773 episodes

Freakonomics co-author Stephen J. Dubner uncovers the hidden side of everything. Why is it safer to fly in an airplane than drive a car? How do we decide whom to marry? Why is the media so full of bad news? Also: things you never knew you wanted to know about wolves, bananas, pollution, search engines, and the quirks of human behavior.

Join the Freakonomics Radio Plus membership program for weekly member-only episodes of Freakonomics Radio. You’ll also get every show in our network without ads. To sign up, visit our show page on Apple Podcasts or go to freakonomics.com/plus.

Freakonomics Radio Freakonomics Radio

    • Society & Culture
    • 4.5 • 29.3K Ratings

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

Freakonomics co-author Stephen J. Dubner uncovers the hidden side of everything. Why is it safer to fly in an airplane than drive a car? How do we decide whom to marry? Why is the media so full of bad news? Also: things you never knew you wanted to know about wolves, bananas, pollution, search engines, and the quirks of human behavior.

Join the Freakonomics Radio Plus membership program for weekly member-only episodes of Freakonomics Radio. You’ll also get every show in our network without ads. To sign up, visit our show page on Apple Podcasts or go to freakonomics.com/plus.

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

    584. How to Pave the Road to Hell

    584. How to Pave the Road to Hell

    So you want to help people? That’s great — but beware the law of unintended consequences. Three stories from the modern workplace.

    • 43 min
    Extra: The Men Who Started a Thinking Revolution (Update)

    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. The journalist Michael Lewis told the Kahneman-Tversky story in a 2016 book called "The Undoing Project." In this episode, Lewis explains why they had such a profound influence.

    • 34 min
    Extra: The Men Who Started a Thinking Revolution (Update)

    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. The journalist Michael Lewis told the Kahneman-Tversky story in a 2016 book called "The Undoing Project." In this episode, Lewis explains why they had such a profound influence.

    Why Are There So Many Bad Bosses? (Update)

    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.

    • 49 min
    583. Are We Living Through the Most Revolutionary Period in History?

    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.

    • 1 hr 2 min
    Extra: How Much Do You Know About Immigration?

    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 quizzed them.

    • 27 min

Customer Reviews

4.5 out of 5
29.3K Ratings

29.3K Ratings

Morgan Ward ,

Worth my precious time

I’ll start at the end. For me the show is summed up in the sign off “Take care of yourself and if possible someone else “. Week after week the shows’s subject is a matter of how we interact with each other and challenges us to think about how to improve the relationship between us all. I look forward to the next and return to listen to many previous episodes. In the glut of information this cuts through and offers real insight and value.

ukrlvivrm1 ,

Such a fun and educational listen

Recently got into this show and it’s so fun. It challenges my thinking and perceptions and helps me to see from different perspectives.

CollegeStudentListener ,

Slowly moving leftward

I have always loved the content on the show. I’ve listened to many episodes over the years, but I am disappointed by the leftward movement lean slowly taking place. I don’t think the show has ever criticized Joe Biden or his economic policies. Every issue talked about on this show avoids blaming the Biden administration and finds a different factor to blame it on.

Top Podcasts In Society & Culture

Inconceivable Truth
Wavland
This American Life
This American Life
Stuff You Should Know
iHeartPodcasts
Fallen Angels: A Story of California Corruption
iHeartPodcasts
Shawn Ryan Show
Shawn Ryan | Cumulus Podcast Network
Soul Boom
Rainn Wilson

You Might Also Like

People I (Mostly) Admire
Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
The Economics of Everyday Things
Freakonomics Network & Zachary Crockett
No Stupid Questions
Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
Planet Money
NPR
Freakonomics, M.D.
Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
Hidden Brain
Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

More by Stitcher

No Stupid Questions
Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
Literally! With Rob Lowe
Stitcher & Team Coco, Rob Lowe
The Atlas Obscura Podcast
Stitcher Studios & Atlas Obscura
The Sporkful
Dan Pashman and Stitcher
People I (Mostly) Admire
Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
LeVar Burton Reads
LeVar Burton and Stitcher