Frans de Waal Answers Your Primate Questions
…who will go look for easier prey. Q: What did you learn from Desmond Morris? A: Great question. Desmond Morris is the most underrated behavioral biologist (ethologist) of his generation….
We Americans may love our democracy — at least in theory — but at the moment our feelings toward the Federal government lie somewhere between disdain and hatred. Which electoral…
…who will go look for easier prey. Q: What did you learn from Desmond Morris? A: Great question. Desmond Morris is the most underrated behavioral biologist (ethologist) of his generation….
Nearly 2 percent of America is grassy green. Sure, lawns are beautiful and useful and they smell great. But are the costs — financial, environmental and otherwise — worth the…
Nearly 2 percent of America is grassy green. Sure, lawns are beautiful and useful and they smell great. But are the costs — financial, environmental and otherwise — worth the…
A kid’s name can tell us something about his parents — their race, social standing, even their politics. But is your name really your destiny?
Freakonomics asks a dozen smart people for their best ideas. Get ready for a fat tax, a sugar ban, and a calorie-chomping tapeworm.
Some of them are. With others, it’s more complicated (and more promising). We try to get past the Bored Apes and the ripoffs to see if we can find art…
Giving up can be painful. That’s why we need to talk about it. Today: stories about glitchy apps, leaky paint cans, broken sculptures — and a quest for the perfect…
For years, whale oil was used as lighting fuel, industrial lubricant, and the main ingredient in (yum!) margarine. Whale meat was also on a few menus. But today, demand for…
Unlike certain elected officials in Washington, mayors all over the country actually get stuff done. So maybe we should ask them to do more?
…that’s false. Los Angeles has a reputation as a city where people get around in limos, not buses. Facts and Fiction Eric Morris discusses stereotypes about Los Angeles transportation in…
…people per square mile (behind San Francisco-Oakland and San Jose as well as Los Angeles). How could this be? Facts and Fiction Eric Morris discusses stereotypes about Los Angeles transportation…
…it can be fixed at all. Thanks to everyone in the Quorum for participating — and as always, let us know what you think in the comments section. Eric Morris,…
…city is sprawling. But sprawl or no, Los Angeles’s air is choked with its world-famous smog. Isn’t it? Answer: A half-truth. Facts and Fiction Eric Morris discusses stereotypes about Los…
Eric Morris, a researcher at U.C.L.A.’s Institute of Transportation Studies, has already written a few posts here, and will now join our corps of recurring guests bloggers. Please welcome him….
…and perhaps Angelenos’ famed “love affair” with the car, Angelenos drive considerably more miles than most Americans. Facts and Fiction Eric Morris discusses stereotypes about Los Angeles transportation in this…
…is dominated by an overbuilt freeway system? Answer: a half-truth. Facts and Fiction Eric Morris discusses stereotypes about Los Angeles transportation in this six-part series. Los Angeles Transportation Facts and…
…Ferguson has forgotten his first-year economics. Fortunately, the data can speak, and it’s time to give them a voice. This is why I turn to my frequent collaborator, Eric Zitzewitz,…
Those low-priced staples on grocery-store shelves — where do they come from? Zachary Crockett finds out at a national convention for private-label manufacturers….
…several senses of the word. Eric the Red‘s name of the place — Greenland — is of course a bald-faced lie. A glacial ice sheet covers 84 percent of the…
It’s an unnatural activity that has become normal. You’re stuck in a metal tube with hundreds of strangers (and strange smells), defying gravity and racing through the sky. But oh,…
Corporations and rich people donate billions to their favorite think tanks and foundations. Should we be grateful for their generosity — or suspicious of their motives?
Nearly 2 percent of America is grassy green. Sure, lawns are beautiful and useful and they smell great. But are the costs — financial, environmental and otherwise — worth the…
Can you quantify emotional intelligence? Who should you hire — someone smart, or someone good with people? And how did Angie do on an online emotional intelligence test?…
In a special episode of The Economics of Everyday Things, host Zachary Crockett explains what millennials do to show they care, how corrugated cardboard keeps your food warm, and why…
Levitt and Dubner answer your questions about driving, sneezing, and ladies’ nights. Plus a remembrance of Levitt’s sister Linda.
In the final episode of our whale series, we learn about fecal plumes, shipping noise, and why Moby-Dick is still worth reading. (Part 3 of “Everything You Never Knew About…
Americans keep putting on pounds. So is it time for a cheeseburger tax? Or would a chill pill be the best medicine? In this episode, we explore the underbelly of…
There’s more than meets the eye to the box that stores the pie. Zachary Crockett cracks the lid….
…a Freakonomics Quorum, with recent discussions on street charity and the housing market. Here are the participants for the discussion on obesity: J. Eric Oliver, a professor of political science…