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Episode No.
Date
Length
EXTRA

Your Brain Doesn’t Work the Way You Think

David Eagleman upends myths and describes the vast possibilities of a brainscape that even neuroscientists are only beginning to understand. Steve Levitt interviews him in this special episode of People I (Mostly) Admire.

12/22/24
47:53
No. 616

How to Make Something from Nothing

Adam Moss was the best magazine editor of his generation. When he retired, he took up painting. But he wasn’t very good, and that made him sad. So he wrote a book about how creative people work— and, in the process, he made himself happy again.

12/18/24
48:12
PLUS

Who Killed the Department Store?

Retail expert Mark Cohen explains the social, economic, and cultural forces behind the decline of department stores like Sears and Macy’s. To get Plus episodes, sign up for SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts.

12/13/24
22:12
No. 615

Is Ozempic as Magical as It Sounds?

In a wide-ranging conversation with Ezekiel Emanuel, the policymaking physician and medical gadfly, we discuss the massive effects of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro. We also talk about the state of cancer care, mysteries in the gut microbiome, flaws in the U.S. healthcare system — and what a second Trump term means for healthcare policy.

12/11/24
56:49
EXTRA

How the Supermarket Helped America Win the Cold War (Update)

Last week, we heard a former U.S. ambassador describe Russia’s escalating conflict with the U.S. Today, we revisit a 2019 episode about an overlooked front in the Cold War — a “farms race” that, decades later, still influences what Americans eat.

12/8/24
45:09
No. 614

Is the U.S. Sleeping on Threats from Russia and China?

John J. Sullivan, a former State Department official and U.S. ambassador, says yes: “Our politicians aren’t leading — Republicans or Democrats.” He gives a firsthand account of a fateful Biden-Putin encounter, talks about his new book Midnight in Moscow, and predicts what a second Trump term means for Russia, Ukraine, China — and the U.S.

12/4/24
51:24
No. 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 two-part series.)

11/27/24
61:34
No. 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 is — Macy’s is famously tight-lipped about parade economics. We try to loosen them up. (Part one of a two-part series.)

11/21/24
60:27
EXTRA

How to Stop Worrying and Love the Robot Apocalypse (Update)

It’s true that robots (and other smart technologies) will kill many jobs. It may also be true that newer collaborative robots (“cobots”) will totally reinvigorate how work gets done. That, at least, is what the economists are telling us. Should we believe them?

11/18/24
48:36
PLUS

Raising a Glass with Tom Standage

The author and Economist editor examines how alcohol has shaped society. And we ask, could the U.K.’s drinking culture ever be replaced by cannabis culture? To get Plus episodes, sign up for SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts.

11/15/24
26:51
No. 611

Fareed Zakaria on What Just Happened, and What Comes Next

After a dramatic election, Donald Trump has returned from exile. We hear what to expect at home and abroad — and what to do if you didn’t vote for Trump.

11/13/24
59:13
No. 610

Who Wins and Who Loses Once the U.S. Legalizes Weed?

Some people want the new cannabis economy to look like the craft-beer movement. Others are hoping to build the Amazon of pot. And one expert would prefer a government-run monopoly. We listen in as they fight it out. (Part four of a four-part series.)

11/6/24
43:21
No. 609

What Does It Take to Run a Cannabis Farm?

Chris Weld worked for years in emergency rooms, then ditched that career and bought an old farm in Massachusetts. He set up a distillery and started making prize-winning spirits. When cannabis was legalized, he jumped into that too — and the first few years were lucrative. But now? It turns out that growing, processing, and selling weed is more complicated than it looks. He gave us the grand tour. (Part three of a four-part series.)

10/30/24
40:16
EXTRA

Abortion and Crime, Revisited (Update)

With abortion on the Nov. 5 ballot, we look back at Steve Levitt’s controversial research about an unintended consequence of Roe v. Wade.

10/28/24
54:46
No. 608

Cannabis Is Booming, So Why Isn’t Anyone Getting Rich?

There are a lot of reasons, including heavy regulations, high taxes, and competition from illegal weed shops. Most operators are losing money and waiting for Washington to get out of the way. In the meantime, it’s not that easy being green. (Part two of a four-part series.)

10/23/24
50:50
No. 607

Is America Switching From Booze to Weed?

We have always been a nation of drinkers — but now there are more daily users of cannabis than alcohol. Considering alcohol’s harms, maybe that’s a good thing. But some people worry that the legalization of cannabis has outpaced the research. (Part one of a four-part series.)

10/16/24
46:08
PLUS

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Diversity Playbook

Jim Rooney discusses his father Dan Rooney’s legacy, from revolutionizing the N.F.L. business model to finding a winning edge for the Steelers by doing the right thing. To get Plus episodes, sign up for SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts.

10/11/24
35:11
No. 606

How to Predict the Presidency

Are betting markets more accurate than polls? What kind of chaos would a second Trump term bring? And is U.S. democracy really in danger, or just “sputtering on”? (Part two of a two-part series.)

10/11/24
55:38
No. 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 corner, we updated our 2016 conversation with the legal scholar Eric Posner — who has some good news and some not-so-good news about the power of the presidency. (Part one of a two-part series.)

10/9/24
46:59
No. 605

What Do People Do All Day?

Sixty percent of the jobs that Americans do today didn’t exist in 1940. What happens as our labor becomes more technical and less physical? And what kinds of jobs will exist in the future?

10/2/24
60:48
EXTRA

Roland Fryer Refuses to Lie to Black America (Update)

His research on police brutality and school incentives won him acclaim, but also enemies. He was suspended for two years by Harvard, during which time he took a hard look at corporate diversity programs. As a follow-up to our recent series on the Rooney Rule, we revisit our 2022 conversation with the controversial economist.

9/29/24
60:29
No. 604

Did the N.F.L. Solve Diversity Hiring? (Part 2)

What happened when the Rooney Rule made its way from pro football to corporate America? Some progress, some backsliding, and a lot of controversy. (Second in a two-part series.)

9/25/24
47:18
No. 603

Did the N.F.L. Solve Diversity Hiring? (Part 1)

The biggest sports league in history had a problem: While most of its players were Black, almost none of its head coaches were. So the N.F.L. launched a hiring policy called the Rooney Rule. In the first episode of a two-part series, we look at how the rule succeeded — until it failed.

9/18/24
47:51
No. 263

In Praise of Maintenance (Update)

We revisit an episode from 2016 that asks: Has our culture’s obsession with innovation led us to neglect the fact that things also need to be taken care of?

9/15/24
42:37
No. 602

Is Screen Time as Poisonous as We Think?

Young people have been reporting a sharp rise in anxiety and depression. This maps neatly onto the global rise of the smartphone. Some researchers are convinced that one is causing the other. But how strong is the evidence?

9/11/24
40:29
PLUS

Ruth Simmons Wants Colleges to Step Up

The former president of Brown, Smith, and Prairie View A&M has some thoughts on higher education. To get Plus episodes, sign up for SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts.

9/6/24
36:00
No. 601

Multitasking Doesn’t Work. So Why Do We Keep Trying?

Only a tiny number of “supertaskers” are capable of doing two things at once. The rest of us are just making ourselves miserable, and less productive. How can we put the — hang on a second, I’ve just got to get this.

9/4/24
58:04
No. 503

What Is the Future of College — and Does It Have Room for Men? (Update)

Educators and economists tell us all the reasons college enrollment has been dropping, especially for men, and how to stop the bleeding. (Part 3 of our series from 2022, “Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.”)

8/28/24
49:17
EXTRA

Why Quitting Is Usually Worth It

Stephen Dubner appears as a guest on Fail Better, a new podcast hosted by David Duchovny. The two of them trade stories about failure, and ponder the lessons that success could never teach.

8/25/24
40:04
No. 501

The University of Impossible-to-Get-Into (Update)

America’s top colleges are facing record demand. So why don’t they increase supply? (Part 2 of our series from 2022, “Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.”)

8/21/24
71:10
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