Freakonomics Radio

678. Who Gets to Choose a “Good Death”?

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New York is the latest state to legalize medical aid in dying. Stephen Dubner speaks with the governor who signed the law, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, a death doula — and an ethicist who thinks the very idea is wrong.

 

  • SOURCES:
    • Kathy Hochul, governor of New York.
    • Suzanne O'Brien, death doula, founder of Doulagivers Institute.
    • Al Roth, economist at Stanford University.
    • Daniel Sulmasy, physician, philosopher, director of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University.

      •  

      • RESOURCES:
        • Moral Economics: From Prostitution to Organ Sales, What Controversial Transactions Reveal About How Markets Work, by Al Roth (2026).
        • "New York Moves to Allow Terminally Ill People to Die on Their Own Terms," by Grace Ashford (New York Times, 2025).
        • The Good Death: A Guide for Supporting Your Loved One through the End of Life, by Suzanne O'Brien (2025).
        • The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia, by Neil Gorsuch (2009).

          •  

          • EXTRAS:
            • "Make Me a Match (Update)," by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
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