Freakonomics Radio

By Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

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... more

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The podcast currently has 931 episodes available.

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Number 1: 677. Can Backgammon Save Us from Ourselves?
It brings strangers together. It teaches probability, strategy, and emotional control. It has even helped N.F.L. teams win the Super Bowl. Stephen Dubner explores why this ancient game is having a renaissance. (Part two of a series, “We Are All Gamers Now.”) SOURCES: Remington Davenport, founder of NYC Backgammon Club. Frank Frigo, game strategy expert & two-time world backgammon champion. Masayuki "Mochy" Mochizuki, professional backgammon player. Marc Olsen, C.E.O. of Backgammon Galaxy. Robert Wachtel, author and professional backgammon player. RESOURCES: The Backgammon Chronicles: A Pro's Adventures on Tour Volume 1, by Robert Wachtel (2019). In the Game Until the End, by Robert Wachtel (1993) "Tric Trac, Clic Clac," (The New Yorker, 1930). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
June 12, 20261h
Number 2: 676. Has America Lost the Plot?
Another war in the Middle East. A retreat from the international order. A presidency built on self-dealing and arbitrary power. It’s enough to make you think the U.S. is in a steep decline — but Fareed Zakaria thinks otherwise. SOURCES: Fareed Zakaria, journalist and author. RESOURCES: "Iran is an imperial trap. America walked right in." by Fareed Zakaria (The Washington Post, 2026). "‘Bomb and hope’ is not a strategy," by Fareed Zakaria (The Washington Post, 2026). Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present, by Fareed Zakaria (2024). The Accidental Superpower: The Next Generation of American Preeminence and the Coming Global Disorder, by Peter Zeihan (2014). The Affluent Society, by Jonathan Galbraith (1958). EXTRAS: "Fareed Zakaria on What Just Happened, and What Comes Next," by Freakonomics Radio (2024). "Are We Living Through the Most Revolutionary Period in History?" by Freakonomics Radio (2024). "The Folly of Prediction," by Freakonomics Radio (2011). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
June 05, 20261h 6min
Number 3: This Is Your Brain on Pollution (Update)
As the Trump administration rolls back environmental regulations, we revisit a 2022 episode that explored the hidden cost of an invisible threat: air pollution. SOURCES: Angela Duckworth, psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania. Michael Greenstone, economist at the University of Chicago, director of the Energy Policy Institute, co-director of the Climate Impact Lab. Stephan Heblich, economist at the University of Toronto. Andrea La Nauze, economist at Deakin University. Steve Levitt, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Chicago. Edson Severnini, economist at Boston College. RESOURCES: "Most Polluted Cities," (American Lung Association, 2026). "Air Pollution and Adult Cognition: Evidence from Brain Training," by Andrea La Nauze and Edson Severnini (Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, 2025). "Air Pollution and Student Performance in the U.S.," by Michael Gilraine and Angela Zheng (NBER Working Papers, 2022). "Billions of people still breathe unhealthy air: new WHO data," (World Health Organization, 2022). "Evolution of the Clean Air Act," by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (2020). "The Death of U.K. Coal in Five Charts," by Hannah Ritchie (Our World in Data, 2019). "The Colour of Pollution," (The Economist, 2014). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
June 10, 202648min
Number 4: The Brilliant Mr. Feynman (Update)
What happens when an existentially depressed and recently widowed young physicist from Queens gets a fresh start in California? We follow Richard Feynman out west, to explore his long and extremely fruitful second act. (Part two of a three-part series originally published in 2024.) SOURCES: Seamus Blackley, video game designer and creator of the Xbox. Carl Feynman, computer scientist and son of Richard Feynman. Michelle Feynman, photographer and daughter of Richard Feynman. Ralph Leighton, biographer and film producer. Charles Mann, science journalist and author. John Preskill, professor of theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology. Lisa Randall, professor of theoretical particle physics and cosmology at Harvard University. Christopher Sykes, documentary filmmaker. Stephen Wolfram, founder and C.E.O. of Wolfram Research; creator of Mathematica, Wolfram|Alpha, and the Wolfram Language. Alan Zorthian, architect. RESOURCES: "Love After Life: Nobel-Winning Physicist Richard Feynman’s Extraordinary Letter to His Departed Wife," by Maria Popova (The Marginalian, 2017). Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science, by Lawrence M. Krauss (2011). The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, by Richard Feynman (1999). Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman, by James Gleick (1992). "G. Feynman; Landscape Expert, Physicist’s Widow," (Los Angeles Times, 1990). "Nobel Physicist R. P. Feynman of Caltech Dies," by Lee Dye (Los Angeles Times, 1988). The Second Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Twentieth-century Physics, by Robert Crease and Charles Mann (1986). Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!, by Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton (1985). Fun to Imagine, BBC docuseries (1983). "Richard P. Feynman: Nobel Prize Winner," by Tim Hendrickson, Stuart Galley, and Fred Lamb (Engineering and Science, 1965). F.B.I. files on Richard Feynman. EXTRAS: "The Curious Mr. Feynman," by Freakonomics Radio (2024). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
May 27, 202653min
Number 5: The Vanishing Mr. Feynman (Update)
In his final years, Richard Feynman's curiosity took him to some surprising places. We hear from his companions on the trips he took — and one he wasn’t able to. (Part three of a three-part series originally published in 2024.) SOURCES: Alan Alda, actor and screenwriter. Barbara Berg, friend of Richard Feynman. Helen Czerski, physicist and oceanographer at University College London. Michelle Feynman, photographer and daughter of Richard Feynman. Cheryl Haley, friend of Richard Feynman. Debby Harlow, friend of Richard Feynman. Ralph Leighton, biographer and film producer. Charles Mann, science journalist and author. John Preskill, professor of theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology. Lisa Randall, professor of theoretical particle physics and cosmology at Harvard University. Christopher Sykes, documentary filmmaker. Stephen Wolfram, founder and C.E.O. of Wolfram Research; creator of Mathematica, Wolfram|Alpha, and the Wolfram Language. RESOURCES: I Love My Wife..., directed by Ian Tierney (2020). Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science, by Lawrence M. Krauss (2011). Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track: Selected Letters of Richard P. Feynman, edited by Michelle Feynman (2005). The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, by Richard Feynman (1999). The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan (1995). Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman, by James Gleick (1992). The Quest for Tannu Tuva, by Christopher Sykes (1988) “What Do You Care What Other People Think?” by Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton (1988). The Second Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Twentieth-century Physics, by Robert Crease and Charles Mann (1986). Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!, by Richard Feynman and Ralph Leighton (1985). Fun to Imagine, BBC docuseries (1983). EXTRAS: “The Curious, Brilliant, Vanishing Mr. Feynman,” series by Freakonomics Radio (2024). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
May 29, 20261h 1min