New Episodes Coming Soon!
We are about to tape new episodes of Tell Me Something I Don’t Know . You’ll be able to hear them later this year in the Freakonomics Radio podcast feed. Details in this short announcement.
Oct 17, 2018•2 min
Tell Me Something I Don't Know
Journalism wrapped in a game-show package. Host Stephen J. Dubner (of “Freakonomics Radio”) and a celebrity co-host invite guests on stage in front of a live audience to tell us something we don’t know. The co-hosts — a mix of leaders in science, academia, sports, media, and comedy — grill the guests, and by the end we’ve all gotten a bit smarter. Each episode has a new topic, a new co-host, and new guests. There’s also a real-time human fact-checker to keep everyone honest. Think of the most crackling dinner-party conversation you’ve ever heard. Produced in association with Stitcher.
Episodes
An Astronaut, a Catalan, and Two Linguists Walk Into a Bar…
Why New York has skinny skyscrapers, how to weaponize water, and what astronauts talk about in space. John McWhorter is co-host; Bari Weiss is live fact-checker.
Nov 18, 2017•54 min•Ep. 36
Extra 7: Corrosive Energy Drinks and Peruvian Cat Stew
In this special call-in episode: why some Peruvians eat cats; why operas need repetiteurs; and why we should get rid of prisons. Michael Smerconish (CNN) is co-host; AJ Jacobs ( It’s All Relative ) checks the facts.
Nov 17, 2017•49 min
Farming Without Sun or Soil and Eating Manna From Heaven
This week, we work on our survival skills: in the desert, on the tundra, and growing food in abandoned warehouses. Actress Sas Goldberg is co-host; A.J. Jacobs (author of It’s All Relative) is live fact-checker.
Nov 11, 2017•39 min•Ep. 35
Mind Games
How to make people like you, why you should lick rocks, and what an awkward person is really thinking. Angela Duckworth (Grit author) is co-host; Mike Maughan (Qualtrics) is live fact-checker.
Nov 04, 2017•48 min•Ep. 34
Jon Batiste, Gail Simmons, and Strange Smells
Things we learn this week: dogs aren't so great at sniffing, men aren't so lazy, and New York doesn't smell so bad (anymore). Gail Simmons (Top Chef) is co-host; Jon Batiste plays his melodica for us; the live fact-checker is Mike Maughan.
Oct 28, 2017•56 min•Ep. 33
All About Bugs (of the Animal and Computer Varieties)
Musical crickets, crop-saving wasps — and why you should pre-bug your software. John McWhorter is co-host; the live fact-checker is Bari Weiss.
Oct 21, 2017•57 min•Ep. 32
School Start Times, Brand Names, and Too Much Ground Beef
Alex Wagner (CBS This Morning Saturday, The Atlantic) is our special guest co-host, with AJ Jacobs (author of It's All Relative) as real-time fact-checker. We filled this episode with insights about the true value of ground beef, sleeping in, company names, and more.
Oct 14, 2017•43 min•Ep. 31
How to Count to Infinity
Mary Roach (author of Stiff, Spook, Bonk, Gulp, and Grunt) is our special guest co-host, with AJ Jacobs (author of It's All Relative) as real-time fact-checker. If the promise of tractor beams doesn't pull you in, our guests also explore robotic fish, counting to infinity, and more.
Oct 07, 2017•48 min•Ep. 30
The Perfect Potato Chip, the Origin of Seltzer, and Why We Eat “Beef” and Not “Cow”
Alex Guarnaschelli (Iron Chef America and Chopped) is our special guest co-host, with Sean Rameswaram (Radiolab Presents: More Perfect) as real-time fact-checker. TMSIDK explores the origins of food words, children's menus, and seltzer.
Sep 30, 2017•57 min•Ep. 29
You Say “eye-RACK,” I Say “ear-ROCK”
Hari Kondabolu (comedian and host of Politically Re-Active) is our special guest co-host, with Sean Rameswaram (Radiolab Presents: More Perfect) as real-time fact-checker. TMSIDK reaches into our "grab bag" for fascinating facts on the downside of keeping secrets, the origin of fantasy sports, what pronunciations say about our politics, and more.
Sep 23, 2017•47 min•Ep. 28
Season 4 Preview
Alex Guarnaschelli, Alexandra Petri, Hari Kondabolu, Mary Roach, and Jemele Hill are some of the brilliant co-hosts joining us during Season 4. Here's a sneak peek of what you'll learn in 10 new episodes beginning September 17th.
Sep 11, 2017•3 min
Womb to Tomb
Alexandra Petri (Washington Post columnist) is our special guest co-host, with AJ Jacobs (author of It's All Relative) as real-time fact-checker. TMSIDK covers everything from birth to earth, including pregnancy tests, parenting, monogamy, aging better, and, finally, embalming.
Sep 09, 2017•52 min•Ep. 27
Extra 6: A Better Way to End Basketball Games
Basketball fans know how boring a game's ending can be — intentional fouls can stretch 90 seconds into 10 minutes. What if we could fix it by blowing up the last 4 minutes?
Sep 06, 2017•16 min
Extra 5: The Actress Who Never Takes a Sick Day
Off-Broadway actress, producer, and Guinness Record-holder Catherine Russell has played the same off-Broadway role for three decades. What’s more impressive than the play itself? She’s never called in sick.
Sep 05, 2017•19 min
Extra 4: The Most Renewable Energy of All
Some of our most important inventions safely remove human waste. But what if we could use that waste to generate electricity?
Sep 04, 2017•21 min
Extra 3: The Rise and Fall (and Rise?) of Rosé Wine
From medieval times through the French Revolution, rosé ruled the wine world — and now it’s staging a comeback. Actress (and rosé fan) Miriam Shor joins as a co-host.
Aug 30, 2017•13 min
Extra 2: Meet the Senator Who Wants to Start an Evidence-Based Revolution
Senator Todd Young of Indiana wants to make government-funded social programs more effective with Social Impact Partnerships, which pair private funding with proven projects.
Aug 29, 2017•22 min
Extra 1: How the Mafia Got Its Start
In 1803, Sicily and Malta won contracts to provide lemon juice to the entire British Royal Navy. Half a century later, the mafia was born.
Aug 28, 2017•15 min
Urinetown
James Altucher (host of The James Altucher Show) is our special guest co-host, with Mike Maughan (head of global insights at Qualtrics) as real-time fact-checker. TMSIDK is on the weird side of the tracks in Philadelphia with everything you've ever wanted to know about graffiti, cockroaches, tattoos, pee, and more.
Aug 05, 2017•55 min•Ep. 26
Creature Comforts
Krista Tippett (host of On Being) is our special guest co-host, with Maggie Ryan Sandford (science writer, researcher and producer) as real-time fact-checker. Relax with a TMSIDK episode filled with facts on quiet rooms, pillows, comfort food, and ...Spam?
Jul 29, 2017•53 min•Ep. 25
Behavior Change: Ultra Egghead Edition
Angela Duckworth (psychologist and author of Grit) is our special guest co-host, with Mike Maughan (head of global insights at Qualtrics) as real-time fact-checker. TMSIDK is in Philadelphia with a cornucopia of the world's most-renowned behavior-change experts presenting original research.
Jul 22, 2017•55 min•Ep. 24
Three Sheets to the Wind
John Moe (The Hilarious World of Depression) is our special guest co-host, with Maggie Ryan Sandford (science writer, researcher, and producer) as our real-time fact-checker. TMSIDK is in Minneapolis for a show exploring the environment, morning drinking, skyways, hidden figures, and more.
Jul 15, 2017•48 min•Ep. 23
Medicine
Bapu Jena, Christine Hurley and Evan Allen are panelists. The physician-professor-economist, the comedian and the New England Revolution head athletic trainer join us in Boston for a show on Medicine. Side effects include extra kidneys, Lyme disease, hairlessness, cardiac arrest and magical mucus. WBUR's Carey Goldberg is fact-checker.
Jul 08, 2017•55 min•Ep. 22
Getting There
Che "Rhymefest" Smith, Ginger Evans and Mary Catherine Curran are panelists. The rapper/political organizer, the commissioner of Chicago's Department of Aviation and the comedian join us in the City of Big Shoulders for a show on transitions — from here to there, from low to high and from fish to humans. Jesse Dukes is fact-checker.
Jul 01, 2017•59 min•Ep. 21
Family Matters
Amy Chua, Liza Donnelly and Gary Gulman are panelists. The "Tiger Mom," the "New Yorker" cartoonist and the comedian join our dysfunctional family for this show on parenting, cousins, genealogy and medical divorce. AJ Jacobs is fact-checker.
Jun 24, 2017•52 min•Ep. 20
Cities
Join us in one of America’s oldest urban centers for a show about cities, including ruins, sewage and ghost towns. Our panelists are: Ed Glaeser, Harvard economist and author of Triumph of the City, who doesn’t know when to quit. Amy Glasmeier, professor of economic geography and regional planning at MIT and creator of the Living Wage Calculator, who loves to run as a write-in candidate. Eugene Mirman, comedian and the voice of Gene on Bob’s Burgers, who is kind of a big deal in Boston. Our real...
Jun 17, 2017•1 hr•Ep. 19
Politickling
Major Garrett, Alexandra Petri and Robby Mook are panelists in Washington, D.C. The CBS Chief White House Correspondent, the Washington Post humor columnist, and Hillary Clinton's campaign manager step out of the swamp for some more light-hearted politics: from foreign cars to the last state in the union. Femi Oke is fact-checker.
Jun 10, 2017•54 min•Ep. 18
Rivalry
Steve Levitt, Scott Turow and Bridget Gainer are panelists. For the "Freakonomics" co-author, the attorney and novelist, and the Cook County commissioner it's "game on!" as they tackle competition of all kinds: athletic, sexual, geopolitical, and the little-known battle between butter and margarine that landed in the Supreme Court. WBEZ's Tricia Bobeda, co-host of the "Nerdette" podcast, is fact-checker.
Jun 05, 2017•58 min•Ep. 17
Season 3 Preview
Steve Levitt, Eugene Mirman, Alexandra Petri, Che “Rhymefest” Smith and Major Garrett are among this season's stars. Here's a taste of what you'll hear in our new season. We've got 10 new episodes — one a week — beginning June 4th.
May 29, 2017•4 min