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Episode 56

Snake Venom

Why does treating a venomous snake bite cost as much as a house? Zachary Crockett slithers over to North Carolina to find out….

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Episode 4

Ken Jennings: “Don’t Neglect the Thing That Makes You Weird”

…Time” title on Jeopardy! Steve Levitt digs into how he trained for the show, what it means to have a “geographic memory,” and why we lie to our children.  …

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Episode 190

Time to Take Back the Toilet (Replay)

Public bathrooms are noisy, poorly designed, and often nonexistent. What to do?

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Episode 563

How to Succeed at Failing, Part 3: Grit vs. Quit (Update)

Giving up can be painful. That’s why we need to talk about it. Today: stories about glitchy apps, leaky paint cans, broken sculptures — and a quest for the perfect…

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Episode 9

Moncef Slaoui: “It’s Unfortunate That It Takes a Crisis for This to Happen”

…U.S. government’s Covid-19 vaccine program — Slaoui has overseen the development and distribution of a new vaccine at a pace once deemed impossible. Steve Levitt finds out how the latest…

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Episode 151

Are We Ready to Legalize Drugs? And Other FREAK-quently Asked Questions

Dubner and Levitt talk about fixing the post office, putting cameras in the classroom, and wearing hats.

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Episode 62

How Biased Is Your Media?

The left and the right blame each other for pretty much everything, including slanted media coverage. Can they both be right?

Why Levitt Is Wrong (About Book Tours, Not Oil)

…wondered aloud if the tour was worth the publisher’s money. Steve followed recently with this post, which detailed why, from his perspective, the tour was a waste of his time….



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Episode 68

“No One Can Resist a Jolly, Happy Pig.”

Naturalist Sy Montgomery explains how she learned to be social from a pig, discovered octopuses have souls, and came to love a killer that will never love her back.

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Episode 144

Who Runs the Internet?

The online universe doesn’t have nearly as many rules, or rulemakers, as the real world. Discuss.

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EXTRA

Remembering Daniel Kahneman

Nobel laureate, bestselling author, and groundbreaking psychologist Daniel Kahneman died in March. In 2021 he talked with Steve Levitt — his friend and former business partner — about his book…

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Episode 215

Why Do We Really Follow the News? (Replay)

There are all kinds of civics-class answers to that question. But how true are they? Could it be that we like to read about war, politics, and miscellaneous heartbreak simply…

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Episode 33

Travis Tygart Is Coming for Cheaters — Just Ask Lance Armstrong

He’s the C.E.O. of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which, under his charge, exposed the most celebrated American cyclist as a cheater. And Steve’s been studying cheaters for the…

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Episode 7

Caverly Morgan: “I Am Not This Voice. I Am Not This Narrative”

…in Schools is part of the high-school curriculum in Portland, Ore. Steve Levitt finds out what daily life is like in a silent monastery, why teens find it easier than…

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Episode 88

Freakonomics Goes to College, Part 2

College tends to make people happier, healthier, and wealthier. But how?

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Episode 351

Here’s Why You’re Not an Elite Athlete

There are a lot of factors that go into greatness, many of which are not obvious. A variety of Olympic and professional athletes tell us how they made it and…

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Episode 243

How to Be More Productive

It’s Self-Improvement Month at Freakonomics Radio. We begin with a topic that seems to be on everyone’s mind: how to get more done in less time. First, however, a warning:…

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EXTRA

What It Takes to Know Everything (Update)

Victoria Groce is the best trivia contestant on earth. The winner of the 2024 World Quizzing Championship explains the structure of a good question, why she knits during competitions, and…

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Episode 102

I Consult, Therefore I Am

There are enough management consultants these days to form a small nation. But what do they actually do? And does it work?

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Episode 196

Is There a Better Way to Fight Terrorism?

The White House is hosting an anti-terror summit next week. Summits being what they are, we try to offer some useful advice.

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Episode 129

How to Fix Medical Research

Monica Bertagnolli went from a childhood on a cattle ranch to a career as a surgeon to a top post in the Biden administration. As director of the National Institutes…

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Episode 108

How Did “Freakonomics” Get Its Name?

Levitt and Dubner answer your questions about driving, sneezing, and ladies’ nights. Plus a remembrance of Levitt’s sister Linda.

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Episode 177

What Does Success Look Like?

What matters more: meeting our own ambitions, or winning fame and glory? What’s it like to earn a gold medal at the Olympics? And why didn’t Mike’s grandfather get a…

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Episode 428

The Simple Economics of Saving the Amazon Rain Forest

Everyone agrees that massive deforestation is an environmental disaster. But most of the standard solutions — scolding the Brazilians, invoking universal morality — ignore the one solution that might actually…

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Episode 163

What’s More Dangerous: Marijuana or Alcohol? (Replay)

Imagine that both substances were undiscovered until today. How would we think about their relative risks?

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Episode 78

Giving It Away

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.

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Episode 54

How Is a Bad Radio Station Like Our Public-School System? (Encore)

The thrill of customization, via Pandora, and a radical new teaching method.

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Episode 57

Does Money Really Buy Elections?

We all know the answer is yes. But the data — and Rudy Giuliani — say no.

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Episode 6

Why the World Cup Is an Economist’s Dream

Steve Levitt talks about why the center cannot hold in penalty kicks, why a running track hurts home-field advantage, and why the World Cup is an economist’s dream.

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Episode 107

Is It Worth It for Charities to Harass Their Donors?

Is it O.K. to bother people for a good cause? Why do people donate to charity in the first place? And do those personalized address labels actually make people get…