Julian Zelizer Answers Your Political-History Questions
…greatly accelerating with F.D.R., presidents struggled to find new methods of communication so that they could sell their ideas directly to the people and not have to rely on party…
…greatly accelerating with F.D.R., presidents struggled to find new methods of communication so that they could sell their ideas directly to the people and not have to rely on party…
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…
…cash in exchange for their teeth? How should we talk to them about scary things in the world? And is Mike one of the greatest operatic tenors of all time?…
Thomas Hildebrandt is trying to bring the northern white rhinoceros back from the brink of extinction. The wildlife veterinarian tells Steve about the far-out techniques he employs, why we might…
Psychologist Thomas Curran argues that perfectionism isn’t about high standards — it’s about never being enough. He explains how the drive to be perfect is harming education, the economy, and…
Is it better to be an egocentric navigator or an allocentric navigator? Was the New York City Department of Education wrong to ban ChatGPT? And did Mike get ripped off…
Stephen Dubner’s conversation with the former N.F.L. player, union official, and all-around sports thinker, recorded for our “Hidden Side of Sports” series….
Most epidemics flare up, do their damage, and fade away. This one has been raging for almost 30 years. To find out why, it’s time to ask some uncomfortable questions….
Also: does multitasking actually increase productivity?…
…did we find? The Masai women had little interest in competing, with only 26% choosing that option. The Masai men? Fifty percent chose the competitive option. This was in line…
…law, colleges and universities must distribute them annually. Crime rates can be compared at http://www.ope.ed.gov/security/Search.asp. Just how “inconclusive” are the numbers? Take a look at these four schools first: Ohio…
…to apartment hunters’ detriment. Apartment seekers should also value this information, as it will prevent individuals from entering contractual agreements they would later regret. So we created a website, www.BadNYCapartments.com…
…the phone call is a stunt comes from running searches on www.sfgate.com to find the article that the caller is upset about. The caller begins his message with the following:…
We tend to think of tragedies as a single terrible moment, rather than the result of multiple bad decisions. Can this pattern be reversed? We try — with stories about…
Can denial be a healthy way of dealing with the death of a loved one? What do the five stages of grief misrepresent about mourning? And why does Angie cover…
Also: how can we stop confusing correlation with causation?
Also: how can we stop confusing correlation with causation?
It’s hard enough to save for a house, tuition or retirement. So why are we willing to pay big fees for subpar investment returns? Enter the low-cost index fund. The…
America’s top colleges are facing record demand. So why don’t they increase supply? (Part 2 of our series from 2022, “Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.”)…
We often look to other countries for smart policies on education, healthcare, infrastructure, etc. But can a smart policy be simply transplanted into a country as culturally unusual (and as…
Some of our most important decisions are shaped by something as random as the order in which we make them. The gambler’s fallacy, as it’s known, affects loan officers, federal…
Why do people drink? Why do people not drink? And why specifically do Angela and Mike not drink?…
Nobel Prize winner Joshua Angrist explains how the draft lottery, the Talmud, and West Point let economists ask — and answer — tough questions….
Journalist Walt Hickey uses data to understand how culture works. He and Steve talk about why China hasn’t produced any hit movies yet and how he got his own avatar…
…lack of empathy. Doctors and nurses have tragically high levels of burnout. Could fixing the first problem solve the second? And does the rest of society need more compassion too?…
…dangerous to live in the past? Why is Disney remaking all of its classic movies? And why does Angela get sentimental over a cup of soup and a free roll?…
The pandemic provided city dwellers with a break from the din of the modern world. Now the noise is coming back. What does that mean for our productivity, health, and…
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…
Eric Garcetti, the mayor of Los Angeles, has big ambitions but knows he must first master the small stuff. He’s also a polymath who relies heavily on data and new…
…eat familiar things during a crisis, and if it might in fact be better to try new things instead. Also, is a little knowledge truly as dangerous as they say?…
