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Freakonomics Radio

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Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

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.

#757

586. How Does the Lost World of Vienna Still Shape Our Lives?

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 Book Club, the historian Richard Cockett explores all those ideas — and how the arrival of fascism can ruin in a few years what took generations to build. ---SOURCE: ------ [Richard Cockett] (https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-cockett-9ab17629/) , author and senior editor at The Economist. ---RESOURCES: ------ [Vienna: How the City of Ideas Created the Modern World] (https://amzn.to/44mdgVs) , by Richard Cockett (2023). ------" [Birth, Death and Shopping] (https://www.economist.com/christmas-specials/2007/12/19/birth-death-and-shopping) ," (The Economist, 2007). ------ [The Hidden Persuaders] (https://amzn.to/3QqIyoC) , by Vance Packard (1957). ------" [An Economist's View of 'Planning] (https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1944/09/24/87471543.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0) ,'" by Henry Hazlitt (The New York Times, 1944). ------ [The World of Yesterday: Memoires of a European] (https://amzn.to/3xWQMOB) , by Stefan Zweig (1942). ---EXTRA: ------" [Arnold Schwarzenegger Has Some Advice for You] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/arnold-schwarzenegger-has-some-advice-for-you/) ," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2024). ... Read more

Yesterday

57 MINS

57:19

Yesterday

#756

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 then. This update includes an additional interview with the Wall Street Journal reporter who has been investigating the firm’s collapse. ---SOURCES: ------ [Rolfe Winkler] (https://www.wsj.com/news/author/rolfe-winkler) , reporter at The Wall Street Journal. ------ [Anne Wojcicki] (https://www.linkedin.com/in/annewojcicki/) , co-founder and C.E.O. of 23andMe. ---RESOURCES: ------" [23andMe’s Fall From $6 Billion to Nearly $0] (https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/23andme-anne-wojcicki-healthcare-stock-913468f4) ," by Rolfe Winkler (The Wall Street Journal, 2024). ------" [23andMe User Data Stolen in Targeted Attack on Ashkenazi Jews] (https://www.wired.com/story/23andme-credential-stuffing-data-stolen/) ," by Lily Hay Newman (Wired, 2023). ------ [Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love] (https://amzn.to/3Wcqwdn) , by Dani Shapiro (2019). ------ [How To Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results] (https://amzn.to/44gKllC) , by Esther Wojcicki (2019). ------“ [Diet and exercise changes following direct-to-consumer personal genomic testing] (https://bmcmedgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12920-017-0258-1) ,” by Daiva Elena Nielsen, Deanna Alexis Carere, Catharine Wang, J. Scott Roberts, and Robert C. Green (BMC Medical Genomics, 2016). ------“ [The impact of communicating genetic risks of disease on risk-reducing health behaviour: systematic review with meta-analysis] (https://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.i1102) ,” Gareth J Hollands, David P. French, Simon J. Griffin, A. Toby Prevost, Stephen Sutton, Sarah King, Theresa M. Marteau (The British Medical Journal, 2016). ---EXTRAS: ------" [Does Your DNA Determine Your Weight?] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/does-your-d-n-a-determine-your-weight/) " by No Stupid Questions (2023). ------" [What’s Stopping Us From Curing Rare Diseases?] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/whats-stopping-us-from-curing-rare-diseases/) " by Freakonomics, M.D. (2023). ------" [We Can Play God Now] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/we-can-play-god-now/) ," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2022). ------" [Susan Wojcicki: 'Hey, Let’s Go Buy YouTube!'] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/susan-wojcicki-hey-lets-go-buy-youtube-people-i-mostly-admire-ep-5/) " by People I (Mostly) Admire (2020). ... Read more

29 Apr 2024

1 HR 02 MINS

1:02:04

29 Apr 2024

#755

585. A Social Activist in Prime Minister’s Clothing

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 make it work? ---SOURCE: ------ [Justin Trudeau] (https://www.pm.gc.ca/en) , Prime Minister of Canada. ---RESOURCES: ------ [2024 Canadian Federal Budget] (https://www.budget.canada.ca/2024/home-accueil-en.html#pdf) . ------" [Canada to Set First-Ever Cap on Temporary Residents] (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68621013) ," by Nadine Yousif (BBC News, 2023). ------ [Common Ground] (https://amzn.to/4b8aC86) , by Justin Trudeau (2014). ---EXTRAS: ------" [Why Is Everyone Moving to Canada?] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/why-is-everyone-moving-to-canada/) " by Freakonomics Radio (2024). ... Read more

25 Apr 2024

52 MINS

52:26

25 Apr 2024

#754

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. ---SOURCES: ------ [Joshua Angrist] (https://economics.mit.edu/people/faculty/josh-angrist) , professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ------ [Zoe Cullen] (https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=879471) , professor of business administration at Harvard Business School. ------ [Marina Gertsberg] (https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/profile/955361-marina-gertsberg) , senior lecturer in finance at the University of Melbourne. ---RESOURCES: ------" [Is Pay Transparency Good?] (https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.38.1.153) " by Zoë Cullen (Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2024). ------" [DP18969 Economics Coauthorships in the Aftermath of MeToo] (https://cepr.org/publications/dp18969) ," by Noriko Amano-Patino, Elisa Faraglia, and Chryssi Giannitsarou (CEPR Discussion Paper, 2024). ------" [The Underground Economy of Company Reviews] (https://www.careerfair.io/company-reviews#intro) ," by Shikhar Sachdev (Career Fair, 2023). ------" [Why Did Gender Wage Convergence in the United States Stall?] (https://www.nber.org/papers/w30821) " by Peter Q. Blair and Benjamin Posmanick (NBER Working Paper, 2023). ------" [The Unintended Consequences of #MeToo: Evidence from Research Collaborations] (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4105976) ," by Marina Gertsberg (SSRN, 2022). ------" [Outsourcing Tasks Online: Matching Supply and Demand on Peer-to-Peer Internet Platforms] (https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=58450) ," by Zoë Cullen and Chiara Farronato (Management Science, 2021). ------" [Equilibrium Effects of Pay Transparency] (https://zcullen.github.io/assets/docs/w28903_3cf6cf0c-f05e-4665-a638-61986faa4c50.pdf) ," by Zoe B. Cullen and Bobak Pakzad-Hurson (NBER Working Paper, 2021). ------" [How Much Does Your Boss Make? The Effects of Salary Comparisons] (https://www.nber.org/papers/w24841) ," by Zoë Cullen and Ricardo Perez-Truglia (NBER Working Paper, 2018). ------" [Wall Street Rule for the #MeToo Era: Avoid Women at All Cost] (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-03/a-wall-street-rule-for-the-metoo-era-avoid-women-at-all-cost?sref=6DPKmIax) ," by Gillian Tan and Katia Porzecanski (Bloomberg, 2018). ------" [A Comprehensive Analysis of the Effects of US Disability Discrimination Laws on the Employment of the Disabled Population] (https://www.nber.org/programs-projects/projects-and-centers/retirement-and-disability-research-center/center-papers/drc-nb16-07) ," by Patrick Button, Philip Armour, and Simon Hollands (NBER Working Paper, 2016). ------" [Consequences of Employment Protection? The Case of the Americans with Disabilities Act] (https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/322836) ," by Daron Acemoglu and Joshua Angrist (Journal of Political Economy, 2001). ... Read more

18 Apr 2024

43 MINS

43:42

18 Apr 2024

#753

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. ---SOURCE: ------ [Michael Lewis] (http://michaellewiswrites.com/index.html#) , writer. ---RESOURCES: ------ [The Undoing Project] (https://amzn.to/3JhDK0H) , by Michael Lewis (2016). ------ [Thinking, Fast and Slow] (https://amzn.to/4autG0j) , by Daniel Kahneman (2011). ------ [The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine] (https://amzn.to/3vPCm2d) , by Michael Lewis (2010). ------ [Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness] (https://amzn.to/3VSgXjD) , by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein (2009). ------ [Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game] (https://amzn.to/3Ue5nOt) , by Michael Lewis (2004). ------“ [Who’s On First] (https://newrepublic.com/article/61123/whos-first) ,” by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein (New Republic, 2003). ------“ [The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice] (http://psych.hanover.edu/classes/cognition/papers/tversky81.pdf) ,” by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky (Science, 1981). ------“ [Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk] (https://www.princeton.edu/~kahneman/docs/Publications/prospect_theory.pdf) ,” by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky (Econometrica, 1979). ------“ [Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases] (http://psiexp.ss.uci.edu/research/teaching/Tversky_Kahneman_1974.pdf) ,” by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky (Science, 1974). ------“ [Subjective Probability: A Judgment of Representativeness] (http://datacolada.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Kahneman-Tversky-1972.pdf) ,” by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky (Cognitive Psychology, 1972). ---EXTRAS: ------" [Remembering Daniel Kahneman] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/remembering-daniel-kahneman/) ," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2024). ------" [Why Are People So Mad at Michael Lewis?] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/why-are-people-so-mad-at-michael-lewis/) " by Freakonomics Radio (2023). ------" [Did Michael Lewis Just Get Lucky with 'Moneyball'?] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/did-michael-lewis-just-get-lucky-with-moneyball/) " by Freakonomics Radio (2022). ... Read more

14 Apr 2024

34 MINS

34:51

14 Apr 2024

#752

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. ---SOURCES: ------ [Nick Bloom] (https://nbloom.people.stanford.edu/bio) , professor of economics at Stanford University. ------ [Katie Johnson] (https://www.linkedin.com/in/datakatie/) , freelance data and analytics coach. ------ [Kelly Shue] (https://som.yale.edu/faculty/kelly-shue) , professor of finance at the Yale University School of Management. ------ [Steve Tadelis] (https://haas.berkeley.edu/faculty/tadelis-steven/) , professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business. ---RESOURCES: ------“ [People Management Skills, Employee Attrition, and Manager Rewards: An Empirical Analysis] (https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/711409) ,” by Mitchell Hoffman and Steven Tadelis (Journal of Political Economy, 2021). ------“ [Promotions and the Peter Principle] (https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/134/4/2085/5550760) ,” by Alan Benson, Danielle Li, and Kelly Shue (The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2019). ------“ [Bosses Matter: The Effects of Managers on Workers’ Performance] (https://wol.iza.org/articles/bosses-matter-the-effects-of-managers-on-workers-performance/long) ,” by Kathryn L. Shaw (IZA World of Labor, 2019). ------“ [The Value of Bosses] (https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/681097) ,” by Edward P. Lazear, Kathryn L. Shaw, and Christopher T. Stanton (Journal of Labor Economics, 2015). ------ [The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong] (https://amzn.to/3MltnJp) , by Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull (1969). ---EXTRAS: ------“ [The Secret Life of C.E.O.s] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/the-secret-life-of-c-e-o-s/) ” series by Freakonomics Radio. ------“ [What Does a C.E.O. Actually Do?] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/what-does-a-c-e-o-actually-do/) ” by Freakonomics Radio (2018). ... Read more

11 Apr 2024

49 MINS

49:41

11 Apr 2024

#751

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. ---SOURCES: ------ [Fareed Zakaria] (https://fareedzakaria.com/about) , journalist and author. ---RESOURCES: ------ [Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present] (https://amzn.to/49s0Goy) , by Fareed Zakaria (2024). ------" [The Ultimate Election Year: All the Elections Around the World in 2024] (https://time.com/6550920/world-elections-2024/) ," by Koh Ewe (TIME, 2023). ------" [The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism] (https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/williamson/files/tea_party_pop.pdf) ," by Vanessa Williamson, Theda Skocpol, and John Coggin (Perspectives on Politics, 2011). ------ [The Post-American World] (https://amzn.to/4alDZnc) , by Fareed Zakaria (2008). ------ [The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad] (https://amzn.to/3vK7v72) , by Fareed Zakaria (2003). ---EXTRAS: ------" [Is the U.S. Really Less Corrupt Than China?] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/is-the-u-s-really-less-corrupt-than-china/) " by Freakonomics Radio (2021). ... Read more

04 Apr 2024

1 HR 02 MINS

1:02:43

04 Apr 2024

#750

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] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/the-true-story-of-americas-supremely-messed-up-immigration-system) , we called some Freakonomics Radio listeners and quizzed them. ---SOURCES: ------ [Zeke Hernandez] (http://zekehernandez.net/) , professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. ---RESOURCES: ------ [The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers] (https://amzn.to/43k5D1s) , by Zeke Hernandez (2024, available for pre-order). ---EXTRA: ------“ [The True Story of America’s Supremely Messed-Up Immigration System] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/the-true-story-of-americas-supremely-messed-up-immigration-system/) ,” series by Freakonomics Radio (2024). ... Read more

01 Apr 2024

27 MINS

27:39

01 Apr 2024

#749

582. Why Is Everyone Moving to Canada?

As the U.S. tries to fix its messy immigration system, our neighbor to the north is scooping up more talented newcomers every year. Are the Canadians stealing America’s bacon? (Part three of [a three-part series] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/the-true-story-of-americas-supremely-messed-up-immigration-system/) .) ---SOURCES: ------ [Zeke Hernandez] (http://zekehernandez.net/) , professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. ------ [William Kerr] (https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=337265) , professor of business administration at Harvard Business School. ------ [David Leonhardt] (https://www.nytimes.com/by/david-leonhardt) , senior writer at the New York Times. ------ [Sindhu Mahadevan] (https://sindhum.substack.com/) , creator of This Immigrant Life newsletter. ------ [Marc Miller] (https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/marc-miller(88660)) , Member of Parliament and Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship of Canada. ------ [Mike Savage] (https://observatoirevivreensemble.org/en/mike-savage) , Mayor of Halifax, Nova Scotia. ---RESOURCES: ------ [The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers] (https://amzn.to/43k5D1s) , by Zeke Hernandez (2024, available for pre-order). ------" [The Border Where Different Rules Apply] (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/06/magazine/us-coast-guard-children-detained.html) ," by Seth Freed Wessler (The New York Times Magazine, 2023). ------" [Last Year, Canada Became My Home. Feeling Like a Canadian Will Take a Bit Longer] (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/first-person-feeling-like-a-canadian-1.6717526) ," by Sindhu Mahadevan (CBC News, 2023). ------" [Canadians Are Starting to Sour on Migration] (https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2023/11/02/canadians-are-starting-to-sour-on-migration) ," (The Economist, 2023). ------ [The Gift of Global Talent: How Migration Shapes Business, Economy & Society] (https://amzn.to/3IQOYZX) , by William Kerr (2018). ---EXTRAS: ------“ [The True Story of America’s Supremely Messed-Up Immigration System] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/the-true-story-of-americas-supremely-messed-up-immigration-system/) ,” series by Freakonomics Radio (2024). ------" [Is the American Dream Really Dead?] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/is-the-american-dream-really-dead/) " by Freakonomics Radio (2017). ... Read more

28 Mar 2024

49 MINS

49:47

28 Mar 2024

#748

581. What Both Parties Get Wrong About Immigration

The U.S. immigration system is a massively complicated machine, with a lot of worn-out parts. How to fix it? Step one: Get hold of some actual facts and evidence. (We did this step for you.) (Part two of [a three-part series] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/the-true-story-of-americas-supremely-messed-up-immigration-system/) .) ---SOURCES: ------ [Zeke Hernandez] (http://zekehernandez.net/) , professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. ------ [David Leonhardt] (https://www.nytimes.com/by/david-leonhardt) , senior writer at the New York Times. ------ [Sindhu Mahadevan] (https://sindhum.substack.com/) , creator of This Immigrant Life newsletter. ---RESOURCES: ------ [The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers] (https://amzn.to/43k5D1s) , by Zeke Hernandez (2024, available for pre-order). ------" [Illegal Immigration Is a Bigger Problem Than Ever. These Five Charts Explain Why] (https://www.wsj.com/us-news/illegal-immigration-record-border-6db29cad) ," by Andrew Mollica, Alicia A. Caldwell, Michelle Hackman, and Santiago Pérez (The Wall Street Journal, 2023). ------ [Ours Was the Shining Future: The Story of the American Dream] (https://amzn.to/4akRYJB) , by David Leonhardt (2023). ------ [The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration] (https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/23550/the-economic-and-fiscal-consequences-of-immigration) , by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2017). ---EXTRAS: ------“ [The True Story of America’s Supremely Messed-Up Immigration System] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/the-true-story-of-americas-supremely-messed-up-immigration-system/) ,” series by Freakonomics Radio (2024). ------" [And the New Six-Word Motto for the U.S. Is …] (https://freakonomics.com/2008/02/and-the-new-six-word-motto-for-the-us-is/) ," by Stephen Dubner (Freakonomics blog, 2008). ... Read more

21 Mar 2024

55 MINS

55:50

21 Mar 2024

#747

Extra: Madeleine Albright’s Warning on Immigration

She arrived in the U.S. as an 11-year-old refugee, then rose to become Secretary of State. Her views on immigration, nationalism, and borders, from this 2015 interview, are almost strangely appropriate to the present moment. ---SOURCE: ------ [Madeleine Albright] (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Madeleine-Albright) , U.S. Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. ---RESOURCES: ------" [Madeleine Albright, First Woman to Serve as Secretary of State, Dies at 84] (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/23/us/madeleine-albright-dead.html) ," by Robert D. McFadden (The New York Times, 2022). ------" [The Case for Getting Rid of Borders — Completely] (https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/10/get-rid-borders-completely/409501/) ," by Alex Tabarrok (The Atlantic, 2015). ---EXTRAS: ------" [The True Story of America's Supremely Messed-Up Immigration System] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/the-true-story-of-americas-supremely-messed-up-immigration-system/) ," series by Freakonomics Radio (2024). ------" [Is Migration a Basic Human Right?] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/is-migration-a-basic-human-right/) " by Freakonomics Radio (2015). ... Read more

18 Mar 2024

29 MINS

29:04

18 Mar 2024

#746

580. The True Story of America’s Supremely Messed-Up Immigration System

How did a nation of immigrants come to hate immigration? We start at the beginning, sort through the evidence, and explain why your grandfather was lying about Ellis Island. (Part one of [a three-part series] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/the-true-story-of-americas-supremely-messed-up-immigration-system/) .) ---SOURCES: ------ [Leah Boustan] (https://lboustan.scholar.princeton.edu/) , professor of economics at Princeton University. ------ [Zeke Hernandez] (http://zekehernandez.net) , professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. ------ [Roger Nam] (https://candler.emory.edu/faculty-profiles/roger-s-nam/) , professor of Hebrew Bible at Emory University. ---RESOURCES: ------ [The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers] (https://amzn.to/43k5D1s) , by Zeke Hernandez (2024, available for pre-order). ------" [The Refugee Advantage: English-Language Attainment in the Early Twentieth Century] (https://www.nber.org/papers/w31730) ," by Ran Abramitzky, Leah Platt Boustan, Peter Catron, Dylan Connor, and Rob Voigt (NBER Working Paper, 2023). ------ [Streets of Gold: America's Untold Story of Immigrant Success] (https://amzn.to/48XSwE6) , by Leah Boustan and Ran Abramitzky (2022). ------" [If Liberals Won't Enforce Borders, Fascists Will] (https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/04/david-frum-how-much-immigration-is-too-much/583252/) ," by David Frum (The Atlantic, 2019). ---EXTRAS: ------" [Is Migration a Basic Human Right?] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/is-migration-a-basic-human-right/) " by Freakonomics Radio (2015). ------" [Who Are the Most Successful Immigrants in the World?] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/who-are-the-most-successful-immigrants-in-the-world/) " by Freakonomics Radio (2013). ... Read more

14 Mar 2024

55 MINS

55:05

14 Mar 2024

#745

579. Are You Caught in a Social Media Trap?

Economists have discovered an odd phenomenon: many people who use social media (even you, maybe?) wish it didn’t exist. But that doesn’t mean they can escape. ---SOURCES: ------ [Leonardo Bursztyn] (https://home.uchicago.edu/bursztyn/) , professor of economics at the University of Chicago. ------ [Benjamin Handel] (https://www.benjaminhandel.com/) , professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley. ---RESOURCES: ------" [When Product Markets Become Collective Traps: The Case of Social Media] (https://www.nber.org/papers/w31771) ," by Leonardo Bursztyn, Benjamin Handel, Rafael Jimenez, and Christopher Roth (NBER Working Paper, 2023). ------" [Social Media and Xenophobia: Evidence from Russia] (https://www.nber.org/papers/w26567) ," by Leonardo Bursztyn, Georgy Egorov, Ruben Enikolopov, and Maria Petrova (NBER Working Paper, 2019). ------" [Status Goods: Experimental Evidence from Platinum Credit Cards] (https://www.nber.org/papers/w23414) ," by Leonardo Bursztyn, Bruno Ferman, Stefano Fiorin, Martin Kanz, and Gautam Rao (NBER Working Paper, 2017). ------" ['Acting Wife': Marriage Market Incentives and Labor Market Investments] (https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20170029) ," by Leonardo Bursztyn, Thomas Fujiwara, and Amanda Pallais (American Economic Review, 2017). ------" [Measuring Crack Cocaine and Its Impact] (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1465-7295.2012.00506.x) ," by Roland G. Fryer Jr., Paul S. Heaton, Steven D. Levitt, and Kevin M. Murphy (Economic Inquiry, 2013). ---EXTRAS: ------" [Is Facebook Bad for Your Mental Health?] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/is-facebook-bad-for-your-mental-health/) " by Freakonomics, M.D. (2022). ------" [Why Is U.S. Media So Negative?] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/why-is-u-s-media-so-negative/) " by Freakonomics Radio (2021). ... Read more

07 Mar 2024

42 MINS

42:16

07 Mar 2024

#744

Extra: What Is Sportswashing — and Does It Work? (Update)

In ancient Rome, it was bread and circuses. Today, it’s a World Cup, an Olympics, and a new Saudi-backed golf league that’s challenging the PGA Tour. Can a sporting event really repair a country’s reputation — or will it trigger the dreaded Streisand Effect? Also: why the major U.S. sports leagues are warming up to the idea of foreign investment. ---SOURCES: ------ [Jodi Balsam] (https://www.brooklaw.edu/Contact-Us/Balsam%20Jodi%20S) , professor of clinical law at Brooklyn Law School. ------ [Brandel Chamblee] (https://www.golfchannel.com/author/brandel-chamblee) , Golf Channel analyst. ------ [Karen Crouse] (https://muckrack.com/bykaren) , sports journalist. ------ [Bomani Jones] (https://www.bomanijones.com/about/) , sports journalist. ------ [Victor Matheson] (http://www.holycross.edu/academics/programs/economics-and-accounting/faculty/victor-a-matheson) , professor of economics at the College of the Holy Cross. ------ [Alan Shipnuck] (https://firepitcollective.com/meet-the-fire-pit/) , sports journalist. ---RESOURCES: ------" [The New N.F.L. Owners?] (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/10/business/dealbook/nfl-private-equity.html) " by Lauren Hirsch, Kevin Draper, Michael J. de la Merced and Sarah Kessler (The New York Times, 2024). ------" [PGA Tour Raises $1.5 Billion From Group of U.S. Investors] (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/31/business/pga-tour-investment-liv-group.html) ," by Lauren Hirsch (The New York Times, 2024). ------" [PGA Tour, LIV Golf Agree to Merge] (https://www.wsj.com/sports/golf/pga-tour-liv-golf-merger-saudi-arabia-4414bd66) ," by Andrew Beaton and Louise Radnofsky (The Wall Street Journal, 2023). ------ [Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf's Most Colorful Superstar] (https://amzn.to/3NyUNvz) , by Alan Shipnuck (2022). ------" [Dustin Johnson Paid £100m to Perform Late U-Turn and Join Saudi-Backed Rebel Series] (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/golf/2022/06/01/dustin-johnson-u-turns-pga-tour-commitment-included-saudi-rebel/) ," by By James Corrigan and Tom Morgan (The Telegraph, 2022). ------" [Russia Was the Hottest Place in Sports. Now It’s Frozen Out] (https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-ukraine-war-sports-ban-ioc-fifa-11646155981) ," by Joshua Robinson, Ben Cohen, and Louise Radnofsky (The Wall Street Journal, 2022). ------" [Could This Be the Year ‘Sportwashing’ Backfires?] (https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-01-06/world-cup-olympics-sportswashing-saudi-arabia-beijing-fifa-ioc-soccer) " by Andrés Martinez (The Los Angeles Times, 2022). ------" [The Truth About Phil and Saudi Arabia] (https://firepitcollective.com/the-truth-about-phil-and-saudi-arabia/) ," by Alan Shipnuck (The Fire Pit Collective, 2022). ------ [The New Yale Book of Quotations] (https://amzn.to/3mspgzA) , by Fred Shapiro (2021). ------" [The Surprising Reason That There Are So Many Thai Restaurants in America] (https://www.vice.com/en/article/paxadz/the-surprising-reason-that-there-are-so-many-thai-restaurants-in-america) ," by Myles Karp (Vice, 2018). ---EXTRAS: ------" [Greg Norman Takes On the P.G.A. Tour] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/greg-norman-takes-on-the-pga-tour/) ," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2023). ... Read more

04 Mar 2024

1 HR 05 MINS

1:05:17

04 Mar 2024

#743

578. Water, Water Everywhere — But You Have to Stop and Think

What surprises lurk in our sewage? How did racist city planners end up saving Black lives? Why does Arizona grow hay for cows in Saudi Arabia? Three strange stories about the most fundamental substance we all take for granted. ---SOURCES: ------ [Brian Beach] (https://as.vanderbilt.edu/economics/bio/brian-beach/) , professor of economics at Vanderbilt University. ------ [Marc Johnson] (https://medicine.missouri.edu/faculty/marc-johnson-phd) , professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. ------ [Amy Kirby] (https://www.cgswash.org/coreinvestigators/amy-e-kirby-ph-d/) , program lead for the National Wastewater Surveillance System at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ------ [Natalie Koch] (https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/directory/natalie-koch) , professor of geography at Syracuse University. ---RESOURCES: ------ [Arid Empire: The Entangled Fates of Arizona and Arabia] (https://amzn.to/3wy2aQt) , by Natalie Koch (2023). ------" [How a Saudi Firm Tapped a Gusher of Water in Drought-Stricken Arizona] (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/07/16/fondomonte-arizona-drought-saudi-farm-water/) ," by Isaac Stanley-Becker, Joshua Partlow, and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez (The Washington Post, 2023). ------" [Arizona Is in a Race to the Bottom of Its Water Wells, With Saudi Arabia’s Help] (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/26/opinion/arizona-water-colorado-river-saudi-arabia.html) ," by Natalie Koch (The New York Times, 2022). ------" [Tracing the Origin of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron-Like Spike Sequences Detected in Wastewater] (https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.10.28.22281553v1) ," by Martin Shafer, Devon Gregory, Marc Johnson, et al. (medRxiv, 2022). ------" [Water and Waste: A History of Reluctant Policymaking in U.S. Cities] (https://brianbbeach.github.io/Materials/WP/Beach_Water_Waste.pdf) ," by Brian Beach (Working Paper, 2022). ------ [Water, Race, and Disease] (https://amzn.to/3wBi0tB) , by Werner Troesken (2004). ------ [COVID Data Tracker: Wastewater Surveillance] (https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#wastewater-surveillance) , by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ---EXTRAS: ------" [What Is Sportswashing (and Does It Work)?] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/what-is-sportswashing-and-does-it-work/) " by Freakonomics Radio (2022). ------" [Covid-19] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/covid-19/) ," series by Freakonomics Radio (2020-2021). ... Read more

29 Feb 2024

52 MINS

52:14

29 Feb 2024

#742

Is Google Getting Worse? (Update)

It used to feel like magic. Now it can feel like a set of cheap tricks. Is the problem with Google — or with us? And is Google Search finally facing a real rival, in the form of A.I.-powered “answer engines”? ---SOURCES: ------ [Marissa Mayer] (https://www.linkedin.com/in/marissamayer/) , co-founder of Sunshine; former C.E.O. of Yahoo! and vice president at Google. ------ [Ryan McDevitt] (https://www.fuqua.duke.edu/faculty/ryan-mcdevitt) ; professor of economics at Duke University. ------ [Tim Hwang] (https://timhwang.org/) , media researcher and author; former Google employee. ------ [Elizabeth Reid] (https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-reid-56356724/) , vice president of Search at Google. ------ [Aravind Srinivas] (https://www.linkedin.com/in/aravind-srinivas-16051987) , C.E.O. and co-founder of Perplexity. ------ [Jeremy Stoppelman] (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremystoppelman/) , C.E.O. and co-founder of Yelp. ---RESOURCES: ------“ [A Fraudster Who Just Can’t Seem to Stop … Selling Eyeglasses] (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/25/business/vitaly-borker-glasses-retail.html) ,” by David Segal (The New York Times, 2022). ------ [Subprime Attention Crisis: Advertising and the Time Bomb at the Heart of the Internet] (https://amzn.to/3XalHiM) , by Tim Hwang (2020). ------“ [Complaint: U.S. and Plaintiff States v. Google LLC] (https://www.justice.gov/atr/case-document/file/1329131/download) ,” by the U.S. Department of Justice (2020). ------“ [Fake Online Locksmiths May Be Out to Pick Your Pocket, Too] (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/31/business/fake-online-locksmiths-may-be-out-to-pick-your-pocket-too.html) ,” by David Segal (The New York Times, 2016). ------“ [‘A’ Business by Any Other Name: Firm Name Choice as a Signal of Firm Quality] (https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/676333) ,” by Ryan C. McDevitt (Journal of Political Economy, 2014). ------ [In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives] (https://amzn.to/3gcb3HE) , by Steven Levy (2011). ------“ [The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine] (http://infolab.stanford.edu/~backrub/google.html) ,” by Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page (Computer Networks and ISDN Systems, 1998). ---EXTRAS: ------“ [Is Dialysis a Test Case of Medicare for All?] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/is-dialysis-a-test-case-of-medicare-for-all-ep-457/) ” by Freakonomics Radio (2021). ------“ [How Big is My Penis? (And Other Things We Ask Google)] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/how-big-is-my-penis-and-other-things-we-ask-google/) ,” by Freakonomics Radio (2017). ... Read more

22 Feb 2024

56 MINS

56:53

22 Feb 2024

#741

Extra: Mr. Feynman Takes a Trip — But Doesn’t Fall

A wide-open conversation with three women who guided Richard Feynman through some big adventures at the Esalen Institute. (Part of [our Feynman series] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/richard-feynman/) .) ---SOURCES: ------Barbara Berg, friend of Richard Feynman. ------Cheryl Haley, friend of Richard Feynman. ------Debby Harlow, friend of Richard Feynma ------Sam Stern, content creator at the Esalen Institute. ---EXTRAS: ------ [Richard Feynman Series] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/richard-feynman/) , by Freakonomics Radio (2024). ------" [The Future of Therapy Is Psychedelic] (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/the-future-of-therapy-is-psychedelic/) ," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2023). ... Read more

19 Feb 2024

47 MINS

47:31