Freakonomics Radio

25 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas •

The former secretary of state isn’t a flamethrower, but he certainly has strong opinions. In this ...

23 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas •

Until recently, Delaware was almost universally agreed to be the best place for companies to incorpo...

18 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas •

For years, the playwright David Adjmi was considered “polarizing and difficult.” But creating St...

Fri, 11 Jul

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The Gulf States and China are spending billions to build stadiums and buy up teams — but what are ...

Wed, 9 Jul

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Before she decided to become a poker pro, Maria Konnikova didn’t know how many cards are in a deck...

Fri, 4 Jul

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Cory Booker on the politics of fear, the politics of hope, and how to split the difference. SOURCES...

Fri, 27 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In the U.S., there will soon be more people over 65 than there are under 18 — and it’s not just ...

Wed, 25 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In this episode from 2013, we look at whether spite pays — and if it even exists. SOURCES:Benedik...

Fri, 20 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The simplicity of life back then is appealing today, as long as you don’t mind Church hegemony, th...

Fri, 13 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

For decades, the great fear was overpopulation. Now it’s the opposite. How did this happen — and...

Wed, 11 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A famous essay argues that “not a single person on the face of this earth” knows how to make a p...

Fri, 6 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Nicholas Cullinan, the new director of the British Museum, seems to think so. “I'm not afraid of t...

Fri, 30 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Austan Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, is less reserved than the average...

Fri, 23 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Just beneath the surface of the global economy, there is a hidden layer of dealmakers for whom war, ...

Wed, 21 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Everyone makes mistakes. How do we learn from them? Lessons from the classroom, the Air Force, and t...

Fri, 16 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Giving up can be painful. That's why we need to talk about it. Today: stories about glitchy apps, le...

Wed, 14 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In medicine, failure can be catastrophic. It can also produce discoveries that save millions of live...

Fri, 9 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We tend to think of tragedies as a single terrible moment, rather than the result of multiple bad de...

Fri, 2 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It used to be that making documentary films meant taking a vow of poverty (and obscurity). The strea...

Fri, 25 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It’s been in development for five years and has at least a year to go. On the eve of its out-of-to...

Wed, 23 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In an episode from 2012, we looked at what Sleep No More and the Stanford Prison Experiment can tell...

Fri, 18 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A hit like Hamilton can come from nowhere while a sure bet can lose $20 million in a flash. We speak...

Fri, 11 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It has become fiendishly expensive to produce, and has more competition than ever. And yet the belie...

Wed, 9 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Why do so many promising solutions in education, medicine, and criminal justice fail to scale up int...

Fri, 4 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

There is no sludgier place in America than Washington, D.C. But there are signs of a change. We’ll...

Fri, 28 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Insurance forms that make no sense. Subscriptions that can’t be cancelled. A never-ending blizzard...

Fri, 21 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The quirky little grocery chain with California roots and German ownership has a lot to teach all of...

Fri, 14 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Nearly everything that politicians say about taxes is at least half a lie. They are also dishonest w...

Fri, 7 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Lina Khan, the youngest F.T.C. chair in history, reset U.S. antitrust policy by thwarting mega-merge...

Wed, 5 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It’s a powerful biological response that has preserved our species for millennia. But now it may b...

Fri, 28 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

To most people, the rat is vile and villainous. But not to everyone! We hear from a scientist who be...

Fri, 21 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Even with a new rat czar, an arsenal of poisons, and a fleet of new garbage trucks, it won’t be ea...

Thu, 20 Feb 2025 00:30:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A brief meditation on loss, relativity, and the vagaries of show business.RESOURCES:Billie Eilish: T...

Fri, 14 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

New York City’s mayor calls them “public enemy number one.” History books say they caused the ...

Fri, 7 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Licensing began with medicine and law; now it extends to 20 percent of the U.S. workforce, including...

Wed, 5 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In 2023, the N.F.L. players’ union conducted a workplace survey that revealed clogged showers, rat...

Fri, 31 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

They used to be the N.F.L.’s biggest stars, with paychecks to match. Now their salaries are near t...

Fri, 24 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

When the computer scientist Ben Zhao learned that artists were having their work stolen by A.I. mode...

Wed, 22 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Stephen Dubner, live on stage, mixes it up with outbound mayor London Breed, and asks economists whe...

Fri, 17 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Their trade organization just lost a huge lawsuit. Their infamous commission model is under attack. ...

Fri, 10 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Like tens of millions of people, Stephen Dubner thought he had a penicillin allergy. Like the vast m...

Mon, 6 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Incarcerated people grow crops, fight wildfires, and manufacture everything from prescription glasse...

Thu, 2 Jan 2025 01:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Probably not — the incentives are too strong. But a few reformers are trying. We check in on their...

Thu, 26 Dec 2024 01:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Some of the biggest names in behavioral science stand accused of faking their results. Last year, an...

Mon, 23 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

David Eagleman upends myths and describes the vast possibilities of a brainscape that even neuroscie...

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 01:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Adam Moss was the best magazine editor of his generation. When he retired, he took up painting. But ...

Thu, 12 Dec 2024 01:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In a wide-ranging conversation with Ezekiel Emanuel, the policymaking physician and medical gadfly, ...

Mon, 9 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Last week, we heard a former U.S. ambassador describe Russia’s escalating conflict with the U.S. T...

Thu, 5 Dec 2024 01:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

John J. Sullivan, a former State Department official and U.S. ambassador, says yes: “Our politicia...

Thu, 28 Nov 2024 01:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Macy’s wants to recapture its glorious past. The author of the Wimpy Kid books wants to rebuild hi...

Thu, 21 Nov 2024 06:45:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The 166-year-old chain, which is fighting extinction, calls the parade its “gift to the nation.”...

Mon, 18 Nov

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It’s true that robots (and other smart technologies) will kill many jobs. It may also be true that...

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 01:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

After a dramatic election, Donald Trump has returned from exile. We hear what to expect at home and ...

Thu, 7 Nov 2024 01:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Some people want the new cannabis economy to look like the craft-beer movement. Others are hoping to...

Thu, 31 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Chris Weld worked for years in emergency rooms, then ditched that career and bought an old farm in M...

Mon, 28 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

With abortion on the Nov. 5 ballot, we look back at Steve Levitt’s controversial research about an...

Thu, 24 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

There are a lot of reasons, including heavy regulations, high taxes, and competition from illegal we...

Thu, 17 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We have always been a nation of drinkers — but now there are more daily users of cannabis than al...

Fri, 11 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Are betting markets more accurate than polls? What kind of chaos would a second Trump term bring? An...

Thu, 10 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sure, we all pay lip service to the Madisonian system of checks and balances. But presidents have be...

Thu, 3 Oct 2024 01:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sixty percent of the jobs that Americans do today didn’t exist in 1940. What happens as our labor ...

Mon, 30 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

His research on police brutality and school incentives won him acclaim, but also enemies. He was sus...

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What happened when the Rooney Rule made its way from pro football to corporate America? Some progres...

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The biggest sports league in history had a problem: While most of its players were Black, almost non...

Mon, 16 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We revisit an episode from 2016 that asks: Has our culture’s obsession with innovation led us to n...

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Young people have been reporting a sharp rise in anxiety and depression. This maps neatly onto the g...

Thu, 5 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Only a tiny number of “supertaskers” are capable of doing two things at once. The rest of us are...

Thu, 29 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Educators and economists tell us all the reasons college enrollment has been dropping, especially fo...

Mon, 26 Aug

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Stephen Dubner appears as a guest on Fail Better, a new podcast hosted by David Duchovny. The two of...

Thu, 22 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

America’s top colleges are facing record demand. So why don’t they increase supply? (Part 2 of o...

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We think of them as intellectual enclaves and the surest route to a better life. But U.S. colleges a...

Mon, 12 Aug

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

There are a lot of factors that go into greatness, many of which are not obvious. As the Olympics co...

Thu, 8 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Tania Tetlow, a former federal prosecutor and now the president of Fordham University, thinks the mo...

Thu, 1 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It’s not oil or water or plutonium — it’s human hours. We've got an idea for putting them to u...

Mon, 29 Jul

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A new proposal from the Biden administration calls for a nationwide cap on rent increases. Economist...

Thu, 25 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

That’s the worry. Even the humble eyeglass industry is dominated by a single firm. We look into t...

Thu, 18 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A single company, EssilorLuxottica, owns so much of the eyewear industry that it’s hard to escape ...

Mon, 15 Jul

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

You wouldn’t think you could win a Nobel Prize for showing that humans tend to make irrational dec...

Thu, 11 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Daniel Kahneman left his mark on academia (and the real world) in countless ways. A group of his fri...

Thu, 4 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

American politics is trapped in a duopoly, with two all-powerful parties colluding to stifle competi...

Thu, 27 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It’s hard to know whether the benefits of hiring a celebrity are worth the risk. We dig into one g...

Thu, 20 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Broadway operates on a winner-take-most business model. A runaway hit like Stereophonic — which ju...

Mon, 17 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The Berlin dance mecca Berghain is known for its eight-hour line and inscrutable door policy. PJ Vog...

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Hit by Covid, runaway costs, and a zillion streams of competition, serious theater is in serious tro...

Thu, 6 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Every December, a British man named Tom Whitwell publishes a list of 52 things he’s learned that y...

Mon, 3 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

An update of our 2020 series, in which we spoke with physicians, researchers, and addicts about the ...

Thu, 30 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Thanks to legal settlements with drug makers and distributors, states have plenty of money to boost ...

Thu, 23 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Most epidemics flare up, do their damage, and fade away. This one has been raging for almost 30 year...

Mon, 20 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Presenting two stories from The Economics of Everyday Things: Why does it seem like every car is bla...

Thu, 16 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The economist and social critic Glenn Loury has led a remarkably turbulent life, both professionally...

Thu, 9 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The employee ownership movement is growing, and one of its biggest champions is also a private equit...

Thu, 2 May 2024 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

From politics and economics to psychology and the arts, many of the modern ideas we take for granted...

Mon, 29 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Five years ago, we published an episode about the boom in home DNA testing kits, focusing on the hig...

Thu, 25 Apr 2024 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Justin Trudeau, facing record-low approval numbers, is doubling down on his progressive agenda. But ...

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

So you want to help people? That’s great — but beware the law of unintended consequences. Three ...

Sun, 14 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The psychologist Daniel Kahneman — a Nobel laureate and the author of Thinking, Fast and Slow — ...

Thu, 11 Apr 2024 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

People who are good at their jobs routinely get promoted into bigger jobs they’re bad at. We expla...

Thu, 4 Apr 2024 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Fareed Zakaria says yes. But it’s not just political revolution — it’s economic, technological...

Mon, 1 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The political debates over immigration can generate a lot of fuzzy facts. We wanted to test American...

Thu, 28 Mar 2024 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

As the U.S. tries to fix its messy immigration system, our neighbor to the north is scooping up more...

Thu, 21 Mar 2024 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The U.S. immigration system is a massively complicated machine, with a lot of worn-out parts. How to...

Mon, 18 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

She arrived in the U.S. as an 11-year-old refugee, then rose to become Secretary of State. Her views...

Thu, 14 Mar 2024 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

How did a nation of immigrants come to hate immigration? We start at the beginning, sort through the...

Thu, 7 Mar 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Economists have discovered an odd phenomenon: many people who use social media (even you, maybe?) wi...

Mon, 4 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In ancient Rome, it was bread and circuses. Today, it’s a World Cup, an Olympics, and a new Saudi-...

Thu, 29 Feb 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What surprises lurk in our sewage? How did racist city planners end up saving Black lives? Why does ...

Thu, 22 Feb 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It used to feel like magic. Now it can feel like a set of cheap tricks. Is the problem with Google —...

Mon, 19 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A wide-open conversation with three women who guided Richard Feynman through some big adventures at ...

Thu, 15 Feb 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In his final years, Richard Feynman's curiosity took him to some surprising places. We hear from his...

Thu, 8 Feb 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What happens when an existentially depressed and recently widowed young physicist from Queens gets a...

Mon, 5 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

They’re heading to the Super Bowl for the second time in five years. But back in 2018, they were c...

Thu, 1 Feb 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

From the Manhattan Project to the Challenger investigation, the physicist Richard Feynman loved to s...

Thu, 25 Jan 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Michael Roth of Wesleyan University doesn’t hang out with other university presidents. He also thi...

Mon, 22 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We all like to throw around terms that describe human behavior — “bystander apathy” and “ste...

Thu, 18 Jan 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Probably not — the incentives are too strong. Scholarly publishing is a $28 billion global industr...

Thu, 11 Jan 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Some of the biggest names in behavioral science stand accused of faking their results. Last year, an...

Thu, 4 Jan 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In a special episode of The Economics of Everyday Things, host Zachary Crockett explains what millen...

Thu, 28 Dec 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In a special episode of People I (Mostly) Admire, Steve Levitt talks to Cat Bohannon about her new b...

Thu, 21 Dec 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In a special episode of No Stupid Questions, Angela Duckworth and Mike Maughan talk about unfinished...

Thu, 14 Dec 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Lewis got incredible access to Sam Bankman-Fried, the billionaire behind the spectacular FTX fraud. ...

Thu, 7 Dec 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In policing, as in most vocations, the best employees are often promoted into leadership without muc...

Thu, 30 Nov 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It boosts economic opportunity and social mobility. It’s good for the environment. So why do we ch...

Thu, 23 Nov 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Most industries have become more productive over time. But not construction! We identify the causes ...

Sun, 19 Nov

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Pro footballer and star podcaster Jason Kelce is ubiquitous right now (almost as ubiquitous as his b...

Thu, 16 Nov 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

They say they make companies more efficient through savvy management. Critics say they bend the rule...

Thu, 9 Nov 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Evidence from Nazi Germany and 1940’s America (and pretty much everywhere else) shows that discrim...

Thu, 2 Nov 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Everyone makes mistakes. How do you learn from them? Lessons from the classroom, the Air Force, and ...

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Giving up can be painful. That's why we need to talk about it. Today: stories about glitchy apps, le...

Thu, 19 Oct 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In medicine, failure can be catastrophic. It can also produce discoveries that save millions of live...

Thu, 12 Oct 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We tend to think of tragedies as a single terrible moment, rather than the result of multiple bad de...

Tue, 10 Oct 2023 01:37:38 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Claudia Goldin is the newest winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics. We spoke with her in 2016 about...

Thu, 5 Oct 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

John Ray is an emergency C.E.O., a bankruptcy expert who takes over companies that have succumbed to...

Thu, 28 Sep 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

If two parents can run a family, why shouldn’t two executives run a company? We dig into the resea...

Thu, 21 Sep 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In her new book The Two-Parent Privilege, the economist Melissa Kearney says it’s time for liberal...

Thu, 14 Sep 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The union that represents N.F.L. players conducted their first-ever survey of workplace conditions, ...

Thu, 7 Sep 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

For all the speculation about the future, A.I. tools can be useful right now. Adam Davidson discover...

Thu, 31 Aug 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Guest host Adam Davidson looks at what might happen to your job in a world of human-level artificial...

Thu, 24 Aug 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Artificial intelligence, we’ve been told, will destroy humankind. No, wait — it will usher in a ...

Thu, 17 Aug 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The famously profane politician and operative is now U.S. ambassador to Japan, where he’s trying t...

Thu, 10 Aug 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Americans are so accustomed to the standard intersection that we rarely consider how dangerous it ca...

Sun, 6 Aug

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Bjorn Andersen killed 111 minke whales this season. He tells us how he does it, why he does it, and ...

Thu, 3 Aug 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In three stories from our newest podcast, host Zachary Crockett digs into sports mascots, cashmere s...

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In the final episode of our whale series, we learn about fecal plumes, shipping noise, and why "Moby...

Thu, 20 Jul 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

For years, whale oil was used as lighting fuel, industrial lubricant, and the main ingredient in (yu...

Thu, 13 Jul 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Whaling was, in the words of one scholar, “early capitalism unleashed on the high seas.” How did...

Thu, 6 Jul 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Actually, the reasons are pretty clear. The harder question is: Will we ever care enough to stop?

Thu, 29 Jun 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sure, you were “in love.” But economists — using evidence from Bridgerton to Tinder — point ...

Thu, 22 Jun 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

But as C.E.O. of the resurgent Microsoft, he is firmly at the center of the A.I. revolution. We spea...

Thu, 15 Jun 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Probably not. The economist Kelly Shue argues that E.S.G. investing just gives more money to firms t...

Thu, 8 Jun 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Gun control, abortion rights, drug legalization — it seems like every argument these days claims t...

Thu, 1 Jun 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

He turned a small Hollywood talent agency into a massive sports-and-entertainment empire. In a freew...

Thu, 25 May 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sure, markets work well in general. But for some transactions — like school admissions and organ t...

Thu, 18 May 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Museums are purging their collections of looted treasures. Can they also get something in return? An...

Thu, 11 May 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The world’s great museums are full of art and artifacts that were plundered during an era when plu...

Thu, 4 May 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

How did a freshly looted Egyptian antiquity end up in the Metropolitan Museum of Art? Why did it tak...

Thu, 27 Apr 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Whether it’s a giant infrastructure plan or a humble kitchen renovation, it’ll inevitably take w...

Thu, 20 Apr 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Every language has its taboo words (which many people use all the time). But the list of forbidden w...

Thu, 13 Apr 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Delaware is beloved by corporations, bankruptcy lawyers, tax avoiders, and money launderers. Critics...

Thu, 6 Apr 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Many companies say they want to create more opportunities for Black Americans. One company is doing ...

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Every year, Americans short the I.R.S. nearly half a trillion dollars. Most ideas to increase compli...

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, the economist Amy Finkelstein explains why ...

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

People who are good at their jobs routinely get promoted into bigger jobs they’re bad at. We expla...

Thu, 9 Mar 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Most travelers want the cheapest flight they can find. Airlines, meanwhile, need to manage volatile ...

Thu, 2 Mar 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Thanks to decades of work by airlines and regulators, plane crashes are nearly a thing of the past. ...

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It’s an unnatural activity that has become normal. You’re stuck in a metal tube with hundreds of...

Thu, 16 Feb 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Adam Smith famously argued that specialization is the key to prosperity. In the N.F.L., the long sna...

Mon, 13 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Hotel guests adore those cute little soaps, but is it just a one-night stand? In our fourth episode ...

Thu, 9 Feb 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

For decades, the U.S. let globalization run its course and hoped China would be an ally. Now the Bid...

Mon, 6 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Can a hit single from four decades ago still pay the bills? Zachary Crockett f-f-f-finds out in the ...

Thu, 2 Feb 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The economist Kate Raworth says the aggressive pursuit of G.D.P. is trashing the planet and shortcha...

Mon, 30 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

How does America's cutest sales force get billions of Thin Mints, Samoas, and Tagalongs into our han...

Thu, 26 Jan 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

When small businesses get bought by big investors, the name may stay the same — but customers and ...

Mon, 23 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A new podcast hosted by Zachary Crockett. In the first episode: Gas stations. When gas prices skyroc...

Thu, 19 Jan 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Big investors are buying up local veterinary practices (and pretty much everything else). What does ...

Mon, 16 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

And with her book "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat," she succeeded. Now she's not so sure how to feel about al...

Thu, 12 Jan 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We tend to look down on artists who can't match their breakthrough success. Should we be celebrating...

Thu, 5 Jan 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In a special episode of No Stupid Questions, Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth discuss classroom d...

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In this special episode of People I (Mostly) Admire, Steve Levitt talks to the best-selling author o...

Thu, 22 Dec 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Labor exploitation! Corporate profiteering! Government corruption! The 21st century can look a lot l...

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Economists and politicians have turned him into a mascot for free-market ideology. Some on the left ...

Mon, 12 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A sneak peek at an upcoming series — and a call for would-be radio reporters.

Thu, 8 Dec 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

How did an affable 18th-century “moral philosopher” become the patron saint of cutthroat capital...

Thu, 1 Dec 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In this special episode of Freakonomics, M.D., host Bapu Jena looks at a clever new study that could...

Thu, 24 Nov 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

No — but he does have a knack for stumbling into the perfect moment, including the recent FTX deba...

Thu, 17 Nov 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It used to feel like magic. Now it can feel like a set of cheap tricks. Is the problem with Google —...

Thu, 10 Nov 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The banana, once a luxury good, rose to become America’s favorite fruit. Now a deadly fungus threa...

Thu, 3 Nov 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It’s fun to obsess over pop stars and racecar drivers — but is fandom making our politics even m...

Thu, 27 Oct 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The last two years have radically changed the way we work — producing winners, losers, and a lot o...

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It was supposed to boost prosperity and democracy at the same time. What really happened? According ...

Thu, 13 Oct 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

One Yale economist certainly thinks so. But even if he’s right, are economists any better?

Thu, 6 Oct 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

New research finds that bosses who went to business school pay their workers less. So what are M.B.A...

Thu, 29 Sep 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The pandemic provided city dwellers with a break from the din of the modern world. Now the noise is ...

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Liberals endorse harm reduction when it comes to the opioid epidemic. Are they ready to take the sam...

Mon, 19 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The documentary filmmaker, known for The Civil War, Jazz, and Baseball, turns his attention to the H...

Thu, 15 Sep 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The pandemic moved a lot of religious activity onto the internet. With faith-based apps, Silicon Val...

Thu, 8 Sep 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

As the Biden administration rushes to address climate change, Stephen Dubner looks at another, hidde...

Thu, 1 Sep 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The controversial Harvard economist, recently back from a suspension, “broke a lot of glass early ...

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It boosts economic opportunity and social mobility. It’s good for the environment. So why do we ch...

Thu, 18 Aug 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Breaking news! Sources say American journalism exploits our negativity bias to maximize profits, and...

Thu, 11 Aug 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

According to a decades-long research project, the U.S. is not only the most individualistic country ...

Thu, 4 Aug 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We often look to other countries for smart policies on education, healthcare, infrastructure, etc. B...

Thu, 28 Jul 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It used to be at the center of our conversations about politics and society. Scott Hershovitz (autho...

Thu, 21 Jul 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sure, you were “in love.” But economists — using evidence from Bridgerton to Tinder — point ...

Thu, 14 Jul 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In one of the earliest Freakonomics Radio episodes, we asked a bunch of economists with young kids h...

Thu, 7 Jul 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Boosters say blockchain technology will usher in a brave new era of decentralization. Are they right...

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Some of them are. With others, it’s more complicated (and more promising). We try to get past the ...

Thu, 23 Jun 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

No. But now is a good time to sort out the potential from the hype. Whether you’re bullish, bearis...

Thu, 16 Jun 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Kevin Kelly calls himself “the most optimistic person in the world.” And he has a lot to say abo...

Thu, 9 Jun 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In ancient Rome, it was bread and circuses. Today, it’s a World Cup, an Olympics, and a new Saudi-...

Thu, 2 Jun 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

When the world went into lockdown, experts predicted a rise in intimate-partner assaults. What actua...

Thu, 26 May 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In this new podcast from the Freakonomics Radio Network, dog-cognition expert and bestselling author...

Thu, 19 May 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Educators and economists tell us all the reasons college enrollment has been dropping, especially fo...

Thu, 12 May 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

As the Supreme Court considers overturning Roe v. Wade, we look back at Steve Levitt’s controversi...

Thu, 5 May 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Enrollment is down for the first time in memory, and critics complain college is too expensive, too ...

Thu, 28 Apr 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

America’s top colleges are facing record demand. So why don’t they increase supply? (Part 2 of “...

Thu, 21 Apr 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We think of them as intellectual enclaves and the surest route to a better life. But U.S. colleges a...

Thu, 14 Apr 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The political scientist Yuen Yuen Ang argues that different forms of government create different sty...

Thu, 7 Apr 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The British art superstar Flora Yukhnovich, the Freakonomist Steve Levitt, and the upstart American ...

Thu, 31 Mar 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

After a huge false start, electric cars are finally about to flourish. We speak with a technology hi...

Thu, 24 Mar 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Every year, there are more than a million collisions in the U.S. between drivers and deer. The resul...

Thu, 17 Mar 2022 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

There are a lot of barriers to changing your mind: ego, overconfidence, inertia — and cost. Politi...

Thu, 10 Mar 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Organized labor hasn’t had this much public support in 50 years, and yet the percentage of America...

Thu, 3 Mar 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

People who are good at their jobs routinely get promoted into bigger jobs they’re bad at. We expla...

Thu, 24 Feb 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In a new book called The Voltage Effect, the economist John List — who has already revolutionized ...

Thu, 17 Feb 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Among O.E.C.D. nations, the U.S. has one of the highest rates of child poverty. Until recently, it l...

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Adam Smith famously argued that specialization is the key to prosperity. In the N.F.L., the long sna...

Thu, 3 Feb 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Behavioral scientists have been exploring if — and when — a psychological reset can lead to last...

Thu, 27 Jan 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Frisco used to be just another sleepy bedroom community outside of Dallas. Now it’s got corporate ...

Thu, 20 Jan 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

When Stephen Dubner learned that Dallas–Fort Worth will soon overtake Chicago as the third-biggest...

Thu, 13 Jan 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Curses and other superstitions may have no basis in reality, but that doesn’t stop us from believi...

Thu, 6 Jan 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

 In this special episode of No Stupid Questions, Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth discuss the co...

Thu, 30 Dec 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In this special episode of People I (Mostly) Admire, Steve Levitt speaks with the palliative physici...

Thu, 23 Dec 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In this special episode of Freakonomics, M.D., host Bapu Jena looks at data from birthday parties, M...

Thu, 16 Dec 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Is art really meant to be an “asset class”? Will the digital revolution finally democratize a ma...

Thu, 9 Dec 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The more successful an artist is, the more likely their work will later be resold at auction for a h...

Thu, 2 Dec 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The art market is so opaque and illiquid that it barely functions like a market at all. A handful of...

Thu, 25 Nov 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Patients in the U.S. healthcare system often feel they’re treated with a lack of empathy. Doctors ...

Thu, 18 Nov 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

You know the saying: “There are no shortcuts in life.” What if that saying is just wrong? In his...

Thu, 11 Nov 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The U.S. is home to seven of the world’s 10 biggest companies. How did that happen? The answer may...

Thu, 4 Nov 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A new book by an unorthodox political scientist argues that the two rivals have more in common than ...

Thu, 28 Oct 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Evidence from Nazi Germany and 1940’s America (and pretty much everywhere else) shows that discrim...

Thu, 21 Oct 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

 In one of the earliest Freakonomics Radio episodes (No. 39!), we asked a bunch of economists with ...

Thu, 14 Oct 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Arthur Brooks is an economist who for 10 years ran the American Enterprise Institute, one of the mos...

Thu, 7 Oct 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Breaking news! Sources say American journalism exploits our negativity bias to maximize profits, and...

Thu, 30 Sep 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Verbal tic or strategic rejoinder? Whatever the case: it’s rare to come across an interview these ...

Mon, 27 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The N.B.A. superstar Chris Bosh was still competing at the highest level when a blood clot abruptly ...

Thu, 23 Sep 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The U.S. is an outlier when it comes to policing, as evidenced by more than 1,000 fatal shootings by...

Thu, 16 Sep 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Among O.E.C.D. nations, the U.S. has one of the highest rates of child poverty. How can that be? To ...

Thu, 9 Sep 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

When Richard Thaler published Nudge in 2008 (with co-author Cass Sunstein), the world was just start...

Thu, 2 Sep 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

That’s what some health officials are saying, but the data aren’t so clear. We look into what’...

Thu, 26 Aug 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In a conversation fresh from the Freakonomics Radio Network’s podcast laboratory, Michèle Flourno...

Thu, 19 Aug 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Humans have a built-in “negativity bias,” which means we give bad news much more power than good...

Thu, 12 Aug 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Air pollution is estimated to cause 7 million deaths a year and cost the global economy nearly $3 tr...

Thu, 5 Aug 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

While other countries seem to build spectacular bridges, dams, and even entire cities with ease, the...

Thu, 29 Jul 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The environmentalists say we’re doomed if we don’t drastically reduce consumption. The technolog...

Thu, 22 Jul 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

According to a decades-long research project, the U.S. is not only the most individualistic country ...

Thu, 15 Jul 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We often look to other countries for smart policies on education, healthcare, infrastructure, etc. B...

Thu, 8 Jul 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The benefits of sleep are by now well established, and yet many people don’t get enough. A new stu...

Thu, 1 Jul 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Nearly two percent of America is grassy green. Sure, lawns are beautiful and useful and they smell g...

Thu, 24 Jun 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Bren Smith, who grew up fishing and fighting, is now part of a movement that seeks to feed the plane...

Thu, 17 Jun 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Cecilia Rouse, the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, is as cold-blooded as any ...

Thu, 10 Jun 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Bapu Jena was already a double threat: a doctor who’s also an economist. Now he’s a podcast host...

Thu, 3 Jun 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The pandemic may be winding down, but that doesn’t mean we’ll return to full-time commuting and ...

Thu, 27 May 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The social psychologist Robert Cialdini is a pioneer in the science of persuasion. His 1984 book Inf...

Thu, 20 May 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The human foot is an evolutionary masterpiece, far more functional than we give it credit for. So wh...

Thu, 13 May 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The man who wants America to “think harder” has parlayed his quixotic presidential campaign into...

Thu, 6 May 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It’s true that robots (and other smart technologies) will kill many jobs. It may also be true that...

Thu, 29 Apr 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Backers of a $15 federal wage say it’s a no-brainer if you want to fight poverty. Critics say it’...

Thu, 22 Apr 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The state-by-state rollout of legalized weed has given economists a perfect natural experiment to me...

Thu, 15 Apr 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In this special crossover episode, People I (Mostly) Admire host Steve Levitt admits to No Stupid Qu...

Thu, 8 Apr 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Kidney failure is such a catastrophic (and expensive) disease that Medicare covers treatment for any...

Thu, 1 Apr 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Medicine has evolved from a calling into an industry, adept at dispensing procedures and pills (and ...

Thu, 25 Mar 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Why do so many promising solutions — in education, medicine, criminal justice, etc. — fail to sc...

Sun, 21 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In a word: networks. Once it embraced information as its main currency, New York was able to climb o...

Thu, 18 Mar 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Behavioral scientists have been exploring if — and when — a psychological reset can lead to last...

Thu, 11 Mar 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Americans are so accustomed to the standard intersection that we rarely consider how dangerous it ca...

Thu, 4 Mar 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

New York Times columnist Charles Blow argues that white supremacy in America will never fully recede...

Thu, 25 Feb 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Researchers are trying to figure out who gets bored — and why — and what it means for ourselves ...

Thu, 18 Feb 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Not so long ago, G.E. was the most valuable company in the world, a conglomerate that included every...

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Most of us are are afraid to ask sensitive questions about money, sex, politics, etc. New research s...

Thu, 4 Feb 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Caitlin Doughty is a mortician who would like to put herself out of business. Our corporate funeral ...

Thu, 28 Jan 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

For all the progress made in fighting cancer, it still kills 10 million people a year, and some type...

Thu, 21 Jan 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It’s a powerful biological response that has preserved our species for millennia. But now it may b...

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

They can’t vote or hire lobbyists. The policies we create to help them aren’t always so helpful....

Thu, 7 Jan 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We’ve collected some of our favorite moments from People I (Mostly) Admire, the latest show from t...

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Societies where people trust one another are healthier and wealthier. In the U.S. (and the U.K. and ...

Thu, 24 Dec 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In this episode of No Stupid Questions — a Freakonomics Radio Network show launched earlier this y...

Thu, 17 Dec 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Patients in the U.S. healthcare system often feel they’re treated with a lack of empathy. Doctors ...

Thu, 10 Dec 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The incoming president argues that the economy and the environment are deeply connected. This is ref...

Sun, 6 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Tony Hsieh, the longtime C.E.O. of Zappos, was an iconoclast and a dreamer. Five years ago, we sat d...

Thu, 3 Dec 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

G.M. produces more than 20 times as many cars as Tesla, but Tesla is worth nearly 10 times as much. ...

Thu, 26 Nov 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Google and Facebook are worth a combined $2 trillion, with the vast majority of their revenue coming...

Thu, 19 Nov 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Companies around the world spend more than half-a-trillion dollars each year on ads. The ad industry...

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The modern world overwhelms us with sounds we didn’t ask for, like car alarms and cell-phone “ha...

Thu, 5 Nov 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

John Mackey, the C.E.O. of Whole Foods, has learned the perils of speaking his mind. But he still sa...

Sat, 31 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The sociologist Sudhir Venkatesh spent years studying crack dealers, sex workers, and the offspring ...

Thu, 29 Oct 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A fine reading of most policies for “business interruption” reveals that viral outbreaks aren’...

Thu, 22 Oct 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

As beloved and familiar as they are, we rarely stop to consider life from the dog’s point of view....

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It isn’t just supply and demand. We look at the complicated history and skewed incentives that ma...

Thu, 8 Oct 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The pandemic has hit America's biggest city particularly hard. Amidst a deep fiscal hole, rising hom...

Sat, 3 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It was only in his late twenties that America’s favorite brainiac began to seriously embrace his l...

Thu, 1 Oct 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Three leading researchers from the Mount Sinai Health System discuss how ketamine, cannabis, and ecs...

Thu, 24 Sep 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The families of U.S. troops killed and wounded in Afghanistan are suing several companies that did r...

Sat, 19 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The dean of Yale’s School of Management grew up in a small village in Guyana. During his unlikely ...

Thu, 17 Sep 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Trump says it would destroy us. Biden needs the voters who support it (especially the Bernie voters)...

Sat, 12 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings came to believe that corporate rules can kill creativity and innova...

Thu, 10 Sep 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Thanks to daily Covid testing and regimented protocols, the new football season is underway. Meanwhi...

Sat, 5 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

She’s best known for playing neurobiologist Amy Farrah Fowler on The Big Bang Theory, but the awar...

Thu, 3 Sep 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We all know our political system is “broken” — but what if that’s not true? Some say the Rep...

Thu, 27 Aug 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We explore the science, scalability, and (of course) economics surrounding the global vaccine race. ...

Sat, 22 Aug

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A new interview show with host Steve Levitt. Today he speaks with the Harvard psychologist and lingu...

Thu, 20 Aug 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What happens when tens of millions of fantasy-sports players are suddenly able to bet real money on ...

Thu, 13 Aug 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The endless pursuit of G.D.P., argues the economist Kate Raworth, shortchanges too many people and a...

Thu, 6 Aug 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Aisle upon aisle of fresh produce, cheap meat, and sugary cereal — a delicious embodiment of free-...

Thu, 30 Jul 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Everyone agrees that massive deforestation is an environmental disaster. But most of the standard so...

Thu, 23 Jul 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Most Americans agree that racial discrimination has been, and remains, a big problem. But that is wh...

Thu, 16 Jul 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The racial wealth gap in the U.S. is massive. We explore the causes, consequences, and potential sol...

Thu, 9 Jul 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Christina Romer was a top White House economist during the Great Recession. As a researcher, she spe...

Thu, 2 Jul 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Before she decided to become a poker pro, Maria Konnikova didn’t know how many cards are in a deck...

Thu, 25 Jun 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Thanks to the pandemic, the telehealth revolution we’ve been promised for decades has finally arri...

Thu, 18 Jun 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In this new addition to the Freakonomics Radio Network, co-hosts Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth...

Thu, 11 Jun 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Millions and millions are out of work, with some jobs never coming back. We speak with four economis...

Thu, 4 Jun 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Covid-19 is the biggest job killer in a century. As the lockdown eases, what does re-employment look...

Thu, 28 May 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In the U.S. alone, we hold 55 million meetings a day. Most of them are woefully unproductive, and ty...

Thu, 21 May 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The accidental futurist Kevin Kelly on why enthusiasm beats intelligence, how to really listen, and ...

Thu, 14 May 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Three university presidents try to answer our listeners’ questions. The result? Not much pomp and ...

Thu, 7 May 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Humans have a built-in “negativity bias,” which means we give bad news much more power than good...

Thu, 30 Apr 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We speak with a governor, a former C.D.C. director, a pandemic forecaster, a hard-charging pharmacis...

Mon, 27 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

As a former top adviser to presidents Clinton and Obama, he believes in the power of the federal gov...

Thu, 23 Apr 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The U.S. spent the past few decades waiting for China to act like the global citizen it said it want...

Thu, 16 Apr 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Should a nurse or doctor who gets sick treating Covid-19 patients have priority access to a potentia...

Thu, 9 Apr 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Covid-19 has shocked our food-supply system like nothing in modern history. We examine the winners, ...

Thu, 2 Apr 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Congress just passed the biggest aid package in modern history. We ask six former White House econom...

Thu, 26 Mar 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

There are a lot of upsides to urban density — but viral contagion is not one of them. Also: a nati...

Thu, 19 Mar 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In just a few weeks, the novel coronavirus has undone a century’s worth of our economic and social...

Thu, 12 Mar 2020 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

As cities become ever-more expensive, politicians and housing advocates keep calling for rent contro...

Thu, 5 Mar 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Trump says it would destroy us. Sanders says it will save us. The majority of millennials would like...

Thu, 27 Feb 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

That’s what some health officials are saying, but the data aren’t so clear. We look into what’...

Thu, 20 Feb 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

When he became chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai announced that he was goi...

Thu, 13 Feb 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Why do so many promising solutions — in education, medicine, criminal justice, etc. — fail to sc...

Thu, 6 Feb 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We asked this same question nearly a decade ago. The answer then: probably not. But a lot has change...

Thu, 30 Jan 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

One of the most storied (and valuable) sports franchises in the world had fallen far. So they decide...

Thu, 23 Jan 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

One prescription drug is keeping some addicts from dying. So why isn’t it more widespread? A story...

Thu, 16 Jan 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

How pharma greed, government subsidies, and a push to make pain the “fifth vital sign” kicked of...

Thu, 9 Jan 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We all like to throw around terms that describe human behavior — “bystander apathy” and “ste...

Thu, 2 Jan 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

There is strong evidence that exercise is wildly beneficial. There is even stronger evidence that mo...

Thu, 26 Dec 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In a special holiday episode, Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth take turns asking each other quest...

Thu, 19 Dec 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A year ago, nobody was taking Andrew Yang very seriously. Now he is America’s favorite entrepre-ne...

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Every year, Americans short the I.R.S. nearly half a trillion dollars. Most ideas to increase compli...

Thu, 5 Dec 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Innovation experts have long overlooked where a lot of innovation actually happens. The personal com...

Thu, 28 Nov 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

There are a lot of barriers to changing your mind: ego, overconfidence, inertia — and cost. Politi...

Thu, 21 Nov 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A recent outbreak of illness and death has gotten everyone’s attention — including late-to-the-g...

Thu, 14 Nov 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

For nearly a decade, governments have been using behavioral nudges to solve problems — and the str...

Thu, 7 Nov 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It’s an acutely haphazard way of paying workers, and yet it keeps expanding. We dig into the data ...

Thu, 31 Oct 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Do economic sanctions work? Are big democracies any good at spreading democracy? What is the root ca...

Thu, 24 Oct 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

For decades, there’s been a huge gender disparity both on-screen and behind the scenes. But it see...

Thu, 17 Oct 2019 03:31:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It used to be a global capital of innovation, invention, and exploration. Now it’s best known for ...

Thu, 10 Oct 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In 2016, David Cameron held a referendum on whether the U.K. should stay in the European Union. A lo...

Thu, 3 Oct 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Most high-school math classes are still preparing students for the Sputnik era. Steve Levitt wants t...

Thu, 26 Sep 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mary Daly rose from high-school dropout to president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. S...

Thu, 19 Sep 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In the U.S. alone, we hold 55 million meetings a day. Most of them are woefully unproductive, and ty...

Thu, 12 Sep 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It began as a post-war dream for a more collaborative and egalitarian workplace. It has evolved into...

Thu, 5 Sep 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What happens when tens of millions of fantasy-sports players are suddenly able to bet real money on ...

Thu, 29 Aug 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Global demand for beef, chicken, and pork continues to rise. So do concerns about environmental and ...

Thu, 22 Aug 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The quirky little grocery chain with California roots and German ownership has a lot to teach all of...

Thu, 15 Aug 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Research shows that having a distinctively black name doesn’t affect your economic future. But wha...

Thu, 8 Aug 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A kid’s name can tell us something about his parents — their race, social standing, even their p...

Thu, 1 Aug 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Aisle upon aisle of fresh produce, cheap meat, and sugary cereal — a delicious embodiment of free-...

Thu, 25 Jul 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We all know our political system is “broken” — but what if that’s not true? Some say the Rep...

Thu, 18 Jul 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

They — along with a great many other high-achieving women — were all once Girl Scouts. So was Sy...

Thu, 11 Jul 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The controversial theory linking Roe v. Wade to a massive crime drop is back in the spotlight as sev...

Thu, 4 Jul 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Takeru Kobayashi revolutionized the sport of competitive eating. What can the rest of us learn from ...

Thu, 27 Jun 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

There is strong evidence that exercise is wildly beneficial. There is even stronger evidence that mo...

Thu, 20 Jun 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

An all-star team of behavioral scientists discovers that humans are stubborn (and lazy, and sometime...

Thu, 13 Jun 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Recorded live in San Francisco. Guests include the keeper of a 10,000-year clock, the co-founder of ...

Thu, 6 Jun 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Recorded live in Los Angeles. Guests include Mayor Eric Garcetti, the “Earthquake Lady,” the hea...

Thu, 30 May 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

There are a lot of barriers to changing your mind: ego, overconfidence, inertia — and cost. Politi...

Thu, 23 May 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Whether it’s a giant infrastructure plan or a humble kitchen renovation, it’ll inevitably take w...

Thu, 16 May 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The revolution in home DNA testing is giving consumers important, possibly life-changing information...

Thu, 9 May 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

As the cost of college skyrocketed, it created a debt burden that’s putting a drag on the economy....

Thu, 2 May 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Humans have been having kids forever, so why are modern parents so bewildered? The economist Emily O...

Thu, 25 Apr 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Humans, it has long been thought, are the only animal to engage in economic activity. But what if we...

Thu, 18 Apr 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The banana used to be a luxury good. Now it’s the most popular fruit in the U.S. and elsewhere. Bu...

Thu, 11 Apr 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Daniel Ek, a 23-year-old Swede who grew up on pirated music, made the record labels an offer they co...

Thu, 4 Apr 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

As cities become ever-more expensive, politicians and housing advocates keep calling for rent contro...

Thu, 28 Mar 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What your disgust level says about your politics, how Napoleon influenced opera, why New York City’...

Thu, 21 Mar 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Kenji Lopez-Alt became a rock star of the food world by bringing science into the kitchen in a way t...

Thu, 14 Mar 2019 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

For years, Gary Cohn thought he’d be the next C.E.O. of Goldman Sachs. Instead, he became the “a...

Thu, 7 Mar 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The road to success is paved with failure, so you might as well learn to do it right. (Ep. 5 of the ...

Thu, 28 Feb 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Whether you’re building a business or a cathedral, execution is everything. We ask artists, scient...

Thu, 21 Feb 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Whether you’re mapping the universe, hosting a late-night talk show, or running a meeting, there a...

Thu, 14 Feb 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Global demand for beef, chicken, and pork continues to rise. So do concerns about environmental and ...

Thu, 7 Feb 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In 2005, Raghuram Rajan said the financial system was at risk “of a catastrophic meltdown.” Afte...

Sat, 2 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Stephen Dubner’s conversation with the former N.F.L. player, union official, and all-around sports...

Thu, 31 Jan 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

If you think talent and hard work give top athletes all the leverage to succeed, think again. As emp...

Sat, 26 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A conversation with the Shark Tank star, entrepreneur, and Dallas Mavericks owner recorded for the F...

Thu, 24 Jan 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

For most of us, the athletes are what make sports interesting. But if you own the team or run the le...

Sat, 19 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A conversation with former Major League Baseball player and current ESPN analyst Mark Teixeira, reco...

Thu, 17 Jan 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Great athletes aren’t just great at the physical stuff. They’ve also learned how to handle press...

Sat, 12 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Jim Yong Kim has an unorthodox background for a World Bank president — and his reign has been just...

Thu, 10 Jan 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In the American Dream sweepstakes, Andrew Yang was a pretty big winner. But for every winner, he cam...

Thu, 3 Jan 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The U.N.’s World Happiness Report — created to curtail our unhealthy obsession with G.D.P. — i...

Thu, 27 Dec 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Games are as old as civilization itself, and some people think they have huge social value regardles...

Thu, 20 Dec 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

You wouldn’t think you could win a Nobel Prize for showing that humans tend to make irrational dec...

Sat, 15 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Our co-host is comedian Christian Finnegan, and we learn: the difference between danger and fear; th...

Thu, 13 Dec 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Our co-host is Grit author Angela Duckworth, and we learn fascinating, Freakonomical facts from a pa...

Thu, 6 Dec 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In the early 20th century, Max Weber argued that Protestantism created wealth. Finally, there are da...

Thu, 29 Nov 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The quirky little grocery chain with California roots and German ownership has a lot to teach all of...

Thu, 22 Nov 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Some people argue that sugar should be regulated, like alcohol and tobacco, on the grounds that it’...

Thu, 15 Nov 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It began as a post-war dream for a more collaborative and egalitarian workplace. It has evolved into...

Thu, 8 Nov 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The Ford Motor Company is ditching its legacy sedans, doubling down on trucks, and trying to steer i...

Thu, 1 Nov 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We all know our political system is “broken” — but what if that’s not true? Some say the Rep...

Sat, 27 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A conversation with the iconic singer-songwriter, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “How ...

Thu, 25 Oct 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Family environments and “diversifying experiences” (including the early death of a parent); intr...

Sat, 20 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A conversation with veteran NBA point guard Jeremy Lin, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “...

Thu, 18 Oct 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

There are thousands of books on the subject, but what do we actually know about creativity? In this ...

Thu, 11 Oct 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

You said, “I’m sorry,” but somehow you haven’t been forgiven. Why? Because you’re doing it...

Thu, 4 Oct 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The World Trade Organization is the referee for 164 trading partners, each with their own political ...

Mon, 1 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A conversation with 2008 Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio se...

Thu, 27 Sep 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

There are a lot of factors that go into greatness, many of which are not obvious. A variety of Olymp...

Sun, 23 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Stephen Dubner’s conversations with members of the San Francisco 49ers offense, recorded for Freak...

Thu, 20 Sep 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The San Francisco 49ers, one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world, also used to be on...

Thu, 13 Sep 2018 03:30:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Dollar-wise, the sports industry is surprisingly small, about the same size as the cardboard-box ind...

Thu, 6 Sep 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We all know the standard story: our economy would be more dynamic if only the government would get o...

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Kenji Lopez-Alt became a rock star of the food world by bringing science into the kitchen in a way t...

Thu, 23 Aug 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The environmentalists say we’re doomed if we don’t drastically reduce consumption. The technolog...

Thu, 16 Aug 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The U.N.’s World Happiness Report — created to curtail our unhealthy obsession with G.D.P. — i...

Thu, 9 Aug 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

After every mass shooting or terrorist attack, victims and survivors receive a huge outpouring of su...

Tue, 7 Aug 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

One of the world’s biggest and best-known companies just announced that its C.E.O. would be steppi...

Thu, 2 Aug 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In this live episode of “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know,” we learn why New York has skinny sky...

Thu, 26 Jul 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

He was once the most lionized athlete on the planet, with seven straight Tour de France wins and a v...

Thu, 19 Jul 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It happens to just about everyone, whether you’re going for Olympic gold or giving a wedding toast...

Thu, 12 Jul 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

You wouldn’t think you could win a Nobel Prize for showing that humans tend to make irrational dec...

Tue, 3 Jul 2018 20:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

After 8 years and more than 300 episodes, it was time to either 1) quit, or 2) make the show bigger ...

Thu, 28 Jun 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What do Renaissance painting, civil-rights movements, and Olympic cycling have in common? In each ca...

Thu, 21 Jun 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Has our culture's obsession with innovation led us to neglect the fact that things also need to be t...

Thu, 14 Jun 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

For soccer fans, it's easy. For the rest of us? Not so much, especially since the U.S. team didn't q...

Thu, 7 Jun 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We are in the midst of a historic (and wholly unpredicted) rise in urbanization. But it's hard to re...

Thu, 31 May 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Nearly two percent of America is grassy green. Sure, lawns are beautiful and useful and they smell g...

Thu, 24 May 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Pharmaceutical firms donate an enormous amount of their products (and some cash too). But it doesn't...

Thu, 17 May 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Corporate Social Responsibility programs can attract better job applicants who'll work for less mone...

Thu, 10 May 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We all like to throw around terms that describe human behavior — “bystander apathy” and “ste...

Thu, 3 May 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A breakthrough in genetic technology has given humans more power than ever to change nature. It coul...

Thu, 26 Apr 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sure, medical progress has been astounding. But today the U.S. spends more on healthcare than any ot...

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Three former White House economists weigh in on the new tax bill. A sample: "The overwhelming e...

Thu, 12 Apr 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Kevin Hassett, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, explains the thinking behind the contro...

Mon, 9 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Stephen Dubner's conversation with the founder and longtime C.E.O. of Bridgewater Associates, record...

Thu, 5 Apr 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Humans, it has long been thought, are the only animal to engage in economic activity. But what if we...

Mon, 2 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Stephen Dubner's conversation with the Facebook founder and C.E.O., recorded for the Freakonomics Ra...

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The bad news: roughly 70 percent of Americans are financially illiterate. The good news: all the imp...

Mon, 26 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Stephen Dubner's conversation with the former C.E.O. of Yahoo, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio s...

Thu, 22 Mar 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It's hard enough to save for a house, tuition, or retirement. So why are we willing to pay big fees ...

Mon, 19 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Stephen Dubner's conversation with the former longtime C.E.O. of General Electric, recorded for the ...

Thu, 15 Mar 2018 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Every 12 years, there's a spike in births among certain communities across the globe, including the ...

Mon, 12 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Stephen Dubner's conversation with the C.E.O. of Microsoft, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio seri...

Thu, 8 Mar 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Whether it's a giant infrastructure plan or a humble kitchen renovation, it'll inevitably take way t...

Mon, 5 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Stephen Dubner's conversation with the co-founder and longtime co-C.E.O. of the Carlyle Group, recor...

Thu, 1 Mar 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In our collective zeal to reform schools and close the achievement gap, we may have lost sight of wh...

Mon, 26 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Stephen Dubner's conversation with the Virgin Group founder, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio ser...

Thu, 22 Feb 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

If you're a C.E.O., there are a lot of ways to leave your job, from abrupt firing to carefully plann...

Thu, 15 Feb 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Only 5 percent of Fortune 500 companies are run by women. Why? Research shows that female executives...

Thu, 8 Feb 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

No, it's not your fault the economy crashed. Or that consumer preferences changed. Or that new techn...

Tue, 6 Feb 2018 17:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The gig economy offers the ultimate flexibility to set your own hours. That's why economists thought...

Sat, 3 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We assembled a panel of smart dudes -- a two-time Super Bowl champ; a couple of N.F.L. linemen, incl...

Thu, 1 Feb 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Indra Nooyi became C.E.O. of PepsiCo just in time for a global financial meltdown. She also had a po...

Thu, 25 Jan 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mark Zuckerberg's dentist dad was an early adopter of digital x-rays. Jack Welch blew the roof off a...

Thu, 18 Jan 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

They're paid a fortune — but for what, exactly? What makes a good C.E.O. — and how can you even ...

Thu, 11 Jan 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Gina Raimondo, the governor of tiny Rhode Island, has taken on unions, boosted big business, and mad...

Thu, 4 Jan 2018 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Most of us feel we face more headwinds and obstacles than everyone else — which breeds resentment....

Thu, 28 Dec 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Societies where people trust one another are healthier and wealthier. In the U.S. (and the U.K. and ...

Thu, 21 Dec 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sure, markets generally work well. But for some transactions — like school admissions and organ tr...

Thu, 14 Dec 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The International Monetary Fund has long been the "lender of last resort" for economies in crisis. C...

Thu, 7 Dec 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The public has almost no chance to buy good tickets to the best events. Ticket brokers, meanwhile, m...

Thu, 30 Nov 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Economists have a hard time explaining why productivity growth has been shrinking. One theory: true ...

Thu, 23 Nov 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Most people don't enjoy the simple, boring act of putting money in a savings account. But we do love...

Thu, 16 Nov 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

They are the most-trusted profession in America (and with good reason). They are critical to patient...

Thu, 9 Nov 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Dubner and his Freakonomics co-author Steve Levitt answer your questions about crime, traffic, real-...

Tue, 7 Nov 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In this live episode of "Tell Me Something I Don't Know," you'll learn about carcass balan...

Thu, 2 Nov 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Corporations and rich people donate billions to their favorite think tanks and foundations. Should w...

Thu, 26 Oct 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Academic studies are nice, and so are Nobel Prizes. But to truly prove the value of a new idea, you ...

Thu, 19 Oct 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Celiac disease is thought to affect roughly one percent of the population. The good news: it can be ...

Thu, 12 Oct 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Smart government policies, good industrial relations, and high-end products have helped German manuf...

Sun, 1 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Stephen J. Dubner hosts an episode full of the world's most renowned behavior change experts, includ...

Thu, 28 Sep 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

He's been U.S. Treasury Secretary, a chief economist for the Obama White House and the World Bank, a...

Tue, 26 Sep 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A language invented in the 19th century, and meant to be universal, it never really caught on. So wh...

Thu, 21 Sep 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We explore votes for English, Indonesian, and … Esperanto! The search for a common language goes b...

Thu, 14 Sep 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

There are 7,000 languages spoken on Earth. What are the costs — and benefits — of our modern-day...

Thu, 7 Sep 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

John Urschel was the only player in the N.F.L. simultaneously getting a math Ph.D. at M.I.T. But aft...

Thu, 31 Aug 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

By some estimates, medical error is the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. How can that be? An...

Thu, 24 Aug 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

How do so many ineffective and even dangerous drugs make it to market? One reason is that clinical t...

Thu, 17 Aug 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We tend to think of medicine as a science, but for most of human history it has been scientific-ish ...

Thu, 10 Aug 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Standing in line represents a particularly sloppy — and frustrating — way for supply and demand ...

Thu, 3 Aug 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The bad news: roughly 70 percent of Americans are financially illiterate. The good news: all the imp...

Thu, 27 Jul 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It's hard enough to save for a house, tuition, or retirement. So why are we willing to pay big fees ...

Thu, 20 Jul 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The human foot is an evolutionary masterpiece, far more functional than we give it credit for. So wh...

Thu, 13 Jul 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Good intentions are nice, but with so many resources poured into social programs, wouldn't it be eve...

Thu, 6 Jul 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Over 40 percent of U.S. births are to unmarried mothers, and the numbers are especially high among t...

Thu, 29 Jun 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

How a pain-in-the-neck girl from rural Virginia came to run the most powerful university in the worl...

Fri, 23 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Charles Koch, the mega-billionaire CEO of Koch Industries and half of the infamous political machine...

Thu, 22 Jun 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Charles Koch, the mega-billionaire CEO of Koch Industries and half of the infamous political machine...

Tue, 20 Jun 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Steve Levitt, Scott Turow and Bridget Gainer are panelists. For the "Freakonomics" co-auth...

Thu, 15 Jun 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A breakthrough in genetic technology has given humans more power than ever to change nature. It coul...

Thu, 8 Jun 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Steve Hilton was the man behind David Cameron's push to remake British politics. Things didn't work ...

Thu, 1 Jun 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Nearly two percent of America is grassy green. Sure, lawns are beautiful and useful and they smell g...

Thu, 25 May 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A series of academic studies suggest that the wealthy are, to put it bluntly, selfish jerks. It's an...

Thu, 18 May 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

As CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer was famous for over-the-top enthusiasm. Now he's brought that sam...

Thu, 11 May 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

On the Internet, people say all kinds of things they'd never say aloud -- about sex and race, about ...

Thu, 4 May 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A kitchen wizard and a nutrition detective talk about the perfect hamburger, getting the most out of...

Thu, 27 Apr 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Some people argue that sugar should be regulated, like alcohol and tobacco, on the grounds that it's...

Thu, 20 Apr 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In pursuit of a more perfect economy, we discuss the future of work; the toxic remnants of colonizat...

Thu, 13 Apr 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

If we could reboot the planet and create new systems and institutions from scratch, would they be an...

Thu, 6 Apr 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The biggest problem with humanity is humans themselves. Too often, we make choices — what we eat, ...

Thu, 30 Mar 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

By day, two leaders of Britain's famous Nudge Unit use behavioral tricks to make better government p...

Tue, 28 Mar 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Hear live journalism wrapped in a game show package and hosted by Stephen J. Dubner. In this episode...

Thu, 23 Mar 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Economists preach the gospel of "creative destruction," whereby new industries -- and jobs...

Thu, 16 Mar 2017 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Most of us feel we face more headwinds and obstacles than everyone else — which breeds resentment....

Thu, 9 Mar 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The pizza-and-gaming emporium prides itself on affordability, which means its arcade games are reall...

Thu, 2 Mar 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The serial entrepreneur Miki Agrawal loves to talk about the bodily functions that make most people ...

Thu, 23 Feb 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In their chase for a global audience, American movie studios spend billions to make their films look...

Thu, 16 Feb 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What happens when a public-health researcher deep in coal country argues that mountaintop mining end...

Thu, 9 Feb 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The psychologist Angela Duckworth argues that a person's level of stick-to-itiveness is directly rel...

Thu, 2 Feb 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We assembled a panel of smart dudes -- a two-time Super Bowl champ; a couple of NFL linemen, includi...

Thu, 26 Jan 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

For years, economists promised that global free trade would be mostly win-win. Now they admit the pa...

Thu, 19 Jan 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Just a few decades ago, more than 90 percent of 30-year-olds earned more than their parents had earn...

Thu, 12 Jan 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The Daily Show host grew up as a poor, mixed-race South African kid going to three churches every Su...

Thu, 5 Jan 2017 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Starting in the late 1960s, the Israeli psychologists Amos Tversky and Danny Kahneman began to redef...

Thu, 29 Dec 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What if the thing we call "talent" is grotesquely overrated? And what if deliberate practi...

Thu, 22 Dec 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In this busy time of year, we could all use some tips on how to get more done in less time. First, h...

Thu, 15 Dec 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

By some estimates, medical error is the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. How can that be? An...

Thu, 8 Dec 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

How do so many ineffective and even dangerous drugs make it to market? One reason is that clinical t...

Thu, 1 Dec 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We tend to think of medicine as a science, but for most of human history it has been scientific-ish ...

Thu, 24 Nov 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The restaurant business model is warped: kitchen wages are too low to hire cooks, while diners are p...

Thu, 17 Nov 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Some of our most important decisions are shaped by something as random as the order in which we make...

Tue, 15 Nov 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

"Tell Me Something I Don't Know" is a live game show hosted by Stephen J. Dubner of "...

Thu, 10 Nov 2016 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Societies where people trust one another are healthier and wealthier. In the U.S. (and the U.K. and ...

Wed, 9 Nov

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The U.S. president is often called the "leader of free world." But if you ask an economist...

Thu, 3 Nov 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A tiny behavioral-sciences startup is trying to improve the way federal agencies do their work. Cons...

Thu, 27 Oct 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What do Renaissance painting, civil-rights movements, and Olympic cycling have in common? In each ca...

Thu, 20 Oct 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Has our culture's obsession with innovation led us to neglect the fact that things also need to be t...

Thu, 13 Oct 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Neuroscientists still have a great deal to learn about the human brain. One recent MRI study sheds s...

Thu, 6 Oct 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The process is famously secretive (and conducted in Swedish!) but we pry the lid off at least a litt...

Thu, 29 Sep 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It facilitates crime, bribery, and tax evasion -- and yet some governments (including ours) are prin...

Thu, 22 Sep 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sure, we all pay lip service to the Madisonian system of checks and balances. But as one legal schol...

Thu, 15 Sep 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party's presidential candidate, likes to say that most Americans are l...

Thu, 8 Sep 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

To you, it's just a ride-sharing app that gets you where you're going. But to an economist, Uber is ...

Thu, 1 Sep 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Internet pioneer Kevin Kelly tries to predict the future by identifying what's truly inevitable. How...

Thu, 25 Aug 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The gist: we spend billions on end-of-life healthcare that doesn’t do much good. So what if a pati...

Thu, 18 Aug 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The comedian, actor -- and now, author -- answers our FREAK-quently Asked Questions.

Thu, 11 Aug 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Standing in line represents a particularly sloppy - and frustrating - way for supply and demand to m...

Thu, 4 Aug 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We seem to have decided that ethnic food tastes better when it's served by people of that ethnicity ...

Thu, 28 Jul 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We Americans may love our democracy -- at least in theory -- but at the moment our feelings toward t...

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Overt discrimination in the labor markets may be on the wane, but women are still subtly penalized b...

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It's a remarkable ecosystem that allows each of us to exercise control over our lives. But how much ...

Thu, 7 Jul 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Eric Garcetti, the mayor of Los Angeles, has big ambitions but knows he must first master the small ...

Thu, 30 Jun 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

There are more than twice as many suicides as murders in the U.S., but suicide attracts far less scr...

Thu, 23 Jun 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The U.S. president is often called the "leader of free world." But if you ask an economist...

Thu, 16 Jun 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

There are all kinds of civics-class answers to that question. But how true are they? Could it be tha...

Thu, 9 Jun 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Public bathrooms are noisy, poorly designed, and often nonexistent. What to do?

Thu, 2 Jun 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Patrick Smith, the author of Cockpit Confidential, answers every question we can throw at him about ...

Thu, 26 May 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

When the uncelebrated Leicester City Football Club won the English Premier League, it wasn't just th...

Thu, 19 May 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Our Self-Improvement Month concludes with a man whose entire life and career are one big pile of sel...

Thu, 12 May 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Games are as old as civilization itself, and some people think they have huge social value regardles...

Thu, 5 May 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The psychologist Angela Duckworth argues that a person's level of stick-to-itiveness is directly rel...

Mon, 2 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

"Books are a pain in the ass," says Gladwell, who has written some of the most popular, in...

Thu, 28 Apr 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What if the thing we call "talent" is grotesquely overrated? And what if deliberate practice is the ...

Thu, 21 Apr 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It's Self-Improvement Month at Freakonomics Radio. We begin with a topic that seems to be on everyon...

Thu, 14 Apr 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A lot of full-time jobs in the modern economy simply don't pay a living wage. And even those jobs ma...

Thu, 7 Apr 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Critics -- including President Obama -- say short-term, high-interest loans are predatory, trapping ...

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

People who sleep better earn more money. Now all we have to do is teach everyone to sleep better.

Thu, 24 Mar 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Could a lack of sleep help explain why some people get much sicker than others?

Thu, 17 Mar 2016 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

As sexy as the digital revolution may be, it can't compare to the Second Industrial Revolution (elec...

Fri, 11 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The restaurant business model is warped: kitchen wages are too low to hire cooks, while diners are p...

Thu, 3 Mar 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The junior U.S. Senator from New Jersey thinks bipartisanship is right around the corner. Is he just...

Thu, 25 Feb 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Now and again, Freakonomics Radio puts hat in hand and asks listeners to donate to the public-radio ...

Thu, 18 Feb 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A famous economics essay features a pencil (yes, a pencil) arguing that “not a single person on th...

Thu, 11 Feb 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The digital age is making pen and paper seem obsolete. But what are we giving up if we give up on ha...

Thu, 4 Feb 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Okay, maybe the steps aren't so easy. But a program run out of a Toronto housing project has had gre...

Thu, 28 Jan 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

If U.S. schoolteachers are indeed "just a little bit below average," it's not really their...

Thu, 21 Jan 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The Montgomery Bus Boycott, the South African divestment campaign, Chick-fil-A! Almost anyone can la...

Thu, 14 Jan 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Experts and pundits are notoriously bad at forecasting, in part because they aren't punished for bad...

Thu, 7 Jan 2016 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Discrimination can't explain why women earn so much less than men. If only it were that easy.

Thu, 31 Dec 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sure, we all want to make good personal decisions, but it doesn't always work out. That's where &quo...

Thu, 24 Dec 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A team of economists has been running the numbers on the U.N.'s development goals. They have a diffe...

Thu, 17 Dec 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The argument for open borders is compelling -- and deeply problematic.

Thu, 10 Dec 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

One woman's quest to find the best burger in town can teach all of us to eat smarter.

Thu, 3 Dec 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

He was handed the keys to the global economy just as it started heading off a cliff. Fortunately, he...

Thu, 26 Nov 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Even a brutal natural disaster doesn't diminish our appetite for procreating. This surely means we'r...

Thu, 19 Nov 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In our collective zeal to reform schools and close the achievement gap, we may have lost sight of wh...

Thu, 12 Nov 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Lessons from Tom Petty's rise and another rocker's fall.

Thu, 5 Nov 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A kitchen wizard and a nutrition detective talk about the perfect hamburger, getting the most out of...

Thu, 29 Oct 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Researchers are trying to figure out who gets bored - and why - and what it means for ourselves and ...

Thu, 22 Oct 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Doctors, chefs, and other experts are much more likely than the rest of us to buy store-brand produc...

Thu, 15 Oct 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The process is famously secretive (and conducted in Swedish!) but we pry the lid off at least a litt...

Thu, 8 Oct 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

When one athlete turned pro, his mom asked him for $1 million. Our modern sensibilities tell us she ...

Thu, 1 Oct 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Anne-Marie Slaughter was best known for her adamant views on Syria when she accidentally became a po...

Thu, 24 Sep 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Suspenders may work better, but the dork factor is too high. How did an organ-squeezing belly tourni...

Thu, 17 Sep 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

From domestic abusers to former child soldiers, there is increasing evidence that behavioral therapy...

Thu, 10 Sep 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Conventional programs tend to be expensive, onerous, and ineffective. Could something as simple (and...

Thu, 3 Sep 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

How a pain-in-the-neck girl from rural Virginia came to run the most powerful university in the worl...

Thu, 27 Aug 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We spend billions on end-of-life healthcare that doesn't do much good. So what if a patient could fo...

Thu, 20 Aug 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Step 1: Hire a Harvard psych professor as the pitchman. Step 2: Have him help write the script ...

Thu, 13 Aug 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What do NASCAR drivers, Glenn Beck and the hit men of the NFL have in common?

Thu, 6 Aug 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

There are all kinds of civics-class answers to that question. But how true are they? Could it be tha...

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Why is soccer the best sport? How has Harlan Coben sold 70 million books? And why does "Apollo ...

Thu, 23 Jul 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The comedian, actor -- and now, author -- answers our FREAK-quently Asked Questions

Thu, 16 Jul 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

People who sleep better earn more money. Now all we have to do is teach everyone to sleep better.

Thu, 9 Jul 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Could a lack of sleep help explain why some people get much sicker than others?

Thu, 2 Jul 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Takeru Kobayashi revolutionized the sport of competitive eating. What can the rest of us learn from ...

Thu, 25 Jun 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We seem to have decided that ethnic food tastes better when it's served by people of that ethnicity ...

Thu, 18 Jun 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sure, markets generally work well. But for some transactions -- like school admissions and organ tra...

Thu, 11 Jun 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sure, sex crimes are horrific, and the perpetrators deserve to be punished harshly. But society keep...

Thu, 4 Jun 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

One man's attempt to remake his life in the mold of homo economicus.

Thu, 28 May 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The debut of a live game show from Freakonomics Radio, with judges Malcolm Gladwell, Ana Gasteyer, a...

Thu, 21 May 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In which we argue that failure should not only be tolerated but celebrated.

Thu, 14 May 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Dubner and Levitt are live onstage at the 92nd Street Y in New York to celebrate their new book &quo...

Thu, 7 May 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh has a wild vision and the dollars to try to make it real. But it still might b...

Thu, 30 Apr 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

When it comes to generating ideas and asking questions it can be really fruitful to have the mentali...

Thu, 23 Apr 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

America's favorite statistical guru answers our FREAK-quently Asked Questions, and more.

Thu, 16 Apr 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It may seem like winning a valuable diamond is an unalloyed victory. It's not. It's not even clear t...

Thu, 9 Apr 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The practice of medicine has been subsumed by the business of medicine. This is great news for healt...

Thu, 2 Apr 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A lot of the conventional wisdom in medicine is nothing more than hunch or wishful thinking. A new b...

Thu, 26 Mar 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

If you are driving and kill a pedestrian, there's a good chance you'll barely be punished. Why?

Thu, 19 Mar 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Thick markets, thin markets, and the triumph of attributes over compatibility.

Thu, 12 Mar 2015 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sure, we all want to make good personal decisions, but it doesn't always work out. That's where &quo...

Thu, 5 Mar 2015 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Every year, Edge.org asks its salon of big thinkers to answer one big question. This year's question...

Thu, 26 Feb 2015 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Advertisers have always been adept at manipulating our emotions. Now they're using behavioral econom...

Thu, 19 Feb 2015 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Jim Yong Kim has an unorthodox background for a World Bank president — and his reign thus far is j...

Thu, 12 Feb 2015 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The White House is hosting an anti-terror summit next week. Summits being what they are, we try to o...

Thu, 5 Feb 2015 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It's a centerpiece of U.S. climate policy and a sacred cow among environmentalists. Does it work?

Thu, 29 Jan 2015 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Economists preach the gospel of "creative destruction," whereby new industries -- and jobs...

Thu, 22 Jan 2015 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

As Kevin Kelly tells it, the hippie revolution and the computer revolution are nearly one and the sa...

Thu, 15 Jan 2015 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Verbal tic or strategic rejoinder? Whatever the case: it’s rare to come across an interview these ...

Thu, 8 Jan 2015 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Influenza kills, but you’d never know it by how few of us get the vaccine.

Thu, 1 Jan 2015 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Most people blame lack of time for being out of shape. So maybe the solution is to exercise more eff...

Thu, 25 Dec 2014 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Imagine that both substances were undiscovered until today. How would we think about their relative ...

Thu, 18 Dec 2014 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Public bathrooms are noisy, poorly designed, and often nonexistent. What to do?

Thu, 11 Dec 2014 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We spend billions on our pets, and one of the fastest-growing costs is pet "aftercare." Bu...

Thu, 4 Dec 2014 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Okay, maybe the steps aren’t so easy. But a program run out of a Toronto housing project has had g...

Thu, 27 Nov 2014 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

If U.S. schoolteachers are indeed “just a little bit below average,” it’s not really their fau...

Thu, 20 Nov 2014 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Boris Johnson -- mayor of London, biographer of Churchill, cheese-box painter and tennis-racket coll...

Thu, 13 Nov 2014 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Even a brutal natural disaster doesn’t diminish our appetite for procreating. This surely means we...

Thu, 6 Nov 2014 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Corporations around the world are consolidating like never before. If it’s good enough for compani...

Thu, 30 Oct 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A lot! “The Economics of the Undead” is a book about dating strategy, job creation, and whether ...

Thu, 23 Oct 2014 16:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The debut of a live game show from Freakonomics Radio, with judges Malcolm Gladwell, Ana Gasteyer, a...

Thu, 16 Oct 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The Norwegian government parleys massive oil wealth into huge subsidies for electric cars. Is that c...

Thu, 9 Oct 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The science of what works -- and doesn't work -- in fund-raising

Thu, 2 Oct 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A team of economists has been running the numbers on the U.N.'s development goals. They have a diffe...

Thu, 25 Sep 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Markets are hardly perfect, but the results can be ugly when you try to subvert them.

Thu, 18 Sep 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What does it mean to pursue something that everyone else thinks is nuts? And what does it take to su...

Thu, 11 Sep 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Doctors, chefs, and other experts are much more likely than the rest of us to buy store-brand produc...

Thu, 4 Sep 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Airbnb, Uber, Lyft, EatWith, and other companies in the “sharing economy” are practically daring...

Thu, 28 Aug 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The online universe doesn't have nearly as many rules, or rulemakers, as the real world. Discuss.

Thu, 21 Aug 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

There ain't no such thing as a free parking spot. Somebody has to pay for it -- and that somebody is...

Thu, 14 Aug 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A look at whether spite pays -- and if it even exists.

Thu, 7 Aug 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It's awkward, random, confusing -- and probably discriminatory too.

Thu, 31 Jul 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A kid's name can tell us something about his parents -- their race, social standing, even their poli...

Thu, 24 Jul 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It’s a hard question to answer, but we do our best.

Thu, 17 Jul 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Educational messaging looks good on paper but kids don’t respond to it -- and adults aren’t much...

Thu, 10 Jul 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It isn’t easy to separate the guilty from the innocent, but a clever bit of game theory can help.

Thu, 3 Jul 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Takeru Kobayashi revolutionized the sport of competitive eating. What can the rest of us learn from ...

Thu, 26 Jun 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Dubner and Levitt answer reader questions in this first installment of the “Think Like a Freak” ...

Thu, 19 Jun 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Is it really in a restaurant’s best interest to give customers free bread or chips before they eve...

Thu, 12 Jun 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Every four years, the U.S. takes a look at the World Cup and develops a slight crush. What would it ...

Thu, 5 Jun 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In which we argue that failure should not only be tolerated but celebrated.

Thu, 29 May 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

You know the saying: a winner never quits and a quitter never wins. To which Freakonomics Radio says...

Thu, 22 May 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

When it comes to generating ideas and asking questions it can be really fruitful to have the mentali...

Thu, 15 May 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Why learning to say “I don’t know” is one of the best things you can do.

Thu, 8 May 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Stephen Dubner and Steve Levitt talk about their new book and field questions about prestige, univer...

Thu, 1 May 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

If you are driving and kill a pedestrian, there's a good chance you'll barely be punished. Why?

Thu, 24 Apr 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

When it comes to exercising outrage, people tend to be very selective. Could it be that humans are o...

Thu, 17 Apr 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Imagine that both substances were undiscovered until today. How would we think about their relative ...

Thu, 10 Apr 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Unlike certain elected officials in Washington, mayors all over the country actually get stuff done....

Thu, 3 Apr 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The war on cigarettes has been fairly successful in some places. But 1 billion humans still smoke --...

Thu, 27 Mar 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Thinking of Bitcoin as just a digital currency is like thinking about the Internet as just e-mail. I...

Thu, 20 Mar 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In many ways, the gender gap is closing. In others, not so much. And that's not always a bad thing.

Thu, 13 Mar 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A psychology professor argues that the brain's greatest attribute is knowing what other people are t...

Thu, 6 Mar 2014 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Yes, it expands the mind but we usually don't retain much -- and then there's the opportunity cost.

Thu, 27 Feb 2014 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In most countries, houses get more valuable over time. In Japan, a new buyer will often bulldoze the...

Thu, 20 Feb 2014 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The consequences of our low marriage rate -- and if the old model is less attractive, how about a ne...

Thu, 13 Feb 2014 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The myths of modern marriage.

Thu, 6 Feb 2014 05:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Thick markets, thin markets, and the triumph of attributes over compatibility.This episode is includ...

Thu, 30 Jan 2014 14:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The "beauty premium" is real, for everyone from babies to NFL quarterbacks.

Thu, 23 Jan 2014 14:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The benefits of rumor-mongering

Thu, 16 Jan 2014 14:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What "Sleep No More" and the Stanford Prison Experiment tell us about who we really are.

Thu, 9 Jan 2014 14:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Dubner and Levitt talk about fixing the post office, putting cameras in the classroom, and wearing h...

Thu, 2 Jan 2014 14:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Most people blame lack of time for being out of shape. So maybe the solution is to exercise more eff...

Thu, 26 Dec 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A commitment device forces you to be the person you really want to be. What could possibly go wrong?...

Thu, 19 Dec 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The Pope just gave it to the global economy with both barrels. Was he right to do so?

Thu, 12 Dec 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It’s easy to get that idea. But is the stereotype true?

Thu, 5 Dec 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

More than 1 million people die worldwide each year from traffic accidents. But there's never been a ...

Wed, 27 Nov

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It's time to do away with feel-good stories, gut hunches, and magical thinking.

Thu, 21 Nov 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Spontaneous order is everywhere if you know where to look for it.

Thu, 14 Nov 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The online universe doesn't have nearly as many rules, or rulemakers, as the real world. Discuss.

Thu, 7 Nov 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

College tends to make people happier, healthier, and wealthier. But how?

Thu, 31 Oct 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What's a college degree really worth these days?

Thu, 24 Oct 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Being green is rarely a black-and-white issue -- but that doesn't stop marketers and politicians fro...

Mon, 14 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We spend billions on our pets, and one of the fastest-growing costs is pet "aftercare." Bu...

Thu, 10 Oct 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The science of what works -- and doesn't work -- in fund-raising

Thu, 3 Oct 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Dubner and Levitt field your queries in this latest installment of our FREAK-quently Asked Questions...

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A 19th-century Georgia land lottery may have something to teach us about today's income inequality.

Thu, 19 Sep 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Think you know how much parents matter? Think again. Economists crunch the numbers to learn the ROI ...

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Once upon a time, office workers across America lived in fear of a dreaded infirmity. Was the comput...

Thu, 5 Sep 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

There are more than twice as many suicides as murders in the U.S., but suicide attracts far less scr...

Thu, 29 Aug 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It's impossible to say for sure, but the Lebanese do remarkably well. Why?

Thu, 22 Aug 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Human beings love to predict the future, but we're quite terrible at it. So how about punishing all ...

Thu, 15 Aug 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Chicago has given the world more than sausage, crooked politics, and Da Bears.

Thu, 8 Aug 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We worship the tradition of handing off a family business to the next generation. But is that really...

Thu, 1 Aug 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Even American parents have a strong "son preference" -- which means that a newborn daughte...

Mon, 22 Jul

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

You know the saying: a winner never quits and a quitter never wins. To which Freakonomics Radio says...

Thu, 18 Jul 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The Encyclopedia of Ethical Failures catalogs the fiscal, sexual, and mental lapses of federal worke...

Thu, 11 Jul 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Is junk food an abomination or a modern miracle?

Wed, 3 Jul

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What does "Pride and Prejudice" have to do with nuclear deterrence?

Thu, 27 Jun 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What happens to your reputation when you're no longer around to defend it?

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

You might think that someone with a 50-50 chance of getting a fatal disease would want to know for s...

Wed, 12 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Yet another reason to blame your parents for pretty much everything.

Mon, 3 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It's awkward, random, confusing -- and probably discriminatory too.

Wed, 29 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A glimpse into our driverless future.

Thu, 23 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Dubner and Levitt talk about circadian rhythms, gay marriage, autism, and whether "pay what you...

Wed, 15 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

If any other product failed 94 percent of the time, you'd probably stop using it. So why do we put u...

Thu, 9 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A look at whether spite pays — and if it even exists.

Wed, 1 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Why is unemployment still so high? It may be because of something that happened well before the Grea...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

An interview with Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, whose younger brother turned him in -- and what it says a...

Wed, 17 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In many states, it is perfectly legal to not hire someone who smokes. Should employers also be able ...

Mon, 8 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

A kid's name can tell us something about his parents -- their race, social standing, even their poli...

Wed, 3 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Real tax reform may or may not ever happen. In the meantime, how about making the current system wor...

Wed, 27 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Freakonomics asks a dozen smart people for their best ideas. Get ready for a fat tax, a sugar ban, a...

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:00:00 +0000

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The NCAA basketball tournament grabs a lot of eyeballs, but turning them into dollars hasn't always ...

Wed, 13 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

There ain't no such thing as a free parking spot. Somebody has to pay for it -- and that somebody is...

Wed, 6 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sure, we all like to hear compliments. But if you're truly looking to get better at something, it's ...

Sun, 24 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In many ways, the gender gap is closing. In others, not so much. And that's not always a bad thing.

Wed, 20 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The gas tax doesn't work well, and it's only going to get worse. What's next?

Wed, 13 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

No one wants mass shootings. Unfortunately, no one has a workable plan to stop them either.

Wed, 6 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It is startlingly easy to create false memories, especially in politics.

Wed, 30 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Levitt and Dubner go deep on "Freakonomics Experiments," a new research project that lets ...

Wed, 23 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Steve Levitt has a novel idea for helping people make tough decisions

Wed, 16 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The very long reach of Winston Churchill -- and how the British government is remaking copyright law...

Wed, 9 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Why do Hall of Fame inductees, Oscar winners, and Nobel laureates outlive their peers?

Wed, 2 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Levitt and Dubner answer your questions about driving, sneezing, and ladies’ nights. Plus a rememb...

Wed, 26 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It's harder than you'd think to measure the value of a boss. But some enterprising economists have d...

Wed, 19 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Dubner's childhood home goes from sacred to profane -- and then back again.

Wed, 12 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Who better than an economist to help with your shopping list?

Wed, 5 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

College, at its best, is about learning to think. Stephen Dubner chats up three of his former profes...

Wed, 28 Nov

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Economists are a notoriously self-interested bunch. But a British outfit called Pro Bono Economics i...

Wed, 21 Nov

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

There are enough management consultants these days to form a small nation. But what do they actually...

Wed, 14 Nov

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Adding more train and bus lines looks like an environmental slam dunk. Until you start to do the mat...

Mon, 5 Nov

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Turkey sex and chicken wings, selling souls and swapping organs, the power of the president and the ...

Wed, 31 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Is it as simple as going to the richest neighborhood you can find? Of course not ...

Wed, 24 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Politicians tell voters exactly what they want to hear, even when it makes no sense. Which is pretty...

Wed, 17 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We rely on polls and surveys to tell us how people will behave in the future. Too bad they're comple...

Wed, 10 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

When you want to get rid of a nasty pest, one obvious solution comes to mind: just offer a cash rewa...

Wed, 3 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sure, we love our computers and all the rest of our digital toys. But when it comes to real economic...

Sun, 23 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Trying to go rustic by baking, brewing, and knitting at home can be terribly inefficient. And that's...

Wed, 19 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The data show that poker is indeed a game of skill, not chance, and a Federal judge agrees. So why ...

Wed, 12 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What "Sleep No More" and the Stanford Prison Experiment tell us about who we really are.