Freakonomics Radio

EXTRA: Roland Fryer Refuses to Lie to Black America (Update)

30 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

His research on police brutality and school incentives won him acclaim, but also enemies. He was suspended for two years by Harvard, during which time...

604. Did the N.F.L. Solve Diversity Hiring? (Part 2)

26 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What happened when the Rooney Rule made its way from pro football to corporate America? Some progress, some backsliding, and a lot of controversy. (Se...

603. Did the N.F.L. Solve Diversity Hiring? (Part 1)

19 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The biggest sports league in history had a problem: While most of its players were Black, almost none of its head coaches were. So the N.F.L. launched...

EXTRA: In Praise of Maintenance (Update)

16 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We revisit an episode from 2016 that asks: Has our culture’s obsession with innovation led us to neglect the fact that things also need to be taken ...

602. Is Screen Time as Poisonous as We Think?

12 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Young people have been reporting a sharp rise in anxiety and depression. This maps neatly onto the global rise of the smartphone. Some researchers are...

601. Multitasking Doesn’t Work. So Why Do We Keep Trying?

05 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Only a tiny number of “supertaskers” are capable of doing two things at once. The rest of us are just making ourselves miserable, and less product...

What Is the Future of College — and Does It Have Room for Men? (Update)

29 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Educators and economists tell us all the reasons college enrollment has been dropping, especially for men, and how to stop the bleeding. (Part 3 of ou...

EXTRA: Why Quitting Is Usually Worth It

26 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Stephen Dubner appears as a guest on Fail Better, a new podcast hosted by David Duchovny. The two of them trade stories about failure, and ponder the ...

The University of Impossible-to-Get-Into (Update)

22 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

America’s top colleges are facing record demand. So why don’t they increase supply? (Part 2 of our series from 2022, “Freakonomics Radio Goes Ba...

What Exactly Is College For? (Update)

15 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We think of them as intellectual enclaves and the surest route to a better life. But U.S. colleges also operate like firms, trying to differentiate th...

EXTRA: Here’s Why You’re Not an Elite Athlete (Update)

12 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There are a lot of factors that go into greatness, many of which are not obvious. As the Olympics come to a close, we revisit a 2018 episode in which ...

600. “If We’re All in It for Ourselves, Who Are We?”

08 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tania Tetlow, a former federal prosecutor and now the president of Fordham University, thinks the modern campus could use a dose of old-fashioned valu...

599. The World's Most Valuable Unused Resource

01 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s not oil or water or plutonium — it’s human hours. We've got an idea for putting them to use, and for building a more human-centered economy...

EXTRA: Why Rent Control Doesn’t Work (Update)

29 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A new proposal from the Biden administration calls for a nationwide cap on rent increases. Economists think that’s a terrible idea. We revisit a 201...

598. Is Overconsolidation a Threat to Democracy?

25 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

That’s the worry. Even the humble eyeglass industry is dominated by a single firm. We look into the global spike in myopia, how the Lemtosh got its...

597. Why Do Your Eyeglasses Cost $1,000?

18 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A single company, EssilorLuxottica, owns so much of the eyewear industry that it’s hard to escape their gravitational pull — or their “obscene”...

EXTRA: People Aren’t Dumb. The World Is Hard. (Update)

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

You wouldn’t think you could win a Nobel Prize for showing that humans tend to make irrational decisions. But that’s what Richard Thaler has done....

596. Farewell to a Generational Talent

11 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel Kahneman left his mark on academia (and the real world) in countless ways. A group of his friends and colleagues recently gathered in Chicago t...

595. Why Don't We Have Better Candidates for President?

04 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

American politics is trapped in a duopoly, with two all-powerful parties colluding to stifle competition. We revisit a 2018 episode to explain how the...

594. Your Brand’s Spokesperson Just Got Arrested — Now What?

27 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s hard to know whether the benefits of hiring a celebrity are worth the risk. We dig into one gruesome story of an endorsement gone wrong, and fi...

593. You Can Make a Killing, but Not a Living

20 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Broadway operates on a winner-take-most business model. A runaway hit like Stereophonic — which just won five Tony Awards — will create a few big ...

EXTRA: The Fascinatingly Mundane Secrets of the World’s Most Exclusive Nightclub

17 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Berlin dance mecca Berghain is known for its eight-hour line and inscrutable door policy. PJ Vogt, host of the podcast Search Engine, joins us to ...

592. How to Make the Coolest Show on Broadway

13 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Hit by Covid, runaway costs, and a zillion streams of competition, serious theater is in serious trouble. A new hit play called Stereophonic — the m...

591. Signs of Progress, One Year at a Time

06 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Every December, a British man named Tom Whitwell publishes a list of 52 things he’s learned that year. These fascinating facts reveal the spectrum o...

EXTRA: The Opioid Tragedy — How We Got Here

03 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

An update of our 2020 series, in which we spoke with physicians, researchers, and addicts about the root causes of the crisis — and the tension bet...

590. Can $55 Billion End the Opioid Epidemic?

30 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Thanks to legal settlements with drug makers and distributors, states have plenty of money to boost prevention and treatment. Will it work? (Part two ...

589. Why Has the Opioid Crisis Lasted So Long?

23 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Most epidemics flare up, do their damage, and fade away. This one has been raging for almost 30 years. To find out why, it’s time to ask some uncomf...

Extra: Car Colors & Storage Units

20 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Presenting two stories from The Economics of Everyday Things: Why does it seem like every car is black, white, or gray these days? And: How self-stor...

588. Confessions of a Black Conservative

16 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The economist and social critic Glenn Loury has led a remarkably turbulent life, both professionally and personally. In a new memoir, he has chosen to...

Should Companies Be Owned by Their Workers?

09 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The employee ownership movement is growing, and one of its biggest champions is also a private equity heavyweight. Is this meaningful change, or just ...

586. How Does the Lost World of Vienna Still Shape Our Lives?

02 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

From politics and economics to psychology and the arts, many of the modern ideas we take for granted emerged a century ago from a single European capi...

Extra: Why Is 23andMe Going Under? (Update)

29 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Five years ago, we published an episode about the boom in home DNA testing kits, focusing on the high-flying firm 23andMe and its C.E.O. Anne Wojcicki...

585. A Social Activist in Prime Minister’s Clothing

25 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Justin Trudeau, facing record-low approval numbers, is doubling down on his progressive agenda. But he is so upbeat (and Canada-polite) that it’s ea...

How to Pave the Road to Hell

18 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

So you want to help people? That’s great — but beware the law of unintended consequences. Three stories from the modern workplace.  SOURCES:Josh...

Extra: The Men Who Started a Thinking Revolution (Update)

14 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The psychologist Daniel Kahneman — a Nobel laureate and the author of Thinking, Fast and Slow — recently died at age 90. Along with his collabora...

Why Are There So Many Bad Bosses?

11 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

People who are good at their jobs routinely get promoted into bigger jobs they’re bad at. We explain why firms keep producing incompetent managers —...

583. Are We Living Through the Most Revolutionary Period in History?

04 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Fareed Zakaria says yes. But it’s not just political revolution — it’s economic, technological, even emotional. He doesn’t offer easy solution...

Extra: How Much Do You Know About Immigration?

01 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The political debates over immigration can generate a lot of fuzzy facts. We wanted to test Americans’ knowledge — so, to wrap up our special seri...

582. Why Is Everyone Moving to Canada?

28 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As the U.S. tries to fix its messy immigration system, our neighbor to the north is scooping up more talented newcomers every year. Are the Canadians ...

581. What Both Parties Get Wrong About Immigration

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The U.S. immigration system is a massively complicated machine, with a lot of worn-out parts. How to fix it? Step one: Get hold of some actual facts a...

Extra: Madeleine Albright’s Warning on Immigration

18 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

She arrived in the U.S. as an 11-year-old refugee, then rose to become Secretary of State. Her views on immigration, nationalism, and borders, from th...

580. The True Story of America’s Supremely Messed-Up Immigration System

14 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How did a nation of immigrants come to hate immigration? We start at the beginning, sort through the evidence, and explain why your grandfather was ly...

579. Are You Caught in a Social Media Trap?

07 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Economists have discovered an odd phenomenon: many people who use social media (even you, maybe?) wish it didn’t exist. But that doesn’t mean they...

Extra: What Is Sportswashing — and Does It Work? (Update)

04 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In ancient Rome, it was bread and circuses. Today, it’s a World Cup, an Olympics, and a new Saudi-backed golf league that’s challenging the PGA To...

578. Water, Water Everywhere — But You Have to Stop and Think

29 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What surprises lurk in our sewage? How did racist city planners end up saving Black lives? Why does Arizona grow hay for cows in Saudi Arabia? Three s...

Is Google Getting Worse? (Update)

22 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It used to feel like magic. Now it can feel like a set of cheap tricks. Is the problem with Google — or with us? And is Google Search finally facing...

Extra: Mr. Feynman Takes a Trip — But Doesn’t Fall

19 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A wide-open conversation with three women who guided Richard Feynman through some big adventures at the Esalen Institute. (Part of our Feynman series....

The Vanishing Mr. Feynman

15 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In his final years, Richard Feynman's curiosity took him to some surprising places. We hear from his companions on the trips he took — and one he wa...

The Brilliant Mr. Feynman

08 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What happens when an existentially depressed and recently widowed young physicist from Queens gets a fresh start in California? We follow Richard Feyn...

How the San Francisco 49ers Stopped Being Losers (Update)

05 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

They’re heading to the Super Bowl for the second time in five years. But back in 2018, they were coming off a long losing streak — and that’s th...

The Curious Mr. Feynman

01 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

From the Manhattan Project to the Challenger investigation, the physicist Richard Feynman loved to shoot down what he called “lousy ideas.” Today,...

574. “A Low Moment in Higher Education”

25 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Roth of Wesleyan University doesn’t hang out with other university presidents. He also thinks some of them have failed a basic test of good ...

5 Psychology Terms You’re Probably Misusing (Replay)

22 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We all like to throw around terms that describe human behavior — “bystander apathy” and “steep learning curve” and “hard-wired.” Most of...

573. Can Academic Fraud Be Stopped?

18 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Probably not — the incentives are too strong. Scholarly publishing is a $28 billion global industry, with misconduct at every level. But a few refor...

572. Why Is There So Much Fraud in Academia?

11 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Some of the biggest names in behavioral science stand accused of faking their results. Last year, an astonishing 10,000 research papers were retracted...

571. Greeting Cards, Pizza Boxes, and Personal Injury Lawyers

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In a special episode of The Economics of Everyday Things, host Zachary Crockett explains what millennials do to show they care, how corrugated cardboa...

570. Is Gynecology the Best Innovation Ever?

28 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In a special episode of People I (Mostly) Admire, Steve Levitt talks to Cat Bohannon about her new book Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Yea...

569. Do You Need Closure?

21 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In a special episode of No Stupid Questions, Angela Duckworth and Mike Maughan talk about unfinished tasks, recurring arguments, and Irish goodbyes. ...

568. Why Are People So Mad at Michael Lewis?

14 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Lewis got incredible access to Sam Bankman-Fried, the billionaire behind the spectacular FTX fraud. His book is a bestseller, but some critics say he ...

567. Do the Police Have a Management Problem?

07 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In policing, as in most vocations, the best employees are often promoted into leadership without much training. One economist thinks he can address th...

513. Should Public Transit Be Free? (Update)

30 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It boosts economic opportunity and social mobility. It’s good for the environment. So why do we charge people to use it? The short answer: it’s co...

566. Why Is It So Hard (and Expensive) to Build Anything in America?

23 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Most industries have become more productive over time. But not construction! We identify the causes — and possible solutions. (Can you say ... “pr...

Extra: Jason Kelce Hates to Lose

19 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Pro footballer and star podcaster Jason Kelce is ubiquitous right now (almost as ubiquitous as his brother and co-host Travis, who's been in the limel...

565. Are Private Equity Firms Plundering the U.S. Economy?

16 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

They say they make companies more efficient through savvy management. Critics say they bend the rules to enrich themselves at the expense of consumers...

480. How Much Does Discrimination Hurt the Economy? (Replay)

09 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Evidence from Nazi Germany and 1940’s America (and pretty much everywhere else) shows that discrimination is incredibly costly — to the victims, o...

564. How to Succeed at Failing, Part 4: Extreme Resiliency

02 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Everyone makes mistakes. How do you learn from them? Lessons from the classroom, the Air Force, and the world’s deadliest infectious disease. RESOU...

563. How to Succeed at Failing, Part 3: Grit vs. Quit

26 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Giving up can be painful. That's why we need to talk about it. Today: stories about glitchy apps, leaky paint cans, broken sculptures — and a quest ...

562. How to Succeed at Failing, Part 2: Life and Death

19 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In medicine, failure can be catastrophic. It can also produce discoveries that save millions of lives. Tales from the front line, the lab, and the I.T...

561. How to Succeed at Failing, Part 1: The Chain of Events

12 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We tend to think of tragedies as a single terrible moment, rather than the result of multiple bad decisions. Can this pattern be reversed? We try — ...

232. A New Nobel Laureate Explains the Gender Pay Gap (Replay)

10 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Claudia Goldin is the newest winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics. We spoke with her in 2016 about why women earn so much less than men — and how ...

560. Is This “the Worst Job in Corporate America” — or Maybe the Best?

05 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

John Ray is an emergency C.E.O., a bankruptcy expert who takes over companies that have succumbed to failure or fraud. He’s currently cleaning up th...

559. Are Two C.E.O.s Better Than One?

28 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

If two parents can run a family, why shouldn’t two executives run a company? We dig into the research and hear firsthand stories of both triumph and...

558. The Facts Are In: Two Parents Are Better Than One

21 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In her new book The Two-Parent Privilege, the economist Melissa Kearney says it’s time for liberals to face the facts: U.S. marriage rates have plum...

When Is a Superstar Just Another Employee?

14 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The union that represents N.F.L. players conducted their first-ever survey of workplace conditions, and issued a report card to all 32 teams. What did...

556. A.I. Is Changing Everything. Does That Include You?

07 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For all the speculation about the future, A.I. tools can be useful right now. Adam Davidson discovers what they can help us do, how we can get the mos...

555. New Technologies Always Scare Us. Is A.I. Any Different?

31 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Guest host Adam Davidson looks at what might happen to your job in a world of human-level artificial intelligence, and asks when it might be time to w...

554. Can A.I. Take a Joke?

24 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Artificial intelligence, we’ve been told, will destroy humankind. No, wait — it will usher in a new age of human flourishing! Guest host Adam Davi...

553. The Suddenly Diplomatic Rahm Emanuel

17 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The famously profane politician and operative is now U.S. ambassador to Japan, where he’s trying to rewrite the rules of diplomacy. But don’t worr...

Should Traffic Lights Be Abolished? (Ep. 454 Replay)

10 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Americans are so accustomed to the standard intersection that we rarely consider how dangerous it can be — as well as costly, time-wasting, and poll...

Extra: A Modern Whaler Speaks Up

06 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Bjorn Andersen killed 111 minke whales this season. He tells us how he does it, why he does it, and what he thinks would happen if whale-hunting ever ...

552. Freakonomics Radio Presents: The Economics of Everyday Things

03 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In three stories from our newest podcast, host Zachary Crockett digs into sports mascots, cashmere sweaters, and dinosaur skeletons. 

551. What Can Whales Teach Us About Clean Energy, Workplace Harmony, and Living the Good Life?

27 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 "Everyth...

550. Why Do People Still Hunt Whales?

20 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For years, whale oil was used as lighting fuel, industrial lubricant, and the main ingredient in (yum!) margarine. Whale meat was also on a few menus....

549. The First Great American Industry

13 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Whaling was, in the words of one scholar, “early capitalism unleashed on the high seas.” How did the U.S. come to dominate the whale market? Why d...

548. Why Is the U.S. So Good at Killing Pedestrians?

06 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Actually, the reasons are pretty clear. The harder question is: Will we ever care enough to stop?

Why Did You Marry That Person? (Ep. 511 Replay)

29 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sure, you were “in love.” But economists — using evidence from Bridgerton to Tinder — point to what’s called “assortative mating.” And i...

547. Satya Nadella’s Intelligence Is Not Artificial

22 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

But as C.E.O. of the resurgent Microsoft, he is firmly at the center of the A.I. revolution. We speak with him about the perils and blessings of A.I.,...

546. Are E.S.G. Investors Actually Helping the Environment?

15 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Probably not. The economist Kelly Shue argues that E.S.G. investing just gives more money to firms that are already green while depriving polluting fi...

545. Enough with the Slippery Slopes!

08 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Gun control, abortion rights, drug legalization — it seems like every argument these days claims that if X happens, then Y will follow, and we’ll ...

544. Ari Emanuel Is Never Indifferent

01 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

He turned a small Hollywood talent agency into a massive sports-and-entertainment empire. In a freewheeling conversation, he explains how he did it an...

Make Me a Match (Ep. 209 Update)

25 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sure, markets work well in general. But for some transactions — like school admissions and organ transplants — money alone can’t solve the probl...

543. How to Return Stolen Art

18 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Museums are purging their collections of looted treasures. Can they also get something in return? And what does it mean to be a museum in the 21st cen...

542. Is a Museum Just a Trophy Case?

11 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 return ...

541. The Case of the $4 Million Gold Coffin

04 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 how much o...

Why Your Projects Are Always Late — and What to Do About It (Ep. 323 Replay)

27 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Whether it’s a giant infrastructure plan or a humble kitchen renovation, it’ll inevitably take way too long and cost way too much. That’s becaus...

540. Swearing Is More Important Than You Think

20 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Every language has its taboo words (which many people use all the time). But the list of forbidden words is always changing — and those changes tell...

539. Why Does One Tiny State Set the Rules for Everyone?

13 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Delaware is beloved by corporations, bankruptcy lawyers, tax avoiders, and money launderers. Critics say the Delaware “franchise” is undemocratic ...

538. A Radically Simple Way to Boost a Neighborhood

06 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Many companies say they want to create more opportunities for Black Americans. One company is doing something concrete about it. We visit the South Si...

How to Hate Taxes a Little Bit Less (Ep. 400 Replay)

30 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Every year, Americans short the I.R.S. nearly half a trillion dollars. Most ideas to increase compliance are more stick than carrot — scary letters,...

537. “Insurance Is Sexy.” Discuss.

23 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, the economist Amy Finkelstein explains why insurance markets are broken and how to fix them. ...