Freakonomics Radio

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Society & Culture

What's Freakonomics Radio about?

Freakonomics co-author Stephen J. Dubner uncovers the hidden side of everything. Why is it safer to fly in an airplane than drive a car? How do we decide whom to marry? Why is the media so full of bad news? Also: things you never knew you wanted to know about wolves, bananas, pollution, search engines, and the quirks of human behavior.

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559. Are Two C.E.O.s Better...

09.28.2023

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.

Freakonomics Radio episodes:

09.28.2023 559. Are Two C.E.O.s Better Than One? 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.
09.21.2023 558. The Facts Are In: Two Parents Are Better Than One 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. ...
09.14.2023 557. When Is a Superstar Just Another Employee? 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 ...
09.07.2023 556. A.I. Is Changing Everything. Does That Include You? 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 ...
08.31.2023 555. New Technologies Always Scare Us. Is A.I. Any Different? 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 ...
08.24.2023 554. Can A.I. Take a Joke? 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 ...
08.17.2023 553. The Suddenly Diplomatic Rahm Emanuel 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.
08.10.2023 Should Traffic Lights Be Abolished? (Ep. 454 Replay) 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?
08.06.2023 Extra: A Modern Whaler Speaks Up 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 ...
08.03.2023 552. Freakonomics Radio Presents: The Economics of Everyday Things In three stories from our newest podcast, host Zachary Crockett digs into sports mascots, cashmere sweaters, and dinosaur skeletons.
07.27.2023 551. What Can Whales Teach Us About Clean Energy, Workplace Harmony, and Living the Good Life? 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.")
07.20.2023 550. Why Do People Still Hunt Whales? 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 ...
07.13.2023 549. The First Great American Industry 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 ...
07.06.2023 548. Why Is the U.S. So Good at Killing Pedestrians? Actually, the reasons are pretty clear. The harder question is: Will we ever care enough to stop?
06.29.2023 Why Did You Marry That Person? (Ep. 511 Replay) Sure, you were “in love.” But economists — using evidence from "Bridgerton" to Tinder — point to what’s called “assortative mating.” And it has some unpleasant consequences for society.
06.22.2023 547. Satya Nadella’s Intelligence Is Not Artificial 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., Google vs. Bing, the Microsoft succession plan — and why his favorite ...
06.15.2023 546. Are E.S.G. Investors Actually Helping the Environment? 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 firms of the financing they need to get greener. But she has a solution.
06.08.2023 545. Enough with the Slippery Slopes! 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 all be doomed to Z. Is the slippery-slope argument a valid logical construction or just ...
06.01.2023 544. Ari Emanuel Is Never Indifferent He turned a small Hollywood talent agency into a massive sports-and-entertainment empire. In a freewheeling conversation, he explains how he did it and why it nearly killed him.
05.25.2023 Make Me a Match (Ep. 209 Update) Sure, markets work well in general. But for some transactions — like school admissions and organ transplants — money alone can’t solve the problem. That’s when you need a market-design wizard like Al Roth. Plus: We hear from a listener ...
05.18.2023 543. How to Return Stolen Art 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 century? (Part 3 of “Stealing Art Is Easy. Giving It Back Is Hard.”)
05.11.2023 542. Is a Museum Just a Trophy Case? 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 these works to their rightful owners. Sounds simple, right? It's not. (Part 2 ...
05.04.2023 541. The Case of the $4 Million Gold Coffin 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 of what you see in any museum is stolen? (Part 1 of ...
04.27.2023 Why Your Projects Are Always Late — and What to Do About It (Ep. 323 Replay) 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 because you suffer from “the planning fallacy.” (You also have an “optimism bias” and a bad case ...
04.20.2023 540. Swearing Is More Important Than You Think 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 us some surprising things about ourselves. Note: The swear words in this episode ...
04.13.2023 539. Why Does One Tiny State Set the Rules for Everyone? Delaware is beloved by corporations, bankruptcy lawyers, tax avoiders, and money launderers. Critics say the Delaware “franchise” is undemocratic and corrupt. Insiders say it’s wildly efficient. We say: they’re both right.
04.06.2023 538. A Radically Simple Way to Boost a Neighborhood Many companies say they want to create more opportunities for Black Americans. One company is doing something concrete about it. We visit the South Side of Chicago to see how it’s working out.
03.30.2023 How to Hate Taxes a Little Bit Less (Ep. 400 Replay) 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, audits, and penalties. But what if we gave taxpayers a chance to allocate how their money ...
03.23.2023 537. “Insurance Is Sexy.” Discuss. In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, the economist Amy Finkelstein explains why insurance markets are broken and how to fix them. Also: why can’t you buy divorce insurance?
03.16.2023 Why Are There So Many Bad Bosses? (Ep. 495 Replay) 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 — and why that’s unlikely to change.
03.09.2023 536. Is Your Plane Ticket Too Expensive — or Too Cheap? Most travelers want the cheapest flight they can find. Airlines, meanwhile, need to manage volatile fuel costs, a pricey workforce, and complex logistics. So how do they make money — and how did America’s grubbiest airport suddenly turn into a ...
03.02.2023 535. Why Is Flying Safer Than Driving? Thanks to decades of work by airlines and regulators, plane crashes are nearly a thing of the past. Can we do the same for cars? (Part 2 of “Freakonomics Radio Takes to the Skies.”)
02.23.2023 534. Air Travel Is a Miracle. Why Do We Hate It? It’s an unnatural activity that has become normal. You’re stuck in a metal tube with hundreds of strangers (and strange smells), defying gravity and racing through the sky. But oh, the places you’ll go! We visit the world’s busiest airport ...
02.16.2023 Why Does the Most Monotonous Job in the World Pay $1 Million? (Ep. 493 Update) Adam Smith famously argued that specialization is the key to prosperity. In the N.F.L., the long snapper is proof of that argument. Here’s everything there is to know about a job that didn’t used to exist.
02.13.2023 The Economics of Everyday Things: Used Hotel Soaps Hotel guests adore those cute little soaps, but is it just a one-night stand? In our fourth episode of "The Economics of Everyday Things," Zachary Crockett discovers what happens to those soaps when we love ’em and leave ’em.
02.09.2023 533. Will the Democrats “Make America Great Again”? For decades, the U.S. let globalization run its course and hoped China would be an ally. Now the Biden administration is spending billions to bring high-tech manufacturing back home. Is this the beginning of a new industrial policy — or ...
02.06.2023 The Economics of Everyday Things: “My Sharona” Can a hit single from four decades ago still pay the bills? Zachary Crockett f-f-f-finds out in the third episode of our newest podcast, "The Economics of Everyday Things."
02.02.2023 Is Economic Growth the Wrong Goal? (Ep. 429 Update) The economist Kate Raworth says the aggressive pursuit of G.D.P. is trashing the planet and shortchanging too many people. She has proposed an alternative — and the city of Amsterdam is giving it a try. How's it going?
01.30.2023 The Economics of Everyday Things: Girl Scout Cookies How does America's cutest sales force get billions of Thin Mints, Samoas, and Tagalongs into our hands every year? Zachary Crockett finds out in the second episode of our newest podcast, "The Economics of Everyday Things."
01.26.2023 532. Do You Know Who Owns Your Vet? When small businesses get bought by big investors, the name may stay the same — but customers and employees can feel the difference. (Part 2 of 2.)
01.23.2023 Introducing “The Economics of Everyday Things” A new podcast hosted by Zachary Crockett. In the first episode: Gas stations. When gas prices skyrocket, do station owners get a windfall? And where do their profits really come from?
01.19.2023 531. Should You Trust Private Equity to Take Care of Your Dog? Big investors are buying up local veterinary practices (and pretty much everything else). What does this mean for scruffy little Max* — and for the U.S. economy? (Part 1 of 2.) *The most popular dog name in the U.S. in ...
01.16.2023 Extra: Samin Nosrat Always Wanted to Be Famous And with her book "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat," she succeeded. Now she's not so sure how to feel about all the attention.
01.12.2023 530. What's Wrong with Being a One-Hit Wonder? We tend to look down on artists who can't match their breakthrough success. Should we be celebrating them instead?
01.05.2023 529. Can Our Surroundings Make Us Smarter? In a special episode of No Stupid Questions, Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth discuss classroom design, open offices, and cognitive drift.
12.29.2022 528. Yuval Noah Harari Thinks Life is Meaningless and Amazing In this special episode of People I (Mostly) Admire, Steve Levitt talks to the best-selling author of "Sapiens" and "Homo Deus" about finding the profound in the obvious.
12.22.2022 527. Can Adam Smith Fix Our Economy? Labor exploitation! Corporate profiteering! Government corruption! The 21st century can look a lot like the 18th. In the final episode of a series, we turn to “the father of economics” for solutions. (Part 3 of “In Search of the Real ...
12.15.2022 526. Was Adam Smith Really a Right-Winger? Economists and politicians have turned him into a mascot for free-market ideology. Some on the left say the right has badly misread him. Prepare for a very Smithy tug of war. (Part 2 of “In Search of the Real Adam ...
12.12.2022 Freakonomics Radio Needs Your Help A sneak peek at an upcoming series — and a call for would-be radio reporters.
12.08.2022 525. In Search of the Real Adam Smith How did an affable 18th-century “moral philosopher” become the patron saint of cutthroat capitalism? Does “the invisible hand” mean what everyone thinks it does? We travel to Smith’s hometown in Scotland to uncover the man behind the myth. (Part 1 ...

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