[omny:https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/aaea4e69-af51-495e-afc9-a9760146922b/14a43378-edb2-49be-8511-ab0d000a7030/17c145df-6513-49fa-8477-ab0d001a1a4f/audio.mp3] (Photo: Julie Bocchino) Our latest podcast is called “Help Wanted. No Smokers Need Apply.” (You can download/subscribe at iTunes, get the RSS feed, listen via the media player above,…
…get the RSS feed, listen via the media player above, or read the transcript.) It features a conversation with the University of British Columbia economist Paul Beaudry, one of the…
[omny:https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/aaea4e69-af51-495e-afc9-a9760146922b/14a43378-edb2-49be-8511-ab0d000a7030/e00d399b-cbd4-45f8-aeab-ab0d0019cf4d/audio.mp3] (Photo: Isabell Schulz) Our latest Freakonomics Radio podcast on Marketplace podcast is called “Why Family and Business Don’t Mix.” (You can download/subscribe at iTunes, get the RSS feed, listen…
…iTunes, get the RSS feed, listen via the media player above, or read the transcript here.) I recently had the good fortune to go for a ridealong in a self-driving…
The social psychologist Robert Cialdini is a pioneer in the science of persuasion. His 1984 book Influence is a classic, and he has just published an expanded and revised edition….
The left and the right blame each other for pretty much everything, including slanted media coverage. Can they both be right?
Each year, millions of people get sick or die from diseases caused by their own unhealthy behavior. Getting people to change their bad habits – to quit smoking, eat better,…
The dogs we know best live as pets: indoors, wearing bespoke collars, and sleeping on our sofas. But the majority of the world’s dogs are stray, or “free-ranging” dogs. What…
It takes a highly skilled stenographer — and some specialized equipment — to transcribe TV dialogue in real time at 300 words per minute. Will A.I. rewrite the script? Zachary…
The pandemic moved a lot of religious activity onto the internet. With faith-based apps, Silicon Valley is turning virtual prayers into earthly rewards. Does this mean sharing user data? Dear…
The documentary filmmaker, known for The Civil War, Jazz, and Baseball, turns his attention to the Holocaust, and asks what we can learn from the evils of the past….
Podcast Freakonomics Radio Two Book Authors and a Microphone: Levitt, Dubner and other future guests help preview the new Freakonomics Radio. Download/Subscribe at iTunes » Subscribe to RSS feed Listen…
…University of Washington. In 2011, over a period of just ten days, Foldit players deciphered the structure of an AIDs causing monkey virus that had puzzled scientists for the past…
Also: how did Angela do with her no-sugar challenge?…
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?…
Bestselling author James Nestor believes that we can improve our lives by changing the way we breathe. He’s persuasive enough to get Steve taping his mouth shut at night. He…
Just beneath the surface of the global economy, there is a hidden layer of dealmakers for whom war, chaos, and sanctions can be a great business opportunity. Javier Blas and…
Just beneath the surface of the global economy, there is a hidden layer of dealmakers for whom war, chaos, and sanctions can be a great business opportunity. Javier Blas and…
Adam Smith famously argued that specialization is the key to prosperity. In the N.F.L., the long snapper is proof of that argument. Here’s everything there is to know about a…
…on public radio. The titles: “The Church of ‘Scionology,’” “An Economist’s Guide to Parenting,” “The Folly of Prediction,” “The Suicide Paradox,” and “The Upside of Quitting.” If you live within…
…not a profession that rewards modesty in any way.” One might consider this a print version of the Stevenson-Wolfers story we told in our “Economist’s Guide to Parenting” radio program….
…legal. (This is part of the Freakonomics Radio American Culture series). “The Economist’s Guide to Parenting: 10 Years Later” (Ep. 479): In one of the earliest Freakonomics Radio episodes (No. 39!), we asked a…
…should be talking less about schools and more about parents. In our society, if someone wants to be a hairstylist or a kickboxer or a hunting guide—or a schoolteacher—he or…
We think of them as intellectual enclaves and the surest route to a better life. But U.S. colleges also operate like firms, trying to differentiate their products to win market…
Once upon a time, Bapu Jena was a graduate student at the University of Chicago. His most interesting teacher? The economist Steve Levitt. This week on Freakonomics, M.D., a replay…
Backers of a $15 federal wage say it’s a no-brainer if you want to fight poverty. Critics say it’s a blunt instrument that leads to job loss. Even the economists…
You wouldn’t think you could win a Nobel Prize for showing that humans tend to make irrational decisions. But that’s what Richard Thaler has done. The founder of behavioral economics…
She’s a botanist, a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and the author of the bestselling Braiding Sweetgrass. In her new book she criticizes the market economy — but she…
For many economists — Steve Levitt included — there is perhaps no greater inspiration than Paul Romer, the now-Nobel laureate who at a young age redefined the discipline and has…
Economists preach the gospel of “creative destruction,” whereby new industries — and jobs — replace the old ones. But has creative destruction become too destructive?
