Planet Money
The world of science has been stuck in an existential crisis over whether we actually know the things we thought we knew. Re-running an old study today doesn’t always yield the same result. Same with re-enacting old experiments. Collectively, this is known as the “replication crisis.”
Economist Abel Brodeur has come up with one way to help fix this crisis: he’s invented an internationally crowdsourced surveillance system, designed to keep social scientists honest. He calls it the “Replication Games.”
Further Listening:
- Fabricated data in research about honesty. You can’t make this stuff up. Or, can you?
- The Experiment Experiment
- How Much Should We Trust Economics?
This episode was hosted by Mary Childs and Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi. It was produced by James Sneed and Emma Peaslee, with help from Willa Rubin. It was edited by Jess Jiang, fact-checked by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, and engineered by Ko Takasugi-Czernowin. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.
Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.
Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.
Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.
To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
-
Don’t hate the replicator, hate the game
The world of science has been stuck in an existential crisis over whether we actually know the things we thought we knew. Re-running an old study today doesn’t always yield the same result. Same with…
-
The ICE hiring boom
Live event info and tickets here ICE is scaling up, with rapid new hiring. So we ask, has training new officers changed? At what cost? Also, the Trump administration has plans to pour billions of…
-
The Supreme Court struck down a bunch of Trump’s tariffs. Now what?
Live event info and tickets here. The Supreme Court has spoken. Those big, sweeping tariffs that President Trump imposed early last year? They’re illegal. On today’s show: Why were those tariffs struck down? Will anyone…
-
How to get what Greenland has, with permission
Book tour and ticket info here. Greenland has said it is not for sale. Denmark has said it can’t even legally sell Greenland. And at a security conference in Munich over the weekend, U.S. lawmakers…
-
Betty Boop, Excel Olympics, Penny-isms: Our 2026 Valentines
Book tour event details and ticket info here. An iconic cartoon character liberated from copyright, journalism from the world of competitive spreadsheeting, a controversial piece of US currency. Each year the Planet Money team dedicates…
-
The Invention Invention
Book tour tickets and details here. Today, the story of three inventions. The first, the sewing machine, was created by a selfish and ambitious inventor who wanted all the credit and was willing to fight…
-
Iran, protests, and sanctions
Book tour tickets and details here. The recent protests in Iran are about so many things. Human rights, corruption, freedom. But this time – they are also motivated by economic hardship. Hardship caused, in part,…
-
Riding with the repo man (update)
Planet Money book tour ticket info and dates here. A record number of Americans with poor or just okay credit are behind on their car payments. And once last year’s numbers are tallied, an estimated…
-
Can Trump make buying a home more affordable?
Book tour dates and ticket info here. Housing is too expensive. Everyone knows this. Democrats know that talking about it plays well with voters. And now – in a midterm election year – President Donald…
-
Can transforming neighborhoods help kids escape poverty?
In the 1990s, Congress created HOPE VI, a program that demolished old public housing projects and replaced them with more up-to-date ones. But the program went further than just improving public housing buildings. HOPE VI…