Fixing the World, Bang-for-the-Buck Edition: A Freakonomics Radio Rebroadcast
Our latest Freakonomics Radio episode is called “Fixing the World, Bang-for-the-Buck Edition.” (You can subscribe to the podcast at iTunes or elsewhere, get the RSS feed, or listen via the media player above.)
The gist: a team of economists have been running the numbers on the U.N.’s development goals. They have a different view of how those billions of dollars should be spent. Read More »
The Cheeseburger Diet: A New Freakonomics Radio Podcast
Our latest Freakonomics Radio episode is called “The Cheeseburger Diet” (You can subscribe to the podcast at iTunes or elsewhere, get the RSS feed, or listen via the media player above.)
Bite into this: One woman’s quest to find the best burger in town can teach all of us to eat smarter. Read More »
Ben Bernanke Gives Himself a Grade: A New Freakonomics Radio Podcast
Our latest Freakonomics Radio episode is called “Ben Bernanke Gives Himself a Grade” (You can subscribe to the podcast at iTunes or elsewhere, get the RSS feed, or listen via the media player above.)
An interview with the former Fed chairman: He was handed the keys to the global economy just as it started heading off a cliff. Fortunately, he’d seen this movie before. Read More »
Why Do People Keep Having Children? A Freakonomics Radio Rebroadcast
Our latest Freakonomics Radio episode is a rebroadcast called “Why Do People Keep Having Children?” (You can subscribe to the podcast at iTunes or elsewhere, get the RSS feed, or listen via the media player above.)
At issue: Even a brutal natural disaster doesn’t diminish our appetite for procreating. This surely means we’re heading toward massive overpopulation, right? Probably not. Read More »
Does “Early Education” Come Way Too Late? A New Freakonomics Radio Podcast
Our latest Freakonomics Radio episode is called “Does ‘Early Education’ Come Way Too Late?” (You can subscribe to the podcast at iTunes or elsewhere, get the RSS feed, or listen via the media player above.)
The gist: in our collective zeal to reform schools and close the achievement gap, we may have lost sight of where most learning really happens — at home. Read More »
Should Everyone Be in a Rock Band? A New Freakonomics Radio Podcast
Our latest Freakonomics Radio episode is called “Should Everyone Be in a Rock Band?” (You can subscribe to the podcast at iTunes or elsewhere, get the RSS feed, or listen via the media player above.)
Lessons from Tom Petty’s rise and another rocker’s fall: A conversation with Warren Zanes, former member of the Del Fuegos and the author of Petty: The Biography
Food + Science = Victory! A New Freakonomics Radio Episode
Our latest Freakonomics Radio episode is called “Food + Science = Victory!” (You can subscribe to the podcast at iTunes or elsewhere, get the RSS feed, or listen via the media player above.)
On the menu: A kitchen wizard and a nutrition detective talk about the perfect hamburger, getting the most out of garlic, and why you should use vodka in just about everything. Read More »
The Economics of Sleep, Part 1
Season 5, Episode 10
On this week’s episode of Freakonomics Radio: poor sleep can impair our cognitive function; sleep loss has been linked to adverse physical outcomes like weight gain and, increasingly, more serious maladies; and the Centers for Disease Control recently declared insufficient sleep a “public-health epidemic.” So are we treating the problem as seriously as we ought to be? And is it possible that lack of sleep can even explain the income gap? We speak with sleep researchers, economists, a psychologist and an epidemiologist to answer these questions. Read More »
Why Do People Keep Having Children?
Season 5, Episode 9
On this week’s episode of Freakonomics Radio: first up: what are the factors that make a given person more or less likely to have children? And is the global population really going to double by the next century? Probably not.
And then: “That’s a great question!” You hear this phrase in all kinds of media interviews, during the Q&A portion of tech and academic conferences, and in ordinary meetings. Where did this ubiquitous reply come from? Is it a verbal tic, a strategic rejoinder, or something more? We talk to a linguist, a media consultant and master interviewer Charlie Rose about why it’s rare to come across an interview these days where at least one question isn’t a “great” one. Read More »
Ben Bernanke Gives Himself a Grade
Season 5, Episode 8
On this week’s episode of Freakonomics Radio, two interviews: first, former Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, who was handed the keys to the global economy just as it started heading off a cliff. And then Anne-Marie Slaughter, a former State Department adviser, who was best known for her adamant views on Syria when she accidentally became a poster girl for modern feminism.
Bernanke tells us what he knew and didn’t know about the state of the economy as the financial crisis began to unfold, and he explains what FDR got right and wrong during the Great Depression. Slaughter continues the heated national conversation sparked by her 2012 Atlantic essay “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” and we talk about her early warnings on Syria and what she’d suggest if she had the White House’s ear today. Read More »
Time to Take Back the Toilet
Season 5, Episode 7
On this week’s episode of Freakonomics Radio, first: we’re not asking that using a public restroom be a pleasant experience, but are there ways to make it less miserable? And then: how did the belt, an organ-squeezing belly tourniquet, become part of our everyday wardrobe — and what other suboptimal solutions do we routinely put up with?
The gist: public bathrooms — when you can find one — are often noisy and poorly designed. In this episode, we explore the history of the public restroom, the taboos that accompany it, and the public-health risks of paying too little attention to the lowly toilet. Read More »
Tell Me Something I Don’t Know
Season 5, Episode 6
On this week’s episode of Freakonomics Radio, a live game show with host Stephen Dubner, and judges Malcolm Gladwell, Ana Gasteyer, and David Paterson.
Audience members are invited onstage to tell us something we didn’t know. We learn a bit, laugh a lot, and as a bonus, each of the judges tell us something about themselves we didn’t know. You’ll learn how Malcolm Gladwell got fired from an internship with a prominent judge; how Ana Gasteyer watched Star Wars with a prominent family; and why Governor Paterson was desperate for O.J. Simpson’s famous Bronco chase to be cut short. Read More »
This Idea Must Die
Season 5, Episode 5
In this week’s episode of Freakonomics Radio, we first explore whether some of the scientific ideas we cling to should be killed off; and then Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt answer some listener questions.
The gist: Every year, Edge.org asks its salon of big thinkers to answer one big question. In 2014, the question bordered on heresy: what scientific idea is ready for retirement? Experts weigh in. And then Dubner and Levitt talk about fixing the post office, putting cameras in the classroom, and wearing hats. Read More »
Diamonds Are a Marriage Counselor’s Best Friend
Season 5, Episode 4
In part one (“Diamonds Are a Marriage Counselor’s Best Friend“), we meet Jason and Kristen Sarata, a couple who win a diamond at a charity event. But the two can’t agree on whether to sell the diamond or keep it. Luckily, investigative reporter Edward Jay Epstein has written an entire book about selling a diamond, and tells us it’s unclear whether diamonds are as valuable as Marilyn Monroe taught us to think they are. Read More »
How Many Doctors Does It Take to Start a Healthcare Revolution?
Season 5, Episode 3
In part one (“How Many Doctors Does It Take to Start a Healthcare Revolution?”), we continue conversations from last week’s episode (“How Do We Know What Really Works in Healthcare?”). Anupam Jena, a physician, economist, and professor at Harvard Medical School, told us last week about his study that shows mortality rates improve when cardiologists are away at medical conferences. One possible explanation for his results, Jena says, is that many procedures, although highly effective, aren’t better than doing nothing in certain cases. Read More »
