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Episode 246

How to Get More Grit in Your Life

The psychologist Angela Duckworth argues that a person’s level of stick-to-itiveness is directly related to their level of success. No big surprise there. But grit, she says, isn’t something you’re…

Episode 4

Ken Jennings on How a Midlife Crisis Led Him to Jeopardy! (Replay)

It was only in his late twenties that America’s favorite brainiac began to seriously embrace his love of trivia. Jeopardy!’s newest host also holds the show’s “Greatest of All Time”…

EXTRA

Elvis Costello Full Interview

A conversation with the iconic singer-songwriter, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “How to Be Creative.”  …


Episode 174

What’s the Point of I.Q. Testing?

Are gifted and talented programs discriminatory? Why do so many adults still remember their SAT scores? And how did Angela transform from a party girl to an Ivy League psychologist?…

Episode 104

The Joy of Math With Sarah Hart

Steve is on a mission to reform math education, and Sarah Hart is ready to join the cause. In her return visit to the show, Sarah explains how patterns are…

Episode 246

How to Get More Grit in Your Life (Replay)

The psychologist Angela Duckworth argues that a person’s level of stick-to-itiveness is directly related to their level of success. No big surprise there. But grit, she says, isn’t something you’re…

Episode 15

The Most “Unique, Excellent, and Promising” Episode

Studies by men published in scientific journals are more likely to include glowing, hyperbolic terms. Bapu talks about this “groundbreaking” research (see what we did there?) in a wide-ranging discussion…

Episode 483

What’s Wrong With Shortcuts?

You know the saying: “There are no shortcuts in life.” What if that saying is just wrong? In his new book Thinking Better: The Art of the Shortcut in Math…

How to Learn (Not Just) a Language Quickly

I was never good at languages. Although my first language was Punjabi, I grew up as a monolingual English speaker. In grade school, I took French for many years with…



Digging Up the Roots of Language

…It’s the work of linguist Quentin Atkinson, who sought to explain the connection between the size of populations and the complexity of language; specifically, that smaller populations use languages with…




Episode 262

This Is Your Brain on Podcasts

Neuroscientists still have a great deal to learn about the human brain. One recent M.R.I. study sheds some light, finding that a certain kind of storytelling stimulates enormous activity across…

Episode 56

Why Is Academic Writing So Bad?

Also: what does your perfect day look like?…

Episode 2

Names

What do dogs know about their own names? And is there any science about what to name them? Alexandra talks to a researcher with some answers, and takes a walk…

Why Does England Lose?

…arguments in Soccernomics, have been trotted out in the English newspapers today. The English Premiere League doesn’t employ enough English players, thereby allowing too many foreigners to gain high-level experience…



How Networking Influences What We Speak

…of the earth and asked them to pick one language in which to communicate with someone they knew nothing about, which language would each person choose? The language they’d pick…



Episode 112

Is It Okay to Hate Highbrow Culture?

Are Europeans more sophisticated than Americans? What’s wrong with preferring Taylor Swift to Puccini? And is Steve Levitt “Team Edward” or “Team Jacob”?

Episode 47

Robert Axelrod on Why Being Nice, Forgiving, and Provokable are the Best Strategies for Life

The prisoner’s dilemma is a classic game-theory problem. Robert, a political scientist at the University of Michigan, has spent his career studying it — and the ways humans can cooperate,…

Episode 106

Will A.I. Make Us Smarter?

Kevin Kelly believes A.I. will create more problems for humanity — and help us solve them. He talks to Steve about embracing complexity, staying enthusiastic, and taking the 10,000-year view….

English Guilt

…my German. No luck — they all want to practice their English with me. I suppose I should be charitable and help them with their English instead of bucking the



Episode 42

America’s Math Curriculum Doesn’t Add Up

A special episode: Steve reports on a passion of his. Most high-school math classes are still preparing students for the Sputnik era. Steve wants to get rid of the “geometry…

Episode 113

How Can You Improve Your Mental Endurance?

Why do some activities tire your brain more than others? How exhausting is poverty? And could most of the world’s problems be solved with a sandwich?…

Episode 103

Rick Rubin on How to Make Something Great

From recording some of the first rap hits to revitalizing Johnny Cash’s career, the legendary producer has had an extraordinary creative life. In this episode he talks about his new…

Freakonomics Radio Live: “We Thought of a Way to Manipulate Your Perception of Time.”

We learn how to be less impatient, how to tell fake news from real, and the simple trick that nurses used to make better predictions than doctors. Journalist Manoush Zomorodi…

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

…recent researches. Ed Catlett asked: “People often say ‘A picture is worth a thousand words.’ I believe the original quote was actually ‘A picture is worth ten thousand words’ as…



Episode 551

What Can Whales Teach Us About Clean Energy, Workplace Harmony, and Living the Good Life?

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…

Episode 547

Satya Nadella’s Intelligence Is Not Artificial

But as C.E.O. of the resurgent Microsoft, he is firmly at the center of the A.I. revolution. We speak with him about the perils and blessings of A.I., Google vs….

Episode 26

Memory Champion Nelson Dellis Helps Steve Train His Brain

He’s one of the world’s leading competitors, having won four U.S. memory tournaments and holding the record for most names memorized in 15 minutes (235!). But Nelson Dellis claims he…

Episode 25

Sam Harris: “Spirituality Is a Loaded Term.”

He’s a cognitive neuroscientist and philosopher who has written five best-selling books. Sam Harris also hosts the Making Sense podcast and helps people discover meditation through his Waking Up app….