Freakonomics Radio Freakonomics Radio
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- Society & Culture
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Customer Reviews
Great topics, excellent guests, respected host
I’m a long time fan of this podcast. It’s clear to me that Stephen Dubner is respected by those he interviews, or he wouldn’t get the high quality guests that he has on the show. They don’t want to waste their time, and his preparation must have earned him a reputation for being knowledgeable, forthright, and honest in their eyes. Definitely worth your time.
Neoliberal nationalism
Couldn’t believe the unabashed touting of U.S. as the “good guy” in the 20th century, without the slightest objection! Pointing fingers everywhere, only to forget that imperialism didn’t disappear after WWII, just euphemised as “interventions”, fervently carried out by our government, well into the 21st century. “Free-market” and “globalization” are co-opted as the cover for resource exploitation, and used to impose laws to benefit a few. In the name of anti-communism, anti-terrorism, and “democracy”, all the propped-up dictators, assassinations of dissenters, slaughtering of millions of innocents and crushed economies, are deemed acceptable even necessary, in keeping of American hegemony. These and more are conveniently left out of the conversation, so as to avoid any moral dissonance. If this is the kind of media the majority of the public is fed, little wonder of the apathy and bias towards people from those places. “Not very different from commodities and goods”, commented by the host without missing a beat.
Great show to stimulate your thinking!
I really enjoy this show and appreciate how the topics and interviews help your critical thinking skills!