Designed to Tear Us Apart (SBTI Ep. 1)

When online anger turned to offline violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, the big social media companies responded by kicking some users — including the president himself — off their platforms. What led to that decision? Was it an overreach? And what role did they really play in the events that took place? Sudhir explores how social media is built to encourage bad behavior, and why one afternoon of unrest can’t overcome a decades-old mindset in Silicon Valley that blinds them to this reality.

Is Laziness Real? (NSQ Ep. 47)

Also: why do we dislike being alone in public?

Is There a Point to Conducting Polls About Whether or not Sexual Orientation is Chosen?

Greg Norman & Mark Broadie: Why Golf Beats an Orgasm and Why Data Beats Everything (People I (Mostly) Admire Ep. 23)

Steve Levitt is obsessed with golf — and he’s pretty good at it too. As a thinly-veiled ploy to improve his own game, Steve talks to two titans of the sport: Greg “The Shark” Norman, who was the world’s top-ranked golfer for more than six years; and Mark Broadie, a Columbia professor whose data analysis changed how pros play the game.

How Can You Stop Feeling So Irritable? (NSQ Ep. 46)

Also: what’s wrong with being impatient?

Sal Khan: “If It Works for 15 Cousins, It Could Work for a Billion People.” (People I (Mostly) Admire, Ep. 22)

Khan Academy grew out of Sal Khan’s online math tutorials for his extended family. It’s now a platform used by more than 115 million people in 190 countries. So what does Khan want to do next? How about reinventing in-school learning, too? Find out why Steve nearly moved to Silicon Valley to be part of Khan's latest venture.

How to Fix the Hot Mess of U.S. Healthcare (Ep. 456)

Medicine has evolved from a calling into an industry, adept at dispensing procedures and pills (and gigantic bills), but less good at actual health. Most reformers call for big, bold action. What happens if, instead, you think small?

How Much Better Do You Really Want to Be? (NSQ, Ep. 45)

Also: why do we pad our speech with so much filler language?

Pete Docter: “What If Monsters Really Do Exist?” (People I (Mostly) Admire, Ep. 21)

He’s the chief creative officer of Pixar, and the Academy Award-winning director of Soul, Inside Out, Up, and Monsters, Inc. Pete Docter and Steve talk about Pixar’s scrappy beginnings, why it costs $200 million to make an animated film, and the movie moment that changed Steve’s life.

Policymaking Is Not a Science (Yet) (Ep. 405 Rebroadcast)

Why do so many promising solutions — in education, medicine, criminal justice, etc. — fail to scale up into great policy? And can a new breed of “implementation scientists” crack the code? Listen and subscribe to our podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or elsewhere. Below is a transcript of the episode, edited for readability. For more information on […]

How Does New York City Keep Reinventing Itself? (Bonus)

In a word: networks. Once it embraced information as its main currency, New York was able to climb out of a deep fiscal (and psychic) pit. Will that magic trick still work after Covid? In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, guest host Kurt Andersen interviews Thomas Dyja, author of New York, New York, New York: Four Decades of Success, Excess and Transformation.