They should have died out when the lightbulb was invented. Instead they’re a $10 billion industry. What does it mean that we still want tiny fires inside our homes?

• SOURCES:
  • Tim Cooper, professor emeritus of sustainable design and consumption at Nottingham Trent University.
  • Gökçe Günel, professor of anthropology at Rice University.
  • Steve Horenziak, president of the National Candle Association.
  • Meik Wiking, Danish happiness researcher, C.E.O. of the Happiness Research Institute.

• RESOURCES:
  • "The Great Lightbulb Conspiracy," by Markus Krajewski (IEEE Spectrum, 2024).
  • "The Obsolescence Issue," edited by Townsend Middleton, Gökçe Günel, and Ashley Carse (Limn, 2024).
  • More and More and More, by Jean-Baptiste Fressoz (2024).
  • "What Yankee Candle reviews can tell us about COVID," by Manuela López Restrepo, Christopher Intagliata, Ailsa Chang, and Sacha Pfeiffer (NPR, 2022).
  • Spaceship in the Desert, by Gökçe Günel (2019).
  • "The Birth of Planned Obsolescence," by Livia Gershon (JSTOR Daily, 2017).
  • "Beeswax for the Ages," by G. Jeffrey MacDonald (The Living Church, 2016).
  • The Waste Makers, by Vance Packard (2011).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Why Do People Still Hunt Whales?" by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
  • "How to Be Happy," by Freakonomics Radio (2018).

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The former secretary of state isn’t a flamethrower, but he certainly has strong opinions. In this wide-ranging conversation with Stephen Dubner, he gives them all: on Israel, Gaza, China, Iran, Russia, Biden, Trump — and the rest of the world.

• SOURCES:
  • Antony Blinken, former Secretary of State.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Evaluating the impact of two decades of USAID interventions and projecting the effects of defunding on mortality up to 2030: a retrospective impact evaluation and forecasting analysis," by Daniella Cavalcanti, Lucas de Oliveira Ferreira de Sales, Andrea Ferreira da Silva, Elisa Basterra, Daiana Pena, Caterina Monti, Gonzalo Barreix, Natanael Silva, Paula Vaz, Francisco Saute, Gonzalo Fanjul, Quique Bassat, Denise Naniche, James Macinko, and Davide Rasella (The Lancet, 2025).
  • "What Bombs Can’t Do in Iran," by Karim Sadjadpour (New York Times, 2025).
  • "A New Palestinian Offer for Peace With Israel," by Elliot Kaufman (Wall Street Journal, 2025).
  • "America’s Strategy of Renewal," by Antony Blinken (Foreign Affairs, 2024).

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Until recently, Delaware was almost universally agreed to be the best place for companies to incorporate. Now, with Elon Musk leading a corporate stampede out of the First State, we revisit an episode from 2023 that asked if Delaware’s “franchise” is wildly corrupt, wildly efficient … or both?

• SOURCES:
  • John Cassara, retired Special Agent detailee to the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Terrorism Finance and Financial Intelligence.
  • Doneene Damon, director with Richards, Layton, and Finger.
  • Travis Laster, Vice Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery.
  • Dan Nielson, professor of government at the University of Texas.
  • Hal Weitzman, professor of behavioral science, editor-in-chief of Chicago Booth Review, and executive director for intellectual capital at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.

• RESOURCES:
  • “A Silicon Valley Giant Calls for a Delaware Exodus,” by Andrew Ross Sorkin, Bernhard Warner, Sarah Kessler, Michael J. de la Merced, and Danielle Kaye (New York Times, 2025).
  • "Financial Secrecy Index," by Tax Justice Network (2025).
  • "Annual Report Statistics," by Delaware Division of Corporations (2023).
  • What’s the Matter with Delaware? How the First State Has Favored the Rich, Powerful, and Criminal — and How It Costs Us All, by Hal Weitzman (2022).
  • Global Shell Games: Experiments in Transnational Relations, Crime, and Terrorism, by Michael G. Findley, Daniel L. Nielson, and J. C. Sharman (2014).
  • "The FATF Recommendations," by the Financial Action Task Force (2012).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Will the Democrats 'Make America Great Again'?" by Freakonomics Radio (2023).

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For years, the playwright David Adjmi was considered “polarizing and difficult.” But creating Stereophonic seems to have healed him. Stephen Dubner gets the story — and sorts out what Adjmi has in common with Richard Wagner.

• SOURCES:
  • David Adjmi, author and playwright.

• RESOURCES:
  • "The West End is enjoying a theatre revival. Can Broadway keep up?" by Daniel Thomas (Financial Times, 2025).
  • Lot Six: A Memoir, by David Adjmi (2020).
  • Stereophonic, (2023).

• EXTRAS:
  • "How Is Live Theater Still Alive?" by Freakonomics Radio (2025).
  • "How to Make the Coolest Show on Broadway," by Freakonomics Radio (2024).

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The Gulf States and China are spending billions to build stadiums and buy up teams — but what are they really buying? And can an entrepreneur from Cincinnati make his own billions by bringing baseball to Dubai?

• SOURCES:
  • Simon Chadwick, professor of afroeurasian sport at Emlyon Business School.
  • Derek Fisher, high school basketball coach, former N.B.A. coach and player.
  • Kash Shaikh, chairman, C.E.O., and co-founder of Baseball United.
  • Rory Smith, football correspondent at The Observer.

• RESOURCES:
  • "China Keeps Building Stadiums in Africa. But at What Cost?" by Elian Peltier (New York Times, 2024).
  • "Manchester Off-Shored: A Public Interest Report on the Manchester Life Partnership Between Manchester City Council + The Abu Dhabi United Group," by Richard Goulding, Adam Leaver, and Jonathan Silver (Centripetal Cities, 2022).
  • "Manchester City's Cozy Ties to Abu Dhabi: Sponsorship Money – Paid for by the State," by Rafael Buschmann, Nicola Naber, and Christoph Winterbach (Spiegel International, 2022).
  • "China Renews Its ‘Belt and Road’ Push for Global Sway," by Keith Bradsher (New York Times, 2020).

• EXTRAS:
  • "What Is Sportswashing — and Does It Work? (Update)," by Freakonomics Radio (2024).

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Before she decided to become a poker pro, Maria Konnikova didn’t know how many cards are in a deck. But she did have a Ph.D. in psychology, a brilliant coach, and a burning desire to know whether life is driven more by skill or chance. She found some answers in poker — and she’s willing to tell us everything she learned.

• SOURCES:
  • Maria Konnikova, author of The Biggest Bluff.

• RESOURCES:
  • “Gender Differences in Performance Predictions: Evidence from the Cognitive Reflection Test,” by Patrick Ring, Levent Neyse, Tamas David-Barett, and Ulrich Schmidt (Frontiers in Psychology, 2016).
  • “The headwinds/tailwinds Asymmetry: An Availability Bias in Assessments of Barriers and Blessings,” by Shai Davidai and Thomas Gilovich (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2016).
  • “The Two Settings of Kind and Wicked Learning Environments,” by Robin M. Hogarth, Tomás Lejarraga, and Emre Soyer (Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2015).
  • "The Limits of Self-Control: Self-Control, Illusory Control, and Risky Financial Decision Making,” by Maria Konnikova (Columbia University, 2013).
  • “Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement” by J.B. Rotter (Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 1966).

• EXTRAS:
  • The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win, by Maria Konnikova.
  • Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes, by Maria Konnikova.
  • The Confidence Game, by Maria Konnikova.
  • Theory of Games and Economic Behavior, by John Von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern.
  • "This Year’s World Series Of Poker Is Different," by Risky Business with Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova (2025).

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Cory Booker on the politics of fear, the politics of hope, and how to split the difference.

• SOURCES:
  • Cory Booker, senior United States Senator from New Jersey.

• RESOURCES:
  • "'When Are More Americans Going to Speak Up?'" by The New Yorker Radio Hour (2025).
  • "Cory Booker’s Marathon Floor Speech," (2025).
  • "Facebook Knows Instagram Is Toxic for Teen Girls, Company Documents Show," by Georgia Wells, Jeff Horwitz, and Deepa Seetharaman (Wall Street Journal, 2021).
  • "Tucked Into the Tax Bill, a Plan to Help Distressed America," by Jim Tankersley (New York Times, 2018).
  • United: Thoughts on Finding Common Ground and Advancing the Common Good, by Cory Booker (2017).
  • "But What Did Cory Booker Actually Accomplish in Newark?" by J.B. Wogan (Governing, 2013).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Ten Myths About the U.S. Tax System," by Freakonomics Radio (2025).
  • "The United States of Cory Booker," by Freakonomics Radio (2016).

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In the U.S., there will soon be more people over 65 than there are under 18 — and it’s not just lifespan that’s improving, it’s “healthspan” too. Unfortunately, the American approach to aging is stuck in the 20th century. In less than an hour, we try to unstick it. (Part three of a three-part series, “Cradle to Grave.”)

• SOURCES:
  • James Chappel, professor of history at Duke University.
  • Katy Fike, co-founder of Aging 2.0 and managing partner of Generator Ventures.
  • Kristen Fortney, co-founder and C.E.O. of BioAge.
  • Celine Halioua, founder and C.E.O. of Loyal.
  • Kyla Scanlon, economic commentator.
  • Andrew Scott, professor of economics at London Business School.

• RESOURCES:
  • In This Economy?: How Money & Markets Really Work, by Kyla Scanlon (2024).
  • Golden Years: How Americans Invented and Reinvented Old Age, by James Chappel (2024).
  • The Longevity Imperative: How to Build a Healthier and More Productive Society to Support Our Longer Lives, by Andrew Scott (2024).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Off Leash," by The Freakonomics Radio Network (2022).
  • "Are You Ready for a Glorious Sunset?" by Freakonomics Radio (2015).

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In this episode from 2013, we look at whether spite pays — and if it even exists.

• SOURCES:
  • Benedikt Herrmann, research officer at the European Commission.
  • Steve Levitt, co-author of Freakonomics and host of People I (Mostly) Admire.
  • Dave O'Connor, president of Times Studios.
  • Lisi Oliver, professor of English at Louisiana State University.
  • E.O. Wilson, naturalist and university research professor emeritus at Harvard University.

• RESOURCES:
  • You Don't Know Bo: The Legend of Bo Jackson, documentary (2012).
  • "Amputation of the nose throughout history," by G. Sperati (ACTA Otorhinolaryngologica Italica, 2009).
  • "The Appearance of Homo Rivalis: Social Preferences and the Nature of Rent Seeking," by Benedikt Herrmann and Henrik Orzen (Center for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, 2008).

• EXTRAS:
  • "What It’s Like to Be Middle-Aged (in the Middle Ages)," by Freakonomics Radio (2025).

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The simplicity of life back then is appealing today, as long as you don’t mind Church hegemony, the occasional plague, trial by gossip — and the lack of ibuprofen. (Part two of a three-part series, “Cradle to Grave.”)

• SOURCES:
  • Jordan Cavalier, performer at the New Jersey Renaissance Faire.
  • Matt Schwarz, harpist at the New Jersey Renaissance Faire.
  • Phillipp Schofield, professor of history at Aberystywth University.
  • Neslihan Şenocak, professor of history at Columbia University.

• RESOURCES:
  • A People's Church: Medieval Italy and Christianity, 1050–1300, co-edited by Agostino Paravicini Bagliani and Neslihan Şenocak (2023).
  • The Routledge Handbook of Medieval Rural Life, edited by Miriam Müller with a contribution by Phillip Schofield (2021).
  • Monty Python and the Holy Grail, film (1975).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Are You Having a Midlife Crisis?" by No Stupid Questions (2022).

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