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Freakonomics Radio

Freakonomics Radio

Discover the hidden side of everything with Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of the Freakonomics books. Each week, Freakonomics Radio tells you things you always thought you knew (but didn’t) and things you never thought you wanted to know (but do) — from the economics of sleep to how to become great at just about anything. Dubner speaks with Nobel laureates and provocateurs, intellectuals and entrepreneurs, and various other underachievers.

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48 min•
19 Dec

616. 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 wrote a book about how creative people work— and, in the process, he made himself happy again. SOURCE:Adam Moss, magazine editor and author. RESOURCES:The Work of Art: How Something Comes from Nothing, by Adam Moss (2024)."Goodbye, New York. Adam Moss Is Leaving the Magazine He Has Edited for 15 Years," by Michael M. Grynbaum (The New York Times, 2019).Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking, by Samin Nosrat (2017). EXTRAS:"David Simon Is On Strike. Here’s Why," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2023)."Samin Nosrat Always Wanted to Be Famous," by Freakonomics Radio (2023)."What’s Wrong with Being a One-Hit Wonder?" by Freakonomics Radio (2023).

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56 min•
12 Dec

615. Is Ozempic as Magical as It Sounds?

In a wide-ranging conversation with Ezekiel Emanuel, the policymaking physician and medical gadfly, we discuss the massive effects of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro. We also talk about the state of cancer care, mysteries in the gut microbiome, flaws in the U.S. healthcare system — and what a second Trump term means for healthcare policy. SOURCES:Ezekiel Emanuel, vice provost for Global Initiatives, co-director of the Health Transformation Institute, and professor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. RESOURCES:"Obesity Drugs Would Be Covered by Medicare and Medicaid Under Biden Proposal," by Margot Sanger-Katz (The New York Times, 2024)."International Coverage of GLP-1 Receptor Agonists: A Review and Ethical Analysis of Discordant Approaches," by Johan L. Dellgren, and Govind Persad, and Ezekiel J. Emanuel (The Lancet, 2024).The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-first Century's Greatest Dilemma, by Mustafa Suleyman (2023)."The Significance of Blockbusters in the Pharmaceutical Industry," by Alexander Schuhmacher, Markus Hinder, Nikolaj Boger, Dominik Hartl, and Oliver Gassmann (Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 2022).Reinventing American Health Care: How the Affordable Care Act Will Improve Our Terribly Complex, Blatantly Unjust, Outrageously Expensive, Grossly Inefficient, Error Prone System, by Ezekiel J. Emanuel (2014)."Why I Hope to Die at 75," by Ezekiel J. Emanuel (The Atlantic, 2014)."Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Pharmaceuticals," by Ziad F. Gellad and Kenneth W. Lyles (The American Journal of Medicine, 2014).Brothers Emanuel: A Memoir of an American Family, by Ezekiel J. Emanuel (2013)."Bounds in Competing Risks Models and the War on Cancer," by Bo E. Honoré and Adriana Lleras-Muney (Econometrica, 2006). EXTRAS:"How to Fix Medical Research," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2024)."The Suddenly Diplomatic Rahm Emanuel," by Freakonomics Radio (2023)."Ari Emanuel Is Never Indifferent," by Freakonomics Radio (2023)."Who Pays for Multimillion-Dollar Miracle Cures?" by Freakonomics, M.D. (2023)."Who Gets the Ventilator?" by Freakonomics Radio (2020).

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51 min•
5 Dec

614. 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 gives a firsthand account of a fateful Biden-Putin encounter, talks about his new book Midnight in Moscow, and predicts what a second Trump term means for Russia, Ukraine, China — and the U.S. SOURCES:John Sullivan, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State and former U.S. Ambassador to Russia.  RESOURCES:Midnight in Moscow: A Memoir from the Front Lines of Russia's War Against the West, by John Sullivan (2024)."The ‘Deathonomics’ Powering Russia’s War Machine," by Georgi Kantchev and Matthew Luxmoore (The Wall Street Journal, 2024).War, by Bob Woodward (2024)."On the Record: The U.S. Administration’s Actions on Russia," by Alina Polyakova and Filippos Letsas (Brookings, 2019)."Why Economic Sanctions Still Do Not Work," by Robert A. Pape (International Security, 1998). EXTRAS:"The Suddenly Diplomatic Rahm Emanuel," by Freakonomics Radio (2023).

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40 min•
1 Aug

599. The World's Most Valuable Unused Resource

It’s not oil or water or plutonium — it’s human hours. We've got an idea for putting them to use, and for building a more human-centered economy. But we need your help. SOURCES:Nathan Dietz, research director at the Do Good Institute at the University of Maryland.Al Roth, professor of economics at Stanford University.Krista Wyatt, C.E.O. of Timebanks.org.Andrew Yang, co-chair of the Forward Party and former U.S. presidential candidate. RESOURCES:"The Employment Effects of a Guaranteed Income: Experimental Evidence from Two U.S. States," by Eva Vivalt, Elizabeth Rhodes, Alexander W. Bartik, David E. Broockman, and Sarah Miller (NBER Working Paper, 2024)."Where Are America's Volunteers," by Nathan Dietz and Robert T. Grimm Jr. (Do Good Institute, 2018)."Believe in People," talk by Edgar Cahn at TEDxAshokaU (2010).The Pencil, by Allan Ahlberg (2008).No More Throw-Away People: The Co-Production Imperative, by Edgar S. Cahn (2000).Time Dollars: The New Currency That Enables Americans to Turn Their Hidden Resource-Time-Into Personal Security and Community Renewal, by Edgar S. Cahn and Jonathan Rowe (1992). EXTRAS:"Why Don’t We Have Better Candidates for President?" by Freakonomics Radio (2024).“Andrew Yang Is Not Giving Up on Politics — or the U.S. — Yet,” by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021).“The Future of New York City Is in Question. Could Andrew Yang Be the Answer?” by Freakonomics Radio (2021).“Why Is This Man Running for President? (Update),” by Freakonomics Radio (2019)."Make Me a Match," by Freakonomics Radio (2015).

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43 min•
27 Jun

594. Your Brand’s Spokesperson Just Got Arrested — Now What?

It’s hard to know whether the benefits of hiring a celebrity are worth the risk. We dig into one gruesome story of an endorsement gone wrong, and find a surprising result. SOURCES:John Cawley, professor of economics at Cornell University.Elizabeth (Zab) Johnson, executive director and senior fellow with the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania.Alvin Roth, professor of economics at Stanford University. RESOURCES:"Kanye and Adidas: Money, Misconduct and the Price of Appeasement," by Megan Twohey (The New York Times, 2023)."The Role of Repugnance in Markets: How the Jared Fogle Scandal Affected Patronage of Subway," by John Cawley, Julia Eddelbuettel, Scott Cunningham, Matthew D. Eisenberg, Alan D. Mathios, and Rosemary J. Avery (NBER Working Paper, 2023)."How Celebrity Status and Gaze Direction in Ads Drive Visual Attention to Shape Consumer Decisions," by Simone D'Ambrogio, Noah Werksman, Michael L. Platt, and Elizabeth Johnson (Psychology & Marketing, 2022)."Consumer Responses to Firms’ Voluntary Disclosure of Information: Evidence from Calorie Labeling by Starbucks," by Rosemary Avery, John Cawley, Julia Eddelbuettel, Matthew D. Eisenberg, Charlie Mann, and Alan D. Mathios (NBER Working Paper, 2021)."Consumer Heterogeneity and Paid Search Effectiveness: A Large Scale Field Experiment," by Thomas Blake, Chris Nosko, and Steven Tadelis (NBER Working Paper, 2014)."The Economics of Obesity," by John Cawley (The Reporter, 2013)."Repugnance as a Constraint on Markets," by Alvin Roth (Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2007). EXTRAS:"Does Advertising Actually Work? (Part 2: Digital)," by Freakonomics Radio (2020)."Does Advertising Actually Work? (Part 1: TV)," by Freakonomics Radio (2020).

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