Freakonomics Radio
For 50 years, the healthcare industry has been trying (and failing) to harness the power of artificial intelligence. It may finally be ready for prime time. What will this mean for human doctors — and the rest of us? (Part four of “The Freakonomics Radio Guide to Getting Better.”)
- SOURCES:
- Bob Wachter, professor, chair of the department of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
- Pierre Elias, cardiologist, assistant professor of biomedical informatics at Columbia University, medical director for artificial intelligence at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
- RESOURCES:
- A Giant Leap: How AI Is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future, by Bob Wachter (2026).
- “Epic Systems (MyChart),” by Acquired (2025).
- “Detecting structural heart disease from electrocardiograms using AI,” by Pierre Elias and Timothy Poterucha (Nature, 2025).
- “What Are the Risks of Sharing Medical Records With ChatGPT?” by Maggie Astor (New York Times, 2025).
- “Will Generative Artificial Intelligence Deliver on Its Promise in Health Care?” by Bob Wachter and Erik Brynjolfsson (JAMA, 2023).
- The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype, and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine’s Computer Age, by Bob Wachter (2015).
- EXTRAS:
- “The Doctor Won’t See You Now,” by Freakonomics Radio (2025).
- “How to Stop Worrying and Love the Robot Apocalypse (Update),” 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.
Policymaking Is Not a Science — Yet (Update)
Why do so many promising solutions in education, medicine, and criminal justice fail to scale up into great policy? And can a new breed of “implementation scientists” crack the code? SOURCES: Patti Chamberlain, senior…
628. Sludge, Part 2: Is Government the Problem, or the Solution?
There is no sludgier place in America than Washington, D.C. But there are signs of a change. We’ll hear about this progress — and ask where Elon Musk and DOGE fit in. (Part two of…
627. Sludge, Part 1: The World Is Drowning in It
Insurance forms that make no sense. Subscriptions that can’t be cancelled. A never-ending blizzard of automated notifications. Where does all this sludge come from — and how much is it costing us? (Part one of…
Should America Be Run by … Trader Joe’s? (Update)
The quirky little grocery chain with California roots and German ownership has a lot to teach all of us about choice architecture, efficiency, frugality, collaboration, and team spirit. SOURCES: Kirk DesErmia, facilities manager in…
626. Ten Myths About the U.S. Tax System
Nearly everything that politicians say about taxes is at least half a lie. They are also dishonest when it comes to the national debt. Stephen Dubner finds one of the few people in Washington who…
625. The Biden Policy That Trump Hasn’t Touched
Lina Khan, the youngest F.T.C. chair in history, reset U.S. antitrust policy by thwarting mega-mergers and other monopolistic behavior. This earned her enemies in some places, and big fans in others — including the Trump…
EXTRA: The Downside of Disgust (Update)
It’s a powerful biological response that has preserved our species for millennia. But now it may be keeping us from pursuing strategies that would improve the environment, the economy, even our own health. So is…
624. The Animal No One Loves, Until They Do
To most people, the rat is vile and villainous. But not to everyone! We hear from a scientist who befriended rats and another who worked with them in the lab — and from the animator…
623. Can New York City Win Its War on Rats?
Even with a new rat czar, an arsenal of poisons, and a fleet of new garbage trucks, it won’t be easy — because, at root, the enemy is us. (Part two of a three-part series,…
The Show That Never Happened
A brief meditation on loss, relativity, and the vagaries of show business. RESOURCES: Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry, documentary (2021) Genius & Anxiety: How Jews Changed the World, 1847-1947, by Norman Lebrecht (2019)…