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Episode 223

What About All the Questions We Haven’t Answered?

How can you learn to love uncertainty? Is it better to cultivate acceptance or strive for change? And, after 223 episodes, what is the meaning of life?…

Does This Recession Make Me Look Fat? (Ep. 61)

…contributors, and possible economic solutions, to the problem. (Download/subscribe at iTunes, get the RSS feed, listen via the media player above, or read the transcript.) One suspected contributor to obesity,…



Have a Very Homo Economicus Christmas (Ep. 105)

[omny:https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/aaea4e69-af51-495e-afc9-a9760146922b/14a43378-edb2-49be-8511-ab0d000a7030/17ef3558-3a0e-4f60-bda1-ab0d001a9fcf/audio.mp3] (Photo: ahenobarbus) Our latest Freakonomics Radio on Marketplace podcast is called “Have a Very Homo Economicus Christmas.” (You can download/subscribe at iTunes, get the RSS feed, listen via the…



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Episode 44

Is Empathy in Fact Immoral?

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


Out of Touch in California

…and put them in hotels and drive them around and feed them? We aren’t complaining (last night was the first night in ages that one of my kids didn’t pounce…



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Episode 24

Why Do We Forget So Much of What We’ve Read?

Also: Do we overestimate or underestimate our significance in other people’s lives?…

FREAK Shots: I’m Just Here for the Horses and Gin

…phone-betting hubs, says McClelland, because phone betting presents better economics: Since [phone hubs] don’t have to maintain a grandstand or feed horses, they can kick money back to their customers….



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Episode 128

Are Our Tools Becoming Part of Us?

Google researcher Blaise Agüera y Arcas spends his work days developing artificial intelligence models and his free time conducting surveys for fun. He tells Steve how he designed an algorithm…

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Episode 154

Can Robots Get a Grip?

Ken Goldberg is at the forefront of robotics — which means he tries to teach machines to do things humans find trivial….


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Episode 203

Do You Need a Hug?

Do humans need touch to survive? Do any of us get enough touch throughout our lives? And why doesn’t Angela want to hug anyone for eight seconds?…

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Episode 264

In Praise of Incrementalism (Replay)

What do Renaissance painting, civil-rights movements, and Olympic cycling have in common? In each case, huge breakthroughs came from taking tiny steps. In a world where everyone is looking for…

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Episode 32

All About Bugs (of the Animal and Computer Varieties): TMSIDK Episode 32

…larva feed on the host while it lives and eventually kill it, chewing their way out and leaving a husk of an insect. The USDA found a way to deploy…

The Least Radical Case for Happiness Economics

…is not radical. It is just providing feedback on the objectives that real policymakers have always had. There is also the caricature of Bentham’s ghost, gleefully celebrating the discovery of…



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Episode 66

When Is It OK to Tell a Lie? (Replay)

Can a little dishonesty be a good thing? How many fibs does Angela tell every day? And why does Stephen have a forehead?…

When Is a Negative a Positive? (Ep. 117)

[omny:https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/aaea4e69-af51-495e-afc9-a9760146922b/14a43378-edb2-49be-8511-ab0d000a7030/f2ec02ec-5014-4288-80f4-ab0d001a4a51/audio.mp3] (Photo: Guillaume Capron) Our latest Freakonomics Radio on Marketplace podcast is called “When Is a Negative a Positive?” (You can download/subscribe at iTunes, get the RSS feed, listen via…



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Episode 47

Is Laziness Real?

Also: why do we dislike being alone in public?

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Episode 205

Could the Next Brooklyn Be … Las Vegas?!

Zappos C.E.O. Tony Hsieh has a wild vision and the dollars to try to make it real. But it still might be the biggest gamble in town.

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Episode 545

Enough with the Slippery Slopes!

Gun control, abortion rights, drug legalization — it seems like every argument these days claims that if X happens, then Y will follow, and we’ll all be doomed to Z….

The Butter Chronicles: Norway Comes Up Short

…Olav Mellingsater for CNN writes: A rainy summer reduced the quality of animal feed, decreasing milk production in Norway this year by 20 million liters (5.3 million gallons) compared with…



Daniel Kahneman Answers Your Questions

…idea that man is irrational, but only seem comfortable with cultural explanations. Personally, I try to take both culture and biology into account, as well as recognize that both feed



Quotes Uncovered: Violence and Enemies

…has the following item: “He [Kipling] sees clearly that men can only be highly civilized while other men, inevitably less civilized, are there to guard and feed them.” George Orwell,…




A Cheap Employee Is … a Cheap Employee (Ep. 79)

[omny:https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/aaea4e69-af51-495e-afc9-a9760146922b/14a43378-edb2-49be-8511-ab0d000a7030/0b265451-843e-41e1-95a5-ab0d001b77ea/audio.mp3] (Photo: Alan Cleaver) Our latest Freakonomics Radio on Marketplace podcast is called “A Cheap Employee Is … a Cheap Employee.” (You can download/subscribe at iTunes, get the RSS feed,…



Introducing the Freakonomics Podcast Archive

…Really Matter?” You can of course subscribe via iTunes (where Freakonomics Radio occasionally hits the No. 1 ranking) or listen via our RSS feed. Hope you enjoy; feedback welcome.  …



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Episode 28

Why Do We Hoard?

Also: Do you spend more time thinking about the past, the present, or the future?



The Market is Dead! Long Live the Market!

…one that precludes true competition. Think of it this way: why don’t more companies seek out the business of rating debt? The payouts for ratings agencies are not chicken feed….