Not Wayne again…
…Turns out the shooter in the Kansas City Mall was named David W. Logsdon. I have a pretty good guess what the “W” stands for. (hat tip to Matt Randolph.)…
Why are humans so eager for magic-bullet solutions? Can you explain how a pen works? And how does Angela feel about being forever branded “the grit lady”?…
Also: Is short-sightedness part of human nature?…
Game theorist Barry Nalebuff explains how he used basic economics to build Honest Tea into a multimillion-dollar business, and shares his innovative approach to negotiation.
…Turns out the shooter in the Kansas City Mall was named David W. Logsdon. I have a pretty good guess what the “W” stands for. (hat tip to Matt Randolph.)…
…Yellow Pig, a seemingly random inside joke that’s inextricably linked with the number 17 (a “random number,” according to program founder David Kelly, in that “the chances are more than…
Also: how can we stop confusing correlation with causation?
Why do Americans tip so much? What happened when Angie eliminated grading in a college course? And why did almost every pay toilet in the U.S.A. vanish between 1970 and…
Also: do we overestimate or underestimate our significance in other people’s lives?…
…Japan in the 1990’s. Honestly, it sounds like Lucas agrees with Krugman. Enough said. (Hat tip: This quote is highlighted in David Laidler‘s recent paper, “Lucas, Keynes, and the Crisis.”)…
Evidence from Nazi Germany and 1940s America (and pretty much everywhere else) shows that discrimination is incredibly costly — to the victims, of course, but also the perpetrators. One modern…
In one of the earliest Freakonomics Radio episodes (No. 39!), we asked a bunch of economists with young kids how they approached child-rearing. Now the kids are old enough to…
…in the eating.” David Chowes, New York City asked: Could you check so as to determine whom these quotes or paraphrases are actually attributed to? Was it Will Rogers who…
Air pollution is estimated to cause 7 million deaths a year and cost the global economy nearly $3 trillion. But is the true cost even higher? Stephen Dubner explores the…
David Segal had a wonderful piece in The Times on Sunday pointing out a missing market in theft protection. “Tracking down cellphones is not rocket science.” Corporations like Amazon and…
When we try to improve things, our first thought is often: What can we add to make this better? But Leidy, a professor of engineering, says we tend to overlook…
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,…
Also: What’s a food you love that seems disgusting to everyone else?…
Also: Why do so many people feel lost in their 20s?…
Billionaire John Arnold is figuring out how to do as much good as he can with his wealth. It takes hard work, risk tolerance, and a lot of spending.
Also: Why is it so great to be part of a team, even when you lose?…
…to Marie-Antoinette, but the Rousseau usage, written in 1766 to 1767, before she had even arrived in France, makes it clear that the saying predated this famous queen. David asked:…
A leading expert on the Reformation era, Brad, a University of Notre Dame professor, tells Steve about how the “blood gets sucked out of history,” and why historians and economists…
…bright Wall Street Journal reviewer David Shaywitz explains it as follows: “If 100 random people gather in a room and the world’s tallest man walks in, the average height doesn’t…
Why are humans so fascinated by coincidences? What do Carl Jung and an album by The Police have in common? And what did Stephen win in a bar mitzvah limbo…
How do you know when it’s the right time to retire? What does a “good” retirement look like? And will Stephen and Angela ever really hang up their hats?…
Is it more important to help society or to help yourself? Does the self-improvement movement do any good for the world? And which podcast episode does Stephen cling to as…
What’s the difference between willpower and eagerness? Is there a lifehack that can make you zestier? And could it help Stephen improve his golf game?…
What is the cost of admitting you’re wrong? How can intellectual humility make you more open minded? And will Stephen finally persuade Angela that rum-raisin is the best flavor of…
…that print itself is in trouble). Still, Hussman makes a good point: especially when advertising dollars are concerned, Web sites and newspapers are very different animals. (Hat tip: David Ozburn)…
