Freakonomics Radio

Patrick Deneen, a political philosopher at Notre Dame, says yes. He was a Democrat for years, and has now come to be seen as an “ideological guru” of the Trump administration. But that only tells half the story ... SOURCES:Patrick Deneen RESOURCES:The Ideological Gurus Battling for the Soul of Trump World(Wall Street Journal,Why the MAGA-DOGE coalition will hold(UnHerd,‘I Don’t Want to Violently Overthrow the Government. I Want Something Far More Revolutionary(POLITICO,Regime Change: Toward a Postliberal Future, Why Liberalism Failed, EXTRAS:In Search of the Real Adam SmithFreakonomics Radio

Bjørn Andersen has killed hundreds of minke whales. He tells us how he does it, why he does it, and what he thinks would happen if whale-hunting ever stopped. (This bonus episode is a follow-up to our series “Everything You Never Knew About Whaling.”) SOURCES: RESOURCES:Digestive physiology of minke whales(Developments in Marine Biology,Norway Is Planning to Resume Whaling Despite World Ban(New York Times,Commission Votes to Ban Hunting of Whales(New York Times, EXTRAS:Everything You Never Knew About WhalingFreakonomics Radio

In the final episode of our whale series, we learn about fecal plumes, shipping noise, and why Moby-Dick is still worth reading. (Part 3 of "Everything You Never Knew About Whaling.") SOURCES:Michele BaggioMary K. Bercaw-EdwardsHester BlumEric HiltKate O’ConnellMaria PetrilloJoe Roman RESOURCES:Eat, Poop, Die: How Animals Make Our World, Racial Diversity and Team Performance: Evidence from the American Offshore Whaling IndustryS.S.R.N., Why 23 Dead Whales Have Washed Up on the East Coast Since DecemberThe New York Times, Suspected Russia-Trained Spy Whale Reappears Off Sweden’s CoastThe Guardian, International Trade, Noise Pollution, and Killer WhalesN.B.E.R. Working Paper, World-First Map Exposes Growing Dangers Along Whale SuperhighwaysLifting Baselines to Address the Consequences of Conservation SuccessTrends in Ecology & Evolution, Wages, Risk, and Profits in the Whaling IndustryThe Quarterly Journal of Economics, Moby-Dick, EXTRAS:Why Do People Still Hunt Whales? (Update)Freakonomics Radio How Much Does Discrimination Hurt the Economy?Freakonomics Radio

For years, whale oil was used as lighting fuel, industrial lubricant, and the main ingredient in (yum!) margarine. Whale meat was also on a few menus. But today, demand for whale products is at a historic low. And yet some countries still have a whaling industry. We find out why. (Part 2 of “Everything You Never Knew About Whaling.”) SOURCES:Jay AlabasterBjorn BasbergEric HiltKate O’ConnellPaul Watson RESOURCES:The Soviet Union Killed an Appalling Number of Whales. I Wanted to Know WhySlate, Behind the Smile: The Multi-Billion Dollar Dolphin Entertainment IndustryJapan to Resume Commercial Whaling, Defying International BanThe New York Times, Why Is There Not More Outrage About Japan’s Barbaric Practice of Whaling?The Telegraph, Margarine Once Contained a Whole Lot More WhaleGastro Obscura, 3 Million Whales Were Killed in the 20th Century: ReportN.B.C. News, The Spectacular Rise and Fall of U.S. Whaling: An Innovation StoryThe Atlantic, In Pursuit of Leviathan: Technology, Institutions, Productivity, and Profits in American Whaling, 1816-1906Norway Is Planning to Resume Whaling Despite World BanThe New York Times, EXTRAS:The First Great American IndustryFreakonomics Radio

Whaling was, in the words of one scholar, “early capitalism unleashed on the high seas.” How did the U.S. come to dominate the whale market? Why did whale hunting die out here — and continue to grow elsewhere? And is that whale vomit in your perfume? (Part 1 of “Everything You Never Knew About Whaling.”) SOURCES:Eric HiltNathaniel PhilbrickPaul Watson RESOURCES:Calls From the Deep: Do We Need to Save the Whales All Over Again?The Guardian, The Very Small World of V.C.The New Republic, How Nantucket Came to Be the Whaling Capital of the WorldSmithsonian Magazine, Fin-techThe Economist, The Spectacular Rise and Fall of U.S. Whaling: An Innovation StoryThe Atlantic, Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America, Incentives in Corporations: Evidence from the American Whaling IndustryNBER Working Papers, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, Productivity in American Whaling: The new Bedford Fleet in the Nineteenth CenturyNBER Working Paper, EXTRAS:Is Venture Capital the Secret Sauce of the American Economy?Freakonomics Radio Is the Future of Farming in the Ocean?Freakonomics Radio

It’s a haphazard way of paying workers, and yet it keeps expanding. With federal tax policy shifting in a pro-tip direction, we revisit an episode from 2019 to find out why. SOURCES:John ListMichael LynnUri GneezyDanny Meyer RESOURCES:How ‘No Tax on Tips’ Will Affect Waiters, Drivers and Diners(New York Times,The Drivers of Social Preferences: Evidence from a Nationwide Tipping Field ExperimentTheNational Bureau of Economic ResearchDesign and Analysis of Cluster-Randomized Field Experiments in Panel Data SettingsThe National Bureau of Economic Research, .The Effects of Tipping on Consumers’ Satisfaction with RestaurantsThe Journal of Consumer AffairsThe Importance of Being Marginal: Gender Differences in GenerosityTheAmerican Economic ReviewRestaurant Tipping and Service Quality: A Tenuous RelationshipThe Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly EXTRAS:The No-Tipping PointFreakonomics RadioShould Tipping Be Banned?Freakonomics Radio

They should have died out when the lightbulb was invented. Instead they’re a $10 billion industry. What does it mean that we still want tiny fires inside our homes? SOURCES:Tim CooperGökçe GünelSteve HorenziakMeik Wiking RESOURCES:The Great Lightbulb Conspiracy(IEEE Spectrum,The Obsolescence Issue(Limn,More and More and More,What Yankee Candle reviews can tell us about COVID(NPR,Spaceship in the Desert, The Birth of Planned Obsolescence(JSTOR Daily, Beeswax for the Ages(The Living Church,The Waste Makers, EXTRAS:Why Do People Still Hunt Whales?Freakonomics Radio How to Be HappyFreakonomics Radio

The former secretary of state isn’t a flamethrower, but he certainly has strong opinions. In this wide-ranging conversation with Stephen Dubner, he gives them all: on Israel, Gaza, China, Iran, Russia, Biden, Trump — and the rest of the world. SOURCES:Antony Blinken RESOURCES:Evaluating the impact of two decades of USAID interventions and projecting the effects of defunding on mortality up to 2030: a retrospective impact evaluation and forecasting analysis(The Lancet,What Bombs Can’t Do in Iran(New York Times,A New Palestinian Offer for Peace With Israel(Wall Street Journal,America’s Strategy of Renewal(Foreign Affairs,

Until recently, Delaware was almost universally agreed to be the best place for companies to incorporate. Now, with Elon Musk leading a corporate stampede out of the First State, we revisit an episode from 2023 that asked if Delaware’s “franchise” is wildly corrupt, wildly efficient … or both? SOURCES:John CassaraDoneene DamonTravis LasterDan NielsonHal WeitzmanChicago Booth Review, RESOURCES:A Silicon Valley Giant Calls for a Delaware ExodusNew York Times, Financial Secrecy IndexAnnual Report StatisticsWhat’s the Matter with Delaware? How the First State Has Favored the Rich, Powerful, and Criminal — and How It Costs Us All, Global Shell Games: Experiments in Transnational Relations, Crime, and Terrorism, The FATF Recommendations EXTRAS:Will the Democrats 'Make America Great Again'?Freakonomics Radio

For years, the playwright David Adjmi was considered “polarizing and difficult.” But creating Stereophonic seems to have healed him. Stephen Dubner gets the story — and sorts out what Adjmi has in common with Richard Wagner. SOURCES:David Adjmi RESOURCES:The West End is enjoying a theatre revival. Can Broadway keep up?(Financial Times,Lot Six: A Memoir, Stereophonic, EXTRAS:How Is Live Theater Still Alive?Freakonomics Radio How to Make the Coolest Show on BroadwayFreakonomics Radio

The Gulf States and China are spending billions to build stadiums and buy up teams — but what are they really buying? And can an entrepreneur from Cincinnati make his own billions by bringing baseball to Dubai? SOURCES:Simon ChadwickDerek FisherKash ShaikhRory Smith RESOURCES:China Keeps Building Stadiums in Africa. But at What Cost?(New York Times,Manchester Off-Shored: A Public Interest Report on the Manchester Life Partnership Between Manchester City Council + The Abu Dhabi United Group(Centripetal Cities,Manchester City's Cozy Ties to Abu Dhabi: Sponsorship Money – Paid for by the State(Spiegel International,China Renews Its ‘Belt and Road’ Push for Global Sway(New York Times, EXTRAS:What Is Sportswashing — and Does It Work? (Update)Freakonomics Radio

Before she decided to become a poker pro, Maria Konnikova didn’t know how many cards are in a deck. But she did have a Ph.D. in psychology, a brilliant coach, and a burning desire to know whether life is driven more by skill or chance. She found some answers in poker — and she’s willing to tell us everything she learned. SOURCES:Maria KonnikovaThe Biggest Bluff. RESOURCES:Gender Differences in Performance Predictions: Evidence from the Cognitive Reflection TestFrontiers in Psychology, The headwinds/tailwinds Asymmetry: An Availability Bias in Assessments of Barriers and BlessingsJournal of Personality and Social Psychology, The Two Settings of Kind and Wicked Learning EnvironmentsCurrent Directions in Psychological Science, The Limits of Self-Control: Self-Control, Illusory Control, and Risky Financial Decision MakingColumbia University, Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcementPsychological Monographs: General and Applied, EXTRAS:The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win, Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes, The Confidence Game, Theory of Games and Economic Behavior,This Year’s World Series Of Poker Is DifferentRisky Business with Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova

Cory Booker on the politics of fear, the politics of hope, and how to split the difference. Cory Booker 'When Are More Americans Going to Speak Up?The New Yorker Radio Hour Cory Booker’s Marathon Floor SpeechFacebook Knows Instagram Is Toxic for Teen Girls, Company Documents Show(Wall Street Journal,Tucked Into the Tax Bill, a Plan to Help Distressed America(New York Times,United: Thoughts on Finding Common Ground and Advancing the Common Good, But What Did Cory Booker Actually Accomplish in Newark?(Governing, Ten Myths About the U.S. Tax SystemFreakonomics Radio The United States of Cory BookerFreakonomics Radio

In the U.S., there will soon be more people over 65 than there are under 18 — and it’s not just lifespan that’s improving, it’s “healthspan” too. Unfortunately, the American approach to aging is stuck in the 20th century. In less than an hour, we try to unstick it. (Part three of a three-part series, “Cradle to Grave.”) SOURCES:James ChappelKaty FikeKristen FortneyCeline HaliouaKyla ScanlonAndrew Scott RESOURCES:In This Economy?: How Money & Markets Really Work, Golden Years: How Americans Invented and Reinvented Old Age, The Longevity Imperative: How to Build a Healthier and More Productive Society to Support Our Longer Lives, EXTRAS:Off LeashThe Freakonomics Radio Network Are You Ready for a Glorious Sunset?Freakonomics Radio

In this episode from 2013, we look at whether spite pays — and if it even exists. SOURCES:Benedikt HerrmannSteve LevittFreakonomics People I (Mostly) AdmireDave O'ConnorLisi OliverE.O. Wilson RESOURCES:You Don't Know Bo: The Legend of Bo Jackson, Amputation of the nose throughout history(ACTA Otorhinolaryngologica Italica,The Appearance of Homo Rivalis: Social Preferences and the Nature of Rent Seeking(Center for Decision Research and Experimental EXTRAS:What It’s Like to Be Middle-Aged (in the Middle Ages)Freakonomics Radio

The simplicity of life back then is appealing today, as long as you don’t mind Church hegemony, the occasional plague, trial by gossip — and the lack of ibuprofen. (Part two of a three-part series, “Cradle to Grave.”) SOURCES:Jordan CavalierMatt SchwarzPhillipp SchofieldNeslihan Şenocak RESOURCES:A People's Church: Medieval Italy and Christianity, 1050–1300, The Routledge Handbook of Medieval Rural Life, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, EXTRAS:Are You Having a Midlife Crisis?No Stupid Questions

For decades, the great fear was overpopulation. Now it’s the opposite. How did this happen — and what’s being done about it? (Part one of a three-part series, “Cradle to Grave.”) SOURCES:Matthias DoepkeAmy FroideDiana LairdCatherine Pakaluk RESOURCES:Fertility Rate, Total for the United States(Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis,Global fertility in 204 countries and territories, 1950–2021, with forecasts to 2100: a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021(The Lancet, Suddenly There Aren’t Enough Babies. The Whole World Is Alarmed(The Wall Street Journal,Taxing bachelors and proposing marriage lotteries – how superpowers addressed declining birthrates in the past(University of Maryland,Is Fertility a Leading Economic Indicator?(National Bureau of Economic Research,The King's Midwife: A History and Mystery of Madame du Coudray, The Population Bomb, An Economic Analysis of Fertility(National Bureau of Economic Research, EXTRAS:What Will Be the Consequences of the Latest Prenatal-Testing Technologies?Freakonomics Radio

A famous essay argues that “not a single person on the face of this earth” knows how to make a pencil. How true is that? In this 2016 episode, we looked at what pencil-making can teach us about global manufacturing — and the proper role of government in the economy. SOURCES:Caroline WeaverMatt RidleyTim HarfordJim WeissenbornThomas Thwaites RESOURCES:When ideas have sex(TED,How I built a toaster — from scratch(TED,Look on this toaster, ye mighty, and despair!(Financial Times,I, Pencil(Foundation for Economic Education, EXTRAS:Fault-Finder Is a Minimum-Wage JobFreakonomics Radio

Nicholas Cullinan, the new director of the British Museum, seems to think so. “I'm not afraid of the past,” he says — which means talking about looted objects, the basement storerooms, and the leaking roof. We take the guided tour. SOURCES:Nicholas Cullinan RESOURCES:Inside the British Museum: stolen treasures and a £1bn revamp(The Times,British Museum gems for sale on eBay - how a theft was exposed(BBC,British Museum chief Nicholas Cullinan: ‘I start with the idea that everything is possible,'(Financial Times,Who Benefits When Western Museums Return Looted Art?(The Atlantic,The Will of Sir Hans Sloane, The Portland Vase(The British Museum) EXTRAS:Stealing Art Is Easy. Giving It Back Is HardFreakonomics Radio

Austan Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, is less reserved than the average banker. He explains why vibes are overrated, why the Fed’s independence is non-negotiable, and why tariffs could bring the economy back to the Covid era. SOURCES:Austan Goolsbee RESOURCES:Internet Rising, Prices Falling: Measuring Inflation in a World of E-Commerce(American Economic Association Papers and Proceedings,Microeconomics, Does the Internet Make Markets More Competitive? Evidence from the Life Insurance Industry(Journal of Political Economy,Survey of Consumers(University of Michigan).Adobe Digital Price Index EXTRAS:Was Austan Goolsbee’s First Visit to the Oval Office Almost His Last?People I (Mostly) Admire Is $2 Trillion the Right Medicine for a Sick Economy?Freakonomics Radio Fed Up,Freakonomics Radio Why the Trump Tax Cuts Are Terrible/Awesome (Part 2)Freakonomics Radio Ben Bernanke Gives Himself a GradeFreakonomics Radio Should the U.S. Merge With Mexico?Freakonomics Radio