Search the Site

Search Results for: think like a child

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 576

The Brilliant Mr. Feynman

What happens when an existentially depressed and recently widowed young physicist from Queens gets a fresh start in California? We follow Richard Feynman out west, to explore his long and…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 112

Is It Okay to Hate Highbrow Culture?

Are Europeans more sophisticated than Americans? What’s wrong with preferring Taylor Swift to Puccini? And is Steve Levitt “Team Edward” or “Team Jacob”?

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 450

How to Be Better at Death

Caitlin Doughty is a mortician who would like to put herself out of business. Our corporate funeral industry, she argues, has made us forget how to offer our loved ones…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 350

How to Stop Being a Loser

The San Francisco 49ers, one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world, also used to be one of the best. But they’ve been losing lately — a lot…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 178

How to Save $1 Billion Without Even Trying

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 588

Confessions of a Black Conservative

The economist and social critic Glenn Loury has led a remarkably turbulent life, both professionally and personally. In a new memoir, he has chosen to reveal just about everything. Why?…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 23

Confessions of a Black Conservative

The economist and social critic Glenn Loury has led a remarkably turbulent life, both professionally and personally. In a new memoir, he has chosen to reveal just about everything. Why?…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 33

Travis Tygart Is Coming for Cheaters — Just Ask Lance Armstrong

He’s the C.E.O. of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which, under his charge, exposed the most celebrated American cyclist as a cheater. And Steve’s been studying cheaters for the…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 3

What Does It Mean to Be a “Hard Worker”?

Also: how does age affect happiness?…

Episode image
Follow this show
EXTRA

“This Didn’t End the Way It’s Supposed to End.”

The N.B.A. superstar Chris Bosh was still competing at the highest level when a blood clot abruptly ended his career. In his new book, Letters to a Young Athlete, Bosh…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 42

The Upside of Quitting

You know the saying: a winner never quits and a quitter never wins. To which Freakonomics Radio says … Are you sure?…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 59

Do Dreams Actually Mean Anything?

Also: why is music so memorable?…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 42

The Upside of Quitting (Replay)

You know the saying: a winner never quits and a quitter never wins. To which Freakonomics Radio says … Are you sure?…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 34

Maya Shankar Is Changing People’s Behavior — and Her Own

She used to run a behavioral unit in the Obama administration, and now has a similar role at Google. Maya and Steve talk about the power (and limits) of behavioral…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 116

Abraham Verghese Thinks Medicine Can Do Better

Abraham Verghese is a physician and a best-selling author — in that order, he says. He explains the difference between curing and healing, and tells Steve why doctors should spend…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 574

“A Low Moment in Higher Education”

Michael Roth of Wesleyan University doesn’t hang out with other university presidents. He also thinks some of them have failed a basic test of good sense and decency. It’s time…

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 67

We Can Play God Now

Gene-editing pioneer Jennifer Doudna worries that humanity might not be ready for the technology she helped develop….

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 26

Do Checklists Make People Stupid?

Also: What’s so great about New York City anyway?

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 331

Why the Trump Tax Cuts Are Awesome/Terrible (Part 1)

Kevin Hassett, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, explains the thinking behind the controversial new Republican tax package — and why its critics are wrong. (Next week, we’ll hear…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 469

The U.S. Is Just Different — So Let’s Stop Pretending We’re Not (Replay)

We often look to other countries for smart policies on education, healthcare, infrastructure, etc. But can a smart policy be simply transplanted into a country as culturally unusual (and as…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 70

Eating and Tweeting

Does the future of food lie in its past — or inside a tank of liquid nitrogen? Also: how anti-social can you be on a social network? This is a…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 183

Tell Me Something I Don’t Know

The debut of a live game show from Freakonomics Radio, with judges Malcolm Gladwell, Ana Gasteyer, and David Paterson….

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 347

Why You Shouldn’t Open a Restaurant (Update)

Kenji López-Alt became a rock star of the food world by bringing science into the kitchen in a way that everyday cooks can appreciate. Then he dared to start his…

Episode image
Follow this show
EXTRA

Madeleine Albright’s Warning on Immigration

She arrived in the U.S. as an 11-year-old refugee, then rose to become Secretary of State. Her views on immigration, nationalism, and borders, from this 2015 interview, are almost strangely…

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 19

Marina Nitze: “If You Googled ‘Business Efficiency Consultant,’ I Was the Only Result.”

At 27 — and without a college degree — she was named chief technology officer of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Today, Marina Nitze is trying to reform the foster…


Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 220

“I Don’t Know What You’ve Done With My Husband But He’s a Changed Man”

From domestic abusers to former child soldiers, there is increasing evidence that behavioral therapy can turn them around.

Episode image
Follow this show
Episode 524

How Important Is Breastfeeding, Really?

In this special episode of Freakonomics, M.D., host Bapu Jena looks at a clever new study that could help answer one of parenting’s most contentious questions….