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.
Listen here or follow Freakonomics Radio on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. We also provide transcripts, show notes, and links to research for each episode.
Real tax reform may or may not ever happen. In the meantime, how about making the current system work a bit better?
Freakonomics asks a dozen smart people for their best ideas. Get ready for a fat tax, a sugar ban, and a calorie-chomping tapeworm.
The N.C.A.A. basketball tournament grabs a lot of eyeballs, but turning them into dollars hasn’t always been easy — even when the “talent” is playing for free.
There ain’t no such thing as a free parking spot. Somebody has to pay for it — and that somebody is everybody.
Sure, we all like to hear compliments. But if you’re truly looking to get better at something, it’s the negative feedback that will get you there.
In many ways, the gender gap is closing. In others, not so much. And that’s not always a bad thing.
The gas tax doesn’t work well, and it’s only going to get worse. What’s next?
No one wants mass shootings. Unfortunately, no one has a workable plan to stop them either.
It is startlingly easy to create false memories, especially in politics.
Our latest Freakonomics Radio podcast is called “Would You Let a Coin Toss Decide Your Future?”
Steve Levitt has a novel idea for helping people make tough decisions.
The very long reach of Winston Churchill — and how the British government is remaking copyright law.
Why do Hall of Fame inductees, Oscar winners, and Nobel laureates outlive their peers?
Levitt and Dubner answer your questions about driving, sneezing, and ladies’ nights. Plus a remembrance of Levitt’s sister Linda.
It’s harder than you’d think to measure the value of a boss. But some enterprising economists have done just that — and the news is good.
Dubner’s childhood home goes from sacred to profane — and then back again.
Who better than an economist to help with your shopping list?
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.
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