The Freakonomics Radio Book Club
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The Freakonomics Radio Book Club
From the podcast that explores the hidden side of everything, hear authors like you’ve never heard them before. Stephen Dubner and a stable of Freakonomics friends talk with the writers of mind-bending books, and we hear the best excerpts as well. You’ll learn about skill versus chance, the American...
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29 episodi
28. China Is Run by Engineers. America Is Run by Lawyers.
In his new book “Breakneck,” Dan Wang argues that the U.S. has a lot to learn from China. He also says that “no two peoples are more alike.” We have q...
27. The Most Powerful People You’ve Never Heard Of
Just beneath the surface of the global economy, there is a hidden layer of dealmakers for whom war, chaos, and sanctions can be a great business oppor...
26. Is Professional Licensing a Racket?
Licensing began with medicine and law; now it extends to 20 percent of the U.S. workforce, including hair stylists and auctioneers. In a new book, the...
25. How to Make Something from Nothing
Adam Moss was the best magazine editor of his generation. When he retired, he took up painting. But he wasn’t very good, and that made him sad. So he...
24. Is the U.S. Sleeping on Threats from Russia and China?
John J. Sullivan, a former State Department official and U.S. ambassador, says yes: “Our politicians aren’t leading — Republicans or Democrats.” He gi...
23. Confessions of a Black Conservative
The economist and social critic Glenn Loury has led a remarkably turbulent life, both professionally and personally. In a new memoir, he has chosen to...
22. How Does the Lost World of Vienna Still Shape Our Lives?
From politics and economics to psychology and the arts, many of the modern ideas we take for granted emerged a century ago from a single European capi...
EXTRA: Remembering Daniel Kahneman
Nobel laureate, bestselling author, and groundbreaking psychologist Daniel Kahneman died in March. In 2021 he talked with Steve Levitt — his friend an...
21. Are We Living Through the Most Revolutionary Period in History?
Fareed Zakaria says yes. But it’s not just political revolution — it’s economic, technological, even emotional. He doesn’t offer easy solutions but he...
20. Why Are People So Mad at Michael Lewis?
Lewis got incredible access to Sam Bankman-Fried, the billionaire behind the spectacular FTX fraud. His book is a bestseller, but some critics say he...
19. The Facts Are In: Two Parents Are Better Than One
In her new book The Two-Parent Privilege, the economist Melissa Kearney says it’s time for liberals to face the facts: U.S. marriage rates have plumme...
18. “Insurance Is Sexy.” Discuss.
The economist Amy Finkelstein explains why insurance markets are broken and how to fix them. Also: why can’t you buy divorce insurance?
Hosted b...
17. Samin Nosrat Always Wanted to Be Famous
And with her book "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat," she succeeded. Now she's not so sure how to feel about all the attention.
Hosted by Simplecast, an A...
16. Did Michael Lewis Just Get Lucky with “Moneyball”?
No — but he does have a knack for stumbling into the perfect moment, including the recent FTX debacle. In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio B...
15. Does Philosophy Still Matter?
It used to be at the center of our conversations about politics and society. Scott Hershovitz is the author of Nasty, Brutish, and Short, in which he...
14. Why Do Most Ideas Fail to Scale?
In a new book called The Voltage Effect, the economist John List — who has already revolutionized how his profession does research — is trying to star...
13. What’s Wrong With Shortcuts?
You know the saying: “There are no shortcuts in life.” What if that saying is just wrong? In his new book Thinking Better: The Art of the Shortcut in...
12. “This Didn't End the Way It’s Supposed to End.”
The N.B.A. superstar Chris Bosh was still competing at the highest level when a blood clot abruptly ended his career. In his new book, Letters to a Yo...
11. The Mom Who Stole the Blueprints for the Atomic Bomb
To her neighbors in the English countryside, the woman known as Mrs. Burton was a cake-baking mother of three. To the Soviet Union, she was an invalua...
10. Check the Data: It’s a Man’s World
Do you think public bathrooms are too small, smartphones are too big, and public transit just wasn’t made for you? Then you’re probably a woman. In he...
9. All You Need Is Nudge
When Richard Thaler published Nudge in 2008 (with co-author Cass Sunstein), the world was just starting to believe in his brand of behavioral economic...
8. Is the Future of Farming in the Ocean?
Bren Smith, who grew up fishing and fighting, is now part of a movement that seeks to feed the planet while putting less environmental stress on it. H...
7. How to Get Anyone to Do Anything
The social psychologist Robert Cialdini is a pioneer in the science of persuasion. His 1984 book Influence is a classic, and he has just published an...
6. How Does New York City Keep Reinventing Itself?
In a word: networks. Once it embraced information as its main currency, New York was able to climb out of a deep fiscal (and psychic) pit. Will that m...
5. A Rescue Plan for Black America
New York Times columnist Charles Blow argues that white supremacy in America will never fully recede, and that it’s time for Black people to do someth...
4. How to Be Better at Death
Caitlin Doughty is a mortician who would like to put herself out of business. Our corporate funeral industry, she argues, has made us forget how to of...
3. Forget Everything You Know About Your Dog
As beloved and familiar as they are, we rarely stop to consider life from the dog’s point of view. That stops now. In this episode, we discuss the boo...
2. What if Your Company Had No Rules?
Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings came to believe that corporate rules can kill creativity and innovation. In this episode, Hastings talks about his ne...
1. How to Make Your Own Luck
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 brillian...