Freakonomics Radio
Macy’s wants to recapture its glorious past. The author of the Wimpy Kid books wants to rebuild his dilapidated hometown. We just want to listen in. (Part two of a two-part series, first published in 2024)
- SOURCES:
- Mark Cohen, former professor and director of retail studies at Columbia Business School.
- Will Coss, vice president and executive producer of Macy’s Studios.
- Jeff Kinney, author, cartoonist, and owner of An Unlikely Story Bookstore and Café.
- Tony Spring, chairman and C.E.O. of Macy’s Inc.
- RESOURCES:
- “How Macy’s CEO Tony Spring Is Turning the Retailer Around,” by Suzanne Kapner (The Wall Street Journal, 2025).
- “NBC Ready to Pay Triple to Gobble Up Thanksgiving Parade Broadcast Rights,” by Joe Flint (The Wall Street Journal, 2024).
- “How Macy’s Set Out to Conquer the Department Store Business — and Lost,” by Daphne Howland (Retail Dive, 2022).
- An Unlikely Story Bookstore and Café.
- EXTRAS:
- “Can the Macy’s Parade Save Macy’s?” series by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Extra: The Men Who Started a Thinking Revolution (Update)
The psychologist Daniel Kahneman — a Nobel laureate and the author of Thinking, Fast and Slow — recently died at age 90. Along with his collaborator Amos Tversky, he changed how we all think about decision-making.…
Why Are There So Many Bad Bosses? (Update)
People who are good at their jobs routinely get promoted into bigger jobs they’re bad at. We explain why firms keep producing incompetent managers — and why that’s unlikely to change. SOURCES: Nick Bloom, professor…
583. Are We Living Through the Most Revolutionary Period in History?
Fareed Zakaria says yes. But it’s not just political revolution — it’s economic, technological, even emotional. He doesn’t offer easy solutions but he does offer some hope. SOURCES: Fareed Zakaria, journalist and author. …
Extra: How Much Do You Know About Immigration?
The political debates over immigration can generate a lot of fuzzy facts. We wanted to test Americans’ knowledge — so, to wrap up our special series on immigration, we called some Freakonomics Radio listeners and…
582. Why Is Everyone Moving to Canada?
As the U.S. tries to fix its messy immigration system, our neighbor to the north is scooping up more talented newcomers every year. Are the Canadians stealing America’s bacon? (Part three of a three-part series.)…
581. What Both Parties Get Wrong About Immigration
The U.S. immigration system is a massively complicated machine, with a lot of worn-out parts. How to fix it? Step one: Get hold of some actual facts and evidence. (We did this step for you.)…
Extra: Madeleine Albright’s Warning on Immigration
She arrived in the U.S. as an 11-year-old refugee, then rose to become Secretary of State. Her views on immigration, nationalism, and borders, from this 2015 interview, are almost strangely appropriate to the present moment. …
580. The True Story of America’s Supremely Messed-Up Immigration System
How did a nation of immigrants come to hate immigration? We start at the beginning, sort through the evidence, and explain why your grandfather was lying about Ellis Island. (Part one of a three-part series.)…
579. Are You Caught in a Social Media Trap?
Economists have discovered an odd phenomenon: many people who use social media (even you, maybe?) wish it didn’t exist. But that doesn’t mean they can escape. SOURCES: Leonardo Bursztyn, professor of economics at the…
Extra: What Is Sportswashing — and Does It Work? (Update)
In ancient Rome, it was bread and circuses. Today, it’s a World Cup, an Olympics, and a new Saudi-backed golf league that’s challenging the PGA Tour. Can a sporting event really repair a country’s reputation…