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Episode 153

Reasons to Not Be Ugly

The “beauty premium” is real, for everyone from babies to NFL quarterbacks.

Episode 180

Fitness Apartheid

Markets are hardly perfect, but the results can be ugly when you try to subvert them.

Episode 211

The Economics of Sleep, Part 1

Could a lack of sleep help explain why some people get much sicker than others?

Episode 211

The Economics of Sleep, Part 1 (Replay)

Could a lack of sleep help explain why some people get much sicker than others?

Episode 212

The Economics of Sleep, Part 2

People who sleep better earn more money. Now all we have to do is teach everyone to sleep better.

Episode 40

The Suicide Paradox (Replay)

There are more than twice as many suicides as murders in the U.S., but suicide attracts far less scrutiny. Freakonomics Radio digs through the numbers and finds all kinds of…

Episode 374

How Spotify Saved the Music Industry (But Not Necessarily Musicians)

Daniel Ek, a 23-year-old Swede who grew up on pirated music, made the record labels an offer they couldn’t refuse: a legal platform to stream all the world’s music. Spotify…

Episode 212

The Economics of Sleep, Part 2 (Replay)

People who sleep better earn more money. Now all we have to do is teach everyone to sleep better.

Episode 277

No Hollywood Ending for the Visual Effects Industry

In their chase for a global audience, American movie studios spend billions to make their films look amazing. But almost none of those dollars stay in America. What would it…

Episode 44

Is Empathy in Fact Immoral?

Also: is it better to “go with the wind” or to “be the wind”?

Episode 40

The Suicide Paradox

There are more than twice as many suicides as murders in the U.S., but suicide attracts far less scrutiny. Freakonomics Radio digs through the numbers and finds all kinds of…

Episode 40

The Suicide Paradox (Replay)

There are more than twice as many suicides as murders in the U.S., but suicide attracts far less scrutiny. Freakonomics Radio digs through the numbers and finds all kinds of…

Hamermesh on The Daily Show: Ugly People

Freakonomics contributor Dan Hamermesh was featured on The Daily Show last night, in a piece about ugly people. Hamermesh has done extensive research on the economic disadvantages of being unattractive….




Episode 27

Daniel Kahneman on Why Our Judgment is Flawed — and What to Do About It

Nobel laureate, best-selling author, and groundbreaking psychologist Daniel Kahneman is also a friend and former business partner of Steve’s. In discussing Danny’s new book Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment,…

Episode 335

Does Doing Good Give You License to Be Bad?

Corporate Social Responsibility programs can attract better job applicants who’ll work for less money. But they also encourage employees to misbehave. Don’t laugh — you too probably engage in “moral…

Episode 234

Do Boycotts Work?

The Montgomery Bus Boycott, the South African divestment campaign, Chick-fil-A! Almost anyone can launch a boycott, and the media loves to cover them. But do boycotts actually produce the change…


Episode 149

Is It Harder to Make Friends as an Adult? (Replay)

How do friendships change as we get older? Should you join a bowling league? And also: how does a cook become a chef?…

Episode 304

What Are the Secrets of the German Economy — and Should We Steal Them?

Smart government policies, good industrial relations, and high-end products have helped German manufacturing beat back the threats of globalization.

Daniel Kahneman Answers Your Questions

Two weeks ago, we solicited your questions for Princeton psychology professor and Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman, whose new book is called Thinking, Fast and Slow. You responded by asking 45…



Episode 325

How to Train Your Dragon Child

Every 12 years, there’s a spike in births among certain communities across the globe, including the U.S. Why? Because the Year of the Dragon, according to Chinese folk belief, confers…

Episode 121

How Good Are Your Snap Judgments?

How much can you tell about someone from the first few seconds of a Zoom call? What did Stephen think of Angie when he first met her? And: a special…

Episode 173

How Important Is Your Choice of Words?

What happens when three psychologists walk into a magic show? What’s Angela’s problem with the word “talent”? And why does LeBron James refer to himself in the third person?…

Episode 56

Why Is Academic Writing So Bad?

Also: what does your perfect day look like?…

Daniel Kahneman Calls for Change

Nobel laureate and frequent Freakonomics visitor Daniel Kahneman (author of Thinking, Fast and Slow ) has written an open letter to psychologists who work on social priming, calling for them…



Episode 112

Would You Let a Coin Toss Decide Your Future?

Our latest Freakonomics Radio podcast is called “Would You Let a Coin Toss Decide Your Future?”…

Episode 59

Who Gives the Worst Advice?

Steve usually asks his guests for advice, whether they’re magicians or Nobel laureates. After nearly 60 episodes, is any of it worth following — or should we just ask listeners…

Episode 271

The Men Who Started a Thinking Revolution

Starting in the late 1960s, the Israeli psychologists Amos Tversky and Danny Kahneman began to redefine how the human mind actually works. Michael Lewis’s new book The Undoing Project explains…

Hamermesh’s Corollary

…mind if things break down when I have time to worry about and solve the problem. But that doesn’t happen. So I suggest Hamermesh’s Corollary to Murphy’s Law: “And it…