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In their books "Freakonomics," "SuperFreakonomics" and "Think Like a Freak", Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner explore "the hidden side of everything," telling stories about cheating sc...
Great. Then depressed. Then great again. Stephen Dubner gets the full story from David Lang; we also hear from some fans, and the New York P...
Economists and politicians have turned him into a mascot for free-market ideology. Some on the left say the right has badly misread him. In...
That’s what the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang wanted to learn. So he turned Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations into an oratorio...
Epic Systems manages the electronic health records for hundreds of millions of people. This makes Faulkner a healthcare heavyweight and one...
New York City’s mayor called them “public enemy number one.” History books say they caused the Black Death — although recent scientific evid...
One possibility: a leading hypothesis pursued by researchers (and funders) was built on science that now appears to be fraudulent. Stephen D...
How do beekeepers make a living? Why is there so much honey fraud? And why did billions of bees suddenly disappear? To find out, guest host...
Nearly everything that politicians say about taxes is at least half a lie. They are also dishonest when it comes to the national debt. In th...
Is it tradition … or protectionism? And what happens when the bourbon boom turns into a glut? SOURCES: Andrew Muhammad , agricultural econom...
As one researcher told us: “We’ve engineered a world where the most distracting device ever made is also the one we use to listen to music i...
In blue cities across the country, unions and politicians want to ban self-driving cars. In this episode from the Search Engine podcast, PJ...
How a secret project at Google led to driverless cars on American roads. Freakonomics Radio shares a story from our friends at Search Engine...
A ruthless (and ruthlessly efficient) industry is using digital tools to supercharge one of the world’s oldest behaviors. We look at how the...
Economists don’t usually talk about “culture.” But Joel Mokyr argues that it’s the engine of innovation — and the Nobel Prize committee agre...
Just beneath the surface of the global economy, there is a hidden layer of dealmakers for whom war, chaos, and sanctions can be a great busi...
... of bad reviews, meager financing, or artificial intelligence. But he is worried that the world is full of sloppy thinkers who mistake fa...
Existing drugs can sometimes be repurposed to treat rare diseases. But making that match can be hard — and the financial incentives are weak...
When Richard Thaler first published Nudge , the world was just starting to believe in his brand of behavioral economics. In this 2021 episod...
The science says no, at least not in the athletic sense. But the psychic benefits can be large — just ask former N.F.L. star Ricky Williams....
In sports, the rules are meant to be sacrosanct. But when it comes to performance-enhancing drugs, the slope is super-slippery. (Part one of...
They used to be the N.F.L.’s biggest stars, with paychecks to match. Now their salaries are near the bottom, and their careers are shorter t...
For 50 years, the healthcare industry has been trying (and failing) to harness the power of artificial intelligence. It may finally be ready...
Zeke Emanuel (a physician, medical ethicist, and policy wonk) has some different ideas for how to lead a healthy and meaningful life. It sta...
After five years, Levitt is ending People I (Mostly) Admire, and will start hosting the occasional Freakonomics Radio episode. We couldn’t b...
It regulates 20 percent of the U.S. economy, and its commissioner has an aggressive agenda — faster drug approvals, healthier food, cures fo...
We all want to stay sharp, and forestall the cognitive effects of aging. But do brain supplements actually work? Are they safe? And why does...
One Yale economist certainly thinks so. But even if he’s right, are economists any better? We find out, in this update of a 2022 episode. SO...
Behavioral scientists have been exploring whether a psychological reset can lead to lasting change. In this update of a 2021 episode, we sur...
A series of academic studies suggest that the wealthy are, to put it bluntly, selfish jerks. It’s an easy narrative to embrace — but is it t...
All sorts of people have put their mark on Messiah , and it has been a hit for nearly 300 years. How can a single piece of music thrive in s...
In the 18th century, Handel relied on royal patronage. Today, it’s donors like Gary Parr who keep the music playing. In this bonus episode o...
When he wrote Messiah (in 24 days), Handel was past his prime and nearly broke. One night in Dublin changed all that. (Part two of “ Making...
Why does an 18th-century Christian oratorio lend such comfort to our own turbulent times? Stephen Dubner sets out for Dublin to tell the sto...
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 li...
The iconic department store calls the parade its “gift to the nation.” With 30 million TV viewers, it’s also a big moneymaker — at least we...
A Trump executive order is giving retail investors more access to private markets. Is that a golden opportunity — or fool’s gold? SOURCES: E...
Thoroughbred auction prices keep setting records. But tracks are closing, gambling revenues are falling, and the sport is increasingly relia...
The world has changed a good bit since Freakonomics was first published. In this live anniversary episode, Stephen Dubner tells Geoff Bennet...
How does Kentucky keep itself atop the thoroughbred industry? Is a champion stallion really worth $200,000 per date? And how many hands can...
For most of human history, horsepower made the world go. Then came the machines. So why are there still seven million horses in America? (Pa...
Spotify, Oracle, and Comcast have each recently announced they’re going with co-C.E.O.s. In this 2023 episode, we dig into the research and...
The U.S. has a physician shortage, created in part by a century-old reform that shut down bad medical schools. But why haven’t we filled the...
For the 20th anniversary of Freakonomics , Debbie Millman of Design Matters interviews Stephen Dubner about his upbringing, his writing care...
Arthur Brooks, an economist and former head of the American Enterprise Institute, believes that there is only one remedy for our political p...
Soccer leagues around the world use a promotion-and-relegation system to reward the best teams and punish the worst. We ask whether American...
The N.F.L. is a powerful cartel with imperial desires. College football is about to undergo a financial reckoning. So maybe they should team...
In this episode we first published in 2021, the political scientist Yuen Yuen Ang argues that different forms of government create different...
In his new book “Breakneck,” Dan Wang argues that the U.S. has a lot to learn from China. He also says that “no two peoples are more alike.”...
A lot of jobs in the modern economy don’t pay a living wage, and some of those jobs may be wiped out by new technologies. So what’s to be do...
What does it take to “play 3D chess at 250 miles an hour”? And how far will $12.5 billion of “Big, Beautiful” funding go toward modernizing...