Some of the biggest names in behavioral science stand accused of faking their results. Last year, an astonishing 10,000 research papers were retracted. We talk to whistleblowers, reformers, and a co-author who got caught up in the chaos. (Part 1 of 2) SOURCES: Max Bazerman , professor of business administration at Harvard Business School. Leif Nelson , professor of business administration at the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business. Brian Nosek , professor of psychology at ...
Jan 11, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 572
In a special episode of The Economics of Everyday Things, host Zachary Crockett explains what millennials do to show they care, how corrugated cardboard keeps your food warm, and why every city has a billboard for a guy who calls himself “The Hammer.” SOURCES: Jason Abraham , managing partner of Hupy & Abraham. Nora Engstrom , professor at Stanford Law School. Kyle Hebenstreit , C.E.O. of Practice Made Perfect. Patrick Kivits , president of corrugated packaging at WestRock. Mia Mercado , writer ...
Jan 04, 2024•49 min•Ep. 571
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 Years of Human Evolution. SOURCE: Cat Bohannon , researcher and author. RESOURCES: Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution , by Cat Bohannon (2023). " Genomic Inference of a Severe Human Bottleneck During the Early to Middle Pleistocene Transition ," by Wangjie Hu, Ziqian Hao, Pengyuan Du, Fabio Di Vincenzo, Giorgio Manzi, ...
Dec 28, 2023•46 min•Ep. 570
In a special episode of No Stupid Questions, Angela Duckworth and Mike Maughan talk about unfinished tasks, recurring arguments, and Irish goodbyes. SOURCES: Roy Baumeister , social psychologist and visiting scholar at Harvard University. Daniel Gilbert , professor of psychology at Harvard University. John Gottman , professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Washington. Kurt Lewin , 20th-century German-American psychologist. E. J. Masicampo , professor of psychology at Wake Forest Uni...
Dec 21, 2023•40 min•Ep. 569
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 went too easy on S.B.F. Lewis tells us why the critics are wrong — and what it’s like to watch your book get turned into a courtroom drama. SOURCES: Michael Lewis , author. RESOURCES: Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon , by Michael Lewis (2023). " Column: In Michael Lewis, Sam Bankman-Fried Found His Last and Most Willing Victim ," b...
Dec 14, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 568
In policing, as in most vocations, the best employees are often promoted into leadership without much training. One economist thinks he can address this problem — and, with it, America’s gun violence. SOURCES Kenneth Corey , director of outreach and engagement for the Policing Leadership Academy at the University of Chicago and retired chief of department for the New York Police Department. Stephanie Drescher , operations captain in the City of Madison Police Department. Max Kapustin , assistant...
Dec 07, 2023•48 min•Ep. 567
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 complicated. Also: We talk to the man who gets half the nation’s mass-transit riders where they want to go (most of the time). SOURCES: Marcus Finbom , traffic planner in Stockholm, Sweden. Robbie Makinen , former president and C.E.O. of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority. Janno Lieber , chair and C.E.O. of the M.T.A. in New York City. Brian T...
Nov 30, 2023•56 min•Ep. 513
Most industries have become more productive over time. But not construction! We identify the causes — and possible solutions. (Can you say ... “prefab”?) RESOURCES: " The Strange and Awful Path of Productivity in the US Construction Sector ," by Austan Goolsbee and Chad Syverson ( BFI Working Paper, 2023). " Infrastructure Costs ," by Leah Brooks and Zachary D. Liscow ( American Economic Journal: Applied, 2023). " The Silicon Valley Elite Who Want to Build a City From Scratch ," by Conor Dougher...
Nov 23, 2023•55 min•Ep. 566
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 limelight for his relationship with Taylor Swift). After you hear this wide-ranging interview, you might want even more Kelce in your life. RESOURCES: “ N.F.L. Player Team Report Cards ,” by the National Football League Players Association (2023). Kelce , documentary (2023). New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce , (produced by Wave Sports + Entertainm...
Nov 19, 2023•57 min
They say they make companies more efficient through savvy management. Critics say they bend the rules to enrich themselves at the expense of consumers and employees. Can they both be right? (Probably not.) RESOURCES: Plunder: Private Equity's Plan to Pillage America , by Brendan Ballou (2023). Two and Twenty: How the Masters of Private Equity Always Win , by Sachin Khajuria (2022). " Local Journalism under Private Equity Ownership ," by Michael Ewens, Arpit Gupta, and Sabrina T. Howell ( NBER Wo...
Nov 16, 2023•51 min•Ep. 565
Evidence from Nazi Germany and 1940’s America (and pretty much everywhere else) shows that discrimination is incredibly costly — to the victims, of course, but also the perpetrators. One modern solution is to invoke a diversity mandate. But new research shows that’s not necessarily the answer. RESOURCES: " Discrimination, Managers, and Firm Performance: Evidence from 'Aryanizations' in Nazi Germany ," by Kilian Huber, Volker Lindenthal, and Fabian Waldinger ( Journal of Political Economy, 2021)....
Nov 09, 2023•58 min•Ep. 480
Everyone makes mistakes. How do you learn from them? Lessons from the classroom, the Air Force, and the world’s deadliest infectious disease. RESOURCES: Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well , by Amy Edmondson (2023). " You Think Failure Is Hard? So Is Learning From It ," by Lauren Eskreis-Winkler and Ayelet Fishbach ( Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2022). " The Market for R&D Failures ," by Manuel Trajtenberg and Roy Shalem ( SSRN, 2010). " Performing a Project Pre mortem ," ...
Nov 02, 2023•52 min•Ep. 564
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 for the perfect bowl of ramen. RESOURCES " Data Snapshot: Tenure and Contingency in US Higher Education ," by Glenn Colby ( American Association of University Professors , 2023). Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance , by Angela Duckworth (2016). " Entrepreneurship and the U.S. Economy ," by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2016). " A CV of...
Oct 26, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 563
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. department. RESOURCES: Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well , by Amy Edmondson (2023). " Reconsidering the Application of Systems Thinking in Healthcare: The RaDonda Vaught Case ," by Connor Lusk, Elise DeForest, Gabriel Segarra, David M. Neyens, James H. Abernathy III, and Ken Catchpole ( British Journal of Anaesthesia, 2022). " Disp...
Oct 19, 2023•54 min•Ep. 562
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 — with stories about wildfires, school shootings, and love. RESOURCES Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well , by Amy Edmondson (2023). " Michigan School Shooter Is Found Eligible for Life Sentence Without Parole ," by Stephanie Saul and Dana Goldstein ( The New York Times, 2023). " How Fire Turned Lahaina Into a Death Trap ," by Nicholas Bog...
Oct 12, 2023•55 min•Ep. 561
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 it’s not all explained by discrimination. SOURCES: Claudia Goldin , professor of economics at Harvard University.
Oct 10, 2023•45 min
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 the mess left by alleged crypto scammer Sam Bankman-Fried. And he loves it. RESOURCES: " United States of America v. Samuel Bankman-Fried, a/k/a 'SBF,' " by the United States District Court Southern District of New York (2023). " Does FTX’s New CEO Have the Worst Job in Corporate America? " by Ben Cohen ( The Wall Street Journal, 2022). " John J. Ray I...
Oct 05, 2023•40 min•Ep. 560
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 disaster. Also: lessons from computer programmers, Simon and Garfunkel, and bears versus alligators. RESOURCES: " How Allbirds Lost Its Way ," by Suzanne Kapner (The Wall Street Journal, 2023). " Is It Time to Consider Co-C.E.O.s? " by Marc A. Feigen, Michael Jenkins, and Anton Warendh (Harvard Business Review, 2022). " The Costs and Benefits of Pai...
Sep 28, 2023•51 min•Ep. 559
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 plummeted but the babies keep coming, and the U.S. now leads the world in single-parent households. Plus: our friends at Atlas Obscura explore just how many parents a kid can have.
Sep 21, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 558
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 the survey reveal? Clogged showers, rats in the locker room — and some helpful insights for those of us who don’t play pro football. For show notes, visit freakonomics.com/podcast/when-is-a-superstar-just-another-employee/
Sep 14, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 557
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 most from them — and why the things that make them helpful also make them dangerous. (Part 3 of " How to Think About A.I." )
Sep 07, 2023•49 min•Ep. 556
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 worry that the machines have become too powerful. (Part 2 of " How to Think About A.I. ")
Aug 31, 2023•48 min•Ep. 555
Artificial intelligence, we’ve been told, will destroy humankind. No, wait — it will usher in a new age of human flourishing! Guest host Adam Davidson (co-founder of Planet Money ) sorts through the big claims about A.I.'s future by exploring its past and present — and whether it has a sense of humor. (Part 1 of " How to Think About A.I. ")
Aug 24, 2023•48 min•Ep. 554
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 worry: When it comes to China, he’s every bit as combative as you’d expect.
Aug 17, 2023•56 min•Ep. 553
Americans are so accustomed to the standard intersection that we rarely consider how dangerous it can be — as well as costly, time-wasting, and polluting. Is it time to embrace the lowly, lovely roundabout?
Aug 10, 2023•47 min
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 stopped. (This bonus episode is a follow-up to our series “ Everything You Never Knew About Whaling .")
Aug 06, 2023•27 min
In three stories from our newest podcast, host Zachary Crockett digs into sports mascots, cashmere sweaters, and dinosaur skeletons.
Aug 03, 2023•47 min•Ep. 552
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 .")
Jul 27, 2023•48 min•Ep. 551
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. But today, demand for whale products is at a historic low. And yet some countries still have a whaling industry. We find out why. (Part 2 of “ Everything You Never Knew About Whaling .”)
Jul 20, 2023•37 min•Ep. 550
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 did whale hunting die out here — and continue to grow elsewhere? And is that whale vomit in your perfume? (Part 1 of “Everything You Never Knew About Whaling.”)
Jul 13, 2023•44 min•Ep. 549
