Freakonomics Radio

By Freakonomics Radio + StitcherSociety & Culture Documentary

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Freakonomics Radio episodes

August 05 Does it Take a Twisted Mind to Write Twisted Stories? | Better In Person
Harlan Coben doesn’t think so. The mega-best-selling author talks suburbia, impostor syndrome, and what he learned from his college friend David Foster Wallace.
If you'd like to see the video version of Better in Person, you can watch it on YouTube or Apple Podcasts.

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45 min
July 31683. In the New Space Race, Who Makes the Rules?
Governments started the space age. Now, billionaires and private firms are reinventing it. Guest host Steve Levitt explores what the past can teach us about a high-stakes future. (Part two of a two-part series.)
SOURCES:
Blaise Agüera y Arcas, vice president and fellow at Google, C.T.O. of technology and society.

Rosanna Hoffman, head of space law, policy, and sustainability at the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.

Alex Macdonald, former first chief economist at NASA, senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Will Marshall, co-founder and C.E.O. of Planet Labs.
RESOURCES:
"The mission to create a searchable database of Earth's surface," by Will Marshall (TED, 2018).

The Long Space Age, by Alex Macdonald (2017).

Planet Labs A.I.
EXTRAS:
"Should A.I. Move to Space?," series by Freakonomics Radio (2026).

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57 min
July 29 How Gary Gulman Turned Depression Into Comedy Gold | Better in Person
Gary and Stephen talk about creativity, recovery, getting fired, and holding grudges. They also get outside and play basketball, which is a big part of how Gary stays well.

If you'd like to see the video version of Better in Person, watch it on YouTube or Apple Podcasts.

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48 min
July 24682. Should A.I. Move to Space?
At first it sounds ridiculous. But it might be inevitable. Guest host Steve Levitt talks to a team that hopes to push A.I. infrastructure off the planet. Part one of a two-part series.)
SOURCES:
Blaise Agüera y Arcas, vice president and fellow at Google, C.T.O. of technology and society.

Travis Beals, senior director of product management at Google, Project Suncatcher lead.

Will Marshall, co-founder and C.E.O. of Planet Labs.
RESOURCES:
What Is Intelligence?, by Blaise Agüera y Arcas (2025).

"Towards a future space-based, highly scalable AI infrastructure system design," by Blaise Agüera y Arcas, Travis Beals, Maria Biggs, Jessica V. Bloom, Thomas Fischbacher, Konstantin Gromov, Urs Köster, Rishiraj Pravahan, and James Manyika (Google, 2025).

Reason, by Isaac Asimov (1941).
EXTRAS:
"Are Our Tools Becoming Part of Us?," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2024).

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49 min
July 22 Why Cooking is Caregiving, with Chef Hillary Sterling | Better in Person
Hillary Sterling was a Brooklyn kid raised on cream cheese sandwiches and canned potatoes. So how did she become one of New York City's best chefs? The Ci Siamo executive chef explains on the second episode of Better in Person.

If you'd like to see the video version of Better in Person, watch it on YouTube or Apple Podcasts.

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43 min
July 17Are You Really Allergic to Penicillin? (Update)
Like tens of millions of people, Stephen Dubner thought he had a penicillin allergy. Like the vast majority, he didn’t. This misdiagnosis costs billions of dollars and causes serious health problems, so why hasn’t it been fixed? We find out in this update of a 2025 episode.
SOURCES:
Kimberly Blumenthal, allergist-immunologist and researcher at the Mayo Clinic.

Theresa MacPhail, associate professor of science and technology studies at Stevens Institute of Technology.

Thomas Platts-Mills, professor of medicine at the University of Virginia.

Elena Resnick, allergist and immunologist at Mount Sinai Hospital.
RESOURCES:
Allergic: Our Irritated Bodies in a Changing World, by Theresa MacPhail (2023).

"Evaluation and Management of Penicillin Allergy: A Review," by Erica S. Shenoy, Eric Macy, and Theresa Rowe (JAMA, 2019).

"The Allergy Epidemics: 1870–2010," by Thomas Platts-Mills (The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2016).

"Randomized Trial of Peanut Consumption in Infants at Risk for Peanut Allergy," by George Du Toit, Graham Roberts, et al. (The New England Journal of Medicine, 2015).
EXTRAS:
"The Freakonomics Radio Guide to Getting Better," series by Freakonomics Radio (2026).

"Doctors Know They Prescribe Too Many Antibiotics. Why Don’t They Stop?" by Freakonomics, M.D. (2022).

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1 hr 6 min
July 14 How a Great Architect Thinks, with Bjarke Ingels | Better in Person
Is the oxymoron really “the secret sauce to everything”? That’s the case Ingels makes in this debut episode of our new video show Better in Person, filmed in Stephen Dubner’s living room.

If you'd like to see the video version of Better in Person, watch it on YouTube or Apple Podcasts.

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44 min
July 09681. How to Host a Talk Show, with Dick Cavett
Stephen Dubner had an idea for a new project. So he drove to Connecticut and knocked on the door of the master. Dubner’s new TV talk show Better in Person launches July 14 on the Freakonomics YouTube channel.
SOURCES:
Dick Cavett, writer, former talk show host.
RESOURCES:
Eye on Cavett, by Dick Cavett and Christopher Porterfield (1983).

Cavett, by Dick Cavett and Christopher Porterfield (1974).

"The Dick Cavett Show" YouTube Channel.

"Better in Person" Trailer.

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44 min
July 03680. Can Universities Win Back Our Trust?
Dartmouth president Sian Beilock, a psychologist by training, made her name studying why people choke. Now she’s applying those insights to one of the most scrutinized jobs in America. No pressure!
SOURCES:
Sian Beilock, president of Dartmouth College.
RESOURCES:
"Growing share of Americans say the U.S. higher education system is headed in the wrong direction," by Kim Parker (Pew Research Center, 2025).

"Standardized Test Scores and Academic Performance at Ivy-Plus Colleges," by John N. Friedman, Bruce Sacerdote, Douglas O. Staiger, and Michele Tine (NBER, 2025).

"Americans’ Trust in One Another," by Laura Silver, Scott Keeter, Stephanie Kramer, Jordan Lippert, Sofia Hernandez Ramones, Alan Cooperman, Chris Baronavski, and Bill Webster (Pew Research Center, 2025).

Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To, by Sian Beilock (2011)
EXTRAS:
"Why Does Vanderbilt Keep Winning?" by Freakonomics Radio (2026).

"'A Low Moment in Higher Education,'" by Freakonomics Radio (2024).

"'If We’re All in It for Ourselves, Who Are We?'" by Freakonomics Radio (2024).

"Why We Choke Under Pressure (and How Not To)," by Freakonomics Radio (2018).

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50 min
June 26679. Why Does Vanderbilt Keep Winning?
It’s a hard time to run a university: public trust is low, political pressure is high, and finances are fragile. But Daniel Diermeier, who trained as a political scientist, has Vanderbilt humming. How? He says the key is choosing magnets over wedges.
SOURCES:
Daniel Diermeier, chancellor of Vanderbilt University.
RESOURCES:
"Higher Ed’s New Crisis Managers," by Lee Gardner (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2026).

"Professors Need to Diversify What They Teach," by Jon Shields, Yuval Avnur, and Stephanie Muravchik (Persuasion, 2025).

"A Call for Constructive Engagement," (American Association of Colleges and Universities, 2025).

"2020 Statement on Anthropology and Human Rights," (American Anthropological Association, 2020).

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander (2010).

"Kalven Committee: Report on the University’s Role in Political and Social Action," (The University of Chicago, 1967).
EXTRAS:
Sign up here to pre-screen our new video show.

"'A Low Moment in Higher Education,'" by Freakonomics Radio (2024).

"'If We’re All in It for Ourselves, Who Are We?'" by Freakonomics Radio (2024).

"Do Boycotts Work?" by Freakonomics Radio (2016).

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1 hr 5 min

About Freakonomics Radio

From the publisher's feed

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.