Let's Evolve Together | Freakonomics Radio | Activity

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Fri, 06 Nov 2026 11:00:00 -0700

694. Does Democracy Really Need Elections? Stephen Dubner recently served on a criminal jury. Twelve strangers — selected randomly and barely paid — took the job ser […]

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Wed, 04 Nov 2026 13:00:00 -0700

What Now? with Trevor Noah | Michael Che: The Unspoken Rules of Comedy SNL writer and Weekend Update anchor Michael Che joins Trevor and Eugene in this episode […]

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Fri, 30 Oct 2026 10:00:00 -0700

693. What’s Our Job as Humans Anymore? It may just be being human. Stephen Dubner interviews A.I. performer Tilly Norwood to find out if we are as replaceable as we […]

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Fri, 23 Oct 2026 10:00:00 -0700

692. What Will A.I. Do to (and for) Human Creativity?Writers, designers, actors, coders, musicians, thinkers — they’re all worried about being replaced by mac […]

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Wed, 21 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700

Are Private Equity Firms Plundering the U.S. Economy? (Update)They say they make companies more efficient through savvy management. Critics say they bend the rules to […]

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Fri, 16 Oct 2026 10:00:00 -0700

691. Is This What a “Good Billionaire” Looks Like?David Rubenstein, a product of the old bipartisan D.C., made his fortune in private equity. He’s been spending it o […]

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Fri, 09 Oct 2026 10:00:00 -0700

690. It’s Show Business, Baby!Podcasting started as a niche-nerd pursuit. Now it’s a $9 billion industry. Is that a lot? The strange economics of this thing we d […]

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Fri, 02 Oct 2026 10:00:00 -0700

689. Here’s Why Your Hamburger Just Got So PriceyAn economist calls America’s beef industry a “miracle.” An antitrust scholar calls it “broken.” Maybe they’re b […]

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Fri, 25 Sep 2026 10:00:00 -0700

688. When Is a Bet Not a Bet?That’s the question at the heart of a battle between Kalshi and state gambling regulators. As prediction markets boom, there are o […]

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Fri, 18 Sep 2026 10:00:00 -0700

687. Are Prediction Markets the Best Forecasting Tool Ever — or Just Another Casino?The promise is that they can beat the experts at predicting inflation, elections, […]

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Wed, 16 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0700

How to Be a Double Unicorn, with John Urschel | Better in PersonHe was thriving in the N.F.L., but then he decided to focus on mathematics — a subject he now t […]

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Fri, 11 Sep 2026 10:00:00 -0700

686. Why Is It So Hard to Find an NFL Quarterback?For decades, teams have tried (and mostly failed) to predict which college quarterbacks will thrive in the pros. […]

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Wed, 26 Aug 2026 01:00:00 -0700

“I Trust Almost Anyone More Than Myself” | Better in PersonThe Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jennifer Egan talks about confidence, luck, and why it takes 35 drafts […]

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Fri, 21 Aug 2026 10:00:00 -0700

Is a Museum Just a Trophy Case? (Update)The world’s great museums are full of art and artifacts that were plundered during an era when plunder was the norm. Now t […]

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Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 -0700

Meet Warren Zanes, the Author and Rocker Behind the Springsteen Movie | Better in PersonWhen he joined the Del Fuegos, his big brother’s band, all Warren knew how t […]

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Fri, 14 Aug 2026 10:00:00 -0700

The Case of the $4 Million Gold Coffin (Update)How did a freshly looted Egyptian antiquity end up in the Metropolitan Museum of Art? Why did it take Kim Kardashian […]

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Wed, 12 Aug 2026 00:00:00 -0700

What if Being a Stranger Is Actually Your Superpower? | Better in PersonAngela Buchdahl was the first Asian American to be ordained as a rabbi, and now she is among […]

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Fri, 07 Aug 2026 10:00:00 -0700

684. He Helped Clean Up the Last Crash. Does He See Another One Coming?Former S.E.C. chair Gary Gensler has had a front-row seat to numerous financial booms and […]

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Wed, 05 Aug 2026 00:00:00 -0700

Does it Take a Twisted Mind to Write Twisted Stories? | Better In PersonHarlan Coben doesn’t think so. The mega-best-selling author talks suburbia, impostor s […]

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Fri, 31 Jul 2026 10:00:00 -0700

683. In the New Space Race, Who Makes the Rules?Governments started the space age. Now, billionaires and private firms are reinventing it. Guest host Steve Levitt […]

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Wed, 29 Jul 2026 00:00:00 -0700

How Gary Gulman Turned Depression Into Comedy Gold | Better in PersonGary and Stephen talk about creativity, recovery, getting fired, and holding grudges. They also […]

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Fri, 24 Jul 2026 10:00:00 -0700

682. Should A.I. Move to Space?At first it sounds ridiculous. But it might be inevitable. Guest host Steve Levitt talks to a team that hopes to push A.I. […]

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Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:00:00 -0700

Why Cooking is Caregiving, with Chef Hillary Sterling | Better in PersonHillary Sterling was a Brooklyn kid raised on cream cheese sandwiches and canned potatoes. So […]

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Fri, 17 Jul 2026 10:00:00 -0700

Are You Really Allergic to Penicillin? (Update)Like tens of millions of people, Stephen Dubner thought he had a penicillin allergy. Like the vast majority, he […]

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Tue, 14 Jul 2026 10:00:00 -0700

How a Great Architect Thinks, with Bjarke Ingels | Better in PersonIs the oxymoron really “the secret sauce to everything”? That’s the case Ingels makes in this […]

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Thu, 09 Jul 2026 17:05:00 -0700

681. How to Host a Talk Show, with Dick CavettStephen Dubner had an idea for a new project. So he drove to Connecticut and knocked on the door of the master. […]

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Fri, 03 Jul 2026 10:00:00 -0700

680. Can Universities Win Back Our Trust?Dartmouth president Sian Beilock, a psychologist by training, made her name studying why people choke. Now she’s applying t […]

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Fri, 26 Jun 2026 10:00:00 -0700

679. Why Does Vanderbilt Keep Winning?It’s a hard time to run a university: public trust is low, political pressure is high, and finances are fragile. But Daniel D […]

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Wed, 24 Jun 2026 00:00:00 -0700

The World Is (Still) Drowning in SludgeInsurance forms that make no sense. Subscriptions that can’t be cancelled. A never-ending blizzard of automated n […]

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Fri, 19 Jun 2026 10:00:00 -0700

678. Who Gets to Choose a “Good Death”?New York is the latest state to legalize medical aid in dying. Stephen Dubner speaks with the governor who signed the law, a […]

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Fri, 12 Jun 2026 10:00:00 -0700

677. Can Backgammon Save Us from Ourselves?It brings strangers together. It teaches probability, strategy, and emotional control. It has even helped N.F.L. teams […]

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Wed, 10 Jun 2026 00:00:00 -0700

This Is Your Brain on Pollution (Update)As the Trump administration rolls back environmental regulations, we revisit a 2022 episode that explored the hidden cost of […]

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Fri, 05 Jun 2026 10:00:00 -0700

676. Has America Lost the Plot?Another war in the Middle East. A retreat from the international order. A presidency built on self-dealing and arbitrary power. […]

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Fri, 29 May 2026 10:00:00 -0700

The Vanishing Mr. Feynman (Update)In his final years, Richard Feynman’s curiosity took him to some surprising places. We hear from his companions on the trips he t […]

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Wed, 27 May 2026 00:00:00 -0700

The Brilliant Mr. Feynman (Update)What happens when an existentially depressed and recently widowed young physicist from Queens gets a fresh start in California? We […]

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Fri, 22 May 2026 10:00:00 -0700

The Curious Mr. Feynman (Update)From the Manhattan Project to the Challenger investigation, the physicist Richard Feynman loved to shoot down what he called “lousy i […]

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Fri, 15 May 2026 10:00:00 -0700

675. Has the New York Times Become a Games Company?Not exactly. But their runaway success with games like Wordle says something bigger about the way we live now. […]

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Fri, 08 May 2026 10:00:00 -0700

674. How Does a Composer Feel After the World Premiere?Great. Then depressed. Then great again. Stephen Dubner gets the full story from David Lang; we also hear […]

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Wed, 06 May 2026 00:00:00 -0700

Was Adam Smith Really a Right-Winger? (Update)Economists and politicians have turned him into a mascot for free-market ideology. Some on the left say the right has […]

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Fri, 01 May 2026 10:00:00 -0700

673. What Is Money?That’s what the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang wanted to learn. So he turned Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations into an oratorio. We […]

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Fri, 24 Apr 2026 10:00:00 -0700

672. What Makes Judy Faulkner Run?Epic Systems manages the electronic health records for hundreds of millions of people. This makes Faulkner a healthcare […]

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Wed, 22 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0700

Why Does Everyone Hate Rats? (Update)New York City’s mayor called them “public enemy number one.” History books say they caused the Black Death — although recent […]

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Fri, 17 Apr 2026 10:00:00 -0700

671. Why Has There Been So Little Progress on Alzheimer’s Disease?One possibility: a leading hypothesis pursued by researchers (and funders) was built on science […]

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Fri, 10 Apr 2026 10:00:00 -0700

670. Beeconomics 101How do beekeepers make a living? Why is there so much honey fraud? And why did billions of bees suddenly disappear? To find out, guest host […]

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Wed, 08 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0700

Ten Myths About the U.S. Tax System (Update)Nearly everything that politicians say about taxes is at least half a lie. They are also dishonest when it comes to the […]

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Fri, 03 Apr 2026 10:00:00 -0700

669. Why Is 95 Percent of the World’s Bourbon Made in Kentucky?Is it tradition … or protectionism? And what happens when the bourbon boom turns into a g […]

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Fri, 27 Mar 2026 10:00:00 -0700

668. Do Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny Have Blood on Their Hands?As one researcher told us: “We’ve engineered a world where the most distracting device ever made is als […]

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Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0700

In a Driverless World, Who Loses and Who Wins?In blue cities across the country, unions and politicians want to ban self-driving cars. In this episode from the […]

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Fri, 20 Mar 2026 10:00:00 -0700

Are Human Drivers Finally Obsolete?How a secret project at Google led to driverless cars on American roads. Freakonomics Radio shares a story from our friends at […]

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Fri, 13 Mar 2026 10:00:00 -0700

667. Here’s Why You Are Constantly Fighting Off ScammersA ruthless (and ruthlessly efficient) industry is using digital tools to supercharge one of the world’s o […]