Stephen J. Dubner is the co-author, with Steven D. Levitt, of Freakonomics. Their latest book, When to Rob a Bank, came out last week.

“I’ve abandoned more books than I’ve written, which I’m happy about. I’m very pro-quitting. We get preached this idea that if you quit something, if you don’t see something through to completion then you’re a loser, you’re a failure. I just think that’s a crazy way to look at things. But it’s also easy to overlook opportunity costs. Like, what could I be doing instead?”

Thanks to this week's sponsors: TinyLetter, HP Matter, The Great Courses, and Aspiration.

Show Notes:

stephenjdubner.com

Dubner on Longform

[2:00] "The Desert Blues" (Joshua Hammer • The Atavist Magazine • May 2015)

[3:00] When to Rob a Bank (with Steven D. Levitt • William Morrow • May 2015)

[11:00] "When Numbers Solve a Mystery" (Steven Landsburg • The Wall Street Journal • Apr 2005)

[13:00] "Do Parents Matter?" (with Steven D. Levitt • USA Today • May 2005)

[13:00] "The Probability That a Real-Estate Agent Is Cheating You (and Other Riddles of Modern Life)" (New York Times Magazine • Aug 2003)

[16:00] "Steven the Good" (New York Times Magazine • Feb 1999)

[16:00] Choosing My Religion: A Memoir of a Family Beyond Belief (Harper Perennial • 2006)

[25:00] Freakonomics: The Movie (Magnolia Pictures • 2010)

[42:00] Freakonomics Radio

[43:00] "I'm Stephen Dubner, Co-Author of Freakonomics, and This Is How I Work" (Lifehacker • Sep 2014)

[44:00] "Tell Me Something I Don’t Know: A New Freakonomics Radio Podcast" (Freakonomics • Oct 2014)

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