Synopsis
Discover the hidden side of everything with Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of the Freakonomics books. Each week, Freakonomics Radio tells you things you always thought you knew (but didnt) and things you never thought you wanted to know (but do) from the economics of sleep to how to become great at just about anything. Dubner speaks with Nobel laureates and provocateurs, intellectuals and entrepreneurs, and various other underachievers. Special features include series like The Secret Life of a C.E.O. as well as a live game show, Tell Me Something I Dont Know.
Episodes
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57. Does Money Really Buy Elections?
11/01/2012 Duration: 05minWe all know the answer is yes. But the data -- and Rudy Giuliani -- say no.
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56. Why Is “I Don’t Know” So Hard to Say?
04/01/2012 Duration: 15minLevitt and Dubner answer your FREAK-quently Asked Questions about certifying politicians, irrational fears, and the toughest three words in the English language.
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55. The Perils of Drunk Walking
27/12/2011 Duration: 05minWe know it's terribly dangerous to drive drunk. But heading home on foot isn't the solution.
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54. How Is a Bad Radio Station Like Our Public-School System? (Encore)
21/12/2011 Duration: 29minThe thrill of customization, via Pandora and a radical new teaching method
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53. How American Food Got So Bad
13/12/2011 Duration: 04minTyler Cowen points fingers. There's plenty of blame to go around.
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51. What Makes a Donor Donate?
29/11/2011 Duration: 05minThe science of charity, with economist John List.
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50. The Truth Is Out There…Isn’t It?
22/11/2011 Duration: 30minThere’s a nasty secret about hot-button topics like global warming: knowledge is not always power.
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49. Unnatural Turkeys
16/11/2011 Duration: 04minOur appetite for breast meat renders our holiday birds unable to reproduce.
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48. Boo…Who?
08/11/2011 Duration: 29minIs booing an act of verbal vandalism—or the last true expression of democracy?
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47. Wildfires, Cops, and Keggers
02/11/2011 Duration: 04minOn Election Day, most people focus on the obvious winners and losers -- that is, the candidates. But we went looking for some of the strange side effects that elections produce.
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46. Misadventures in Baby-Making
25/10/2011 Duration: 27minWe are constantly wowed by new technologies and policies meant to make childbirth better. But beware the unintended consequences.
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45. Those Cheating Teachers!
18/10/2011 Duration: 04minHigh-stakes testing has produced some rotten apples. But they can be caught.
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44. Where Have All the Hitchhikers Gone?
10/10/2011 Duration: 28minDid we needlessly scare ourselves into ditching a good thing? And, with millions of cars driving around with no passengers, should we be rooting for a renaissance?
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43. The Decline and Fall of Violence
05/10/2011 Duration: 05minThe world is a more peaceful place today that at any time in history -- by a long, long shot.
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42. The Upside of Quitting
28/09/2011 Duration: 56minYou know the saying: a winner never quits and a quitter never wins. To which Freakonomics Radio says … Are you sure?
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41. The Folly of Prediction
14/09/2011 Duration: 56minHuman beings love to predict the future, but we're quite terrible at it. So how about punishing all those bad predictions?
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40. The Suicide Paradox
31/08/2011 Duration: 56minThere are more than twice as many suicides as murders in the U.S., but suicide attracts far less scrutiny. Freakonomics Radio digs through the numbers and finds all kinds of surprises.
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39. The Economist’s Guide to Parenting
16/08/2011 Duration: 56minThink you know how much parents matter? Think again. Economists crunch the numbers to learn the ROI on child-rearing.
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38. The Church of "Scionology"
03/08/2011 Duration: 56minWe worship the tradition of handing off a family business to the next generation. But is that really such a good idea?