Freakonomics co-author Stephen J. Dubner uncovers the hidden side of everything. Why is it safer to fly in an airplane than drive a car? How do we decide whom to marry? Why is the media so full of bad news? Also: things you never knew you wanted to know about wolves, bananas, pollution, search engines, and the quirks of human behavior. To get every show in the Freakonomics Radio Network without ads and a monthly bonus episode of Freakonomics Radio, start a free trial for SiriusXM Podcasts+ o ...
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Freakonomics co-author Steve Levitt tracks down other high achievers for surprising, revealing conversations about their lives and obsessions. Join Levitt as he goes through the most interesting midlife crisis you’ve ever heard — and learn how a renegade sheriff is transforming Chicago's jail, how a biologist is finding the secrets of evolution in the Arctic tundra, and how a trivia champion memorized 160,000 flashcards. To get every show in the Freakonomics Radio Network without ads and a m ...
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Research psychologist Angela Duckworth (author of "Grit") and tech and sports executive Mike Maughan really like to ask people questions, and they believe there’s no such thing as a stupid one. So they have a podcast where they can ask each other as many “stupid questions” as they want. New episodes each week. "No Stupid Questions" is a production of the Freakonomics Radio Network. To get every show in the Freakonomics Radio Network without ads and a monthly bonus episode of Freakonomics Rad ...
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From the podcast that explores the hidden side of everything, hear authors like you’ve never heard them before. Stephen Dubner and a stable of Freakonomics friends talk with the writers of mind-bending books, and we hear the best excerpts as well. You’ll learn about skill versus chance, the American discomfort with death, the secret life of dogs, and much more. To get every show in the Freakonomics Radio Network without ads and a monthly bonus episode of Freakonomics Radio, start a free tria ...
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Each week, physician, economist, and author of "Random Acts of Medicine" Dr. Bapu Jena will dig into a fascinating study at the intersection of economics and healthcare. He takes on questions like: Why do kids with summer birthdays get the flu more often? Can surviving a hurricane help you live longer? What do heart surgery and grocery-store pricing have in common?
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Dog-cognition expert and bestselling author Alexandra Horowitz (Inside of a Dog) takes us on a walk into the scruffy, curious, joyful world of dogs. What does it mean to "own" a dog? Can dogs demonstrate genuine heroism? And what is it like to experience reality primarily through smell? Off Leash is a delightful and surprising look at the deeply familiar, profoundly mysterious animals who walk alongside us.
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Journalism wrapped in a game-show package. Host Stephen J. Dubner (of “Freakonomics Radio”) and a celebrity co-host invite guests on stage in front of a live audience to tell us something we don’t know. The co-hosts — a mix of leaders in science, academia, sports, media, and comedy — grill the guests, and by the end we’ve all gotten a bit smarter. Each episode has a new topic, a new co-host, and new guests. There’s also a real-time human fact-checker to keep everyone honest. Think of the mos ...
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The Columbia University sociologist Sudhir Venkatesh studies exclusive worlds by embedding himself — with a crack-selling gang, sex workers, the teenage children of billionaires, and most recently, at the highest levels of companies at the vanguard of the digital revolution, including Facebook and Twitter. And now he’s hosting a podcast. In each episode, Venkatesh will reveal what he learned in Silicon Valley and talk with the people he met along the way who are building and running the digi ...
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22. Why Do We Buy Things We’ll Never Use?
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31:35Also: how is social media like a knife? This episode originally aired on October 11, 2020.By Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
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How to Succeed at Failing, Part 3: Grit vs. Quit (Update)
1:03:37
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1:03:37Giving up can be painful. That's why we need to talk about it. Today: stories about glitchy apps, leaky paint cans, broken sculptures — and a quest for the perfect bowl of ramen. SOURCES: John Boykin, website designer and failed paint can re-inventor. Angela Duckworth, host of No Stupid Questions, co-founder of Character Lab, and professor of psych…
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How to Succeed at Failing, Part 2: Life and Death (Update)
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53:19In medicine, failure can be catastrophic. It can also produce discoveries that save millions of lives. Tales from the front line, the lab, and the I.T. department. SOURCES: Amy Edmondson, professor of leadership management at Harvard Business School. Carole Hemmelgarn, co-founder of Patients for Patient Safety U.S. and director of the Clinical Qual…
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21. How Can You Identify Hidden Talent? With Eric Schmidt.
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35:14Also: is there a downside to billionaire philanthropy? This episode originally aired on October 4, 2020.By Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
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157. The Deadliest Disease in Human History
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1:05:19John Green returns to the show to talk about tuberculosis — a disease that kills more than a million people a year. Steve has an idea for a new way to get treatment to those in need. SOURCES: John Green, best-selling author and YouTube creator. RESOURCES: Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection, by John Gr…
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How to Succeed at Failing, Part 1: The Chain of Events (Update)
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55:38We tend to think of tragedies as a single terrible moment, rather than the result of multiple bad decisions. Can this pattern be reversed? We try — with stories about wildfires, school shootings, and love. SOURCES: Amy Edmondson, professor of leadership management at Harvard Business School. Helen Fisher, former senior research fellow at The Kinsey…
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Nayeema Raza describes her podcast as “a curiosity party.” In this episode of Smart Girl Dumb Questions, she asks chef and food writer J. Kenji López-Alt whether cooking is an art or a science — and whether brunch is a scam.By Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
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20. Should We Separate the Art From the Artist?
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32:44Also: what is the meaning of life? This episode originally aired on September 27, 2020.By Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
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Abraham Verghese Thinks Medicine Can Do Better (Update)
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46:59Abraham Verghese is a physician and a best-selling author — in that order, he says. He explains the difference between curing and healing, and tells Steve why doctors should spend more time with patients and less with electronic health records. SOURCES: Abraham Verghese, professor of medicine at Stanford University and best-selling novelist. RESOUR…
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632. When Did We All Start Watching Documentaries?
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54:21It used to be that making documentary films meant taking a vow of poverty (and obscurity). The streaming revolution changed that. Award-winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler talks to Stephen Dubner about capturing Billie Eilish’s musical genius and Martha Stewart’s vulnerability — and why he really, really, really needs to make a film about the New York Me…
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19. Is There Such a Thing as Good Estrangement?
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34:31Also: how do you know if you have a “bad personality”? This episode originally aired on September 20, 2020.By Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
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Jens Ludwig has an idea for how to fix America’s gun violence problem — and it starts by rejecting conventional wisdom from both sides of the political aisle. SOURCES: Jens Ludwig, professor of economics at the University of Chicago and director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab. RESOURCES: Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of America…
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631. Will "3 Summers of Lincoln" Make It to Broadway?
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46:19It’s been in development for five years and has at least a year to go. On the eve of its out-of-town debut, the actor playing Lincoln quit. And the producers still need to raise another $15 million to bring the show to New York. There really is no business like show business. (Part three of a three-part series.) SOURCES: Christopher Ashley, artisti…
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Is It a Theater Piece or a Psychological Experiment? (Update)
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37:13In an episode from 2012, we looked at what Sleep No More and the Stanford Prison Experiment can tell us about who we really are. SOURCES: Felix Barrett, artistic director of Punchdrunk. Steven Levitt, professor of economics at the University of Chicago. Philip Zimbardo, professor emeritus at Stanford University. RESOURCES: “Philip Zimbardo, the psy…
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Also: what’s so great about friendship? This episode originally aired on September 13, 2020.By Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
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630. On Broadway, Nobody Knows Nothing
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1:01:30A hit like Hamilton can come from nowhere while a sure bet can lose $20 million in a flash. We speak with some of the biggest producers in the game — Sonia Friedman, Jeffrey Seller, Hal Luftig — and learn that there is only one guarantee: the theater owners always win. (Part two of a three-part series.) SOURCES: Debby Buchholz, managing director of…
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17. How Can We Get More Virtue and Less ‘Virtue Signaling’?
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32:31Also: is it better to be a thinker, a doer, or a charmer? This episode originally aired on September 6, 2020.By Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
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Ellen Wiebe is a physician who helps seriously ill patients end their lives in Canada, where assisted suicide is legal. Is death a human right? SOURCES: Ellen Wiebe, clinical professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia. RESOURCES: "The Last Decision by the World’s Leading Thinker on Decisions," by Jason Zweig (The Wall Street Journa…
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It has become fiendishly expensive to produce, and has more competition than ever. And yet the believers still believe. Why? And does the world really want a new musical about ... Abraham Lincoln?! (Part one of a three-part series.) SOURCES: Christopher Ashley, artistic director of La Jolla Playhouse. Quentin Darrington, actor. Joe DiPietro, playwr…
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201
Policymaking Is Not a Science — Yet (Update)
45:28
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45:28Why do so many promising solutions in education, medicine, and criminal justice fail to scale up into great policy? And can a new breed of “implementation scientists” crack the code? SOURCES: Patti Chamberlain, senior research scientist at the Oregon Social Learning Center. John List, professor of economics at the University of Chicago. Lauren Supp…
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16. What’s the Downside to Being Goal-Oriented?
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31:42Also: how does a cook become a chef? With Gabrielle Hamilton. This episode originally aired on August 30, 2020.By Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
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Yul Kwon: “Don't Try to Change Yourself All at Once.” (Update)
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44:49He has been a lawyer, an instructor at the F.B.I. Academy, the owner of a frozen-yogurt chain, and a winner of the TV show Survivor. Today, Kwon works at Google, but things haven’t always come easily for him. Steve Levitt talks to Kwon about his debilitating childhood anxieties, his compulsion to choose the hardest path in life, and how Kwon used g…
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251
628. Sludge, Part 2: Is Government the Problem, or the Solution?
48:31
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48:31There is no sludgier place in America than Washington, D.C. But there are signs of a change. We’ll hear about this progress — and ask where Elon Musk and DOGE fit in. (Part two of a two-part series.) SOURCES: Benjamin Handel, professor of economics at UC Berkeley. Neale Mahoney, professor of economics at Stanford University. Jennifer Pahlka, founde…
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15. How Much of Your Life Do You Actually Control?
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36:37Also: why do we procrastinate? This episode originally aired on August 23, 2020.By Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
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Ken Goldberg is at the forefront of robotics — which means he tries to teach machines to do things humans find trivial. SOURCES: Ken Goldberg, professor of industrial engineering and operations research at U.C. Berkeley. RESOURCES: "The Bitter Lesson," by Rich Sutton (UT Austin, 2019). R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots): A Fantastic Melodrama in Th…
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251
627. Sludge, Part 1: The World Is Drowning in It
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54:34
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54:34Insurance forms that make no sense. Subscriptions that can’t be cancelled. A never-ending blizzard of automated notifications. Where does all this sludge come from — and how much is it costing us? (Part one of a two-part series.) SOURCES: Benjamin Handel, professor of economics at UC Berkeley. Neale Mahoney, professor of economics at Stanford Unive…
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Also: what is the best question you’ve ever been asked in a job interview? This episode originally aired on August 16, 2020.By Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
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301
Should America Be Run by … Trader Joe’s? (Update)
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48:01The 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. SOURCES: Kirk DesErmia, facilities manager in Seward, Alaska. Mark Gardiner, journalist and author. Sheena Iyengar, professor of business at Columbia Business Schoo…
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