Freakonomics Radio
Thursday at 3pm and Sunday at Noon
Freakonomics Radio ferrets out connections between seemingly unrelated things. The program explores the riddles of everyday life and the weird wrinkles of human nature-from cheating and crime to parenting and sports-using the tools of economics to explore real-world behavior.
Booksavers of Virginia and Gift and Thrift are proud to sponsor Freakonomics Radio on WMRA.
Credit Audrey S. Bernstein
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Host Stephen J. Dubner discovers the hidden side of everything in interviews with Nobel laureates and provocateurs, social scientists and entrepreneurs-and with his "Freakonomics" co-author Steve Levitt.
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Most travelers want the cheapest flight they can find. Airlines, meanwhile, need to manage volatile fuel costs, a pricey workforce, and complex logistics. So how do they make money — and how did America’s grubbiest airport suddenly turn into a palace? (Part 3 of “Freakonomics Radio Takes to the Skies.”) The post Season 12, Episode 29 appeared first on Freakonomics.
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Thanks to decades of work by airlines and regulators, plane crashes are nearly a thing of the past. Can we do the same for cars? (Part 2 of “Freakonomics Radio Takes to the Skies.”) The post Season 12, Episode 28 appeared first on Freakonomics.
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Air travel is an unnatural activity that has become normal. You’re stuck in a metal tube with hundreds of strangers (and strange smells), defying gravity and racing through the sky. But oh, the places you’ll go! We visit the world’s busiest airport to see how it all comes together. (Part 1 of “Freakonomics Radio Takes to the Skies.”) The post Season 12, Episode 27 appeared first on Freakonomics.
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In a new book called The Voltage Effect, the economist John List — who has already revolutionized how his profession does research — is trying to start a scaling revolution. In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, List teaches us how to avoid false positives, how to know whether a given success is due to the chef or the ingredients, and how to practice “optimal quitting.” The post Season 12, Episode 26 appeared first on Freakonomics.
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For decades, the U.S. let globalization run its course and hoped China would be an ally. Now the Biden administration is spending billions to bring high-tech manufacturing back home. Is this the beginning of a new industrial policy — or just another round of corporate welfare? The post Season 12, Episode 25 appeared first on Freakonomics.
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When small businesses get bought by big investors, the name may stay the same — but customers and employees can feel the difference. (Part 2 of 2.) The post Season 12, Episode 24 appeared first on Freakonomics.
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Big investors are buying up local veterinary practices (and pretty much everything else). What does this mean for scruffy little Max* — and for the U.S. economy? (Part 1 of 2.) *The most popular dog name in the U.S. in 2022. The post Season 12, Episode 23 appeared first on Freakonomics.
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We tend to look down on artists who can’t match their breakthrough success. Should we be celebrating them instead? The post Season 12, Episode 22 appeared first on Freakonomics.
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Economists and politicians have turned Adam Smith into a mascot for free-market ideology. Some on the left say the right has badly misread him. Prepare for a very Smithy tug of war. (Part 3 of “In Search of the Real Adam Smith.”) The post Season 12, Episode 21 appeared first on Freakonomics.
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Economists and politicians have turned Adam Smith into a mascot for free-market ideology. Some on the left say the right has badly misread him. Prepare for a very Smithy tug of war. (Part 2 of “In Search of the Real Adam Smith.”) The post Season 12, Episode 20 appeared first on Freakonomics.
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How did an affable 18th-century “moral philosopher” become the patron saint of cutthroat capitalism? Does “the invisible hand” mean what everyone thinks it does? We travel to Adam Smith’s hometown in Scotland to uncover the man behind the myth. (Part 1 of a series.) The post Season 12, Episode 19 appeared first on Freakonomics.
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Arthur Brooks is an economist who for 10 years ran the American Enterprise Institute, one of the most influential conservative think tanks in the world. He has come to believe there is only one weapon that can defeat our extreme political polarization: love. Is Brooks a fool for thinking this — and are you perhaps his kind of fool? The post Season 12, Episode 18 appeared first on Freakonomics.