Freakonomics Radio
Sundays at noon
"Freakonomics Radio" is an award-winning weekly podcast with 7 million downloads a month; it also airs on public-radio stations across the country. Host Stephen Dubner has surprising conversations that explore the riddles of everyday life and the weird wrinkles of human nature -- from cheating and crime to parenting and sports. Dubner talks with Nobel laureates and provocateurs, social scientists and entrepreneurs -- and his "Freakonomics" co-author Steve Levitt.
"Freakonomics Radio" is produced by Dubner Productions and WNYC Studios.
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Soccer leagues around the world use a promotion-and-relegation system to reward the best teams and punish the worst. We ask whether American sports fans would enjoy a similar system. (Part two of a two-part series.) The post Should Ohio State (and Michigan, and Clemson) Join the N.F.L.? appeared first on Freakonomics.
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The N.F.L. is a powerful cartel with imperial desires. College football is about to undergo a financial reckoning. So maybe they should team up? (Part one of a two-part series.) The post The Merger You Never Knew You Wanted appeared first on Freakonomics.
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Polly Trottenberg and Kenneth Levin discuss the highs and lows of the American air traffic control system. To get subscriber-only episodes, sign up for SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. The post A 30,000-Foot View of Air Traffic Control appeared first on Freakonomics.
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In this episode we first published in 2021, the political scientist Yuen Yuen Ang argues that different forms of government create different styles of corruption — and that the U.S. and China have more in common than we’d like to admit. The post Is the U.S. Really Less Corrupt Than China? (Update) appeared first on Freakonomics.
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In his new book Breakneck, Dan Wang argues that the U.S. has a lot to learn from China. He also says that “no two peoples are more alike.” We have questions. The post China Is Run by Engineers. America Is Run by Lawyers. appeared first on Freakonomics.
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A lot of jobs in the modern economy don’t pay a living wage, and some of those jobs may be wiped out by new technologies. So what’s to be done? We revisit an episode from 2016 for a potential solution. The post Is the World Ready for a Guaranteed Basic Income? (Update) appeared first on Freakonomics.
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What does it take to “play 3D chess at 250 miles an hour”? And how far will $12.5 billion of “Big, Beautiful” funding go toward modernizing the F.A.A.? (Part two of a two-part series.) The post An Air Traffic Controller Walks Into a Radio Studio … appeared first on Freakonomics.
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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 Is the Air Traffic Control System Broken? appeared first on Freakonomics.
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English professor and Moby-Dick aficionado Hester Blum dives deep into whaling. To get subscriber-only episodes, sign up for SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. The post The Appeal of the Open Seas appeared first on Freakonomics.
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Patrick Deneen, a political philosopher at Notre Dame, says yes. 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 Has America Lost Its Appetite for the Common Good? appeared first on Freakonomics.
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Bjørn Andersen has killed hundreds of minke whales. He tells us how he does it, why he does it, and what he thinks would happen if whale-hunting ever stopped. (This bonus episode is a follow-up to our series “Everything You Never Knew About Whaling.") The post A Modern Whaler Speaks Up (Update) appeared first on Freakonomics.
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In the final episode of our whale series, we learn about fecal plumes, shipping noise, and why Moby-Dick is still worth reading. (Part 3 of “Everything You Never Knew About Whaling.”) The post What Can Whales Teach Us About Clean Energy, Workplace Harmony, and Living the Good Life? (Update) appeared first on Freakonomics.