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Episode 22

Medicine: TMSIDK Episode 22

…rotates. Then they use complex algorithms to reconstruct the images. Join Tell Me Something I Don’t Know in Boston for a show on Medicine. Side effects include extra kidneys, Lyme…

Episode 22

Cadavers – Part 1

In the first of two episodes, Zachary Crockett digs into the strange and discomfiting history of cadavers, and the industry that has emerged around them.

Episode 22

Why Do We Buy Things We Never Use? (Replay)

Also: why do we hoard? (Rebroadcast From Ep. 28)…

Episode 22

Why Do We Buy Things We’ll Never Use?

Also: How is social media like a knife?

Episode 22

Sal Khan: “If It Works for 15 Cousins, It Could Work for a Billion People.”

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…

Episode 22

What If TV Isn’t Bad for Us?

We now have more access to TV, movies, and streaming entertainment than anytime in history. So what do we actually know about what all that screen time does to us?…

Episode 22

Why Cities Rock

Could it be that cities are “our greatest invention” – that, despite their reputation as soot-spewing engines of doom, they in fact make us richer, smarter, happier and (gulp) greener?…

Episode 270

Bad Medicine, Part 3: Death by Diagnosis (Replay)

By some estimates, medical error is the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. How can that be? And what’s to be done? Our third and final episode in this…

Episode 268

Bad Medicine, Part 1: The Story of 98.6 (Replay)

We tend to think of medicine as a science, but for most of human history it has been scientific-ish at best. In the first episode of a three-part series, we…

Episode 270

Bad Medicine, Part 3: Death by Diagnosis

By some estimates, medical error is the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. How can that be? And what’s to be done? Our third and final episode in this…

Episode 268

Bad Medicine, Part 1: The Story of 98.6

We tend to think of medicine as a science, but for most of human history it has been scientific-ish at best. In the first episode of a three-part series, we…

Episode 102

Adding Ten Healthy Years to Your Life

…but on maintaining good health into old age. He explains the possibilities and limits of current medicine and gives Steve his best advice on how to defeat the aging process….

Episode 269

Bad Medicine, Part 2: (Drug) Trials and Tribulations (Replay)

How do so many ineffective and even dangerous drugs make it to the market? One reason is that clinical trials are often run on “dream patients” who aren’t representative of…

Episode 269

Bad Medicine, Part 2: (Drug) Trials and Tribulations

How do so many ineffective and even dangerous drugs make it to market? One reason is that clinical trials are often run on “dream patients” who aren’t representative of a…

Episode 41

Dr. Bapu Jena on Why Freakonomics Is the Best Medicine

He’s a Harvard physician and economist who just started a third job: host of the new podcast Freakonomics, M.D. He’s also Steve’s former student. The two discuss why medicine should…

Episode 53

Why Do Doctors Have to Play Defense?

…decision, doctors in some states are concerned that delivering treatment could put them in legal jeopardy. Bapu Jena looks at how the practice of “defensive medicine” can compromise patient care….

Episode 402

The Opioid Tragedy, Part 1: “We’ve Addicted an Entire Generation”

How pharma greed, government subsidies, and a push to make pain the “fifth vital sign” kicked off a crisis that costs $80 billion a year and has killed hundreds of…

Episode 116

Abraham Verghese Thinks Medicine Can Do Better

Abraham Verghese is a physician and a best-selling author — in that order, he says. He explains the difference between curing and healing, and tells Steve why doctors should spend…

Episode 13

When Bapu Met Levitt

Once upon a time, Bapu Jena was a graduate student at the University of Chicago. His most interesting teacher? The economist Steve Levitt. This week on Freakonomics, M.D., a replay…

Episode 444

How Do You Cure a Compassion Crisis?

Patients in the U.S. healthcare system often feel they’re treated with a lack of empathy. Doctors and nurses have tragically high levels of burnout. Could fixing the first problem solve…

Episode 444

How Do You Cure a Compassion Crisis? (Replay)

Patients in the U.S. healthcare system often feel they’re treated with a lack of empathy. Doctors and nurses have tragically high levels of burnout. Could fixing the first problem solve…

Episode 60

Cassandra Quave Thinks the Way Antibiotics Are Developed Might Kill Us

By mid-century, 10 million people a year are projected to die from untreatable infections. Can Cassandra, an ethnobotanist at Emory University convince Steve that herbs and ancient healing are key…

Episode 15

The Most “Unique, Excellent, and Promising” Episode

…include glowing, hyperbolic terms. Bapu talks about this “groundbreaking” research (see what we did there?) in a wide-ranging discussion with physicians and an economist about the gender gap in medicine….

Episode 532

Do You Know Who Owns Your Vet?

When small businesses get bought by big investors, the name may stay the same — but customers and employees can feel the difference. (Part 2 of 2.)…

Episode 202

How Many Doctors Does It Take to Start a Healthcare Revolution?

The practice of medicine has been subsumed by the business of medicine. This is great news for healthcare shareholders — and bad news for pretty much everyone else.

Episode 333

The Most Ambitious Thing Humans Have Ever Attempted

Sure, medical progress has been astounding. But today the U.S. spends more on healthcare than any other country, with so-so outcomes. Atul Gawande — cancer surgeon, public-health researcher, and best-selling…

Episode 465

Introducing a New “Freakonomics of Medicine” Podcast

Bapu Jena was already a double threat: a doctor who is also an economist. Now he’s a podcast host too. In this sneak preview of the Freakonomics Radio Network’s newest…

Episode 43

The Comedian-Ophthalmologist Will See You Now

…comedy fan. During the pandemic, he found an audience. But should doctors be funny with their patients? Bapu Jena asks when laughter is — and isn’t — the best medicine….

Episode 27

What Can Bin Laden Teach Us About Medicine?

When trust in doctors or the healthcare system is lost, it’s really hard to get back. Bapu Jena explores the ripple effects of a C.I.A. operation to catch Osama bin…

Episode 52

Who Gets a Heart Disease Test?

Medical tests can save lives. So how do doctors decide who gets tested, and when?…