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
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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Flying in the U.S. is still exceptionally safe, but the system relies on outdated tech and is under tremendous strain. Six experts tell us how it got this way and how it can (maybe) be fixed. (Part one of a two-part series.) The post Season 15, Episode 4 appeared first on Freakonomics.
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We conclude our conversation with political philosopher Patrick Deneen. And later: 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 15, Episode 3 appeared first on Freakonomics.
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Patrick Deneen, a political philosopher at Notre Dame, says America has lost its appetite for the common good. He was a Democrat for years, and has now come to be seen as an “ideological guru” of the Trump administration. But that only tells half the story… The post Season 15, Episode 2 appeared first on Freakonomics.
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Tipping is a haphazard way of paying workers, and yet it keeps expanding. With federal tax policy shifting in a pro-tip direction, we revisit an episode from 2019 to find out why. The post Season 15, Episode 1 appeared first on Freakonomics.
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Candles should have died out when the lightbulb was invented. Instead they’re a $10 billion industry. What does it mean that we still want tiny fires inside our homes? The post Season 14, Episode 52 appeared first on Freakonomics.
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In the U.S., there will soon be more people over 65 than there are under 18 — and it’s not just lifespan that’s improving, it’s “healthspan” too. Unfortunately, the American approach to aging is stuck in the 20th century. In less than an hour, we try to unstick it. (Part three of a three-part series, “Cradle to Grave.”) The post Season 14, Episode 51 appeared first on Freakonomics.
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What it’s like to be middle-aged in the Middle Ages? The simplicity of life back then is appealing today, as long as you don’t mind Church hegemony, the occasional plague, trial by gossip — and the lack of ibuprofen. (Part two of a three-part series, “Cradle to Grave.”) The post Season 14, Episode 50 appeared first on Freakonomics.
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For decades, the great fear was overpopulation. Now it’s the opposite. How did this happen — and what’s being done about it? (Part one of a three-part series, “Cradle to Grave.”) The post Season 14, Episode 49 appeared first on Freakonomics.
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Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken isn’t a flamethrower, but he certainly has strong opinions. In this wide-ranging conversation with Stephen Dubner, he gives them all: on Israel, Gaza, China, Iran, Russia, Biden, Trump — and the rest of the world. The post Season 14, Episode 48 appeared first on Freakonomics.
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For years, the playwright David Adjmi was considered “polarizing and difficult.” But creating Stereophonic seems to have healed him. Stephen Dubner gets the story — and sorts out what Adjmi has in common with Richard Wagner. The post Season 14, Episode 47 appeared first on Freakonomics.
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The Gulf States and China are spending billions to build stadiums and buy up teams — but what are they really buying? And can an entrepreneur from Cincinnati make his own billions by bringing baseball to Dubai? The post Season 14, Episode 46 appeared first on Freakonomics.
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Cory Booker on the politics of fear, the politics of hope, and how to split the difference. The post Season 14, Episode 45 appeared first on Freakonomics.