
740 episodes

Freakonomics Radio Freakonomics Radio
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- Society & Culture
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4.5 • 29K Ratings
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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.
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.
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PLUS: The Man Who Runs the Subway
New York City transit chief Janno Lieber thinks it’s more important to make trains and buses fast, safe, and reliable than to make them free.
Unlock access to this episode, and other exclusive content, by joining the Freakonomics Radio Plus membership program. To sign up, visit the Freakonomics Radio show page on Apple Podcasts or go to freakonomics.com/plus. -
513. Should Public Transit Be Free? (Update)
It boosts economic opportunity and social mobility. It’s good for the environment. So why do we charge people to use it? The short answer: it’s complicated. Also: We talk to the man who gets half the nation’s mass-transit riders where they want to go (most of the time).
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PLUS: Ed Glaeser Thinks We Should Build More
The Harvard economist on what’s joyous about cities, what to do with vacant office space, and what his profession got wrong about China.
Unlock access to this episode, and other exclusive content, by joining the Freakonomics Radio Plus membership program. To sign up, visit the Freakonomics Radio show page on Apple Podcasts or go to freakonomics.com/plus. -
566. Why Is It So Hard (and Expensive) to Build Anything in America?
Most industries have become more productive over time. But not construction! We identify the causes — and possible solutions. (Can you say ... “prefab”?)
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Extra: Jason Kelce Hates to Lose
Pro footballer and star podcaster Jason Kelce is ubiquitous right now (almost as ubiquitous as his brother and co-host Travis, who's been in the limelight for his relationship with Taylor Swift). After you hear this wide-ranging interview, you might want even more Kelce in your life.
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PLUS: You Asked, We Answer
Freakonomics Radio host Stephen Dubner answers your questions about how the show is made, what he’s looking forward to, and what he talks about at parties.
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First time listener and couldn’t even make it to the minute mark due to them quickly making it clear they support genocide. FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸
Intellectually Dishonest, Zionist Propaganda
This was never my favorite podcast, but I’ve enjoyed it and found many episodes to be interesting or informative. However, I will no longer listen to this podcast or support it in any way.
I can’t believe how one-sided and intellectually dishonest the opening of episode 480 was. Posted on November 8th, 2023 when the civilian death toll in Gaza had surpassed 10,000 people, over 4,000 of whom were children, and yet there isn’t a single mention of this. Instead, valid criticism of the Israeli government’s indiscriminate bombing and collective punishment against the people of Gaza is being dishonestly framed as “anti-semitism”.
In the transcript, they state that Hamas killed with “a level of barbarism that hardly seems believable in the 21st century”, yet the phrase “level of barbarism” hyperlinks to a CNN article that largely discusses the massive civilian death toll in Gaza, with sections specifically addressing that nearly half of those killed were children, as well as noting the attacks on health care and journalists.
There’s also no mention of the historical context of the occupation of Palestine, or the thousands of deaths in Gaza in the decade preceding the October 7th attack. Instead, we’re meant to accept that this is about anti-semitism, despite an active and ongoing genocide in Gaza at the hands of Israel (with the support of the US and our tax dollars). What an excellent segue into the topic of “anti-Americanism in the Arab world”, also discussed in the intro. Finally, someone is brave enough to discuss the real issue at hand here… sure, there’s a genocide happening, but can somebody please think about the AMERICANS?!?