chicago has given the world more than sausage, crooked politics, and Da Bears.
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The Church of "Scionology" (Rebroadcast)
We worship the tradition of handing off a family business to the next generation. But is that really such a good idea?
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135. Do Baby Girls Cause Divorce?
Even American parents have a strong "son preference" -- which means that a newborn daughter can be bad news for a marriage.
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The Upside of Quitting (Rebroadcast)
You know the saying: a winner never quits and a quitter never wins. To which Freakonomics Radio says ... Are you sure?
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134. Government Employees Gone Wild
The Encyclopedia of Ethical Failures catalogs the fiscal, sexual, and mental lapses of federal workers -- all with an eye toward preventing the next big mistake.
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132. Jane Austen, Game Theorist
What does "Pride and Prejudice" have to do with nuclear deterrence?
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Legacy of a Jerk (Rebroadcast)
What happens to your reputation when you're no longer around to defend it?
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131. Do You Really Want to Know Your Future?
You might think that someone with a 50-50 chance of getting a fatal disease would want to know for sure -- but you would be wrong. What does this say about our supposed thirst for certainty?
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130. Why Family and Business Don’t Mix
Yet another reason to blame your parents for pretty much everything.
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129. Should Tipping be Banned?
It's awkward, random, confusing -- and probably discriminatory too.
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127. Can You Be Too Smart for Your Own Good? And Other FREAK-quently Asked Questions
Dubner and Levitt talk about circadian rhythms, gay marriage, autism, and whether "pay what you want" is everything it's cracked up to be.
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The Hidden Cost of False Alarms (Rebroadcast)
If any other product failed 94 percent of the time, you'd probably stop using it. So why do we put up with burglar alarms?
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126. What Do Medieval Nuns and Bo Jackson Have in Common?
A look at whether spite pays — and if it even exists.
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125. It’s Crowded at the Top
Why is unemployment still so high? It may be because of something that happened well before the Great Recession.
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124. Running to Do Evil
An interview with Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, whose younger brother turned him in -- and what it says about the Boston bombers.
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123. Help Wanted. No Smokers Need Apply
In many states, it is perfectly legal to not hire someone who smokes. Should employers also be able to weed out junk-food lovers or motorcyclists -- or anyone who wants to have a baby?
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122. How Much Does Your Name Matter?
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?
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121. The Tax Man Nudgeth
Real tax reform may or may not ever happen. In the meantime, how about making the current system work a bit better?
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120. 100 Ways to Fight Obesity
Freakonomics asks a dozen smart people for their best ideas. Get ready for a fat tax, a sugar ban, and a calorie-chomping tapeworm.
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119. How Money Is March Madness?
The NCAA basketball tournament grabs a lot of eyeballs, but turning them into dollars hasn't always been easy -- even when the "talent" is playing for free.
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118. Parking Is Hell
There ain't no such thing as a free parking spot. Somebody has to pay for it -- and that somebody is everybody.
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117. When Is a Negative a Positive?
Sure, we all like to hear compliments. But if you're truly looking to get better at something, it's the negative feedback that will get you there.
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116. Women Are Not Men
In many ways, the gender gap is closing. In others, not so much. And that's not always a bad thing.
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115. The Downside of More Miles Per Gallon
The gas tax doesn't work well, and it's only going to get worse. What's next?
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114. How to Think About Guns
No one wants mass shootings. Unfortunately, no one has a workable plan to stop them either.
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113. Sure, I Remember That
It is startlingly easy to create false memories, especially in politics.
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112. Would You Let a Coin Toss Decide Your Future?
Levitt and Dubner go deep on "Freakonomics Experiments," a new research project that lets you take a chance on life.
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111. Introducing “Freakonomics Experiments”
Steve Levitt has a novel idea for helping people make tough decisions
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110. Who Owns the Words That Come Out of Your Mouth?
The very long reach of Winston Churchill -- and how the British government is remaking copyright law.
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109. How to Live Longer
Why do Hall of Fame inductees, Oscar winners, and Nobel laureates outlive their peers?
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108. How Did “Freakonomics” Get Its Name? … and Other FREAK-quently Asked Questions
Levitt and Dubner answer your questions about driving, sneezing, and ladies’ nights. Plus a remembrance of Levitt’s sister Linda.
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107. How Much Does a Good Boss Really Matter?
It's harder than you'd think to measure the value of a boss. But some enterprising economists have done just that -- and the news is good.
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106. The House of Dreams
Dubner's childhood home goes from sacred to profane -- and then back again.
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105. Have a Very Homo Economicus Christmas
Who better than an economist to help with your shopping list?
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104. The Things They Taught Me
College, at its best, is about learning to think. Stephen Dubner chats up three of his former professors who made the magic happen.
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103. Free-conomics
Economists are a notoriously self-interested bunch. But a British outfit called Pro Bono Economics is giving away its services to selected charities.
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102. I Consult, Therefore I Am
There are enough management consultants these days to form a small nation. But what do they actually do? And does it work?
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101. Mass Transit Hysteria
Adding more train and bus lines looks like an environmental slam dunk. Until you start to do the math.
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100. Our 100th Episode!
Turkey sex and chicken wings, selling souls and swapping organs, the power of the president and the price of wine: these are a few of our favorite things.
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99. How to Maximize Your Halloween Candy Haul
Is it as simple as going to the richest neighborhood you can find? Of course not ...
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98. We the Sheeple
Politicians tell voters exactly what they want to hear, even when it makes no sense. Which is pretty much all the time.
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97. Lying to Ourselves
We rely on polls and surveys to tell us how people will behave in the future. Too bad they're completely unreliable.
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96. The Cobra Effect
When you want to get rid of a nasty pest, one obvious solution comes to mind: just offer a cash reward. But be careful -- because nothing backfires quite like a bounty.
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95. Why America’s Economic Growth May Be (Shh!) Over
Sure, we love our computers and all the rest of our digital toys. But when it comes to real economic gains, can we ever match old-school innovations like the automobile and electricity?
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94. The Tale of the $15 Tomato
Trying to go rustic by baking, brewing, and knitting at home can be terribly inefficient. And that's a wonderful thing.
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93. Why Online Poker Should Be Legal
The data show that poker is indeed a game of skill, not chance, and a Federal judge agrees. So why are players still being treated like criminals?
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92. Fear Thy Nature
What "Sleep No More" and the Stanford Prison Experiment tell us about who we really are.
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91. Can Selling Beer Cut Down on Public Drunkenness?
Binge drinking is a big problem at college football games. Oliver Luck -- father of No. 1 NFL pick Andrew, and the athletic director at West Virginia University -- had an unusual idea to help solve it.
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90. How Deep Is the Shadow Economy?
What we know -- and don't know -- about the gazillions of dollars that never show up on anyone's books.
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89. There’s Cake in the Breakroom!
If you think working from home offers too many distractions, just think about what happens at the office.
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88. Freakonomics Goes to College, Part 2
College tends to make people happier, healthier, and wealthier. But how?
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87. The Season of Death
We know that summertime brings far too many fatal accidents. But you may be surprised if you dig into the numbers.
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86. Freakonomics Goes to College, Part 1
What's a college degree really worth these days?
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85. Olympian Economics
Do host cities really get the benefits their boosters promise, or are they just engaging in some fiscal gymnastics?
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84. Legacy of a Jerk
What happens to your reputation when you're no longer around to defend it?
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83. What's Wrong With Cash for Grades?
If we want our kids to thrive in school, maybe we should just pay them.
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82. Please Steal My Car
Levitt and Dubner answer your FREAK-quently Asked Questions about junk food, insurance, and how to make an economist happy.
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81. Star-Spangled Banter?
Once a week, the British Prime Minister goes before the House of Commons for a lightning round of hard questions. Should the U.S. give it a try?
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80. Riding the Herd Mentality
How using peer pressure -- and good, old-fashioned shame -- can push people to do the right thing.
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79. A Cheap Employee Is … a Cheap Employee
Paying workers as little as possible seems smart -- unless you can make more money by paying them more.
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78. You Eat What You Are, Part 2
To feed 7 billion people while protecting the environment, it would seem that going local is a no-brainer -- until you start looking at the numbers.
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77. Playing the Nerd Card
The NBA’s superstars are suddenly sporting Urkel glasses -- but is it more than a fashion statement?
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76. You Eat What You Are, Part 1
How American food so got bad -- and why it's getting so much better.
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75. Retirement Kills
Sure, we all dream of leaving the office forever. But what if it's bad for your health?
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74. Soul Possession
In a world where nearly everything is for sale, is it always okay to buy what isn’t yours?
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73. A Rose By Any Other Distance
At a time when people worry about every mile their food must travel, why is it okay to import most of our cut flowers from thousands of miles away?
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72. Lottery Loopholes and Deadly Doctors
What do you do when smart people keep making stupid mistakes? And: are we a nation of financial illiterates?
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71. Is Good Corporate Citizenship Also Good for the Bottom Line?
A new study says that yes, it is -- but try telling that to the United Nations officials who are preaching sustainability practices.
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70. Eating and Tweeting
Does the future of food lie in its past – or inside a tank of liquid nitrogen? Also: how anti-social can you be on a social network?
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69. The Hidden Cost of False Alarms
If any other product failed 94 percent of the time, you’d probably stop using it. So why do we put up with burglar alarms?
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68. The Power of the President -- and the Thumb
How much does the President of the United States really matter? And: where did all the hitchhikers go? A pair of "attribution errors."
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67. The Patent Gap
Women hold fewer than one in 10 patents. Why? And what are we missing out on?
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66. Show and Yell
Is booing an act of verbal vandalism or the last true expression of democracy? And: when you drive a Prius, are you guilty of “conspicuous conservation”?
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65. It’s Not the President, Stupid
Isn’t it time to admit that the U.S. economy doesn’t have a commander in chief?
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64. The Days of Wine and Mouses
Do more expensive wines taste better? And: what does one little rodent in a salad say about a restaurant’s future?
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63. The Dilbert Index?
Measuring workplace morale -- and how to game the sick-day system.
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62. How Biased Is Your Media?
The left and the right blame each other for pretty much everything, including slanted media coverage. Can they both be right?
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61. Does This Recession Make Me Look Fat?
A look at some non-obvious ways to lose weight.
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60. Save Me From Myself
A commitment device forces you to be the person you really want to be. What could possibly go wrong?
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59. The Hidden Side of the Super Bowl
A football cheat sheet to help you sound like the smartest person at the party.
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58. What Do Hand-Washing and Financial Illiteracy Have in Common?
Education is the surest solution to a lot of problems. Except when it’s not.
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57. Does Money Really Buy Elections?
We all know the answer is yes. But the data -- and Rudy Giuliani -- say no.
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56. Why Is “I Don’t Know” So Hard to Say?
Levitt and Dubner answer your FREAK-quently Asked Questions about certifying politicians, irrational fears, and the toughest three words in the English language.
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55. The Perils of Drunk Walking
We know it's terribly dangerous to drive drunk. But heading home on foot isn't the solution.
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54. How Is a Bad Radio Station Like Our Public-School System? (Encore)
The thrill of customization, via Pandora and a radical new teaching method
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53. How American Food Got So Bad
Tyler Cowen points fingers. There's plenty of blame to go around.
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50. The Truth Is Out There…Isn’t It?
There’s a nasty secret about hot-button topics like global warming: knowledge is not always power.
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49. Unnatural Turkeys
Our appetite for breast meat renders our holiday birds unable to reproduce.
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48. Boo…Who?
Is booing an act of verbal vandalism—or the last true expression of democracy?
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47. Wildfires, Cops, and Keggers
On Election Day, most people focus on the obvious winners and losers -- that is, the candidates. But we went looking for some of the strange side effects that elections produce.
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46. Misadventures in Baby-Making
We are constantly wowed by new technologies and policies meant to make childbirth better. But beware the unintended consequences.
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45. Those Cheating Teachers!
High-stakes testing has produced some rotten apples. But they can be caught.
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44. Where Have All the Hitchhikers Gone?
Did we needlessly scare ourselves into ditching a good thing? And, with millions of cars driving around with no passengers, should we be rooting for a renaissance?
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43. The Decline and Fall of Violence
The world is a more peaceful place today that at any time in history -- by a long, long shot.
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42. The Upside of Quitting
You know the saying: a winner never quits and a quitter never wins. To which Freakonomics Radio says … Are you sure?
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41. The Folly of Prediction
Human beings love to predict the future, but we're quite terrible at it. So how about punishing all those bad predictions?
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40. The Suicide Paradox
There are more than twice as many suicides as murders in the U.S., but suicide attracts far less scrutiny. Freakonomics Radio digs through the numbers and finds all kinds of surprises.
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39. The Economist’s Guide to Parenting
Think you know how much parents matter? Think again. Economists crunch the numbers to learn the ROI on child-rearing.
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38. The Church of "Scionology"
We worship the tradition of handing off a family business to the next generation. But is that really such a good idea?
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37. Mouse in the Salad
In restaurants and in life, bad things happen. But what happens next is just as important.
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36. Hey Baby, Is That a Prius You're Driving?
"Conspicuous conservation" is about showing off your environmental bona fides. In other words, if you lean green, there's extra value in being seen leaning green.
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34. Things Our Fathers Gave Us
What did Levitt and Dubner learn as kids from their dads?
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33. To Catch a Fugitive
Who is likelier to get to the fugitive first? When a fugitive is on the run, it’s not only the police he has to worry about. A bounty hunter could be coming after him, too.
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32. Growing Up Buffett
What’s it like to wake up one day and realize Dad is a multi-billionaire? That's what happened to Warren Buffett’s son Peter -- who then started to think about whether or not to join the family business.
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31. Gambling With Your Life
Does Las Vegas increase your risk of suicide? A researcher embeds himself in the city where Americans are most likely to kill themselves.
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30. Does College Still Matter? And Other Freaky Questions Answered ...
In our second round of FREAK-quently Asked Questions, Steve Levitt answers some queries from listeners and readers.
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29. Smarter Kids at 10 Bucks a Pop
It won’t work for everyone, but there’s a cheap, quick, and simple way to lift some students’ grades.
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28. Why Can’t We Predict Earthquakes?
We talk to a U.S. Geological Survey physicist about the science -- and folly -- of predicting earthquakes. There are lots of known knowns; and, fortunately, not too many unknown unknowns. But it's the known unknowns -- the timing of the next Big One
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27. Death by Fire? Probably Not
Fire deaths in the U.S. have fallen 90 percent over the past 100 years, a great and greatly underappreciated gain. How did it happen -- and could we ever get to zero?
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26. The Health of Nations
For decades, GDP has been the yardstick for measuring living standards around the world. Martha Nussbaum would rather use something that actually works.
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25. Is Twitter a Two-Way Street?
To get a lot of followers on Twitter, do you need to follow a lot of other Tweeps? And if not, why not?
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24. The Power of Poop
Since the beginning of civilization, we’ve thought that human waste was worthless and dangerous. What if we were wrong?
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23. Millionaires vs. Billionaires
Five things you don’t know about the NFL labor standoff
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22. Why Cities Rock
Could it be that cities are "our greatest invention" -- that, despite a reputation as black-soot-spewing engines of doom, they in fact make us richer, smarter, happier and (believe it!) greener?
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21. Bring on the Pain!
It's not about how much something hurts -- it's how you remember the pain. This week, lessons on pain from the New York City subway, the professional hockey rink, and a landmark study of colonoscopy patients. So have a listen; we promise, it won't hu
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20. Waiter, There’s a Physicist in My Soup! (Part 2)
What do a computer hacker, an Indiana farm boy, and Napoleon Bonaparte have in common? The past, present, and future of food science.
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19. Waiter, There’s a Physicist in My Soup! (Part 1)
The "molecular gastronomy" movement -- which gets a bump in visibility next month with the publication of the mammoth cookbook "Modernist Cuisine" -- is all about bringing more science into the kitchen. In many ways, it's the opposite of the "slow fo
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18. Freakonomics FAQ, No. 1
Levitt and Dubner field questions from the public and hold forth on everything from dating strategies and rock-and-roll accordion music to whether different nations have different economic identities. Oh, and also: is it worthwhile to vote?
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16. Exit Interview: Schools Chancellor, NYC
Having already amassed an eventful resume -- the Clinton White House, the Department of Justice, and Bertelsmann -- Joel I. Klein spent the past eight years at chancellor of the biggest school system in the country. So what'd he learn?
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15. You Say Repugnant, I Say … Let's Do It!
What happens when the most disturbing ideas are also the best?
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14. Do More Expensive Wines Taste Better?
They should! It's a cardinal rule: more expensive items are supposed to be qualitatively better than their cheaper versions. But is that true for wine?
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13. The "No-Lose Lottery," Part 2
It’s the banking tool that got millions of people around the world to stop wasting money on the lottery. So why won't state and federal officials in the U.S. give it a chance?
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12. Is America Ready for a "No-Lose Lottery"?
For the most part, Americans don't like the simple, boring act of putting money in a savings account. We do, however, love to play the lottery. So what if you combined the two, creating a new kind of savings account with a lottery payout?
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11. How Much Does the President of the U.S. Really Matter?
The U.S. president is often called the "leader of free world." But if you ask an economist or a Constitutional scholar how much the occupant of the Oval Office matters, they won't say much. We look at what the data have to say about measuring leaders
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10. The NFL's Best Real Estate Isn't For Sale. Yet.
The NFL is very good at making money. So why on earth doesn't it sell ad space on the one piece of real estate that football fans can’t help but see: the players themselves? The explanation is trickier than you might think. It has to do with Peyton M
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9. Reading, Rockets, and 'Rithmetic
Government and the private sector often feel far apart. One is filled with compliance-driven bureaucracy. The other, with market-fueled innovation. But something is changing in a multi-billion dollar corner of the Department of Education. It's an
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8. Who Stole All the Runs in Major League Baseball?
It was a pretty good baseball season -- especially if you're a fan of the Yankees, Rays, Twins, Rangers, Reds, Braves, Phillies, or Giants, all of whom made the playoffs. But the post-season just opened with a telling event, a no-hitter pitched by th
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7. Two Book Authors and a Microphone
The next chapter in the adventures of Dubner and Levitt has begun. Listen to a preview of what's to come for the fall season of Freakonomics Radio.
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6. Why the World Cup Is an Economist's Dream
Steve Levitt talks about why the center cannot hold in penalty kicks, why a running track hurts home-field advantage, and why the World Cup is an economist's dream.
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5. How Is a Bad Radio Station Like Our Public-School System?
In this episode of Freakonomics Radio, we explore a way to make 1.1 million schoolkids feel like they have 1.1 million teachers.
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4. Faking It
Do you "fake it"? If so, you're hardly alone. In this episode, you'll hear how everyone from the President of the United States to a kosher-keeping bacon lover lives in a state of fallen grace. All the time. And gets by.
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3. What Would the World Look Like if Economists Were in Charge?
In this episode we speculate what would happen if economists got to run the world. Hear from a high-end call girl; an Estonian who ran his country according to the gospel of Milton Friedman; and a guy who wants to start building new nations in the mi
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2. Is America's Obesity Epidemic For Real?
Americans keep putting on pounds. So is it time for a cheeseburger tax? Or would a chill pill be the best medicine? In this episode, we explore the underbelly of fat through the eyes of a 280-pound woman, a top White House doctor, and a couple of ove
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1. The Dangers of Safety
What do NASCAR drivers, Glenn Beck and the hit men of the NFL have in common?
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