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Episode 326

Extra: Jack Welch Full Interview

Stephen Dubner’s conversation with the former longtime C.E.O. of General Electric, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Secret Life of a C.E.O.”…

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Episode 559

Are Two C.E.O.s Better Than One?

If two parents can run a family, why shouldn’t two executives run a company? We dig into the research and hear firsthand stories of both triumph and disaster. Also: lessons…

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Episode 13

How Can You Stop Comparing Yourself With Other People? (Replay)

Also: how can we stop confusing correlation with causation?

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Episode 340

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

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…

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Episode 263

In Praise of Maintenance

Has our culture’s obsession with innovation led us to neglect the fact that things also need to be taken care of?

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Episode 597

Why Do Your Eyeglasses Cost $1,000?

A single company, EssilorLuxottica, owns so much of the eyewear industry that it’s hard to escape their gravitational pull — or their “obscene” markups. Should regulators do something? Can Warby…

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Episode 104

How Simple Is Too Simple?

Why are humans so eager for magic-bullet solutions? Can you explain how a pen works? And how does Angela feel about being forever branded “the grit lady”?…

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Episode 413

Who Gets the Ventilator?

…potentially life-saving healthcare device? Americans aren’t used to rationing in medicine, but it’s time to think about it. We consult a lung specialist, a bioethicist, and (of course) an economist….

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Episode 39

Is Everybody Cheating These Days?

Also, what’s better: to learn new skills or go deep on what you’re good at?…

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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…

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Episode 29

Bruce Friedrich Thinks There’s a Better Way to Eat Meat

…the best ways to reduce global meat consumption. Steve and Bruce talk about the negative externalities of factory-farmed meat, and why Bruce gave up antics like streaking at Buckingham Palace….

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Episode 27

How Should You Ask for Forgiveness?

Also: Why is behavior change so darn hard?…

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Episode 263

In Praise of Maintenance (Replay)

Has our culture’s obsession with innovation led us to neglect the fact that things also need to be taken care of?

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Episode 395

Speak Softly and Carry Big Data

Do economic sanctions work? Are big democracies any good at spreading democracy? What is the root cause of terrorism? It turns out that data analysis can help answer all these…

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Episode 546

Are E.S.G. Investors Actually Helping the Environment?

Probably not. The economist Kelly Shue argues that E.S.G. investing just gives more money to firms that are already green while depriving polluting firms of the financing they need to…

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Episode 108

Ninety-Eight Years of Economic Wisdom

Robert Solow is 98 years old and a giant among economists. He tells Steve about cracking German codes in World War II, why it’s so hard to reduce inequality, and…

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Episode 507

103 Pieces of Advice That May or May Not Work

Kevin Kelly calls himself “the most optimistic person in the world.” And he has a lot to say about parenting, travel, A.I., being luckier — and why we should spend…

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Episode 476

What Are the Police for, Anyway?

…barely half of all Americans have a lot of confidence in the police. So what if we start to think about policing as … philanthropy? (This is part of the…

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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 613

Dying Is Easy. Retail Is Hard.

Macy’s wants to recapture its glorious past. The author of the Wimpy Kid books wants to rebuild his dilapidated hometown. We just want to listen in. (Part two of a…

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Episode 66

Show and Yell

Is booing an act of verbal vandalism or the last true expression of democracy? And: when you drive a Prius, are you guilty of “conspicuous conservation”? This is a “mashupdate”…

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Episode 362

Why Is This Man Running for President? (Update)

A year ago, nobody was taking Andrew Yang very seriously. Now he is America’s favorite entrepre-nerd, with a candidacy that keeps gaining momentum. This episode includes our Jan. 2019 conversation…

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Episode 3

“Someone Needs to Save the World from Silicon Valley”

…platforms for like-minded people, a publicly owned social network, self-policing by user groups, or activist campaigns to pressure Twitter and Facebook to improve, Sudhir explores what’s next for social media…

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Episode 31

Peter Leeson on Why Trial-by-Fire Wasn’t Barbaric and Why Pirates Were Democratic

He’s an economist who studies even weirder things than Steve. They discuss whether economics is the best of the social sciences, and why it’s a good idea to get a…

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Episode 430

Will a Covid-19 Vaccine Change the Future of Medical Research?

…trials with a vaccine candidate; a former F.D.A. commissioner who’s been warning of a pandemic for years; and an economist who thinks Covid-19 may finally change how diseases are cured….

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Episode 429

Is Economic Growth the Wrong Goal?

The endless pursuit of G.D.P., argues the economist Kate Raworth, shortchanges too many people and also trashes the planet. Economic theory, she says, “needs to be rewritten” — and Raworth…

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Episode 429

Is Economic Growth the Wrong Goal? (Update)

The economist Kate Raworth says the aggressive pursuit of G.D.P. is trashing the planet and shortchanging too many people. She has proposed an alternative — and the city of Amsterdam…

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Episode 19

Do Your Doctor’s Political Views Affect Your Care?

Since doctors are human, they bring their own beliefs and preferences into the examining room. But they’ve also taken an oath to act in the best interest of all patients….

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Episode 469

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

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…

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Episode 575

The Curious Mr. Feynman

From the Manhattan Project to the Challenger investigation, the physicist Richard Feynman loved to shoot down what he called “lousy ideas.” Today, the world is awash in lousy ideas —…