The Hosts
Stephen J. Dubner Stephen is the host of Freakonomics Radio and co-author of the Freakonomics books, which have won many awards and sold millions of copies around the world. The…
He’s a Harvard physician and economist who just started a third job: host of the new podcast Freakonomics, M.D. He’s also Steve’s former student. The two discuss why medicine should…
How many bottles of wine are regifted? What’s wrong with giving cash? And should Angela give her husband a subscription to the Sausage of the Month Club?
College tends to make people happier, healthier, and wealthier. But how?
The biggest sports league in history had a problem: While most of its players were Black, almost none of its head coaches were. So the N.F.L. launched a hiring policy…
College tends to make people happier, healthier, and wealthier. But how?
Steve Levitt is obsessed with golf — and he’s pretty good at it too. As a thinly-veiled ploy to improve his own game, Steve talks to two titans of the…
Stephen Dubner’s conversation with the Virgin Group founder, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Secret Life of a C.E.O.”…
Cory Booker on the politics of fear, the politics of hope, and how to split the difference….
Why do so many promising solutions — in education, medicine, criminal justice, etc. — fail to scale up into great policy? And can a new breed of “implementation scientists” crack…
The Gulf States and China are spending billions to build stadiums and buy up teams — but what are they really buying? And can an entrepreneur from Cincinnati make his…
Can you ever really know how another person feels? What’s the best way to support a grieving person? And why doesn’t Hallmark sell empathy cards?
Sal Khan returns to discuss his innovative online high school’s first year — and Steve grills a member of the school’s class of 2026 about what it’s really like….
In one of the earliest Freakonomics Radio episodes, we asked a bunch of economists with young kids how they approached child-rearing. Now the kids are old enough to talk —…
Humans have a built-in “negativity bias,” which means we give bad news much more power than good. Would the Covid-19 crisis be an opportune time to reverse this tendency?
The art market is so opaque and illiquid that it barely functions like a market at all. A handful of big names get all the headlines (and most of the…
There are enough management consultants these days to form a small nation. But what do they actually do? And does it work?
Good intentions are nice, but with so many resources poured into social programs, wouldn’t it be even nicer to know what actually works?
Stephen J. Dubner Stephen is the host of Freakonomics Radio and co-author of the Freakonomics books, which have won many awards and sold millions of copies around the world. The…
You know the saying: A winner never quits and a quitter never wins. To which Freakonomics Radio says … Are you sure?…
…author writes: The consequences of an actual shortfall of supply would be immense. If consumption begins to exceed production by even a small amount, the price of a barrel of…
You know the saying: a winner never quits and a quitter never wins. To which Freakonomics Radio says … Are you sure?…
In this episode from 2013, we look at whether spite pays — and if it even exists….
Lessons from Tom Petty’s rise and another rocker’s fall: A conversation with Warren Zanes, former member of the Del Fuegos and the author of Petty: The Biography ….
People who sleep better earn more money. Now all we have to do is teach everyone to sleep better.
Those tiny treats that predict your future may come free at the end of a Chinese meal, but they’re big business (and not Chinese). Zachary Crockett will go on a…
Games are as old as civilization itself, and some people think they have huge social value regardless of whether you win or lose. Tom Whipple is not one of those…
To most people, the rat is vile and villainous. But not to everyone! We hear from a scientist who befriended rats and another who worked with them in the lab…
Overt discrimination in the labor markets may be on the wane, but women are still subtly penalized by all sorts of societal conventions. How can those penalties be removed without…
New York City’s mayor calls them “public enemy number one.” History books say they caused the Black Death — although recent scientific evidence disputes that claim. So is the rat…
The comedian, actor — and now, author — answers our FREAK-quently Asked Questions.
