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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College, at its best, is about learning to think. Stephen Dubner chats up three of his former professors who made the magic happen.
Economists are a notoriously self-interested bunch. But a British outfit called Pro Bono Economics is giving away its services to selected charities.
There are enough management consultants these days to form a small nation. But what do they actually do? And does it work?
Adding more train and bus lines looks like an environmental slam dunk. Until you start to do the math.
Turkey sex and chicken wings, selling souls and swapping organs, the power of the president and the price of wine: these are a few of our favorite things
Is it as simple as going to the richest neighborhood you can find? Of course not …
Politicians tell voters exactly what they want to hear, even when it makes no sense. Which is pretty much all the time.
We rely on polls and surveys to tell us how people will behave in the future. Too bad they’re completely unreliable.
When you want to get rid of a nasty pest, one obvious solution comes to mind: just offer a cash reward. But be careful — because nothing backfires quite like a bounty.
Sure, we love our computers and all the rest of our digital toys. But when it comes to real economic gains, can we ever match old-school innovations like the automobile and electricity?
Trying to go rustic by baking, brewing, and knitting at home can be terribly inefficient. And that’s a wonderful thing.
The data show that poker is indeed a game of skill, not chance, and a Federal judge agrees. So why are players still being treated like criminals?
What “Sleep No More” and the Stanford Prison Experiment tell us about who we really are.
Binge drinking is a big problem at college football games. Oliver Luck — father of No. 1 N.F.L. pick Andrew, and the athletic director at West Virginia University — had an unusual idea to help solve it.
What we know — and don’t know — about the gazillions of dollars that never show up on anyone’s books.
If you think working from home offers too many distractions, just think about what happens at the office.
College tends to make people happier, healthier, and wealthier. But how?
We know that summertime brings far too many fatal accidents. But you may be surprised if you dig into the numbers.
What’s a college degree really worth these days?
Do host cities really get the benefits their boosters promise, or are they just engaging in some fiscal gymnastics?
What happens to your reputation when you’re no longer around to defend it?
If we want our kids to thrive in school, maybe we should just pay them.
Levitt and Dubner answer your FREAK-quently Asked Questions about junk food, insurance, and how to make an economist happy.
Once a week, the British Prime Minister goes before the House of Commons for a lightning round of hard questions. Should the U.S. give it a try?
How using peer pressure — and good, old-fashioned shame — can push people to do the right thing.
Paying workers as little as possible seems smart — unless you can make more money by paying them more.
To feed 7 billion people while protecting the environment, it would seem that going local is a no-brainer — until you start looking at the numbers.
The N.B.A.’s superstars are suddenly sporting Urkel glasses — but is it more than a fashion statement?
How American food so got bad — and why it’s getting so much better.
Sure, we all dream of leaving the office forever. But what if it’s bad for your health?
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