Freakonomics Radio

  • 530. What’s Wrong with Being a One-Hit Wonder?

    We tend to look down on artists who can’t match their breakthrough success. Should we be celebrating them instead? 


  • 529. Can Our Surroundings Make Us Smarter?

    In a special episode of No Stupid Questions, Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth discuss classroom design, open offices, and cognitive drift.  


  • 528. Yuval Noah Harari Thinks Life is Meaningless and Amazing

    In this special episode of People I (Mostly) Admire, Steve Levitt talks to the best-selling author of Sapiens and Homo Deus about finding the profound in the obvious.


  • 527. Can Adam Smith Fix Our Economy?

    Labor exploitation! Corporate profiteering! Government corruption! The 21st century can look a lot like the 18th. In the final episode of a series, we turn to “the father of economics” for solutions. (Part 3 of…


  • 526. Was Adam Smith Really a Right-Winger?

    Economists and politicians have turned him into a mascot for free-market ideology. Some on the left say the right has badly misread him. Prepare for a very Smithy tug of war. (Part 2 of “In…


  • Freakonomics Radio Needs Your Help

    A sneak peek at an upcoming series — and a call for would-be radio reporters.


  • 525. In Search of the Real Adam Smith

    How did an affable 18th-century “moral philosopher” become the patron saint of cutthroat capitalism? Does “the invisible hand” mean what everyone thinks it does? We travel to Smith’s hometown in Scotland to uncover the man…


  • 524. How Important Is Breastfeeding, Really?

    In this special episode of Freakonomics, M.D., host Bapu Jena looks at a clever new study that could help answer one of parenting’s most contentious questions.


  • 523. Did Michael Lewis Just Get Lucky with “Moneyball”?

    No — but he does have a knack for stumbling into the perfect moment, including the recent FTX debacle. In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, we revisit the book that launched the…


  • 522. Is Google Getting Worse?

    It used to feel like magic. Now it can feel like a set of cheap tricks. Is the problem with Google — or with us?