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Episode 18

Robert Sapolsky: “I Don’t Think We Have Any Free Will Whatsoever.”

…was observing.) Steve asks Robert why we value human life over animals, why he’s lost faith in the criminal justice system, and how to look casual when you’re about to…

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Episode 127

Can You Be Too Smart for Your Own Good? And Other FREAK-quently Asked Questions

Dubner and Levitt talk about circadian rhythms, gay marriage, autism, and whether “pay what you want” is everything it’s cracked up to be.

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Episode 178

How to Save $1 Billion Without Even Trying

Doctors, chefs and other experts are much more likely than the rest of us to buy store-brand products. What do they know that we don’t?

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Episode 104

How Simple Is Too Simple?

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”?…

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Episode 594

Your Brand’s Spokesperson Just Got Arrested — Now What?

It’s hard to know whether the benefits of hiring a celebrity are worth the risk. We dig into one gruesome story of an endorsement gone wrong, and find a surprising…

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Episode 256

What Are You Waiting For? (Replay)

Standing in line represents a particularly sloppy — and frustrating — way for supply and demand to meet. Why haven’t we found a better way to get what we want?…

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Episode 129

Should Tipping Be Banned? (Replay)

It’s awkward, random, confusing — and probably discriminatory too.

"Conspicuous Conservation" and the Prius Effect

Steve and Alison Sexton, have been looking into this question. (Not only are the Sextons twins, but their parents are also economists, and Steve is a competitive triathlete.) The result…



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Episode 12

Sue Bird: “You Have to Pay the Superstars.”

…turning 40. She also helped negotiate a landmark contract for the league’s players. Sue Bird tells Steve Levitt the untold truth about clutch players, her thoughts about the pay gap…

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Episode 82

Please Steal My Car

Levitt and Dubner answer your FREAK-quently Asked Questions about junk food, insurance, and how to make an economist happy.

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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?…

Abortion and crime: who should you believe?

Two very vocal critics, Steve Sailer and John Lott, have been exerting a lot of energy lately trying to convince the world that the abortion reduces crime hypothesis is not…



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Episode 315

How to Become a C.E.O.

Mark Zuckerberg’s dentist dad was an early adopter of digital x-rays. Jack Welch blew the roof off a factory. Carol Bartz was a Wisconsin farm girl who got into computers….

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Episode 222

What Makes an Idea Interesting?

What do Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, and Malcolm Gladwell have in common? Are interesting theories more significant than true ones? And what has been keeping Angela up at night? Plus:…

Another Reason Why YouTube Worked

…academia, journalism, etc. Here’s what Hunter writes about the YouTube operation: Personally it’s been interesting to get to know Steve [Chen] and Chad [Hurley]. … But the YouTube story doesn’t…



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Episode 224

How To Win A Nobel Prize

The process is famously secretive (and conducted in Swedish!) but we pry the lid off at least a little bit.

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Episode 75

Retirement Kills

Sure, we all dream of leaving the office forever. But what if it’s bad for your health?

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Episode 223

Should Kids Pay Back Their Parents for Raising Them?

When one athlete turned pro, his mom asked him for $1 million. Our modern sensibilities tell us she doesn’t have a case. But should she?

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Episode 289

How Stupid Is Our Obsession With Lawns?

Nearly 2 percent of America is grassy green. Sure, lawns are beautiful and useful and they smell great. But are the costs — financial, environmental and otherwise — worth the…

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Episode 116

Women Are Not Men (Replay)

In many ways, the gender gap is closing. In others, not so much. And that’s not always a bad thing.

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Episode 221

How Did the Belt Win?

Suspenders may work better, but the dork factor is too high. How did an organ-squeezing belly tourniquet become part of our everyday wardrobe — and what other suboptimal solutions do…

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Episode 111

Introducing “Freakonomics Experiments”

Steve Levitt has a novel idea for helping people make tough decisions.

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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 217

Are You Ready for a Glorious Sunset?

We spend billions on end-of-life healthcare that doesn’t do much good. So what if a patient could forego the standard treatment and get a cash rebate instead?

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Episode 113

How Can You Improve Your Mental Endurance?

Why do some activities tire your brain more than others? How exhausting is poverty? And could most of the world’s problems be solved with a sandwich?…

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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…

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Episode 147

The Most Dangerous Machine

More than 1 million people die worldwide each year from traffic accidents, but there’s never been a safer time to drive.

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EXTRA

Elvis Costello Full Interview

A conversation with the iconic singer-songwriter, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “How to Be Creative.”  …

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Episode 146

Fighting Poverty With Actual Evidence

It’s time to do away with feel-good stories, gut hunches, and magical thinking.

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Episode 92

Fear Thy Nature (Replay)

What “Sleep No More” and the Stanford Prison Experiment tell us about who we really are.