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Tell Me Something I Don't Know
Journalism wrapped in a game-show package. Host Stephen J. Dubner (of “Freakonomics Radio”) and a celebrity co-host invite guests on stage in front of a live audience to tell us something we...
Episodes
20 of 48 episodes
An Astronaut, a Catalan, and Two Linguists Walk Into a Bar…
Why New York has skinny skyscrapers, how to weaponize water, and what astronauts talk about in space. John McWhorter is co-host; Bari Weiss...
Extra 7: Corrosive Energy Drinks and Peruvian Cat Stew
In this special call-in episode: why some Peruvians eat cats; why operas need repetiteurs; and why we should get rid of prisons. Michael Sme...
Farming Without Sun or Soil and Eating Manna From Heaven
This week, we work on our survival skills: in the desert, on the tundra, and growing food in abandoned warehouses. Actress Sas Goldberg is c...
Mind Games
How to make people like you, why you should lick rocks, and what an awkward person is really thinking. Angela Duckworth (Grit author) is co-...
Jon Batiste, Gail Simmons, and Strange Smells
Things we learn this week: dogs aren't so great at sniffing, men aren't so lazy, and New York doesn't smell so bad (anymore). Gail Simmons (...
All About Bugs (of the Animal and Computer Varieties)
Musical crickets, crop-saving wasps — and why you should pre-bug your software. John McWhorter is co-host; the live fact-checker is Bari Wei...
School Start Times, Brand Names, and Too Much Ground Beef
Alex Wagner (CBS This Morning Saturday, The Atlantic) is our special guest co-host, with AJ Jacobs (author of It's All Relative) as real-tim...
How to Count to Infinity
Mary Roach (author of Stiff, Spook, Bonk, Gulp, and Grunt) is our special guest co-host, with AJ Jacobs (author of It's All Relative) as rea...
The Perfect Potato Chip, the Origin of Seltzer, and Why We Eat “Beef” and Not “Cow”
Alex Guarnaschelli (Iron Chef America and Chopped) is our special guest co-host, with Sean Rameswaram (Radiolab Presents: More Perfect) as r...
You Say “eye-RACK,” I Say “ear-ROCK”
Hari Kondabolu (comedian and host of Politically Re-Active) is our special guest co-host, with Sean Rameswaram (Radiolab Presents: More Perf...
Season 4 Preview
Alex Guarnaschelli, Alexandra Petri, Hari Kondabolu, Mary Roach, and Jemele Hill are some of the brilliant co-hosts joining us during Season...
Womb to Tomb
Alexandra Petri (Washington Post columnist) is our special guest co-host, with AJ Jacobs (author of It's All Relative) as real-time fact-che...
Extra 6: A Better Way to End Basketball Games
Basketball fans know how boring a game's ending can be — intentional fouls can stretch 90 seconds into 10 minutes. What if we could fix it b...
Extra 5: The Actress Who Never Takes a Sick Day
Off-Broadway actress, producer, and Guinness Record-holder Catherine Russell has played the same off-Broadway role for three decades. What’s...
Extra 4: The Most Renewable Energy of All
Some of our most important inventions safely remove human waste. But what if we could use that waste to generate electricity?
Extra 3: The Rise and Fall (and Rise?) of Rosé Wine
From medieval times through the French Revolution, rosé ruled the wine world — and now it’s staging a comeback. Actress (and rosé fan) Miria...
Extra 2: Meet the Senator Who Wants to Start an Evidence-Based Revolution
Senator Todd Young of Indiana wants to make government-funded social programs more effective with Social Impact Partnerships, which pair pri...
Extra 1: How the Mafia Got Its Start
In 1803, Sicily and Malta won contracts to provide lemon juice to the entire British Royal Navy. Half a century later, the mafia was born.
Urinetown
James Altucher (host of The James Altucher Show) is our special guest co-host, with Mike Maughan (head of global insights at Qualtrics) as r...