Search the Site

Search Results for: think like a child

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 350

How the San Francisco 49ers Stopped Being Losers (Update)

One of the most storied (and valuable) sports franchises in the world had fallen far. So they decided to do a full reboot — and it worked: this week, they…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 621

Is Professional Licensing a Racket?

Licensing began with medicine and law; now it extends to 20 percent of the U.S. workforce, including hair stylists and auctioneers. In a new book, the legal scholar Rebecca Allensworth…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 26

Is Professional Licensing a Racket?

Licensing began with medicine and law; now it extends to 20 percent of the U.S. workforce, including hair stylists and auctioneers. In a new book, the legal scholar Rebecca Allensworth…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 51

Max Tegmark on Why Treating Humanity Like a Child Will Save Us All

How likely is it that this conversation is happening in more than one universe? Should we worry more about Covid or about nuclear war? Is economics a form of “intellectual…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 30

Dambisa Moyo Says Foreign Aid Can’t Solve Problems, but Maybe Corporations Can

…meet society’s demands. And she explains to Steve why, even as a Harvard and Oxford-educated economist, her goal in life might sound “a little bit like a Miss America pageant.”…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 569

Do You Need Closure?

In a special episode of No Stupid Questions, Angela Duckworth and Mike Maughan talk about unfinished tasks, recurring arguments, and Irish goodbyes….

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 26

Memory Champion Nelson Dellis Helps Steve Train His Brain

He’s one of the world’s leading competitors, having won four U.S. memory tournaments and holding the record for most names memorized in 15 minutes (235!). But Nelson Dellis claims he…

Episode image
Follow this show
EXTRA

Steve Levitt: “I’m Not as Childlike as I’d Like to Be”

Steve Levitt has so far occupied the interviewer chair on his new show, but in a special live event — recorded over Zoom and presented by WNYC and the Greene…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 309

Nurses to the Rescue!

They are the most-trusted profession in America (and with good reason). They are critical to patient outcomes (especially in primary care). Could the growing army of nurse practitioners be an…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 260

Has the U.S. Presidency Become a Dictatorship? (Update)

Sure, we all pay lip service to the Madisonian system of checks and balances. But presidents have been steadily expanding the reach of the job. With an election around the…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 257

The Future (Probably) Isn’t as Scary as You Think

Internet pioneer Kevin Kelly tries to predict the future by identifying what’s truly inevitable. How worried should we be? Yes, robots will probably take your job — but the future…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 57

What Makes John Doerr Think He Can Save the Planet?

The legendary venture capitalist believes the same intuition that led him to bet early on Google can help us reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. But Steve wonders why his…

Episode image
Follow this show
EXTRA

People Aren’t Dumb. The World Is Hard. (Update)

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. In an interview from 2018,…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 88

Freakonomics Goes to College, Part 2

College tends to make people happier, healthier, and wealthier. But how?

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 41

Dr. Bapu Jena on Why Freakonomics Is the Best Medicine

He’s a Harvard physician and economist who just started a third job: host of the new podcast Freakonomics, M.D. He’s also Steve’s former student. The two discuss why medicine should…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 431

Why Can’t Schools Get What the N.F.L. Has?

Thanks to daily Covid testing and regimented protocols, the new football season is underway. Meanwhile, most teachers, students and parents are essentially waiting for the storm to pass. And school…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 537

“Insurance Is Sexy.” Discuss.

In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, the economist Amy Finkelstein explains why insurance markets are broken and how to fix them. Also: why can’t you buy divorce…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 537

“Insurance Is Sexy.” Discuss.

The economist Amy Finkelstein explains why insurance markets are broken and how to fix them. Also: why can’t you buy divorce insurance?…

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 45

How Much Better Do You Really Want to Be?

Also: why do we pad our speech with so much filler language?…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 365

Not Just Another Labor Force

If you think talent and hard work give top athletes all the leverage to succeed, think again. As employees in the Sports-Industrial Complex, they’ve got a tight earnings window, a…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 101

Are You Really “Addicted” to Diet Coke?

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?…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 578

Water, Water Everywhere — But You Have to Stop and Think

What surprises lurk in our sewage? How did racist city planners end up saving Black lives? Why does Arizona grow hay for cows in Saudi Arabia? Three strange stories about…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 66

When Is It OK to Tell a Lie? (Replay)

Can a little dishonesty be a good thing? How many fibs does Angela tell every day? And why does Stephen have a forehead?…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 15

Tim Harford: “If You Can Make Sure You’re Not An Idiot, You’ve Done Well.”

He’s a former World Bank economist who became a prolific journalist and the author of one of Steve Levitt’s favorite books, The Undercover Economist. Tim Harford lives in England, where…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 13

How Can You Stop Comparing Yourself With Other People?

Also: how can we stop confusing correlation with causation?

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 27

Daniel Kahneman on Why Our Judgment is Flawed — and What to Do About It

Nobel laureate, bestselling author, and groundbreaking psychologist Daniel Kahneman is also a friend and former business partner of Steve’s. In discussing Danny’s new book Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment,…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 109

David Simon Is On Strike. Here’s Why.

The creator of The Wire, The Deuce, and other shows is leading the Writers Guild on the picket lines. He and Steve break down the economics of TV writing, how…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 45

Leidy Klotz on Why the Best Solutions Involve Less — Not More

When we try to improve things, our first thought is often: What can we add to make this better? But Leidy, a professor of engineering, says we tend to overlook…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 620

Why Don’t Running Backs Get Paid Anymore?

They used to be the N.F.L.’s biggest stars, with paychecks to match. Now their salaries are near the bottom, and their careers are shorter than ever. We speak with an…