Search the Site

Search Results for: personal finance


Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 2

Mayim Bialik on the Surprising Risks of Academia and Stability of Show Biz (Replay)

This new Jeopardy! host is best known for playing neurobiologist Amy Farrah Fowler on The Big Bang Theory, but she has a rich life outside of her acting career too,…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 73

Used Bookstores

Americans throw away 320 million books every year. How do some of them find a second life? Zachary Crockett is just browsing….

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 370

How to Fail Like a Pro

The road to success is paved with failure, so you might as well learn to do it right. (Ep. 5 of the “How to Be Creative” series.)…

Giuliani’s Lost Playbook

…b) his variety of personal and political entanglements may make him unelectable anyway. The lost plans “depict a candidate torn between his prosperous business and a political future full of…



Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 178

How to Save $1 Billion Without Even Trying (Replay)

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?

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 84

Why Do We Find So Much Meaning in Meaningless Coincidences?

Why are humans so fascinated by coincidences? What do Carl Jung and an album by The Police have in common? And what did Stephen win in a bar mitzvah limbo…


Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 174

What’s the Point of I.Q. Testing?

Are gifted and talented programs discriminatory? Why do so many adults still remember their SAT scores? And how did Angela transform from a party girl to an Ivy League psychologist?…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 92

Data Centers

Where is “the cloud,” anyway? It’s in a bunch of nondescript warehouses all over the country. Zachary Crockett serves up the story….



Episode image
Follow this show
EXTRA

Turning Work into Play (Update)

How psychologist Dan Gilbert went from high school dropout to Harvard professor, found the secret of joy, and inspired Steve Levitt’s divorce….

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 41

Why Are We So Attracted to Fame?

Also: do we subconsciously lie about our major influences?

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 259

Ten Signs You Might Be a Libertarian

Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party’s presidential candidate, likes to say that most Americans are libertarians but don’t know it yet. So why can’t Libertarians (and other third parties) gain more…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 8

A Playbook for Beating the Next Pandemic

We dig into why Covid-19 caught us so unprepared, and how we can make sure we’re ready for a future public-health crisis, with former F.D.A. director Scott Gottlieb….

Getting Paid to Fly Commercial

Abercrombie and Fitch recently amended the contract of CEO Michael Jeffries “to limit his company-covered personal use of the corporate jet to $200,000 per year.” In exchange, Jeffries will receive…



Episode image
Follow this show
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?

Episode image
Follow this show
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…


Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 504

Introducing “Off Leash”

In this new podcast from the Freakonomics Radio Network, dog-cognition expert and bestselling author Alexandra Horowitz (Inside of a Dog) takes us inside the scruffy, curious, joyful world of dogs….


Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 169

Can We Disagree Better?

Do you suffer from the sin of certainty? How did Angela react when a grad student challenged her research? And can a Heineken commercial strengthen our democracy?…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 367

The Future of Meat

Global demand for beef, chicken, and pork continues to rise. So do concerns about environmental and other costs. Will reconciling these two forces be possible — or, even better, Impossible™?

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 307

Thinking Is Expensive. Who’s Supposed to Pay for It?

Corporations and rich people donate billions to their favorite think tanks and foundations. Should we be grateful for their generosity — or suspicious of their motives?

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 596

Farewell to a Generational Talent

Daniel Kahneman left his mark on academia (and the real world) in countless ways. A group of his friends and colleagues recently gathered in Chicago to reflect on this legacy…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 213

Aziz Ansari Needs Another Toothbrush (Replay)

The comedian, actor — and now, author — answers our FREAK-quently Asked Questions.



Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 289

How Stupid Is Our Obsession With Lawns? (Replay)

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…