“I Trust Almost Anyone More Than Myself” | Better in Person
The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jennifer Egan talks about confidence, luck, and why it takes 35 drafts to get to the finish line. If you...
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Freakonomics Radio
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...
Freakonomics Radio Podcast Guide
Listen to Freakonomics Radio, a Society & Culture podcast by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher. Stream 931 episodes in English, follow new audio stories, and play episodes online on Radio and Podcast.
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Episodes
20 of 931 episodesIs a Museum Just a Trophy Case? (Update)
The world’s great museums are full of art and artifacts that were plundered during an era when plunder was the norm. Now there’s a push to r...
Meet Warren Zanes, the Author and Rocker Behind the Springsteen Movie | Better in Person
When he joined the Del Fuegos, his big brother’s band, all Warren knew how to play was a record player. Things went great for a while — and...
The Case of the $4 Million Gold Coffin (Update)
How did a freshly looted Egyptian antiquity end up in the Metropolitan Museum of Art? Why did it take Kim Kardashian to crack the case? And...
What if Being a Stranger Is Actually Your Superpower? | Better in Person
Angela Buchdahl was the first Asian American to be ordained as a rabbi, and now she is among the most influential rabbis in the world. She a...
684. He Helped Clean Up the Last Crash. Does He See Another One Coming?
Former S.E.C. chair Gary Gensler has had a front-row seat to numerous financial booms and busts. How does he feel about America’s massive be...
Does it Take a Twisted Mind to Write Twisted Stories? | Better In Person
Harlan Coben doesn’t think so. The mega-best-selling author talks suburbia, impostor syndrome, and what he learned from his college friend D...
683. In the New Space Race, Who Makes the Rules?
Governments started the space age. Now, billionaires and private firms are reinventing it. Guest host Steve Levitt explores what the past ca...
How Gary Gulman Turned Depression Into Comedy Gold | Better in Person
Gary and Stephen talk about creativity, recovery, getting fired, and holding grudges. They also get outside and play basketball, which is a...
682. Should A.I. Move to Space?
At first it sounds ridiculous. But it might be inevitable. Guest host Steve Levitt talks to a team that hopes to push A.I. infrastructure of...
Why Cooking is Caregiving, with Chef Hillary Sterling | Better in Person
Hillary Sterling was a Brooklyn kid raised on cream cheese sandwiches and canned potatoes. So how did she become one of New York City's best...
Are You Really Allergic to Penicillin? (Update)
Like tens of millions of people, Stephen Dubner thought he had a penicillin allergy. Like the vast majority, he didn’t. This misdiagnosis co...
How a Great Architect Thinks, with Bjarke Ingels | Better in Person
Is the oxymoron really “the secret sauce to everything”? That’s the case Ingels makes in this debut episode of our new video show Better in...
681. How to Host a Talk Show, with Dick Cavett
Stephen Dubner had an idea for a new project. So he drove to Connecticut and knocked on the door of the master. Dubner’s new TV talk show Be...
680. Can Universities Win Back Our Trust?
Dartmouth president Sian Beilock, a psychologist by training, made her name studying why people choke. Now she’s applying those insights to...
679. Why Does Vanderbilt Keep Winning?
It’s a hard time to run a university: public trust is low, political pressure is high, and finances are fragile. But Daniel Diermeier, who t...
The World Is (Still) Drowning in Sludge
Insurance forms that make no sense. Subscriptions that can’t be cancelled. A never-ending blizzard of automated notifications. In this updat...
678. Who Gets to Choose a “Good Death”?
New York is the latest state to legalize medical aid in dying. Stephen Dubner speaks with the governor who signed the law, a Nobel Prize-win...
677. Can Backgammon Save Us from Ourselves?
It brings strangers together. It teaches probability, strategy, and emotional control. It has even helped N.F.L. teams win the Super Bowl. S...
This Is Your Brain on Pollution (Update)
As the Trump administration rolls back environmental regulations, we revisit a 2022 episode that explored the hidden cost of an invisible th...