Latest Freakonomics Podcast Episodes
585. A Social Activist in Prime Minister’s Clothing
Freakonomics Radio - April 25, 2024 03:00 - 52 minutes ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsJustin Trudeau, facing record-low approval numbers, is doubling down on his progressive agenda. But he is so upbeat (and Canada-polite) that it’s easy to miss just how radical his vision is. Can he make it work? SOURCE: Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada. RESOURCES: 2024 Canadian...
584. How to Pave the Road to Hell
Freakonomics Radio - April 18, 2024 03:00 - 43 minutes ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsSo you want to help people? That’s great — but beware the law of unintended consequences. Three stories from the modern workplace. SOURCES: Joshua Angrist, professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Zoe Cullen, professor of business administration at Harvard Busi...
Extra: The Men Who Started a Thinking Revolution (Update)
Freakonomics Radio - April 14, 2024 22:00 - 34 minutes ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsThe psychologist Daniel Kahneman — a Nobel laureate and the author of Thinking, Fast and Slow — recently died at age 90. Along with his collaborator Amos Tversky, he changed how we all think about decision-making. The journalist Michael Lewis told the Kahneman-Tversky story in a 2016 book called...
Why Are There So Many Bad Bosses? (Update)
Freakonomics Radio - April 11, 2024 03:00 - 49 minutes ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsPeople 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. SOURCES: Nick Bloom, professor of economics at Stanford University. Katie Johnson, freelance data and anal...
583. Are We Living Through the Most Revolutionary Period in History?
Freakonomics Radio - April 04, 2024 03:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsFareed Zakaria says yes. But it’s not just political revolution — it’s economic, technological, even emotional. He doesn’t offer easy solutions but he does offer some hope. SOURCES: Fareed Zakaria, journalist and author. RESOURCES: Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to...
Extra: How Much Do You Know About Immigration?
Freakonomics Radio - April 01, 2024 01:00 - 27 minutes ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsThe political debates over immigration can generate a lot of fuzzy facts. We wanted to test Americans’ knowledge — so, to wrap up our special series on immigration, we called some Freakonomics Radio listeners and quizzed them. SOURCES: Zeke Hernandez, professor at the Wharton School at the ...
582. Why Is Everyone Moving to Canada?
Freakonomics Radio - March 28, 2024 03:00 - 49 minutes ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsAs the U.S. tries to fix its messy immigration system, our neighbor to the north is scooping up more talented newcomers every year. Are the Canadians stealing America’s bacon? (Part three of a three-part series.) SOURCES: Zeke Hernandez, professor at the Wharton School at the University of ...
581. What Both Parties Get Wrong About Immigration
Freakonomics Radio - March 21, 2024 03:00 - 55 minutes ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsThe U.S. immigration system is a massively complicated machine, with a lot of worn-out parts. How to fix it? Step one: Get hold of some actual facts and evidence. (We did this step for you.) (Part two of a three-part series.) SOURCES: Zeke Hernandez, professor at the Wharton School at the U...
Extra: Madeleine Albright’s Warning on Immigration
Freakonomics Radio - March 18, 2024 04:05 - 29 minutes ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsShe arrived in the U.S. as an 11-year-old refugee, then rose to become Secretary of State. Her views on immigration, nationalism, and borders, from this 2015 interview, are almost strangely appropriate to the present moment. SOURCE: Madeleine Albright, U.S. Secretary of State under Preside...
580. The True Story of America’s Supremely Messed-Up Immigration System
Freakonomics Radio - March 14, 2024 03:00 - 55 minutes ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsHow did a nation of immigrants come to hate immigration? We start at the beginning, sort through the evidence, and explain why your grandfather was lying about Ellis Island. (Part one of a three-part series.) SOURCES: Leah Boustan, professor of economics at Princeton University. Zeke Herna...
579. Are You Caught in a Social Media Trap?
Freakonomics Radio - March 07, 2024 04:00 - 42 minutes ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsEconomists have discovered an odd phenomenon: many people who use social media (even you, maybe?) wish it didn’t exist. But that doesn’t mean they can escape. SOURCES: Leonardo Bursztyn, professor of economics at the University of Chicago. Benjamin Handel, professor of economics at the Uni...
Extra: What Is Sportswashing — and Does It Work? (Update)
Freakonomics Radio - March 04, 2024 05:05 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsIn 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 PGA Tour. Can a sporting event really repair a country’s reputation — or will it trigger the dreaded Streisand Effect? Also: why the major U.S. sports leagu...
578. Water, Water Everywhere — But You Have to Stop and Think
Freakonomics Radio - February 29, 2024 04:00 - 52 minutes ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsWhat surprises lurk in our sewage? How did racist city planners end up saving Black lives? Why does Arizona grow hay for cows in Saudi Arabia? Three strange stories about the most fundamental substance we all take for granted. SOURCES: Brian Beach, professor of economics at Vanderbilt Unive...
Is Google Getting Worse? (Update)
Freakonomics Radio - February 22, 2024 04:00 - 56 minutes ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsIt used to feel like magic. Now it can feel like a set of cheap tricks. Is the problem with Google — or with us? And is Google Search finally facing a real rival, in the form of A.I.-powered “answer engines”? SOURCES: Marissa Mayer, co-founder of Sunshine; former C.E.O. of Yahoo! and vice ...
Extra: Mr. Feynman Takes a Trip — But Doesn’t Fall
Freakonomics Radio - February 19, 2024 05:05 - 47 minutes ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsA wide-open conversation with three women who guided Richard Feynman through some big adventures at the Esalen Institute. (Part of our Feynman series.) SOURCES: Barbara Berg, friend of Richard Feynman. Cheryl Haley, friend of Richard Feynman. Debby Harlow, friend of Richard Feynma Sam S...
The Vanishing Mr. Feynman
Freakonomics Radio - February 15, 2024 04:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsIn his final years, Richard Feynman's curiosity took him to some surprising places. We hear from his companions on the trips he took — and one he wasn’t able to. (Part three of a three-part series.) SOURCES: Alan Alda, actor and screenwriter. Barbara Berg, friend of Richard Feynman. Hele...
The Brilliant Mr. Feynman
Freakonomics Radio - February 08, 2024 04:00 - 52 minutes ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsWhat happens when an existentially depressed and recently widowed young physicist from Queens gets a fresh start in California? We follow Richard Feynman out west, to explore his long and extremely fruitful second act. (Part two of a three-part series.) SOURCES: Seamus Blackley, video game ...
How the San Francisco 49ers Stopped Being Losers (Update)
Freakonomics Radio - February 05, 2024 05:05 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsThey’re heading to the Super Bowl for the second time in five years. But back in 2018, they were coming off a long losing streak — and that’s the year we sat down with 49ers players, coaches, and executives to hear their turnaround plans. It’s probably time to consider the turnaround a success....
The Curious Mr. Feynman
Freakonomics Radio - February 01, 2024 04:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsFrom the Manhattan Project to the Challenger investigation, the physicist Richard Feynman loved to shoot down what he called “lousy ideas.” Today, the world is awash in lousy ideas — so maybe it’s time to get some more Feynman in our lives? (Part one of a three-part series.) SOURCES: Helen ...
574. “A Low Moment in Higher Education”
Freakonomics Radio - January 25, 2024 04:00 - 46 minutes ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsMichael Roth of Wesleyan University doesn’t hang out with other university presidents. He also thinks some of them have failed a basic test of good sense and decency. It’s time for a conversation about college, and courage. SOURCE: Michael S. Roth, president of Wesleyan University. RE...
5 Psychology Terms You’re Probably Misusing (Replay)
Freakonomics Radio - January 22, 2024 05:05 - 49 minutes ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsWe 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, too. SOURCES: Sharon Begley, senior scienc...
573. Can Academic Fraud Be Stopped?
Freakonomics Radio - January 18, 2024 04:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsProbably not — the incentives are too strong. Scholarly publishing is a $28 billion global industry, with misconduct at every level. But a few reformers are gaining ground. (Part 2 of 2) SOURCES: Max Bazerman, professor of business administration at Harvard Business School. Leif Nelson, ...
572. Why Is There So Much Fraud in Academia?
Freakonomics Radio - January 11, 2024 04:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsSome of the biggest names in behavioral science stand accused of faking their results. Last year, an astonishing 10,000 research papers were retracted. We talk to whistleblowers, reformers, and a co-author who got caught up in the chaos. (Part 1 of 2) SOURCES: Max Bazerman, professor of bus...
571. Greeting Cards, Pizza Boxes, and Personal Injury Lawyers
Freakonomics Radio - January 04, 2024 04:00 - 49 minutes ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsIn a special episode of The Economics of Everyday Things, host Zachary Crockett explains what millennials do to show they care, how corrugated cardboard keeps your food warm, and why every city has a billboard for a guy who calls himself “The Hammer.” SOURCES: Jason Abraham, managing partne...
570. Is Gynecology the Best Innovation Ever?
Freakonomics Radio - December 28, 2023 04:00 - 46 minutes ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsIn a special episode of People I (Mostly) Admire, Steve Levitt talks to Cat Bohannon about her new book Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution. SOURCE: Cat Bohannon, researcher and author. RESOURCES: Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human...
569. Do You Need Closure?
Freakonomics Radio - December 21, 2023 04:00 - 39 minutes ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsIn a special episode of No Stupid Questions, Angela Duckworth and Mike Maughan talk about unfinished tasks, recurring arguments, and Irish goodbyes. SOURCES: Roy Baumeister, social psychologist and visiting scholar at Harvard University. Daniel Gilbert, professor of psychology at Harvard U...
568. Why Are People So Mad at Michael Lewis?
Freakonomics Radio - December 14, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsLewis got incredible access to Sam Bankman-Fried, the billionaire behind the spectacular FTX fraud. His book is a bestseller, but some critics say he went too easy on S.B.F. Lewis tells us why the critics are wrong — and what it’s like to watch your book get turned into a courtroom drama. SO...
567. Do the Police Have a Management Problem?
Freakonomics Radio - December 07, 2023 04:00 - 47 minutes ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsIn policing, as in most vocations, the best employees are often promoted into leadership without much training. One economist thinks he can address this problem — and, with it, America’s gun violence. SOURCES Kenneth Corey, director of outreach and engagement for the Policing Leadership Aca...
513. Should Public Transit Be Free? (Update)
Freakonomics Radio - November 30, 2023 04:00 - 56 minutes ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsIt 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. Also: We talk to the man who gets half the nation’s mass-transit riders where they want to go (most of the time). SOURCES: Marcus Fin...
566. Why Is It So Hard (and Expensive) to Build Anything in America?
Freakonomics Radio - November 23, 2023 04:00 - 54 minutes ★★★★★ - 29.3K ratingsMost industries have become more productive over time. But not construction! We identify the causes — and possible solutions. (Can you say ... “prefab”?) RESOURCES: "The Strange and Awful Path of Productivity in the US Construction Sector," by Austan Goolsbee and Chad Syverson (BFI Working P...