Freakonomics Radio show

Freakonomics Radio

Summary: Have fun discovering the hidden side of everything with host Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of the best-selling "Freakonomics” books. Each week, hear surprising conversations that explore the riddles of everyday life and the weird wrinkles of human nature—from cheating and crime to parenting and sports. Dubner talks with Nobel laureates and provocateurs, social scientists and entrepreneurs — and his “Freakonomics” co-author Steve Levitt. After just a few episodes, this podcast will have you too thinking like a Freak. Produced by WNYC Studios, home of other great podcasts such as “Radiolab," "Death, Sex & Money," and "On the Media."

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  • Artist: Stephen J. Dubner and WNYC Studios
  • Copyright: Stephen J. Dubner and WNYC

Podcasts:

 Time to Take Back the Toilet | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 34:48

Public bathrooms are noisy, poorly designed, and often nonexistent. What to do?

 The Troubled Cremation of Stevie the Cat (Rebroadcast) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 44:38

We spend billions on our pets, and one of the fastest-growing costs is pet "aftercare." But are those cremated remains you got back really from your pet?

 How to Fix a Broken High Schooler, in Four Easy Steps | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 29:19

Okay, maybe the steps aren’t so easy. But a program run out of a Toronto housing project has had great success in turning around kids who were headed for trouble.

 Is America’s Education Problem Really Just a Teacher Problem? | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 34:25

If U.S. schoolteachers are indeed “just a little bit below average,” it’s not really their fault. So what should be done about it?

 The Man Who Would Be Everything | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 27:45

Boris Johnson -- mayor of London, biographer of Churchill, cheese-box painter and tennis-racket collector -- answers our FREAK-quently Asked Questions.

 Why Do People Keep Having Children? | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 38:33

Even a brutal natural disaster doesn’t diminish our appetite for procreating. This surely means we’re heading toward massive overpopulation, right? Probably not.

 Should the U.S. Merge With Mexico? | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 55:59

Corporations around the world are consolidating like never before. If it’s good enough for companies, why not countries? Welcome to Amexico!

 What Can Vampires Teach Us About Economics? | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 24:51

A lot! “The Economics of the Undead” is a book about dating strategy, job creation, and whether there should be a legal market for blood.

 “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know” | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 62:29

The debut of a live game show from Freakonomics Radio, with judges Malcolm Gladwell, Ana Gasteyer, and David Paterson.

 How Can Tiny Norway Afford to Buy So Many Teslas? | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 36:11

The Norwegian government parleys massive oil wealth into huge subsidies for electric cars. Is that carbon laundering or just pragmatic environmentalism?

 How to Raise Money Without Killing a Kitten (Rebroadcast) | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 33:15

The science of what works -- and doesn't work -- in fund-raising

 Fixing the World, Bang-for-the-Buck Edition | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 41:59

A team of economists has been running the numbers on the U.N.'s development goals. They have a different view of how those billions of dollars should be spent.

 Fitness Apartheid | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 30:42

Markets are hardly perfect, but the results can be ugly when you try to subvert them.

 Outsiders by Design | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 40:26

What does it mean to pursue something that everyone else thinks is nuts? And what does it take to succeed?

 How to Save $1 Billion Without Even Trying | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 33:41

Doctors, chefs, and other experts are much more likely than the rest of us to buy store-brand products. What do they know that we don’t?

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