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Episode 250

Why Does Everyone Hate Flying? And Other Questions Only a Pilot Can Answer

Patrick Smith, the author of Cockpit Confidential, answers every question we can throw at him about what really happens up in the air. Just don’t get him started on pilotless…

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Episode 454

Should Traffic Lights Be Abolished? (Replay)

Americans are so accustomed to the standard intersection that we rarely consider how dangerous it can be — as well as costly, time-wasting, and polluting. Is it time to embrace…


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Episode 362

Why Is This Man Running for President?

In the American Dream sweepstakes, Andrew Yang was a pretty big winner. But for every winner, he came to realize, there are thousands upon thousands of losers — a “war…

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Episode 612

Is Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade Its Most Valuable Asset?

The 166-year-old chain, which is fighting extinction, calls the parade its “gift to the nation.” With 30 million TV viewers, it’s also a big moneymaker. At least we think it…

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Episode 74

Does Reverse Psychology Really Work?

Also: Does knowing your family history affect your identity?…


The Boy With Two Belly Buttons

…of my real kids. I plead guilty to anything that anyone wants to charge me with, but I was not about to write a kids’ book and leave my kids



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Episode 113

Do We Have Evidence of Alien Life?

Avi Loeb is a Harvard astronomer who argues that we’ve already encountered extraterrestrial technology. His approach to the search for interstellar objects is scientific, but how plausible is his argument?

A Good Halloween Costume for Fathers

I hadn’t worn a Halloween costume in many years until last night, when my kids — Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz and a man-eating shark, respectively — encouraged me…



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Episode 100

Chicago’s Renegade Sheriff Wants to Fix Law Enforcement

Tom Dart is transforming Cook County’s jail, reforming evictions, and, with Steve Levitt, trying a new approach to electronic monitoring….

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Episode 186

Do You Need a Routine?

Would you be more adventurous if you had more structure? Do you multitask while brushing your teeth? And what would Mike’s perfect brother Peter do?…


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Episode 145

Neil deGrasse Tyson Is Still Starstruck

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

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Episode 16

Joshua Jay: “Humans Are So, So Easy to Fool.”

He’s a world-renowned magician who’s been performing since he was seven-years-old. But Joshua Jay is also an author, toymaker, and consultant for film and television. Steve Levitt talks to him…

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Episode 24

Are We Under Threat from a New Kind of Terror? (Replay)

Amaryllis Fox is a former C.I.A. operative and host of the Netflix show The Business of Drugs. She explains why intelligence work requires empathy, and she soothes Steve’s fears about…

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Episode 528

Yuval Noah Harari Thinks Life is Meaningless and Amazing

In this special episode of People I (Mostly) Admire, Steve Levitt talks to the best-selling author of Sapiens and Homo Deus about finding the profound in the obvious….

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Episode 18

Robert Sapolsky: “I Don’t Think We Have Any Free Will Whatsoever.”

He’s one of the world’s leading neuroscientists, with a focus on the physiological effects of stress. (For years, he spent his summers in Kenya, alone except for the baboons he…

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Episode 22

Why Do We Buy Things We Never Use? (Replay)

Also: why do we hoard? (Rebroadcast From Ep. 28)…

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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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EXTRA

Why Do People Love Horror Movies? (Replay)

When are negative emotions enjoyable? Are we all a little masochistic? And do pigs like hot sauce?…

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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 102

Adding Ten Healthy Years to Your Life

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….

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Episode 202

Why Can’t We Tolerate Discomfort?

Are we using technology to make ourselves numb? What’s the downside of air conditioning? And was Angela the most annoying person in her college classes?…

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Episode 206

Ten Years of Freakonomics

Dubner and Levitt are live onstage at the 92nd Street Y in New York to celebrate their new book “When to Rob a Bank” — and a decade of working…

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Episode 80

Riding the Herd Mentality

How using peer pressure — and good, old-fashioned shame — can push people to do the right thing.


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Episode 316

“I Wasn’t Stupid Enough to Say This Could Be Done Overnight”

Indra Nooyi became C.E.O. of PepsiCo just in time for a global financial meltdown. She also had a portfolio full of junk food just as the world decided that junk…