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Freakonomics Radio

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 engin...

Episodes 902
Books 633
The Art of Spending Money: Simple Choices for a Richer Life Cover

Morgan Housel

The Art of Spending Money

Simple Choices for a Richer Life

The book was noted as another recent bestseller by Housel, following his earlier success with The Psychology of Money.

"

Since we spoke with Housel, he's published another book called The Art of Spending Money. It, too, was a bestseller.

— Episode: Are Personal Finance Gurus Giving You Ba...

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Episode: Are Personal Finance Gurus Giving You Bad Advice?...

The book was noted as another recent bestseller by Housel, following his earlier success with The Psychology of Money.

"

Since we spoke with Housel, he's published another book called The Art of Spending Money. It, too, was a bestseller.

The Future of Truth Cover

Werner Herzog

The Future of Truth

Herzog explained that the book argues truth is not a fixed pole star but an ongoing, relentless striving, contrasting an accountant's factbased truth with an ecstatic, artistic truth.

"

Herzog recently published a book called The Future of Truth. Here's one bit that captures the essence. He writes, I don't think truth is some kind of pole star in the sky that we will...

— Episode: 665. Werner Herzog Isn’t Afraid ...

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Episode: 665. Werner Herzog Isn’t Afraid ...

Herzog explained that the book argues truth is not a fixed pole star but an ongoing, relentless striving, contrasting an accountant's factbased truth with an ecstatic, artistic truth.

"

Herzog recently published a book called The Future of Truth. Here's one bit that captures the essence. He writes, I don't think truth is some kind of pole star in the sky that we will one day get to. It's more like an incessant striving.

So your most recent book is called The Future of Truth. You write about the difference between what you call the accountant's truth and the ecstatic truth.

His latest book is called The Future of Truth.

Genius & Anxiety: How Jews Changed the World, 1847-1947 Cover

Norman Lebrecht

Genius & Anxiety

How Jews Changed the World, 1847-1947

The hosts explained that Lebrecht's book offered another possible explanation for the high level of Jewish achievement, arguing that 19th and early20thcentury Jews were driven by a fear that their civil rights might be revoked.

"

In a book called Genius and Anxiety, How Jews Changed the World, 1847 to 1947, the author Norman Lebrecht puts forth another possible explanation for the high level of Jewish achievement. Jews in the...

— Episode: 480. How Much Does Discrimination Hurt t...

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Episode: 480. How Much Does Discrimination Hurt the Economy...

The hosts explained that Lebrecht's book offered another possible explanation for the high level of Jewish achievement, arguing that 19th and early20thcentury Jews were driven by a fear that their civil rights might be revoked.

"

In a book called Genius and Anxiety, How Jews Changed the World, 1847 to 1947, the author Norman Lebrecht puts forth another possible explanation for the high level of Jewish achievement. Jews in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, he writes, are gripped by a dread that their rights to citizenship and free speech will be revoked.

Eat, Poop, Die: How Animals Make Our World Cover

Joe Roman PhD

Eat, Poop, Die

How Animals Make Our World

Roman was mentioned as working on the book Eat Poop Die, which examines how animal waste--particularly whale fecal plumes--drives ocean productivity and broader ecosystem health.

"

Roman is working on a book called Eat Poop Die How Animals Make Our World.

— Episode: 551. What Can Whales Teach Us About Clea...

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Episode: 551. What Can Whales Teach Us About Clean Energy,...

Roman was mentioned as working on the book Eat Poop Die, which examines how animal waste--particularly whale fecal plumes--drives ocean productivity and broader ecosystem health.

"

Roman is working on a book called Eat Poop Die How Animals Make Our World.

The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution Cover

Dan Hicks

The Brutish Museums

The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution

The book examined the colonial violence and restitution issues surrounding the Benin bronzes, arguing that museums must confront their role in looting.

"

Consider the book he published in 2020. It's called The Brutish Museums, The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution.

— Episode: 542. Is a Museum Just a Trophy Case?

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Episode: 542. Is a Museum Just a Trophy Case?

The book examined the colonial violence and restitution issues surrounding the Benin bronzes, arguing that museums must confront their role in looting.

"

Consider the book he published in 2020. It's called The Brutish Museums, The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution.

Dan Hicks, author of The Brutish Museums, agreed to meet us there and give a proper tour of the Benin Bronzes.

Risky Business: A Whip-Smart Romantic Comedy of Mistaken Identities and Risky Ventures in the Tech World Cover

Annabelle Slator

Risky Business

A Whip-Smart Romantic Comedy of Mistaken Identities and Risky Ventures in the Tech World

The book examined why insurance markets fail and offered policy ideas for fixing them.

"

She is the co-author of a new book called Risky Business, Why Insurance Markets Fail and What to Do About It.

— Episode: 537. “Insurance Is Sexy.” Discuss.

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Episode: 537. “Insurance Is Sexy.” Discuss.

The book examined why insurance markets fail and offered policy ideas for fixing them.

"

She is the co-author of a new book called Risky Business, Why Insurance Markets Fail and What to Do About It.

In your new book Risky Business, which I don't think will blow anyone's mind for better or worse, the subtitle is Why Insurance Markets Fail and What to Do About It.

We started the book, as I said, because everyone kept asking us what we should do about health care reform and we kept saying it's complicated.

The point of our book is to say, once you recognize that's what we always have done and we go back actually to the start of the republic ... the solution is to provide automatic basic coverage for everyone.

Her new book is called Risky Business, Why Insurance Markets Fail and What to Do About It.

A Culture of Growth: The Origins of the Modern Economy (Graz Schumpeter Lectures) Cover

Joel Mokyr

A Culture of Growth

The Origins of the Modern Economy (Graz Schumpeter Lectures)

The host introduced Mokyr's bestknown work, noting its title and reading a passage where Mokyr argues that cultural changes enabled the explosion of technological progress in the West.

"

Let me read a bit from his best known book. It's called A Culture of Growth, The Origins of the Modern Economy. He writes, the proposition I put forward here is that the explosion of...

— Episode: 666. This Is How Progress Happens

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Episode: 666. This Is How Progress Happens

The host introduced Mokyr's bestknown work, noting its title and reading a passage where Mokyr argues that cultural changes enabled the explosion of technological progress in the West.

"

Let me read a bit from his best known book. It's called A Culture of Growth, The Origins of the Modern Economy. He writes, the proposition I put forward here is that the explosion of technological progress in the West was made possible by cultural changes.

Culture affected technology both directly by changing attitudes toward the natural world and indirectly by creating and nurturing institutions that stimulated and supported the accumulation and diffusion of useful knowledge.

The World For Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth's Resources Cover

Javier Blas

The World For Sale

Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth's Resources

The hosts finally read the book after shelving it and were impressed by its vivid account of commodity traders shaping global events.

"

It's called The World For Sale, Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth's Resources.

— Episode: The Most Powerful People You’ve Never He...

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Episode: The Most Powerful People You’ve Never Heard Of (Up...

The hosts finally read the book after shelving it and were impressed by its vivid account of commodity traders shaping global events.

"

It's called The World For Sale, Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth's Resources.

So, I finally took it off the shelf, read it, and, well, wow.

That's the sensation I had while reading The World For Sale.

The book we are talking about today is called The World For Sale. Money, power, and the traitors who barter the Earth's resources.

Their book is called The World For Sale.

The King of Oil: The Secret Lives of Marc Rich Cover

Daniel Ammann

The King of Oil

The Secret Lives of Marc Rich

The hosts referenced the biography as a good source on Marc Rich's life and influence in commodity trading.

"

There's also a very good Mark Rich biography called The King of Oil by Daniel Amann.

— Episode: The Most Powerful People You’ve Never He...

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Episode: The Most Powerful People You’ve Never Heard Of (Up...

The hosts referenced the biography as a good source on Marc Rich's life and influence in commodity trading.

"

There's also a very good Mark Rich biography called The King of Oil by Daniel Amann.

Nudge Cover

Richard H. Thaler

Nudge

The hosts highlighted that Nudge, first published in 2008, became phenomenally popular with around two million readers and was praised as one of the bestwritten books by academics; a revised Final Edition was also mentioned.

"

Back in 2008, Thaler published a book called Nudge, Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. It was co-authored with the legal scholar Cass Sunstein. Nudge

— Episode: All You Need Is Nudge (Update)

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Episode: All You Need Is Nudge (Update)

The hosts highlighted that Nudge, first published in 2008, became phenomenally popular with around two million readers and was praised as one of the bestwritten books by academics; a revised Final Edition was also mentioned.

"

Back in 2008, Thaler published a book called Nudge, Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. It was co-authored with the legal scholar Cass Sunstein. Nudge proved to be phenomenally popular. I think something like two million people have read Nudge around the world.

I've always argued that Nudge is one of the best written books by academics. I mean, you're an economist and your co-author Cass Sunstein is a lawyer, for goodness sake.

The title of the new edition is Nudge, the Final Edition.

Perhaps the most basic principle of good choice architecture is our mantra, Make it Easy. If you want to encourage some behavior, figure out why people aren't doing it already, and eliminate the barriers that are standing in their way.

The software our publishers provided when we were proofreading the galleys of this book was so sludgeriden that Sunstein gave up and typed up a list of changes.

Sludge: What Stops Us from Getting Things Done and What to Do about It Cover

Cass R. Sunstein

Sludge

What Stops Us from Getting Things Done and What to Do about It

The episode noted that Sunstein authored Sludge, a book exploring the bureaucratic obstacles that hinder productivity, and cited several passages describing sludge and its societal impact.

"

The software our publishers provided when we were proofreading the galleys of this book was so Sludgeriden that Sunstein gave up and typed up a list of changes.

— Episode: All You Need Is Nudge (Update)

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Episode: All You Need Is Nudge (Update)

The episode noted that Sunstein authored Sludge, a book exploring the bureaucratic obstacles that hinder productivity, and cited several passages describing sludge and its societal impact.

"

The software our publishers provided when we were proofreading the galleys of this book was so Sludgeriden that Sunstein gave up and typed up a list of changes.

what is Sludge literally? It's this thick, gooey byproduct of some industrial process that just gunks up the works.

Governments both create and reduce Sludge. In recent years, the United States government has imposed a whopping 11 billion hours in annual paperwork burdens on the American people.

Cass Sunstein, Thaler's coauthor on Nudge, wrote a book called Sludge, what stops us from getting things done and what to do about it.

Doping: A Sporting History Cover

April Henning

Doping

A Sporting History

April Henning referenced the book as a comprehensive account of the history of doping in sport, coauthored with Paul Dimeo.

"

April Henning, along with her coauthor Paul Dimeo, has written about all this in a book called Doping, A Sporting History.

— Episode: 662. If You’re Not Cheating, You’re Not...

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Episode: 662. If You’re Not Cheating, You’re Not Trying

April Henning referenced the book as a comprehensive account of the history of doping in sport, coauthored with Paul Dimeo.

"

April Henning, along with her coauthor Paul Dimeo, has written about all this in a book called Doping, A Sporting History.

Positively False: The Real Story of How I Won the Tour de France Cover

Floyd Landis

Positively False

The Real Story of How I Won the Tour de France

Landis admitted he had written a book titled *Positively False* that presented a false narrative of his Tour de France victory after his doping scandal.

"

Your denial was pretty robust. You wrote a book, right? Positively False. The real story of how I won the Tour de France, which was not a truthful account.

— Episode: 662. If You’re Not Cheating, You’re Not...

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Episode: 662. If You’re Not Cheating, You’re Not Trying

Landis admitted he had written a book titled *Positively False* that presented a false narrative of his Tour de France victory after his doping scandal.

"

Your denial was pretty robust. You wrote a book, right? Positively False. The real story of how I won the Tour de France, which was not a truthful account.

A Giant Leap: How AI Is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future Cover

Robert Wachter

A Giant Leap

How AI Is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future

Wachter described his sixth book, A Giant Leap, as an exploration of how AI can transform healthcare and what that transformation will mean for the future.

"

Within a few minutes of speaking with Wachter, you get a sense of how his brain works. He is drawn to categorical sorting and operational competence, all of which has been particularly useful in his l...

— Episode: 661. Can A.I. Save Your Life?

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Episode: 661. Can A.I. Save Your Life?

Wachter described his sixth book, A Giant Leap, as an exploration of how AI can transform healthcare and what that transformation will mean for the future.

"

Within a few minutes of speaking with Wachter, you get a sense of how his brain works. He is drawn to categorical sorting and operational competence, all of which has been particularly useful in his latest extracurricular endeavor. It's a book, his sixth, called A Giant Leap, how AI is transforming health care and what that means for our future.

We have not embraced it as a mechanism to make care better and safer and less expensive. You call your book A Giant Leap.

I want to understand this concept of the giant leap. My sense is you're arguing that health care has failed to take advantage of technological progress to the degree that most industries have and that you're hoping that AI in all its many forms will help us kind of leap over that sluggish period into a next better phase.

The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype, and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine’s Computer Age Cover

Robert Wachter

The Digital Doctor

Hope, Hype, and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine’s Computer Age

Wachter recalled writing The Digital Doctor a decade ago, a grumpy critique of the shift from paper to digital records and its mixed impact on clinicians and patients.

"

I wrote a book 10 years ago called The Digital Doctor, which was really about our transition from paper to digital. That book is a very grumpy book. It's like, how the hell did we go...

— Episode: 661. Can A.I. Save Your Life?

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Episode: 661. Can A.I. Save Your Life?

Wachter recalled writing The Digital Doctor a decade ago, a grumpy critique of the shift from paper to digital records and its mixed impact on clinicians and patients.

"

I wrote a book 10 years ago called The Digital Doctor, which was really about our transition from paper to digital. That book is a very grumpy book. It's like, how the hell did we go from paper to digital and in some ways make things worse, in some ways make the lives of both patients and doctors harder?

Got rid of doctors' handwriting, the kind of perennial joke. You know, when I do an electronic prescription, it can land at Walgreens or CVS. That is massively better and safer. Two people can look at the chart at the same time. There are lots of good things about it, but it was not enough to transform medicine.

Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life Cover

Ezekiel J. Emanuel MD

Eat Your Ice Cream

Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life

The book argued that most wellness advice is either overly complicated or overly simplistic and presented six simple rules for a long and healthy life.

"

But the book we're talking about today has a title that may seem out of sync with the current wellness trends. Eat Your Ice Cream is the name.

— Episode: 660. The Wellness Industry Is Gigantic —...

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Episode: 660. The Wellness Industry Is Gigantic — and Mostl...

The book argued that most wellness advice is either overly complicated or overly simplistic and presented six simple rules for a long and healthy life.

"

But the book we're talking about today has a title that may seem out of sync with the current wellness trends. Eat Your Ice Cream is the name.

Okay, the full title of your book is Eat Your Ice Cream, Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life. Tell me how this book came into being and why.

I began doing work on this book... I became much more convinced of the importance of dairy... I wrote about the benefits of ice cream and how it fits into a sensible wellness approach.

Again, his new book is called Eat Your Ice Cream, Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life.

A Manual of Hygiene Cover

Charles Cameron

A Manual of Hygiene

The historical text was referenced as an example of early wellness literature, described as an exercise book.

"

We had books like The Manual of Hygiene, which was an exercise book, or The New Science of Healing.

— Episode: 660. The Wellness Industry Is Gigantic —...

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Episode: 660. The Wellness Industry Is Gigantic — and Mostl...

The historical text was referenced as an example of early wellness literature, described as an exercise book.

"

We had books like The Manual of Hygiene, which was an exercise book, or The New Science of Healing.

Neo Naturopathy: The New Science of Healing Or The Doctrine of Unity of Diseases Cover

Louis Kuhne

Neo Naturopathy

The New Science of Healing Or The Doctrine of Unity of Diseases

The book was cited alongside other early wellness titles as part of the historic wellness movement.

"

We had books like The Manual of Hygiene, which was an exercise book, or The New Science of Healing.

— Episode: 660. The Wellness Industry Is Gigantic —...

Listen on Audible 7-day free trial

Episode: 660. The Wellness Industry Is Gigantic — and Mostl...

The book was cited alongside other early wellness titles as part of the historic wellness movement.

"

We had books like The Manual of Hygiene, which was an exercise book, or The New Science of Healing.

[MY SYSTEM (Chess Classics)] [Author: Unknown] [January, 2012] Cover

Aron Nimzowitsch

[MY SYSTEM (Chess Classics)] [Author

Unknown] [January, 2012]

Mentioned as a historical 15minute daily workout book that illustrated past wellness advice.

"

We had books like ... My System, a 15minute daily workout.

— Episode: 660. The Wellness Industry Is Gigantic —...

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Episode: 660. The Wellness Industry Is Gigantic — and Mostl...

Mentioned as a historical 15minute daily workout book that illustrated past wellness advice.

"

We had books like ... My System, a 15minute daily workout.

Note: The book recommendations on this page are discovered automatically from podcast transcripts, and may be incorrect or incomplete.