Podcast Episodes
Back to Search588. Confessions of a Black Conservative
Episode 588
The economist and social critic Glenn Loury has led a remarkably turbulent life, both professionally and personally. In a new memoir, he has chosen to reveal just about everything. Why?
SOURCE:Glenn …
Published on 1 year, 7 months ago
Should Companies Be Owned by Their Workers?
Episode 587
The employee ownership movement is growing, and one of its biggest champions is also a private equity heavyweight. Is this meaningful change, or just window dressing?
SOURCES:Marjorie Kelly, distingu…
Published on 1 year, 7 months ago
586. How Does the Lost World of Vienna Still Shape Our Lives?
Episode 586
From politics and economics to psychology and the arts, many of the modern ideas we take for granted emerged a century ago from a single European capital. In this episode of the Freakonomics Radio Bo…
Published on 1 year, 7 months ago
Extra: Why Is 23andMe Going Under? (Update)
Five years ago, we published an episode about the boom in home DNA testing kits, focusing on the high-flying firm 23andMe and its C.E.O. Anne Wojcicki. Their flight has been extremely bumpy since the…
Published on 1 year, 8 months ago
585. A Social Activist in Prime Minister’s Clothing
Episode 585
Justin Trudeau, facing record-low approval numbers, is doubling down on his progressive agenda. But he is so upbeat (and Canada-polite) that it’s easy to miss just how radical his vision is. Can he m…
Published on 1 year, 8 months ago
How to Pave the Road to Hell
Episode 584
So you want to help people? That’s great — but beware the law of unintended consequences. Three stories from the modern workplace.
SOURCES:Joshua Angrist, professor of economics at the Massachusetts…
Published on 1 year, 8 months ago
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 de…
Published on 1 year, 8 months ago
Why Are There So Many Bad Bosses?
Episode 495
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 Bl…
Published on 1 year, 8 months ago
583. Are We Living Through the Most Revolutionary Period in History?
Episode 583
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, jo…
Published on 1 year, 8 months ago
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 …
Published on 1 year, 8 months ago