Freakonomics Radio

Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

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…

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How to Return Stolen Art (Update) 2026-08-28 · 51m
“I Trust Almost Anyone More Than Myself” | Better in Person 2026-08-26 · 43m
Is a Museum Just a Trophy Case? (Update) 2026-08-21 · 53m
Meet Warren Zanes, the Author and Rocker Behind the Springsteen Movie | Better in Person 2026-08-19 · 51m
The Case of the $4 Million Gold Coffin (Update) 2026-08-14 · 54m
What if Being a Stranger Is Actually Your Superpower? | Better in Person 2026-08-12 · 34m
684. He Helped Clean Up the Last Crash. Does He See Another One Coming? 2026-08-07 · 67m
Does it Take a Twisted Mind to Write Twisted Stories? | Better In Person 2026-08-05 · 45m
683. In the New Space Race, Who Makes the Rules? 2026-07-31 · 56m
How Gary Gulman Turned Depression Into Comedy Gold | Better in Person 2026-07-29 · 47m
682. Should A.I. Move to Space? 2026-07-24 · 48m
Why Cooking is Caregiving, with Chef Hillary Sterling | Better in Person 2026-07-22 · 43m
Are You Really Allergic to Penicillin? (Update) 2026-07-17 · 65m
How a Great Architect Thinks, with Bjarke Ingels | Better in Person 2026-07-14 · 43m
681. How to Host a Talk Show, with Dick Cavett 2026-07-09 · 43m
680. Can Universities Win Back Our Trust? 2026-07-03 · 50m
679. Why Does Vanderbilt Keep Winning? 2026-06-26 · 64m
The World Is (Still) Drowning in Sludge 2026-06-24 · 55m
678. Who Gets to Choose a “Good Death”? 2026-06-19 · 50m
677. Can Backgammon Save Us from Ourselves? 2026-06-12 · 59m
This Is Your Brain on Pollution (Update) 2026-06-10 · 47m
676. Has America Lost the Plot? 2026-06-05 · 65m
The Vanishing Mr. Feynman (Update) 2026-05-29 · 61m
The Brilliant Mr. Feynman (Update) 2026-05-27 · 53m
The Curious Mr. Feynman (Update) 2026-05-22 · 63m
675. Has the New York Times Become a Games Company? 2026-05-15 · 57m
674. How Does a Composer Feel After the World Premiere? 2026-05-08 · 45m
Was Adam Smith Really a Right-Winger? (Update) 2026-05-06 · 68m
673. What Is Money? 2026-05-01 · 54m
672. What Makes Judy Faulkner Run? 2026-04-24 · 61m
Why Does Everyone Hate Rats? (Update) 2026-04-22 · 41m
671. Why Has There Been So Little Progress on Alzheimer’s Disease? 2026-04-17 · 61m
670. Beeconomics 101 2026-04-10 · 56m
Ten Myths About the U.S. Tax System (Update) 2026-04-08 · 64m
669. Why Is 95 Percent of the World’s Bourbon Made in Kentucky? 2026-04-03 · 46m
668. Do Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny Have Blood on Their Hands? 2026-03-27 · 54m
In a Driverless World, Who Loses and Who Wins? 2026-03-25 · 66m
Are Human Drivers Finally Obsolete? 2026-03-20 · 71m
667. Here’s Why You Are Constantly Fighting Off Scammers 2026-03-13 · 47m
666. This Is How Progress Happens 2026-03-06 · 53m
The Most Powerful People You’ve Never Heard Of (Update) 2026-03-04 · 66m
665. Werner Herzog Isn’t Afraid ... 2026-02-27 · 49m
664. Are Thousands of Medical Cures Hiding in Plain Sight? 2026-02-20 · 52m
All You Need Is Nudge (Update) 2026-02-18 · 57m
663. Is Weed a Performance-Enhancing Drug? 2026-02-13 · 51m
662. If You’re Not Cheating, You’re Not Trying 2026-02-06 · 53m
Why Don’t Running Backs Get Paid Anymore? (Update) 2026-02-04 · 58m
661. Can A.I. Save Your Life? 2026-01-30 · 60m
660. The Wellness Industry Is Gigantic — and Mostly Wrong 2026-01-23 · 65m
Steve Levitt Quits His Podcast, Joins Ours 2026-01-21 · 46m
659. Can Marty Makary Fix the F.D.A.? 2026-01-16 · 55m
658. This Is Your Brain on Supplements 2026-01-09 · 53m
Are Personal Finance Gurus Giving You Bad Advice? (Update) 2026-01-02 · 61m
Are You Ready for a Fresh Start? (Update) 2025-12-30 · 43m
Are the Rich Really Less Generous Than the Poor? (Update) 2025-12-26 · 44m
657. Whose “Messiah” Is It Anyway? 2025-12-19 · 48m
Who Pays for “Messiah”? 2025-12-17 · 42m
656. How Handel Got His Mojo Back 2025-12-12 · 57m
655. “The Greatest Piece of Participatory Art Ever Created” 2025-12-05 · 57m
Dying Is Easy. Retail Is Hard. (Update) 2025-11-28 · 62m
Is Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade Its Most Valuable Asset? (Update) 2025-11-27 · 53m
654. Is the Public Ready for Private Equity? 2025-11-21 · 63m
653. Does Horse Racing Have a Future? 2025-11-14 · 62m
What Happens When You Turn 20 2025-11-12 · 63m
652. Inside the Horse-Industrial Complex 2025-11-07 · 61m
651. The Ultimate Dance Partner 2025-10-31 · 68m
Are Two C.E.O.s Better Than One? (Update) 2025-10-29 · 48m
650. The Doctor Won’t See You Now 2025-10-24 · 52m
A Question-Asker Becomes a Question-Answerer 2025-10-17 · 74m
How Can We Break Our Addiction to Contempt? (Update) 2025-10-15 · 40m
649. Should Ohio State (and Michigan, and Clemson) Join the N.F.L.? 2025-10-10 · 55m
648. The Merger You Never Knew You Wanted 2025-10-03 · 66m
Is the U.S. Really Less Corrupt Than China? (Update) 2025-09-26 · 58m
647. China Is Run by Engineers. America Is Run by Lawyers. 2025-09-19 · 62m
Is the World Ready for a Guaranteed Basic Income? (Update) 2025-09-17 · 36m
646. An Air Traffic Controller Walks Into a Radio Studio ... 2025-09-12 · 61m
645. Is the Air Traffic Control System Broken? 2025-09-05 · 63m
644. Has America Lost Its Appetite for the Common Good? 2025-08-29 · 77m
Extra: A Modern Whaler Speaks Up (Update) 2025-08-27 · 27m
What Can Whales Teach Us About Clean Energy, Workplace Harmony, and Living the Good Life? (Update) 2025-08-22 · 48m
Why Do People Still Hunt Whales? (Update) 2025-08-15 · 38m
The First Great American Industry (Update) 2025-08-08 · 45m
Why Does Tipping Still Exist? (Update) 2025-08-06 · 47m
643. Why Do Candles Still Exist? 2025-08-01 · 47m
642. How to Wage Peace, According to Tony Blinken 2025-07-25 · 66m
Why Does One Tiny State Set the Rules for Everyone? (Update) 2025-07-23 · 47m
641. What Does It Cost to Lead a Creative Life? 2025-07-18 · 46m
640. Why Governments Are Betting Big on Sports 2025-07-11 · 50m
How to Make Your Own Luck (Update) 2025-07-09 · 58m
639. “This Country Kicks My Ass All the Time” 2025-07-04 · 54m
638. Are You Ready for the Elder Swell? 2025-06-27 · 55m
What Do Medieval Nuns and Bo Jackson Have in Common? (Update) 2025-06-25 · 36m
637. What It’s Like to Be Middle-Aged (in the Middle Ages) 2025-06-20 · 46m
636. Why Aren’t We Having More Babies? 2025-06-13 · 50m
An Economics Lesson from a Talking Pencil (Update) 2025-06-11 · 40m
635. Can a Museum Be the Conscience of a Nation? 2025-06-06 · 51m
634. “Fault-Finder Is a Minimum-Wage Job” 2025-05-30 · 62m
633. The Most Powerful People You’ve Never Heard Of 2025-05-23 · 66m
How to Succeed at Failing, Part 4: Extreme Resiliency (Update) 2025-05-21 · 53m
How to Succeed at Failing, Part 3: Grit vs. Quit (Update) 2025-05-16 · 64m
How to Succeed at Failing, Part 2: Life and Death (Update) 2025-05-14 · 53m
How to Succeed at Failing, Part 1: The Chain of Events (Update) 2025-05-09 · 56m
632. When Did We All Start Watching Documentaries? 2025-05-02 · 54m
631. Will "3 Summers of Lincoln" Make It to Broadway? 2025-04-25 · 46m
Is It a Theater Piece or a Psychological Experiment? (Update) 2025-04-23 · 37m
630. On Broadway, Nobody Knows Nothing 2025-04-18 · 62m
629. How Is Live Theater Still Alive? 2025-04-11 · 60m
Policymaking Is Not a Science — Yet (Update) 2025-04-09 · 45m
628. Sludge, Part 2: Is Government the Problem, or the Solution? 2025-04-04 · 49m
627. Sludge, Part 1: The World Is Drowning in It 2025-03-28 · 55m
Should America Be Run by … Trader Joe’s? (Update) 2025-03-21 · 48m
626. Ten Myths About the U.S. Tax System 2025-03-14 · 64m
625. The Biden Policy That Trump Hasn’t Touched 2025-03-07 · 63m
EXTRA: The Downside of Disgust (Update) 2025-03-05 · 44m
624. The Animal No One Loves, Until They Do 2025-02-28 · 45m
623. Can New York City Win Its War on Rats? 2025-02-21 · 50m
The Show That Never Happened 2025-02-20 · 14m
622. Why Does Everyone Hate Rats? 2025-02-14 · 41m
621. Is Professional Licensing a Racket? 2025-02-07 · 55m
When Is a Superstar Just Another Employee? 2025-02-05 · 69m
620. Why Don’t Running Backs Get Paid Anymore? 2025-01-31 · 61m
619. How to Poison the A.I. Machine 2025-01-24 · 52m
Is San Francisco a Failed State? (And Other Questions You Shouldn’t Ask the Mayor) 2025-01-22 · 59m
618. Are Realtors Having an Existential Crisis? 2025-01-17 · 53m
617. Are You Really Allergic to Penicillin? 2025-01-10 · 64m
Highway Signs and Prison Labor 2025-01-06 · 39m
Can Academic Fraud Be Stopped? (Update) 2025-01-02 · 69m
Why Is There So Much Fraud in Academia? (Update) 2024-12-26 · 75m
Your Brain Doesn’t Work the Way You Think 2024-12-23 · 48m
616. How to Make Something from Nothing 2024-12-19 · 48m
615. Is Ozempic as Magical as It Sounds? 2024-12-12 · 57m
How the Supermarket Helped America Win the Cold War (Update) 2024-12-09 · 39m
614. Is the U.S. Sleeping on Threats from Russia and China? 2024-12-05 · 51m
613. Dying Is Easy. Retail Is Hard. 2024-11-28 · 62m
612. Is Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade Its Most Valuable Asset? 2024-11-21 · 53m
How to Stop Worrying and Love the Robot Apocalypse (Update) 2024-11-18 · 49m
611. Fareed Zakaria on What Just Happened, and What Comes Next 2024-11-14 · 59m
610. Who Wins and Who Loses Once the U.S. Legalizes Weed? 2024-11-07 · 43m
609. What Does It Take to Run a Cannabis Farm? 2024-10-31 · 40m
Abortion and Crime, Revisited (Update) 2024-10-28 · 55m
608. Cannabis Is Booming, So Why Isn’t Anyone Getting Rich? 2024-10-24 · 51m
607. Is America Switching From Booze to Weed? 2024-10-17 · 46m
606. How to Predict the Presidency 2024-10-11 · 56m
Has the U.S. Presidency Become a Dictatorship? (Update) 2024-10-10 · 47m
605. What Do People Do All Day? 2024-10-03 · 61m
EXTRA: Roland Fryer Refuses to Lie to Black America (Update) 2024-09-30 · 60m
604. Did the N.F.L. Solve Diversity Hiring? (Part 2) 2024-09-26 · 47m
603. Did the N.F.L. Solve Diversity Hiring? (Part 1) 2024-09-19 · 48m
EXTRA: In Praise of Maintenance (Update) 2024-09-16 · 43m
602. Is Screen Time as Poisonous as We Think? 2024-09-12 · 40m
601. Multitasking Doesn’t Work. So Why Do We Keep Trying? 2024-09-05 · 58m
What Is the Future of College — and Does It Have Room for Men? (Update) 2024-08-29 · 49m
EXTRA: Why Quitting Is Usually Worth It 2024-08-26 · 40m
The University of Impossible-to-Get-Into (Update) 2024-08-22 · 71m
What Exactly Is College For? (Update) 2024-08-15 · 50m
EXTRA: Here’s Why You’re Not an Elite Athlete (Update) 2024-08-12 · 66m
600. “If We’re All in It for Ourselves, Who Are We?” 2024-08-08 · 45m
599. The World's Most Valuable Unused Resource 2024-08-01 · 40m
EXTRA: Why Rent Control Doesn’t Work (Update) 2024-07-29 · 48m
598. Is Overconsolidation a Threat to Democracy? 2024-07-25 · 37m
597. Why Do Your Eyeglasses Cost $1,000? 2024-07-18 · 55m
EXTRA: People Aren’t Dumb. The World Is Hard. (Update) 2024-07-15 · 53m
596. Farewell to a Generational Talent 2024-07-11 · 53m
595. Why Don't We Have Better Candidates for President? 2024-07-04 · 62m
594. Your Brand’s Spokesperson Just Got Arrested — Now What? 2024-06-27 · 44m
593. You Can Make a Killing, but Not a Living 2024-06-20 · 50m
EXTRA: The Fascinatingly Mundane Secrets of the World’s Most Exclusive Nightclub 2024-06-17 · 45m
592. How to Make the Coolest Show on Broadway 2024-06-13 · 65m
591. Signs of Progress, One Year at a Time 2024-06-06 · 53m
EXTRA: The Opioid Tragedy — How We Got Here 2024-06-03 · 42m
590. Can $55 Billion End the Opioid Epidemic? 2024-05-30 · 41m
589. Why Has the Opioid Crisis Lasted So Long? 2024-05-23 · 49m
Extra: Car Colors & Storage Units 2024-05-20 · 35m
588. Confessions of a Black Conservative 2024-05-16 · 57m
Should Companies Be Owned by Their Workers? 2024-05-09 · 47m
586. How Does the Lost World of Vienna Still Shape Our Lives? 2024-05-02 · 57m
Extra: Why Is 23andMe Going Under? (Update) 2024-04-29 · 62m
585. A Social Activist in Prime Minister’s Clothing 2024-04-25 · 52m
How to Pave the Road to Hell 2024-04-18 · 44m
Extra: The Men Who Started a Thinking Revolution (Update) 2024-04-14 · 35m
Why Are There So Many Bad Bosses? 2024-04-11 · 50m
583. Are We Living Through the Most Revolutionary Period in History? 2024-04-04 · 63m
Extra: How Much Do You Know About Immigration? 2024-04-01 · 28m
582. Why Is Everyone Moving to Canada? 2024-03-28 · 50m
581. What Both Parties Get Wrong About Immigration 2024-03-21 · 56m
Extra: Madeleine Albright’s Warning on Immigration 2024-03-18 · 29m
580. The True Story of America’s Supremely Messed-Up Immigration System 2024-03-14 · 55m
579. Are You Caught in a Social Media Trap? 2024-03-07 · 42m
Extra: What Is Sportswashing — and Does It Work? (Update) 2024-03-04 · 65m
578. Water, Water Everywhere — But You Have to Stop and Think 2024-02-29 · 52m
Is Google Getting Worse? (Update) 2024-02-22 · 57m
Extra: Mr. Feynman Takes a Trip — But Doesn’t Fall 2024-02-19 · 48m
The Vanishing Mr. Feynman 2024-02-15 · 61m
The Brilliant Mr. Feynman 2024-02-08 · 53m
How the San Francisco 49ers Stopped Being Losers (Update) 2024-02-05 · 64m
The Curious Mr. Feynman 2024-02-01 · 62m
574. “A Low Moment in Higher Education” 2024-01-25 · 47m
5 Psychology Terms You’re Probably Misusing (Replay) 2024-01-22 · 49m
573. Can Academic Fraud Be Stopped? 2024-01-18 · 63m
572. Why Is There So Much Fraud in Academia? 2024-01-11 · 74m
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