Freakonomics Radio

Freakonomics co-author Stephen J. Dubner uncovers the hidden side of everything. Why is it safer to

Episodes

Total: 833

We tend to think of tragedies as a single terrible moment, rather than the result of multiple bad de

It used to be that making documentary films meant taking a vow of poverty (and obscurity). The strea

It’s been in development for five years and has at least a year to go. On the eve of its out-of-town

In an episode from 2012, we looked at what Sleep No More and the Stanford Prison Experiment can tell

A hit like Hamilton can come from nowhere while a sure bet can lose $20 million in a flash. We speak

It has become fiendishly expensive to produce, and has more competition than ever. And yet the belie

Why do so many promising solutions in education, medicine, and criminal justice fail to scale up int

There is no sludgier place in America than Washington, D.C. But there are signs of a change. We’ll h

Insurance forms that make no sense. Subscriptions that can’t be cancelled. A never-ending blizzard o

The quirky little grocery chain with California roots and German ownership has a lot to teach all of

Nearly everything that politicians say about taxes is at least half a lie. They are also dishonest w

Lina Khan, the youngest F.T.C. chair in history, reset U.S. antitrust policy by thwarting mega-merge

It’s a powerful biological response that has preserved our species for millennia. But now it may be

To most people, the rat is vile and villainous. But not to everyone! We hear from a scientist who be

Even with a new rat czar, an arsenal of poisons, and a fleet of new garbage trucks, it won’t be easy

A brief meditation on loss, relativity, and the vagaries of show business.RESOURCES:Billie Eilish: T

New York City’s mayor calls them “public enemy number one.” History books say they caused the Black

Licensing began with medicine and law; now it extends to 20 percent of the U.S. workforce, including

In 2023, the N.F.L. players’ union conducted a workplace survey that revealed clogged showers, rats

They used to be the N.F.L.’s biggest stars, with paychecks to match. Now their salaries are near the