What’s the purpose of profanity? Why is cursing on the rise? And will Angela finally swear off swearing?…
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…
Neuroscientists still have a great deal to learn about the human brain. One recent M.R.I. study sheds some light, finding that a certain kind of storytelling stimulates enormous activity across…
Performing at a strip club can be lucrative, but it requires financial and psychological savvy — and an eye for social trends. Zachary Crockett takes a look….
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…
Just a few decades ago, more than 90 percent of 30-year-olds earned more than their parents had earned at the same age. Now it’s only about 50 percent. What happened…
Nicholas Cullinan, the new director of the British Museum, seems to think so. “I’m not afraid of the past,” he says — which means talking about looted objects, the basement…
Dubner and Levitt answer reader questions in this first installment of the Think Like a Freak Book Club….
The man who wants America to “think harder” has parlayed his quixotic presidential campaign into front-runner status in New York’s mayoral election. And he has some big plans….
Corporations around the world are consolidating like never before. If it’s good enough for companies, why not countries? Welcome to Amexico!
Are we too busy watching Friends? Is porn driving us apart? And why did New Yorkers stop vacationing in the Catskills? Take the Seven Deadly Sins survey: freakonomics.com/nsq-sins/…
Spontaneous order is everywhere if you know where to look for it.
How should you treat Seasonal Affective Disorder? Would we all be happier if we hibernated? And why does Stephen think football fans have an easier time?
…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….
Three university presidents try to answer our listeners’ questions. The result? Not much pomp and a whole lot of circumstance.
The gist: the argument for open borders is compelling — and deeply problematic.
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…
The director of the Hayden Planetarium is one of the best science communicators of our time. He and Steve talk about his role in reclassifying Pluto, bad teachers, and why…
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…
Sure, we all pay lip service to the Madisonian system of checks and balances. But as one legal scholar argues, presidents have been running roughshod over the system for decades….
…that. We speak with her about the race toward an electrified (and autonomous) future, China and Trump, and what it’s like to be the “fifth-most powerful woman in the world.”…
In a special episode of No Stupid Questions, Angela Duckworth and Mike Maughan talk about unfinished tasks, recurring arguments, and Irish goodbyes….
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…
There ain’t no such thing as a free parking spot. Somebody has to pay for it — and that somebody is everybody.
Nobel laureate, bestselling author, and groundbreaking psychologist Daniel Kahneman died in March. In 2021 he talked with Steve Levitt — his friend and former business partner — about his book…
Stanford professor Carolyn Bertozzi’s imaginative ideas for treating disease have led to ten start-ups. She talks with Steve about the next generation of immune therapy she’s created, and why she…
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…
One Yale economist certainly thinks so. But even if he’s right, are economists any better?…
Physician Peter Attia returns to the show to talk about the science of longevity — which focuses not only on extending life but on maintaining good health into old age….
…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.”…
