25. Would You Rather See a Computer or a Doctor?
Well, which is better at predicting your risk of having a heart attack? Bapu Jena explores the promise — and perils — of artificial intelligence in medicine.
Feb 18, 2022•32 min•Ep. 25
Freakonomics, M.D.
Each week, physician, economist, and author of "Random Acts of Medicine" Dr. Bapu Jena will dig into a fascinating study at the intersection of economics and healthcare. He takes on questions like: Why do kids with summer birthdays get the flu more often? Can surviving a hurricane help you live longer? What do heart surgery and grocery-store pricing have in common?
Episodes
24. How Can You Choose the Best Doctor?
We often select doctors based on their reputations or on misconceptions about what really matters. But research shows that doctors’ experience and where they trained can significantly impact patient care.
Feb 11, 2022•34 min•Ep. 24
23. Is the Placebo Effect for Real?
In Latin, the word “placebo” means “I shall please.” In the medical world, placebos mean something … well, a little different. Bapu Jena walks us through the thorny world of placebo research and the implications the placebo effect can have for patients.
Feb 04, 2022•36 min•Ep. 23
22. What If TV Isn't Bad for Us?
We now have more access to TV, movies, and streaming entertainment than anytime in history. So what do we actually know about what all that screen time does to us? We look back at some compelling studies that show, actually, it may change us for the better.
Jan 28, 2022•33 min•Ep. 22
21. Should We Pay People to Be Healthier?
Each year, millions of people get sick or die from diseases caused by their own unhealthy behavior. Getting people to change their bad habits – to quit smoking, eat better, or exercise – can be extremely hard. But what if we paid them?
Jan 21, 2022•29 min•Ep. 21
20. Do Our Politics Need a Doctor?
Bill Frist was a transplant surgeon before serving in the Senate, where he drove controversial legislation on embryonic stem cells and end-of-life care. Did he change politics? Or did politics change him?
Jan 14, 2022•33 min•Ep. 20
19. Do Your Doctor’s Political Views Affect Your Care?
Since doctors are human, they bring their own beliefs and preferences into the examination room. But they’ve also taken an oath to act in the best interest of all patients. What happens when politics and medicine collide?
Jan 07, 2022•29 min•Ep. 19
18. When Is a Natural Disaster Good for Your Health?
A clever study tracking the survivors of Hurricane Katrina came to a bold conclusion: when it comes to your health, place is destiny. So how can the benefits of healthier places be spread to everyone?
Dec 31, 2021•28 min•Ep. 18
17. How Does Retirement Affect Your Brain?
Aging carries a risk of losing our memory, focus, and ability to take care of ourselves and others. Does leaving the workforce worsen that risk? We investigate the research. And…Bapu asks: is it time for dad to retire?
Dec 24, 2021•24 min•Ep. 17
16. An Exit Interview with N.I.H. Director Dr. Francis Collins
The National Institutes of Health is the backbone of health research in the U.S., and Collins has been in charge for more than a decade. Now that he’s stepping down, he ponders the arc of his history-making career, from his leadership of the Human Genome Project to the fight against Covid-19 (not to mention the absolute happiest moment of his life).
Dec 17, 2021•26 min•Ep. 16
15. The Most “Unique, Excellent, and Promising” Episode
Studies by men published in scientific journals are more likely to include glowing, hyperbolic terms. Bapu talks about this “groundbreaking” research (see what we did there?) in a wide-ranging discussion with physicians and an economist about the gender gap in medicine.
Dec 10, 2021•29 min•Ep. 15
14. Is Uber Good (or Bad) for Your Health?
When you need a ride to the hospital, who should you call? Bapu talks with economist David Slusky about how ridesharing services are increasingly replacing ambulances. Plus, an unexpected reason why rideshares may lead some people to unhealthy behaviors.
Dec 03, 2021•26 min•Ep. 14
13. When Bapu Met Levitt
Once upon a time, Bapu Jena was a graduate student at the University of Chicago. His most interesting teacher? The economist Steve Levitt. This week on Freakonomics, M.D. , a replay of a conversation between Steve and Bapu from Steve’s podcast, People I (Mostly) Admire , where they cover everything from the ethics of human-challenge trials to why Bapu decided to start his own show.
Nov 26, 2021•34 min•Ep. 13
12. Where Do All the Bad Ideas Go?
Ideas are currency. This couldn't be more true in academia, where it's the job of researchers to think of questions and, hopefully, find answers. Bapu talks with economists Steve Levitt and Emily Oster about how they come up with ideas for studies, why most never make it off the ground, and what should be done with scrapped projects.
Nov 19, 2021•34 min•Ep. 12
11. Why Do So Many Donated Kidneys End Up in the Trash?
Every year, thousands of people in the U.S. die while they’re waiting for a new kidney, yet thousands of available organs get thrown away. Bapu talks to a kidney doctor and an economics Nobel laureate about why this happens and how the system could improve.
Nov 12, 2021•24 min•Ep. 11
10. The Mystery of the Man with Confusion and Back Pain
Hear diagnostician Gurpreet Dhaliwal try to solve the case of a patient who came to the emergency room with an unusual combination of symptoms. Plus, we discuss how difficult it is to separate the signal from the noise when treating patients, and how cognitive biases factor into doctors’ decision-making.
Oct 29, 2021•22 min•Ep. 10
9. Why Fridays May Be Dangerous for Your Health
When researchers analyzed which day of the week most drug-safety alerts are released — and what it means for public health — they were stunned. So was Bapu Jena. He talks with them and a physician this week about the “Friday Effect,” a common problem with big repercussions for the safety of the medications.
Oct 01, 2021•20 min•Ep. 9
8. A Playbook for Beating the Next Pandemic
We dig into why Covid-19 caught us so unprepared and how we can make sure we’re ready for a future public-health crisis with former FDA director Scott Gottlieb.
Sep 24, 2021•31 min•Ep. 8
7. What Happens to Patients When Thousands of Cardiologists Leave Town?
This week, Bapu Jena presents some hot-off-the-presses research exploring the relationship between how many patients a doctor sees, and how well those patients do. Plus, the surprising impact of annual cardiology conferences that prompted Bapu’s first conversation with Stephen Dubner on Freakonomics Radio .
Sep 17, 2021•31 min•Ep. 7
6. Are Barbershops the Cutting Edge of Healthcare Delivery?
Bapu Jena talks with a barber and a pharmacist whose study brought healthcare to Black men in Los Angeles who were getting haircuts. They discuss its impact on high blood pressure among customers — and how unconventional approaches like this could help build trust.
Sep 10, 2021•24 min•Ep. 6
5. How to Solve a Medical Mystery
A woman comes to the emergency room with back pain. She’ll leave with an unexpected diagnosis. How does her doctor figure out what’s wrong? Listen as host Bapu Jena puts master clinician Dr. Gurpreet Dhaliwal on the spot to solve a real medical mystery. Along the way, you’ll learn how doctors think and the most important questions they ask.
Sep 03, 2021•19 min•Ep. 5
4. What Do Grocery Store Prices and Heart Surgery Have in Common?
Humans are hardwired to focus on the left digit in numbers. It’s why products are priced at $3.99 instead of $4.00. But does this left-digit bias also affect medical decisions? Host Bapu Jena is joined by a fellow researcher and a cardiologist to explain how left-digit bias shows up in one of the most important decisions a doctor can make, what it means for patients, and what we can do about it.
Aug 27, 2021•17 min•Ep. 4
3. Why Are Kids With Summer Birthdays More Likely to Get the Flu?
After struggling to schedule a flu shot for his own toddler, host Bapu Jena went down a research rabbit hole. He discovered that the time of year kids are born has an unexpected and dramatic effect on whether they and their families end up getting the flu. Bapu explains his findings and asks a pediatrician and public health expert what could be done about it.
Aug 20, 2021•19 min•Ep. 3
2. Do As Docs Say, Not As They Do
Does having more health information actually change behavior? To test this question, host Bapu Jena explores whether doctors make healthier choices than the rest of us (and he fesses up to an unhealthy habit of his own). From the Freakonomics Radio Network: Exploring the hidden side of everything.
Aug 13, 2021•19 min•Ep. 2
1. Covid and the “Birthday Effect”
Host Bapu Jena is an economist and medical doctor whose latest research measures the link between birthdays and Covid. He explains his team’s findings, explores the role that kids’ parties may have played, reveals whether politics made a difference, and convinces a Zoom magician to reveal the secrets of making virtual parties awesome. From the Freakonomics Radio Network: Exploring the hidden side of everything.
Aug 06, 2021•18 min•Ep. 1
Introducing “Freakonomics, M.D.”
How can a marathon be dangerous even if you don’t run the race? Does your doctor follow medical advice any better than you do? Just how dangerous was it to go to a birthday party at the height of the pandemic? These are the kinds of questions that intrigue Dr. Bapu Jena, a rare double threat — he’s both an M.D. and a Ph.D. economist. Each week on Freakonomics, M.D. , Jena digs into fascinating research to discover the hidden side of healthcare.
Jul 21, 2021•3 min
Marathons Can Be Deadly — But Not For the Reasons You May Think
In this pilot episode of a new “Freakonomics of Medicine” podcast, when host Dr. Bapu Jena misses his wife’s 5K run, he sets out to study how road closures and detours on big race days affect people with medical emergencies.
Jun 10, 2021•22 min