Freakonomics Radio

In a special episode of No Stupid Questions, Angela Duckworth and Mike Maughan talk about unfinished tasks, recurring arguments, and Irish goodbyes.   SOURCES: Roy Baumeister, social psychologist and visiting scholar at Harvard University. Daniel Gilbert, professor of psychology at Harvard University. John Gottman, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Washington. Kurt Lewin, … Read more

Lewis got incredible access to Sam Bankman-Fried, the billionaire behind the spectacular FTX fraud. His book is a bestseller, but some critics say he went too easy on S.B.F. Lewis tells us why the critics are wrong — and what it’s like to watch your book get turned into a courtroom drama.   SOURCES: Michael Lewis, … Read more

In policing, as in most vocations, the best employees are often promoted into leadership without much training. One economist thinks he can address this problem — and, with it, America’s gun violence.   SOURCES Kenneth Corey, director of outreach and engagement for the Policing Leadership Academy at the University of Chicago and retired chief of … Read more

It boosts economic opportunity and social mobility. It’s good for the environment. So why do we charge people to use it? The short answer: it’s complicated. Also: We talk to the man who gets half the nation’s mass-transit riders where they want to go (most of the time).    SOURCES: Marcus Finbom, traffic planner in … Read more

Most industries have become more productive over time. But not construction! We identify the causes — and possible solutions. (Can you say … “prefab”?)  RESOURCES: “The Strange and Awful Path of Productivity in the US Construction Sector,” by Austan Goolsbee and Chad Syverson (BFI Working Paper, 2023). “Infrastructure Costs,” by Leah Brooks and Zachary D. … Read more

Pro footballer and star podcaster Jason Kelce is ubiquitous right now (almost as ubiquitous as his brother and co-host Travis, who’s been in the limelight for his relationship with Taylor Swift). After you hear this wide-ranging interview, you might want even more Kelce in your life.    RESOURCES: “N.F.L. Player Team Report Cards,” by the … Read more

They say they make companies more efficient through savvy management. Critics say they bend the rules to enrich themselves at the expense of consumers and employees. Can they both be right? (Probably not.)   RESOURCES: Plunder: Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America, by Brendan Ballou (2023). Two and Twenty: How the Masters of Private Equity … Read more

Evidence from Nazi Germany and 1940’s America (and pretty much everywhere else) shows that discrimination is incredibly costly — to the victims, of course, but also the perpetrators. One modern solution is to invoke a diversity mandate. But new research shows that’s not necessarily the answer.   RESOURCES: “Discrimination, Managers, and Firm Performance: Evidence from … Read more