Freakonomics Radio

What Can Whales Teach Us About Clean Energy, Workplace Harmony, and Living the Good Life? (Update)

22 Aug 2025

Audio

Description

In the final episode of our whale series, we learn about fecal plumes, shipping noise, and why Moby-Dick is still worth reading. (Part 3 of "Everything You Never Knew About Whaling.") SOURCES:Michele Baggio, professor of economics at the University of Connecticut.Mary K. Bercaw-Edwards, professor of maritime English at the University of Connecticut and lead foreman at the Mystic Seaport Museum.Hester Blum, professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis.Eric Hilt, professor of economics at Wellesley College.Kate O’Connell, senior policy consultant for the marine life program at the Animal Welfare Institute.Maria Petrillo, director of interpretation at the Mystic Seaport Museum.Joe Roman, fellow and writer-in-residence at the Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont. RESOURCES:Eat, Poop, Die: How Animals Make Our World, by Joe Roman (2023).“Racial Diversity and Team Performance: Evidence from the American Offshore Whaling Industry,” by Michele Baggio and Metin M. Cosgel (S.S.R.N., 2023).“Why 23 Dead Whales Have Washed Up on the East Coast Since December,” by Tracey Tully and Winston Choi-Schagrin (The New York Times, 2023).“Suspected Russia-Trained Spy Whale Reappears Off Sweden’s Coast,” by A.F.P. in Stockholm (The Guardian, 2023).“International Trade, Noise Pollution, and Killer Whales,” by M. Scott Taylor and Fruzsina Mayer (N.B.E.R. Working Paper, 2023).“World-First Map Exposes Growing Dangers Along Whale Superhighways,” by the World Wildlife Fund (2022).“Lifting Baselines to Address the Consequences of Conservation Success,” by Joe Roman, Meagan M. Dunphy-Daly, David W. Johnston, and Andrew J. Read (Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 2015).“Wages, Risk, and Profits in the Whaling Industry,” by Elmo P. Hohman (The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1926).Moby-Dick, by Herman Melville (1851). EXTRAS:“Why Do People Still Hunt Whales? (Update)” by Freakonomics Radio (2025).“How Much Does Discrimination Hurt the Economy?” by Freakonomics Radio (2021).

Transcription

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Help us prioritize this episode for transcription by upvoting it.

0 upvotes

🗳️ Sign in to Upvote

Popular episodes get transcribed faster

Other episodes from Freakonomics Radio

Transcribed and ready to explore now

Steve Levitt Quits His Podcast, Joins Ours

21 Jan 2026

Freakonomics Radio

659. Can Marty Makary Fix the F.D.A.?

16 Jan 2026

Freakonomics Radio

How to Succeed at Failing, Part 4: Extreme Resiliency (Update)

21 May 2025

Freakonomics Radio

How to Succeed at Failing, Part 3: Grit vs. Quit (Update)

16 May 2025

Freakonomics Radio

How to Succeed at Failing, Part 2: Life and Death (Update)

14 May 2025

Freakonomics Radio

How to Succeed at Failing, Part 1: The Chain of Events (Update)

09 May 2025

Freakonomics Radio

View all episodes from Freakonomics Radio

Comments

There are no comments yet.

Please log in to write the first comment.

Report any issue

Freakonomics Radio

What Can Whales Teach Us About Clean Energy, Workplace Harmony, and Living the Good Life? (Update)

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Other episodes from Freakonomics Radio

Steve Levitt Quits His Podcast, Joins Ours

659. Can Marty Makary Fix the F.D.A.?

How to Succeed at Failing, Part 4: Extreme Resiliency (Update)

How to Succeed at Failing, Part 3: Grit vs. Quit (Update)

How to Succeed at Failing, Part 2: Life and Death (Update)

How to Succeed at Failing, Part 1: The Chain of Events (Update)

Sign in to Audioscrape

Share this moment