Freakonomics Radio

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 news? Also: things you never knew you wanted to know about wolves, bananas, pollution, search engines, and the quirks of human behavior. Join the Freakonomics Radio Plus membership program for weekly member-only episodes of Freakonomics Radio. You’ll also get every show in our network without ads. To sign up, visit our show page on Apple Podcasts or go to freakonomics.com/plus. read less

Our Editor's Take

Freakonomics Radio looks at the hidden side of things like the economy and human behavior. Steve Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner introduced their style of analysis in the blockbuster book Freakonomics in 2005. On the podcast, the duo uses data to help listeners understand the world around them. They interview leading experts to get to the bottom of intriguing real-world problems. The show aims to answer difficult questions. Past topics have included "Why Are There So Many Bad Bosses?" and "Is 'Toxic Positivity' a Thing?" along with many more.

With counterintuitive takes such as exploring why traffic jams are actually good for us, they help to show the world in a whole new light. This light is shone with the help of expert opinions and guests. Guests on the show include bestselling author Alexandra Horowitz and economist Chris Paxson.

Each episode tackles a specific topic and uses data and stories to answer questions in a new way. The results are often unexpected. Themes range from politics to culture and are always topical. Freakonomics Radio helps listeners forge a new view of contemporary life. No matter what the topic, Freakonomics Radio always provides listeners with fascinating insights.

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Society & CultureSociety & Culture

Episodes

Extra: Car Colors & Storage Units
Today
Extra: Car Colors & Storage Units
Presenting two stories from The Economics of Everyday Things: Why does it seem like every car is black, white, or gray these days? And: How self-storage took over America. SOURCES:Tom Crockett, classic car enthusiast.Zachary Dickens, executive vice president and chief investment officer of Extra Space Storage.Mark Gutjahr, global head of design at BASF.Kara Kolodziej, self-storage unit tenant.Anne Mari DeCoster, self-storage consultant.Nikkie Riedel, carline planning manager at Subaru of America. RESOURCES:“A Fifth Of Americans Rent Self Storage, With Millennials Overtaking Gen Xers In Generational Storage Wars,” by Francis Chantree (Storage Cafe, 2024).“Lessors of Mini Warehouses and Self-Storage Units Show Significant Financial Gains During COVID-19 Pandemic,” by Ben Chandler and Robin Enlow (United States Census Bureau, 2024).BASF Color Report 2023 for Automotive OEM Coatings, (2023).“The Fate of Oversupplied Self-Storage Markets and How to Pull Back From the Brink,” by Frank DeSalvo and David Perlleshi (Inside Self Storage, 2023).“A Pandemic Space Race: Self-Storage Roars Back,” by Ellen Rosen (The New York Times, 2021).“Beige on an S.U.V. Will Cost You, but for Pickups It’s Golden,” by Roy Furchgott (The New York Times, 2021).“A Brief History Of Car Colors — And Why Are We So Boring Now?” (Consumer Reports, 2018).“The Link Between the Colour of Cars and the Economy,” (The Economist, 2018).“Need to Store That? Booming Self-Storage Industry Says No Problem,” by Liam Pleven (The Wall Street Journal, 2015). EXTRAS:“Car Washes,” by The Economics of Everyday Things (2023).Storage Wars, TV series (2010-present).Auction Hunters, TV series (2010-2015).
587. Should Companies Be Owned by Their Workers?
May 9 2024
587. Should Companies Be Owned by Their Workers?
The employee ownership movement is growing, and one of its biggest champions is also a private equity heavyweight. Is this meaningful change, or just window dressing? SOURCES:Marjorie Kelly, distinguished senior fellow at The Democracy Collaborative.Corey Rosen, founder and senior staff member of the National Center for Employee Ownership.Pete Stavros, co-head of Global Private Equity at KKR. RESOURCES:"Private Equity Is Starting to Share With Workers, Without Taking a Financial Hit," by Lydia DePillis (The New York Times, 2024)."Private Equity Heavyweight Pushing Employee Ownership," (60 Minutes, 2024)."Ownership Works: Scaling a Profitable Social Mission," by Ethan Rouen, Dennis Campbell, and Andrew Robinson (HBS Case Collection, 2023)."Research on Employee Ownership," by the National Center for Employee Ownership (2023).Wealth Supremacy: How the Extractive Economy and the Biased Rules of Capitalism Drive Today’s Crises, by Marjorie Kelly (2023)."Is Private Equity Joining — or Co-Opting—the Employee Ownership Movement?" by Marjorie Kelly and Karen Kahn (Fast Company, 2022)."How Well Is Employee Ownership Working?" by Corey Rosen and Michael Quarrey (Harvard Business Review, 1987). EXTRAS:"Are Private Equity Firms Plundering the U.S. Economy?" by Freakonomics Radio (2023)."Do You Know Who Owns Your Vet?" by Freakonomics Radio (2023)."Should You Trust Private Equity to Take Care of Your Dog?" by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
Extra: Why Is 23andMe Going Under? (Update)
Apr 29 2024
Extra: Why Is 23andMe Going Under? (Update)
Five years ago, we published an episode about the boom in home DNA testing kits, focusing on the high-flying firm 23andMe and its C.E.O. Anne Wojcicki. Their flight has been extremely bumpy since then. This update includes an additional interview with the Wall Street Journal reporter who has been investigating the firm’s collapse. SOURCES:Rolfe Winkler, reporter at The Wall Street Journal.Anne Wojcicki, co-founder and C.E.O. of 23andMe. RESOURCES:"23andMe’s Fall From $6 Billion to Nearly $0," by Rolfe Winkler (The Wall Street Journal, 2024)."23andMe User Data Stolen in Targeted Attack on Ashkenazi Jews," by Lily Hay Newman (Wired, 2023).Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love, by Dani Shapiro (2019).How To Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results, by Esther Wojcicki (2019).“Diet and exercise changes following direct-to-consumer personal genomic testing,” by Daiva Elena Nielsen, Deanna Alexis Carere, Catharine Wang, J. Scott Roberts, and Robert C. Green (BMC Medical Genomics, 2016).“The impact of communicating genetic risks of disease on risk-reducing health behaviour: systematic review with meta-analysis,” Gareth J Hollands, David P. French, Simon J. Griffin, A. Toby Prevost, Stephen Sutton, Sarah King, Theresa M. Marteau (The British Medical Journal, 2016). EXTRAS:"Does Your DNA Determine Your Weight?" by No Stupid Questions (2023)."What’s Stopping Us From Curing Rare Diseases?" by Freakonomics, M.D. (2023)."We Can Play God Now," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2022)."Susan Wojcicki: 'Hey, Let’s Go Buy YouTube!'" by People I (Mostly) Admire (2020).
584. How to Pave the Road to Hell
Apr 18 2024
584. How to Pave the Road to Hell
So you want to help people? That’s great — but beware the law of unintended consequences. Three stories from the modern workplace.  SOURCES:Joshua Angrist, professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Zoe Cullen, professor of business administration at Harvard Business School.Marina Gertsberg, senior lecturer in finance at the University of Melbourne. RESOURCES:"Is Pay Transparency Good?" by Zoë Cullen (Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2024)."DP18969 Economics Coauthorships in the Aftermath of MeToo," by Noriko Amano-Patino, Elisa Faraglia, and Chryssi Giannitsarou (CEPR Discussion Paper, 2024)."The Underground Economy of Company Reviews," by Shikhar Sachdev (Career Fair, 2023)."Why Did Gender Wage Convergence in the United States Stall?" by Peter Q. Blair and Benjamin Posmanick (NBER Working Paper, 2023)."The Unintended Consequences of #MeToo: Evidence from Research Collaborations," by Marina Gertsberg (SSRN, 2022)."Outsourcing Tasks Online: Matching Supply and Demand on Peer-to-Peer Internet Platforms," by Zoë Cullen and Chiara Farronato (Management Science, 2021)."Equilibrium Effects of Pay Transparency," by Zoe B. Cullen and Bobak Pakzad-Hurson (NBER Working Paper, 2021)."How Much Does Your Boss Make? The Effects of Salary Comparisons," by Zoë Cullen and Ricardo Perez-Truglia (NBER Working Paper, 2018)."Wall Street Rule for the #MeToo Era: Avoid Women at All Cost," by Gillian Tan and Katia Porzecanski (Bloomberg, 2018)."A Comprehensive Analysis of the Effects of US Disability Discrimination Laws on the Employment of the Disabled Population," by Patrick Button, Philip Armour, and Simon Hollands (NBER Working Paper, 2016)."Consequences of Employment Protection? The Case of the Americans with Disabilities Act," by Daron Acemoglu and Joshua Angrist (Journal of Political Economy, 2001).
Extra: The Men Who Started a Thinking Revolution (Update)
Apr 14 2024
Extra: The Men Who Started a Thinking Revolution (Update)
The psychologist Daniel Kahneman — a Nobel laureate and the author of Thinking, Fast and Slow — recently died at age 90. Along with his collaborator Amos Tversky, he changed how we all think about decision-making. The journalist Michael Lewis told the Kahneman-Tversky story in a 2016 book called The Undoing Project. In this episode, Lewis explains why they had such a profound influence. SOURCE:Michael Lewis, writer. RESOURCES:The Undoing Project, by Michael Lewis (2016).Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman (2011).The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, by Michael Lewis (2010).Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein (2009).Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis (2004).“Who’s On First,” by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein (New Republic, 2003).“The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice,” by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky (Science, 1981).“Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk,” by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky (Econometrica, 1979).“Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases,” by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky (Science, 1974).“Subjective Probability: A Judgment of Representativeness,” by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky (Cognitive Psychology, 1972). EXTRAS:"Remembering Daniel Kahneman," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2024)."Why Are People So Mad at Michael Lewis?" by Freakonomics Radio (2023)."Did Michael Lewis Just Get Lucky with 'Moneyball'?" by Freakonomics Radio (2022).
Extra: What Is Sportswashing — and Does It Work? (Update)
Mar 4 2024
Extra: What Is Sportswashing — and Does It Work? (Update)
In ancient Rome, it was bread and circuses. Today, it’s a World Cup, an Olympics, and a new Saudi-backed golf league that’s challenging the PGA Tour. Can a sporting event really repair a country’s reputation — or will it trigger the dreaded Streisand Effect? Also: why the major U.S. sports leagues are warming up to the idea of foreign investment. SOURCES:Jodi Balsam, professor of clinical law at Brooklyn Law School.Brandel Chamblee, Golf Channel analyst.Karen Crouse, sports journalist.Bomani Jones, sports journalist.Victor Matheson, professor of economics at the College of the Holy Cross.Alan Shipnuck, sports journalist. RESOURCES:"The New N.F.L. Owners?" by Lauren Hirsch, Kevin Draper, Michael J. de la Merced and Sarah Kessler (The New York Times, 2024)."PGA Tour Raises $1.5 Billion From Group of U.S. Investors," by Lauren Hirsch (The New York Times, 2024)."PGA Tour, LIV Golf Agree to Merge," by Andrew Beaton and Louise Radnofsky (The Wall Street Journal, 2023).Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf's Most Colorful Superstar, by Alan Shipnuck (2022)."Dustin Johnson Paid £100m to Perform Late U-Turn and Join Saudi-Backed Rebel Series," by By James Corrigan and Tom Morgan (The Telegraph, 2022)."Russia Was the Hottest Place in Sports. Now It’s Frozen Out," by Joshua Robinson, Ben Cohen, and Louise Radnofsky (The Wall Street Journal, 2022)."Could This Be the Year ‘Sportwashing’ Backfires?" by Andrés Martinez (The Los Angeles Times, 2022)."The Truth About Phil and Saudi Arabia," by Alan Shipnuck (The Fire Pit Collective, 2022).The New Yale Book of Quotations, by Fred Shapiro (2021)."The Surprising Reason That There Are So Many Thai Restaurants in America," by Myles Karp (Vice, 2018). EXTRAS:"Greg Norman Takes On the P.G.A. Tour," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2023).
578. Water, Water Everywhere —  But You Have to Stop and Think
Feb 29 2024
578. Water, Water Everywhere — But You Have to Stop and Think
What surprises lurk in our sewage? How did racist city planners end up saving Black lives? Why does Arizona grow hay for cows in Saudi Arabia? Three strange stories about the most fundamental substance we all take for granted. SOURCES:Brian Beach, professor of economics at Vanderbilt University.Marc Johnson, professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the University of Missouri School of Medicine.Amy Kirby, program lead for the National Wastewater Surveillance System at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Natalie Koch, professor of geography at Syracuse University. RESOURCES:Arid Empire: The Entangled Fates of Arizona and Arabia, by Natalie Koch (2023)."How a Saudi Firm Tapped a Gusher of Water in Drought-Stricken Arizona," by Isaac Stanley-Becker, Joshua Partlow, and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez (The Washington Post, 2023)."Arizona Is in a Race to the Bottom of Its Water Wells, With Saudi Arabia’s Help," by Natalie Koch (The New York Times, 2022)."Tracing the Origin of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron-Like Spike Sequences Detected in Wastewater," by Martin Shafer, Devon Gregory, Marc Johnson, et al. (medRxiv, 2022)."Water and Waste: A History of Reluctant Policymaking in U.S. Cities," by Brian Beach (Working Paper, 2022).Water, Race, and Disease, by Werner Troesken (2004).COVID Data Tracker: Wastewater Surveillance, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. EXTRAS:"What Is Sportswashing (and Does It Work)?" by Freakonomics Radio (2022)."Covid-19," series by Freakonomics Radio (2020-2021).
Is Google Getting Worse? (Update)
Feb 22 2024
Is Google Getting Worse? (Update)
It used to feel like magic. Now it can feel like a set of cheap tricks. Is the problem with Google — or with us? And is Google Search finally facing a real rival, in the form of A.I.-powered “answer engines”?  SOURCES:Marissa Mayer, co-founder of Sunshine; former C.E.O. of Yahoo! and vice president at Google.Ryan McDevitt; professor of economics at Duke University.Tim Hwang, media researcher and author; former Google employee.Elizabeth Reid, vice president of Search at Google.Aravind Srinivas, C.E.O. and co-founder of Perplexity.Jeremy Stoppelman, C.E.O. and co-founder of Yelp. RESOURCES:“A Fraudster Who Just Can’t Seem to Stop … Selling Eyeglasses,” by David Segal (The New York Times, 2022).Subprime Attention Crisis: Advertising and the Time Bomb at the Heart of the Internet, by Tim Hwang (2020).“Complaint: U.S. and Plaintiff States v. Google LLC,” by the U.S. Department of Justice (2020).“Fake Online Locksmiths May Be Out to Pick Your Pocket, Too,” by David Segal (The New York Times, 2016).“‘A’ Business by Any Other Name: Firm Name Choice as a Signal of Firm Quality,” by Ryan C. McDevitt (Journal of Political Economy, 2014).In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives, by Steven Levy (2011).“The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine,” by Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page (Computer Networks and ISDN Systems, 1998). EXTRAS:“Is Dialysis a Test Case of Medicare for All?” by Freakonomics Radio (2021).“How Big is My Penis? (And Other Things We Ask Google),” by Freakonomics Radio (2017).