One possibility: a leading hypothesis pursued by researchers (and funders) was built on science that now appears to be fraudulent. Stephen Dubner speaks with the scientist and the journalist who blew the whistle. SOURCES: Charles Piller , investigative journalist for Science, author of Doctored . Matthew Schrag , associate professor of neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. RESOURCES: Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer's , by Charles Piller (2025)....
Apr 17, 2026•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 32
Just beneath the surface of the global economy, there is a hidden layer of dealmakers for whom war, chaos, and sanctions can be a great business opportunity. In this updated episode from 2025, journalists Javier Blas and Jack Farchy help us shine a light on the shadowy realm of commodity traders. SOURCES: Javier Blas , opinion columnist at Bloomberg News. Jack Farchy , energy and commodities senior reporter at Bloomberg News. RESOURCES: The World For Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barte...
Mar 04, 2026•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 27
... of bad reviews, meager financing, or artificial intelligence. But he is worried that the world is full of sloppy thinkers who mistake facts for the truth. SOURCES: Werner Herzog , writer, filmmaker, and actor. RESOURCES: The Future of Truth , by Werner Herzog (2025). Every Man for Himself and God Against All: A Memoir , by Werner Herzog (2023). EXTRAS: " When Did We All Start Watching Documentaries? " by Freakonomics Radio (2025). " Werner Herzog Thinks His Films Are a Distraction ," by Peop...
Feb 27, 2026•49 min•Ep. 31
For 50 years, the healthcare industry has been trying (and failing) to harness the power of artificial intelligence. It may finally be ready for prime time. What will this mean for human doctors — and the rest of us? (Part four of “ The Freakonomics Radio Guide to Getting Better .”) SOURCES: Bob Wachter , professor, chair of the department of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Pierre Elias , cardiologist, assistant professor of biomedical informatics at Columbia University,...
Jan 30, 2026•1 hr•Ep. 30
Zeke Emanuel (a physician, medical ethicist, and policy wonk) has some different ideas for how to lead a healthy and meaningful life. It starts with ice cream. (Part three of “ The Freakonomics Radio Guide to Getting Better .”) SOURCES: Zeke Emanuel , oncologist, bioethicist, professor at the University of Pennsylvania. RESOURCES: Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life , by Zeke Emanuel (2026). " Nutrition Science’s Most Preposterous Result ," by David Merritt Johns (Th...
Jan 23, 2026•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 29
In his new book “Breakneck,” Dan Wang argues that the U.S. has a lot to learn from China. He also says that “no two peoples are more alike.” We have questions. SOURCES: Dan Wang , research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, author of Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future. RESOURCES: Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future , by Dan Wang (2025). The Anaconda in the Chandelier: Writings on China , by Perry Link (2025). " Is the U.S. Ready for the Next War? " ...
Sep 29, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 28
Just beneath the surface of the global economy, there is a hidden layer of dealmakers for whom war, chaos, and sanctions can be a great business opportunity. Javier Blas and Jack Farchy, the authors of The World for Sale , help us shine a light on the shadowy realm of commodity traders. SOURCES: Javier Blas , opinion columnist at Bloomberg News. Jack Farchy , energy and commodities senior reporter at Bloomberg News. RESOURCES: The World For Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Eart...
May 23, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 27
Licensing began with medicine and law; now it extends to 20 percent of the U.S. workforce, including hair stylists and auctioneers. In a new book, the legal scholar Rebecca Allensworth calls licensing boards “a thicket of self-dealing and ineptitude” and says they keep bad workers in their jobs and good ones out — while failing to protect the public. SOURCES: Rebecca Allensworth , professor of law at Vanderbilt University. RESOURCES: " The Licensing Racket: How We Decide Who Is Allowed to Work, ...
Feb 07, 2025•55 min•Ep. 26
Adam Moss was the best magazine editor of his generation. When he retired, he took up painting. But he wasn’t very good, and that made him sad. So he wrote a book about how creative people work— and, in the process, he made himself happy again. SOURCE: Adam Moss , magazine editor and author. RESOURCES: The Work of Art: How Something Comes from Nothing , by Adam Moss (2024). " Goodbye, New York. Adam Moss Is Leaving the Magazine He Has Edited for 15 Years ," by Michael M. Grynbaum ( The New York ...
Dec 19, 2024•48 min•Ep. 25
John J. Sullivan, a former State Department official and U.S. ambassador, says yes: “Our politicians aren’t leading — Republicans or Democrats.” He gives a firsthand account of a fateful Biden-Putin encounter, talks about his new book Midnight in Moscow , and predicts what a second Trump term means for Russia, Ukraine, China — and the U.S. SOURCES: John Sullivan , former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State and former U.S. Ambassador to Russia. RESOURCES: Midnight in Moscow: A Memoir from the Front Li...
Dec 05, 2024•51 min•Ep. 24
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 reveal just about everything. Why? SOURCE: Glenn Loury , professor of economics at Brown University and host of The Glenn Show . RESOURCES: Late Admissions: Confessions of a Black Conservative , by Glenn Loury (2024). " Amy Wax – The DEI Witch Hunt at Penn Law ," by Glenn Loury ( The Glenn Show, 2024). " The Conservative Line on Race ," by Glenn L...
May 16, 2024•57 min•Ep. 23
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 capital. In this episode of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, the historian Richard Cockett explores all those ideas — and how the arrival of fascism can ruin in a few years what took generations to build. SOURCE: Richard Cockett , author and senior editor at The Economist . RESOURCES: Vienna: How the City of Ideas Created the Modern World , by Richard...
May 02, 2024•57 min•Ep. 22
Nobel laureate, bestselling author, and groundbreaking psychologist Daniel Kahneman died in March. In 2021 he talked with Steve Levitt — his friend and former business partner — about his book Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment (cowritten with Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein) and much more. SOURCES: Daniel Kahneman , professor emeritus of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University. RESOURCES: Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment , by Olivier Sibony, Daniel Kahneman, and Cass R. Sunstein (202...
Apr 09, 2024•42 min
Fareed Zakaria says yes. But it’s not just political revolution — it’s economic, technological, even emotional. He doesn’t offer easy solutions but he does offer some hope. SOURCES: Fareed Zakaria , journalist and author. RESOURCES: Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present , by Fareed Zakaria (2024). " The Ultimate Election Year: All the Elections Around the World in 2024 ," by Koh Ewe ( TIME, 2023). " The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism ," by Vane...
Apr 04, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 21
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. 20
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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising....
Sep 21, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 19
The economist Amy Finkelstein explains why insurance markets are broken and how to fix them. Also: why can’t you buy divorce insurance? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Mar 23, 2023•53 min•Ep. 18
And with her book "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat," she succeeded. Now she's not so sure how to feel about all the attention. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Jan 16, 2023•38 min•Ep. 17
No — but he does have a knack for stumbling into the perfect moment, including the recent FTX debacle. In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, we revisit the book that launched the analytics revolution. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Nov 24, 2022•53 min•Ep. 16
It used to be at the center of our conversations about politics and society. Scott Hershovitz is the author of Nasty, Brutish, and Short , in which he argues that philosophy still has a lot to say about work, justice, and parenthood. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Jul 28, 2022•50 min•Ep. 15
In a new book called The Voltage Effect , the economist John List — who has already revolutionized how his profession does research — is trying to start a scaling revolution. In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, List teaches us how to avoid false positives, how to know whether a given success is due to the chef or the ingredients, and how to practice “optimal quitting.” Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use ...
Feb 24, 2022•49 min•Ep. 14
You know the saying: “There are no shortcuts in life.” What if that saying is just wrong? In his new book Thinking Better: The Art of the Shortcut in Math and Life , the mathematician Marcus du Sautoy argues that shortcuts can be applied to practically anything: music, psychotherapy, even politics. Our latest installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising....
Nov 18, 2021•43 min•Ep. 13
The N.B.A. superstar Chris Bosh was still competing at the highest level when a blood clot abruptly ended his career. In his new book, Letters to a Young Athlete , Bosh covers the highlights and the struggles. In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, he talks with guest host Angela Duckworth. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising....
Sep 27, 2021•33 min•Ep. 12
To her neighbors in the English countryside, the woman known as Mrs. Burton was a cake-baking mother of three. To the Soviet Union, she was an invaluable Cold War operative. Ben Macintyre, author of Agent Sonya: Moscow’s Most Daring Wartime Spy , explains how the woman who fed America’s atomic secrets to the Russians also struggled to balance her family and her cause. Hosted by Sarah Lyall. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use...
Sep 25, 2021•44 min•Ep. 11
Do you think public bathrooms are too small, smartphones are too big, and public transit just wasn’t made for you? Then you’re probably a woman. In her book Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men , Caroline Criado Perez argues that products and processes — from medications to snowplow routes — have historically been tailored for the “standard male.” Hosted by Maria Konnikova. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and us...
Sep 25, 2021•42 min•Ep. 10
When Richard Thaler published Nudge in 2008 (with co-author Cass Sunstein), the world was just starting to believe in his brand of behavioral economics. How did nudge theory hold up in the face of a global financial meltdown, a pandemic, and other existential crises? With the publication of a new, radically updated edition, Thaler tries to persuade Stephen Dubner that nudging is more relevant today than ever. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our...
Sep 09, 2021•57 min•Ep. 9
Bren Smith, who grew up fishing and fighting, is now part of a movement that seeks to feed the planet while putting less environmental stress on it. He makes his argument in a book called Eat Like a Fish ; his secret ingredient: kelp. But don’t worry, you won’t have to eat it (not much, at least). Hosted by Stephen Dubner. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising....
Jun 24, 2021•43 min•Ep. 8
The social psychologist Robert Cialdini is a pioneer in the science of persuasion. His 1984 book Influence is a classic, and he has just published an expanded and revised edition. In this episode, he gives a master class in the seven psychological levers that bewitch our rational minds and lead us to buy, behave, or believe without a second thought. Hosted by Stephen Dubner. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal dat...
May 27, 2021•58 min•Ep. 7
In a word: networks. Once it embraced information as its main currency, New York was able to climb out of a deep fiscal (and psychic) pit. Will that magic trick still work after Covid? In this episode, hear Thomas Dyja, author of New York, New York, New York: Four Decades of Success, Excess and Transformation, tell us about the past and future of the Big Apple. Hosted by Kurt Andersen. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of p...
May 21, 2021•52 min•Ep. 6
New York Times columnist Charles Blow argues that white supremacy in America will never fully recede, and that it’s time for Black people to do something radical about it. In his new book, The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto , he urges a “reverse migration” to the South to consolidate political power and create a region where it’s safe to be Black. Hosted by Stephen Dubner. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of perso...
May 21, 2021•57 min•Ep. 5
