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Episode No.
Date
Length
No. 154

What You Don’t Know About Online Dating (Replay)

Thick markets, thin markets, and the triumph of attributes over compatibility.

3/19/15
40:11
No. 200

When Willpower Isn’t Enough

Sure, we all want to make good personal decisions, but it doesn’t always work out. That’s where “temptation bundling” comes in.

3/13/15
36:21
No. 199

This Idea Must Die

Every year, Edge.org asks its salon of big thinkers to answer one big question. This year’s question borders on heresy: what scientific idea is ready for retirement?

3/5/15
54:33
No. 198

The Maddest Men of All

Advertisers have always been adept at manipulating our emotions. Now they’re using behavioral economics to get even better.

2/26/15
36:04
No. 197

Hacking the World Bank

Jim Yong Kim has an unorthodox background for a World Bank president — and his reign thus far is just as unorthodox.

2/19/15
39:41
No. 196

Is There a Better Way to Fight Terrorism?

The White House is hosting an anti-terror summit next week. Summits being what they are, we try to offer some useful advice.

2/13/15
47:26
No. 195

How Efficient Is Energy Efficiency?

It’s a centerpiece of U.S. climate policy and a sacred cow among environmentalists. Does it work?

2/5/15
36:29
No. 194

How Safe Is Your Job?

Economists preach the gospel of “creative destruction,” whereby new industries — and jobs — replace the old ones. But has creative destruction become too destructive?

1/29/15
38:38
No. 193

Someone Else’s Acid Trip

As Kevin Kelly tells it, the hippie revolution and the computer revolution are nearly one and the same.

1/22/15
33:21
No. 192

That’s a Great Question!

Verbal tic or strategic rejoinder? Whatever the case: it’s rare to come across an interview these days where at least one question isn’t a “great” one.

1/15/15
30:13
No. 191

Why Doesn’t Everyone Get the Flu Vaccine?

Influenza kills, but you’d never know it by how few of us get the vaccine.

1/8/15
40:51
No. 150

What’s the “Best” Exercise? (Replay)

Most people blame lack of time for being out of shape. So maybe the solution is to exercise more efficiently.

1/1/15
19:09
No. 163

What’s More Dangerous: Marijuana or Alcohol? (Replay)

Imagine that both substances were undiscovered until today. How would we think about their relative risks?

12/25/14
28:18
No. 190

Time to Take Back the Toilet

Public bathrooms are noisy, poorly designed, and often nonexistent. What to do?

12/18/14
37:21
No. 142

The Troubled Cremation of Stevie the Cat (Replay)

We spend billions on our pets, and one of the fastest-growing costs is pet “aftercare.” But are those cremated remains you got back really from your pet?

12/11/14
48:57
No. 189

How to Fix a Broken High Schooler, in Four Easy Steps

Okay, maybe the steps aren’t so easy. But a program run out of a Toronto housing project has had great success in turning around kids who were headed for trouble.

12/4/14
34:18
No. 188

Is America’s Education Problem Really Just a Teacher Problem?

We’ve all heard the depressing numbers: when compared to kids from other rich countries, U.S. students aren’t doing very well, especially in math, even though we spend more money per student than most other countries. So is the problem here as simple as adding two plus two? Is the problem here that our students aren’t getting very bright simply because … our teachers aren’t very bright?

11/27/14
39:02
No. 187

The Man Who Would Be Everything

Boris Johnson — mayor of London, biographer of Churchill, cheese-box painter and tennis-racket collector — answers our FREAK-quently Asked Questions.

11/20/14
32:35
No. 186

Why Do People Keep Having Children?

Even a brutal natural disaster doesn’t diminish our appetite for procreating. This surely means we’re heading toward massive overpopulation, right? Probably not.

11/13/14
43:31
No. 185

Should the U.S. Merge With Mexico?

Corporations around the world are consolidating like never before. If it’s good enough for companies, why not countries? Welcome to Amexico!

11/6/14
59:43
No. 184

What Can Vampires Teach Us About Economics?

A lot! “The Economics of the Undead” is a book about dating strategy, job creation, and whether there should be a legal market for blood.

10/30/14
29:51
No. 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.

10/23/14
63:30
No. 182

How Can Tiny Norway Afford to Buy So Many Teslas?

The Norwegian government parleys massive oil wealth into huge subsidies for electric cars. Is that carbon laundering or just pragmatic environmentalism?

10/16/14
40:34
No. 141

How to Raise Money Without Killing a Kitten (Replay)

The science of what works — and doesn’t work — in fundraising

10/9/14
37:10
No. 181

Fixing the World, Bang-for-the-Buck Edition

A team of economists has been running the numbers on the U.N.’s development goals. They have a different view of how those billions of dollars should be spent.

10/2/14
46:34
No. 180

Fitness Apartheid

Markets are hardly perfect, but the results can be ugly when you try to subvert them.

9/25/14
33:57
No. 179

Outsiders by Design

What does it mean to pursue something that everyone else thinks is nuts? And what does it take to succeed?

9/18/14
44:40
No. 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?

9/11/14
38:39
No. 177

Regulate This!

Airbnb, Uber, Lyft, EatWith, and other companies in the “sharing economy” are practically daring government regulators to shut them down. The regulators are happy to comply

9/4/14
57:39
No. 144

Who Runs the Internet? (Replay)

The online universe doesn’t have nearly as many rules, or rulemakers, as the real world. Discuss.

8/28/14
32:58
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