Freakonomics co-author Stephen J. Dubner uncovers the hidden side of everything. Why is it safer to fly in an airplane than drive a car? How do we decide whom to marry? Why is the media so full of bad news? Also: things you never knew you wanted to know about wolves, bananas, pollution, search engines, and the quirks of human behavior.
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People who sleep better earn more money. Now all we have to do is teach everyone to sleep better.
Could a lack of sleep help explain why some people get much sicker than others?
Takeru Kobayashi revolutionized the sport of competitive eating. What can the rest of us learn from his breakthrough?
We seem to have decided that ethnic food tastes better when it’s served by people of that ethnicity (or at least something close). Does this make sense — and is it legal?
Sure, markets generally work well. But for some transactions — like school admissions and organ transplants — money alone can’t solve the problem. That’s when you need a market-design wizard like Al Roth.
Sure, sex crimes are horrific, and the perpetrators deserve to be punished harshly. But society keeps exacting costs — out-of-pocket and otherwise — long after the prison sentence has been served.
One man’s attempt to remake his life in the mold of homo economicus.
The debut of a live game show from Freakonomics Radio, with judges Malcolm Gladwell, Ana Gasteyer, and David Paterson.
In which we argue that failure should not only be tolerated but celebrated.
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 together.
Zappos C.E.O. Tony Hsieh has a wild vision and the dollars to try to make it real. But it still might be the biggest gamble in town.
When it comes to generating ideas and asking questions it can be really fruitful to have the mentality of an 8 year old.
America’s favorite statistical guru answers our FREAK-quently Asked Questions, and more.
It may seem like winning a valuable diamond is an unalloyed victory. It’s not. It’s not even clear that a diamond is so valuable.
The practice of medicine has been subsumed by the business of medicine. This is great news for healthcare shareholders — and bad news for pretty much everyone else.
A lot of the conventional wisdom in medicine is nothing more than hunch or wishful thinking. A new breed of data detectives is hoping to change that.
If you are driving and kill a pedestrian, there’s a good chance you’ll barely be punished. Why?
Thick markets, thin markets, and the triumph of attributes over compatibility.
Sure, we all want to make good personal decisions, but it doesn’t always work out. That’s where “temptation bundling” comes in.
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?
Advertisers have always been adept at manipulating our emotions. Now they’re using behavioral economics to get even better.
Jim Yong Kim has an unorthodox background for a World Bank president — and his reign thus far is just as unorthodox.
The White House is hosting an anti-terror summit next week. Summits being what they are, we try to offer some useful advice.
It’s a centerpiece of U.S. climate policy and a sacred cow among environmentalists. Does it work?
Economists preach the gospel of “creative destruction,” whereby new industries — and jobs — replace the old ones. But has creative destruction become too destructive?
As Kevin Kelly tells it, the hippie revolution and the computer revolution are nearly one and the same.
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.
Influenza kills, but you’d never know it by how few of us get the vaccine.
Most people blame lack of time for being out of shape. So maybe the solution is to exercise more efficiently.
Imagine that both substances were undiscovered until today. How would we think about their relative risks?
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