Podcast Episodes

308. How Can I Do the Most Social Good With $100? And Other FREAK-quently Asked Questions

Episode 308

Dubner and his Freakonomics co-author Steve Levitt answer your questions about crime, traffic, real-estate agents, the Ph.D. glut, and how to not get eaten by a bear.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz…

Published on 8 years, 1 month ago

Why Is There So Much Ground Beef in the World? (Special Feature)

In this live episode of "Tell Me Something I Don't Know," you'll learn about carcass balancing, teen sleeping, and brand naming. Joining Stephen J. Dubner as co-host is Alex Wagner (CBS This Morning …

Published on 8 years, 1 month ago

307. Thinking Is Expensive. Who’s Supposed to Pay for It?

Episode 307

Corporations and rich people donate billions to their favorite think tanks and foundations. Should we be grateful for their generosity — or suspicious of their motives?

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWi…

Published on 8 years, 1 month ago

306. How to Launch a Behavior-Change Revolution

Episode 306

Academic studies are nice, and so are Nobel Prizes. But to truly prove the value of a new idea, you have to unleash it to the masses. That's what a dream team of social scientists is doing — and we s…

Published on 8 years, 2 months ago

305. The Demonization of Gluten

Episode 305

Celiac disease is thought to affect roughly one percent of the population. The good news: it can be treated by quitting gluten. The bad news: many celiac patients haven't been diagnosed. The weird ne…

Published on 8 years, 2 months ago

304. What Are the Secrets of the German Economy — and Should We Steal Them?

Episode 304

Smart government policies, good industrial relations, and high-end products have helped German manufacturing beat back the threats of globalization.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.…

Published on 8 years, 2 months ago

“Tell Me Something I Don't Know” on the topic of Behavior Change (Special Feature)

Stephen J. Dubner hosts an episode full of the world's most renowned behavior change experts, including Colin Camerer, Ayelet Fishbach, David Laibson, Max Bazerman, Katy Milkman, and Kevin Volpp. Ang…

Published on 8 years, 3 months ago

303. Why Larry Summers Is the Economist Everyone Hates to Love

Episode 303

He's been U.S. Treasury Secretary, a chief economist for the Obama White House and the World Bank, and president of Harvard. He's one of the most brilliant economists of his generation (and perhaps t…

Published on 8 years, 3 months ago

302. Why Learn Esperanto?

Episode 302

A language invented in the 19th century, and meant to be universal, it never really caught on. So why does a group of Esperantists from around the world gather once a year to celebrate their bond?

Ho…

Published on 8 years, 3 months ago

301. What Would Be the Best Universal Language? (Earth 2.0 Series)

Episode 301

We explore votes for English, Indonesian, and … Esperanto! The search for a common language goes back millennia, but so much still gets lost in translation. Will technology finally solve that?

Hosted…

Published on 8 years, 3 months ago