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Episode 38

Sendhil Mullainathan Explains How to Generate an Idea a Minute (Part 2)

Steve continues his conversation with his good friend, MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient, and fellow University of Chicago economist. Sendhil breaks down the hypothesis of his book Scarcity, explains why machines…

The Unpredictability of Baby Names

…in the past of couple years, however, that you were sure would be abandoned, it would probably be wise to pick Katrina. Who on earth would name their baby after…



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Episode 389

How to Make Meetings Less Terrible

In the U.S. alone, we hold 55 million meetings a day. Most of them are woefully unproductive, and tyrannize our offices. The revolution begins now — with better agendas, smaller…

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Episode 237

Ask Not What Your Podcast Can Do for You

Now and again, Freakonomics Radio puts hat in hand and asks listeners to donate to the public-radio station that produces the show. Why on earth should anyone pay good money…

A Q&A With Amazing Race Host Phil Keoghan

…Skull.” And my final question: As someone who’s traveled professionally for over 20 years and who’s been to 100 countries, what is your favorite place on earth? Anywhere where I’m…



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Episode 68

Why Do We Want What We Can’t Have?

Also: why are humans still so tribal?…

The FREAK-est Links

Real estate is back. April Fools’!(Earlier) “Ask a Mexican” calls it quits. Feeling insecure? Play a video game. Did preparation for Earth Hour defeat its purpose?(HT: Andrew)(Earlier)…



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Episode 617

Are You Really Allergic to Penicillin?

Like tens of millions of people, Stephen Dubner thought he had a penicillin allergy. Like the vast majority, he didn’t. This misdiagnosis costs billions of dollars and causes serious health…

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Episode 52

Weird Recycling

Clever ways to not waste our waste.

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Episode 235

Who Needs Handwriting?

The digital age is making pen and paper seem obsolete. But what are we giving up if we give up on handwriting?

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Episode 473

These Jobs Were Not Posted on ZipRecruiter

In a conversation fresh from the Freakonomics Radio Network’s podcast laboratory, Michèle Flournoy (one of the highest-ranking women in Defense Department history) speaks with Cecil Haney (one of the U.S….

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Episode 359

Should America Be Run by … Trader Joe’s? (Replay)

The quirky little grocery chain with California roots and German ownership has a lot to teach all of us about choice architecture, efficiency, frugality, collaboration, and team spirit.

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Episode 63

The Only Covid-19 Book Worth Reading

Steve loved Michael Lewis’s latest, The Premonition, but has one critique: Why aren’t there even more villains? Also, why the author of best-sellers Moneyball and The Big Short can barely…

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Episode 48

Boo…Who?

Is booing an act of verbal vandalism—or the last true expression of democracy?

High-Speed Rail and CO2

…be created in the construction of the HSR system. When the emissions spewed by all those earth movers, tunnel boring machines, bulldozers, trucks, cranes, etc. are taken into account, the…



Ken Caldeira's Carbon Solution

…outgoing radiation emitted by the earth,” he says. Furthermore, atmospheric carbon dioxide is governed by the law of diminishing returns: each gigaton added to the air has less radiative impact…



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Episode 173

A Better Way to Eat (Replay)

Takeru Kobayashi revolutionized the sport of competitive eating. What can the rest of us learn from his breakthrough?

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EXTRA

How Can You Give Better Gifts? (Replay)

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?…

A Very Interesting Paragraph From …

…certain individuals to the dizzy heights of fame and fortune, only to bring them crashing down to earth at the slightest sign of hubris. “We build ’em up and we…



Freakonomics Quorum: The Economics of Street Charity

…Yet decision-making on Planet Earth does not usually involve exam-style multiple choice questions isolated from their context — which is why school-smart kids don’t do as well as their street-wise…



Should We Be Searching for Dinosaur Vomit?

…for cooking, nuclear power, and trying to cool the earth. Yeah, him. And here’s a more layman-friendly summary of the paper: Much of what paleontologists have learned about dinosaurs—especially about…



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Episode 1

The Dangers of Safety

What Do NASCAR Drivers, Glenn Beck, and the Hitmen of the N.F.L. Have in Common? Interviews and musings about danger and safety in the modern world.

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Episode 7

What Happens to Patients When Thousands of Cardiologists Leave Town?

This week, Bapu Jena presents some hot-off-the-presses research exploring the relationship between how many patients a doctor sees, and how well those patients do. Plus, the surprising impact of annual…

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Episode 377

The $1.5 Trillion Question: How to Fix Student-Loan Debt?

As the cost of college skyrocketed, it created a debt burden that’s putting a drag on the economy. One possible solution: shifting the risk of debt away from students and…

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Episode 164

Which Came First, the Chicken or the Avocado?

When it comes to exercising outrage, people tend to be very selective. Could it be that humans are our least favorite animal?

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Episode 202

How Many Doctors Does It Take to Start a Healthcare Revolution?

The practice of medicine has been subsumed by the business of medicine. This is great news for healthcare shareholders — and bad news for pretty much everyone else.

Want A Politically Viable Gas Tax? Make It Voluntary

…Bond rallies with stars like Rita Hayworth and Bette Davis generated mass support for “the greatest investment on earth.” Because the plan is optional, high-mileage drivers and businesses that can’t…



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Episode 602

Is Screen Time as Poisonous as We Think?

Young people have been reporting a sharp rise in anxiety and depression. This maps neatly onto the global rise of the smartphone. Some researchers are convinced that one is causing…

Trader Joe's vs. Pirate Joe's

…Hallatt’s money. And now they’ve filed a lawsuit in Seattle claiming that Hallatt’s Pirate Joe’s business is infringing their trademarks. Why on earth would Trader Joe’s be suing one of…



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Episode 494

Why Do Most Ideas Fail to Scale?

In a new book called The Voltage Effect, the economist John List — who has already revolutionized how his profession does research — is trying to start a scaling revolution….