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Episode 37

Mouse in the Salad

In restaurants and in life, bad things happen. But what happens next is just as important.

Episode 64

The Days of Wine and Mouses

Do more expensive wines taste better? And: what does one little rodent in a salad say about a restaurant’s future? This is a “mashupdate” of “Do More Expensive Wines Taste…


Feed, Interrupted: Another RSS Issue

…subscriptions did get properly redirected last week, you will probably be unhappy about losing the full feed. 3. The partial feed that the Times been offering since the move was…



Episode 92

John Green’s Reluctant Rocket Ship Ride

Author and YouTuber John Green thought his breakout bestseller wouldn’t be a commercial success, wrote 40,000 words for one sentence, and brought Steve to tears.

Episode 530

What’s Wrong with Being a One-Hit Wonder?

We tend to look down on artists who can’t match their breakthrough success. Should we be celebrating them instead?…

Episode 129

Why Do We Cheat, and Why Shouldn’t We?

Is there such a thing as a victimless crime? In an unfair system, is dishonesty okay? And are adolescent vandals out of ideas?…

EXTRA

How Does New York City Keep Reinventing Itself?

…still work after Covid? In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, guest host Kurt Andersen interviews Thomas Dyja, author of New York, New York, New York: Four Decades…

Episode 188

Is America’s Education Problem Really Just a Teacher Problem? (Replay)

The gist: If U.S. schoolteachers are indeed “just a little bit below average,” it’s not really their fault. So what should be done about it?

Episode 528

Yuval Noah Harari Thinks Life is Meaningless and Amazing

In this special episode of People I (Mostly) Admire, Steve Levitt talks to the best-selling author of Sapiens and Homo Deus about finding the profound in the obvious….

Who's the Biggest Loser in E-Books?

Authors, on the other hand, always do worse. How much better for the publisher and how much worse for the author? Here are examples of author’s royalties compared to publisher’s…



James Altucher Strikes Again

…the book was about a fellow named James Altucher, whom I’ve blogged about before. James’s relationship with money was fascinating and precarious. He grew up in a middle-class family that…



Episode 29

Bruce Friedrich Thinks There’s a Better Way to Eat Meat

Levitt rarely interviews advocates, but the founder of the Good Food Institute is different. Once an outspoken — and sometimes outlandish — animal-rights activist, Bruce has come to believe that…

Episode 467

Is the Future of Farming in the Ocean?

Bren Smith, who grew up fishing and fighting, is now part of a movement that seeks to feed the planet while putting less environmental stress on it. He makes his…

Episode 10

Suzanne Gluck: “I’m a Person Who Can Convince Other People to Do Things”

…the biggest publishers in the U.S., and the authors she represents have sold more than 100 million books worldwide. Steve Levitt talks with Gluck — his own agent — about…

Episode 424

How to Make Your Own Luck

Before she decided to become a poker pro, Maria Konnikova didn’t know how many cards are in a deck. But she did have a Ph.D. in psychology, a brilliant coach…

Episode 572

Why Is There So Much Fraud in Academia?

…an astonishing 10,000 research papers were retracted. We talk to whistleblowers, reformers, and a co-author who got caught up in the chaos. (Part one of two-part series on academic fraud)…

The Dangers of a Live Twitter Feed

…to the right of their pictures, the billboard will display the program’s live Twitter feed, nicely linking the broadcasters to the events they’re covering. One problem: apparently no one thought…



Episode 578

Water, Water Everywhere — But You Have to Stop and Think

What surprises lurk in our sewage? How did racist city planners end up saving Black lives? Why does Arizona grow hay for cows in Saudi Arabia? Three strange stories about…

Episode 361

Freakonomics Radio Live: “Jesus Could Have Been a Pigeon.”

Our co-host is Grit author Angela Duckworth, and we learn fascinating, Freakonomical facts from a parade of guests. For instance: what we all get wrong about Darwin; what an iPod…

Episode 213

Aziz Ansari Needs Another Toothbrush (Replay)

The comedian, actor — and now, author — answers our FREAK-quently Asked Questions.

Episode 70

Eating and Tweeting

Does the future of food lie in its past — or inside a tank of liquid nitrogen? Also: how anti-social can you be on a social network? This is a…


Co-author Confusion

When your co-author is your colleague and also your significant other, confusion often follows. Take this recent post by Arnold Kling on the causes of inequality, where he says: I…



Episode 241

Are Payday Loans Really as Evil as People Say?

Critics — including President Obama — say short-term, high-interest loans are predatory, trapping borrowers in a cycle of debt. But some economists see them as a useful financial instrument for…

Episode 84

Yuval Noah Harari Thinks Life Is Meaningless and Amazing

The author of Sapiens has a knack for finding the profound in the obvious. He tells Steve why money is fiction, traffic can be mind-blowing, and politicians have a right…

Episode 213

Aziz Ansari Needs Another Toothbrush

The comedian, actor — and now, author — answers our FREAK-quently Asked Questions.