A new blog that is way better than ours
…to talk at length with people like Steve Pinker, Mitch Kapor, and even Thomas Dolby. What is best about the conference is that people really have fun. When I attended…
How pharma greed, government subsidies, and a push to make pain the “fifth vital sign” kicked off a crisis that costs $80 billion a year and has killed hundreds of…
The U.S. is home to seven of the world’s 10 biggest companies. How did that happen? The answer may come down to two little letters: V.C. Is venture capital good…
…to talk at length with people like Steve Pinker, Mitch Kapor, and even Thomas Dolby. What is best about the conference is that people really have fun. When I attended…
Also: How can you become a more curious person?…
How much can you tell about someone from the first few seconds of a Zoom call? What did Stephen think of Angie when he first met her? And: a special…
…is unfortunately best known as the older brother of Tobias Wolff, whose own memoir, This Boy’s Life, was also pretty great. Steve Levitt’s father Michael is also worth writing about…
How a pain-in-the-neck girl from rural Virginia came to run the most powerful university in the world.
When it comes to generating ideas and asking questions it can be really fruitful to have the mentality of an 8-year-old.
Yesterday, we posted a Q&A with economist and all-around smart guy Steve Landsburg, who addresses a lot of everyday riddles in his writing. Sometime in the next few days, we’ll…
…steps further south, the sign becomes complete. Still, I can’t help but think that this design wouldn’t have gone over so well with someone as exacting as, say, Steve Jobs:…
There are a lot of barriers to changing your mind: ego, overconfidence, inertia — and cost. Politicians who flip-flop get mocked; family and friends who cross tribal borders are shunned….
…Stiglitz-Atkinson–Leigh-Wolfers, or Stiglitz-Blinder–Reis-Wolfers. Steve Levitt is also a three: Stiglitz-Sachs–Poterba-Levitt, and so Steve endows both Stephen Dubner and Sudhir Venkatesh with a four. Dan Hamermesh has written so many papers…
John Mackey, the C.E.O. of Whole Foods, has learned the perils of speaking his mind. But he still says what he thinks about everything from “conscious leadership” to the behavioral…
How much control do you really have over your body? Could understanding genetics help combat fat-shaming? And why is Mike’s life coach so happy all the time?…
America’s favorite statistical guru answers our FREAK-quently Asked Questions, and more.
…A. Danger Powers, working paper. Steven D. Levitt and Matthew Gentzkow, “Measuring the Impact of TV’s Introduction on Crime,” working paper. Steven D. Levitt, “The Effect of Prison Population Size…
Also: is it better to be right or “not wrong”?…
What’s the difference between people who preserve special things and people who devour them right away? Why do we love to binge-watch? And did Adam really eat an apple?
Birthdays! Why do Americans prefer Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July to theirs? Why do they make Stephen think of molasses and chicken feed? And is “Happy Birthday” the worst…
What’s the difference between people who preserve special things and people who devour them right away? Why do we love to binge-watch? And did Adam really eat an apple?…
…will look bad in the playoffs and your fans will be unhappy. I should add, this was very much the argument Steve Walters (economist at Loyala University and consultant to…
…than did Black women with more traditional names. Sylvia and Steve Crossland, two real estate agents in Austin, Texas, have posed the same question regarding street names on their blog….
Does anyone ever win the giant teddy bear? Zachary Crockett steps right up….
After eight years and more than 300 episodes, it was time to either 1) quit, or 2) make the show bigger and better. We voted for number 2. Here’s a…
…virtual office program that can be used by schools and businesses to train employees anywhere in the world. A fitting follow up to Steve Landsburg‘s discussion of charity yesterday, via…
…is it that so many of them are not Americans? With the prominence of Steve Nash (Canadian), Dirk Nowitzki (German), and a steady flock of eastern Europeans, one gets to…
Conventional programs tend to be expensive, onerous, and ineffective. Could something as simple (and cheap) as cognitive behavioral therapy do the trick?
Where’s the line between an addiction and a bad habit? Why do definitions of mental illnesses change over time? And what’s the most addictive thing in the world?…
A conversation with the Shark Tank star, entrepreneur, and Dallas Mavericks owner recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Hidden Side of Sports.”…
