Freakonomics Radio

A hit like Hamilton can come from nowhere while a sure bet can lose $20 million in a flash. We speak with some of the biggest producers in the game — Sonia Friedman, Jeffrey Seller, Hal Luftig — and learn that there is only one guarantee: the theater owners always win. (Part two of a three-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Debby Buchholz, managing director of La Jolla Playhouse.
  • Sonia Friedman, Broadway producer.
  • Rocco Landesman, Broadwa...

It has become fiendishly expensive to produce, and has more competition than ever. And yet the believers still believe. Why? And does the world really want a new musical about ... Abraham Lincoln?! (Part one of a three-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Christopher Ashley, artistic director of La Jolla Playhouse.
  • Quentin Darrington, actor.
  • Joe DiPietro, playwright and lyricist.
  • Crystal Monee Hall, composer, singer, actor.
  • Rocco Landesman, B...

Why do so many promising solutions in education, medicine, and criminal justice fail to scale up into great policy? And can a new breed of “implementation scientists” crack the code?

• SOURCES:
  • Patti Chamberlain, senior research scientist at the Oregon Social Learning Center.
  • John List, professor of economics at the University of Chicago.
  • Lauren Supplee, former deputy chief operating officer at Child Trends.
  • Dana L. Suskind, prof...

There is no sludgier place in America than Washington, D.C. But there are signs of a change. We’ll hear about this progress — and ask where Elon Musk and DOGE fit in. (Part two of a two-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Benjamin Handel, professor of economics at UC Berkeley.
  • Neale Mahoney, professor of economics at Stanford University.
  • Jennifer Pahlka, founder of Code for America.
  • Richard Thaler, professor of economics at The University o...

Insurance forms that make no sense. Subscriptions that can’t be cancelled. A never-ending blizzard of automated notifications. Where does all this sludge come from — and how much is it costing us? (Part one of a two-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Benjamin Handel, professor of economics at UC Berkeley.
  • Neale Mahoney, professor of economics at Stanford University.
  • Richard Thaler, professor of economics at The University of Chicago.
...

The quirky little grocery chain with California roots and German ownership has a lot to teach all of us about choice architecture, efficiency, frugality, collaboration, and team spirit.

• SOURCES:
  • Kirk DesErmia, facilities manager in Seward, Alaska.
  • Mark Gardiner, journalist and author.
  • Sheena Iyengar, professor of business at Columbia Business School.
  • Michael Roberto, professor of management at Bryant University.

• R...

Nearly everything that politicians say about taxes is at least half a lie. They are also dishonest when it comes to the national debt. Stephen Dubner finds one of the few people in Washington who is willing to tell the truth — and it’s even worse than you think.

• SOURCES:
  • Jessica Riedl, senior fellow in budget, tax, and economic policy at the Manhattan Institute.

• RESOURCES:
  • "The House Wants to Pass Trump’s Ag...

Lina Khan, the youngest F.T.C. chair in history, reset U.S. antitrust policy by thwarting mega-mergers and other monopolistic behavior. This earned her enemies in some places, and big fans in others — including the Trump administration. Stephen Dubner speaks with Khan about her tactics, her track record, and her future.

• SOURCES:
  • Lina Khan, former commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission and professor of law at Columbia L...

It’s a powerful biological response that has preserved our species for millennia. But now it may be keeping us from pursuing strategies that would improve the environment, the economy, even our own health. So is it time to dial down our disgust reflex?  You can help fix things — as Stephen Dubner does in this 2021 episode — by chowing down on some delicious insects.

• SOURCES:
  • Paul Rozin, professor of psychology at the Univers...

To most people, the rat is vile and villainous. But not to everyone! We hear from a scientist who befriended rats and another who worked with them in the lab — and from the animator who made one the hero of a Pixar blockbuster. (Part three of a three-part series, “Sympathy for the Rat.”)

• SOURCES:
  • Bethany Brookshire, author of Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains
  • Jan Pinkava, creator and co-writer of "Ratatouille," and dir...

Even with a new rat czar, an arsenal of poisons, and a fleet of new garbage trucks, it won’t be easy — because, at root, the enemy is us. (Part two of a three-part series, “Sympathy for the Rat.”)

• SOURCES:
  • Kathy Corradi, director of rodent mitigation for New York City.
  • Robert Corrigan, urban rodentologist and pest consultant for New York City.
  • Ed Glaeser, professor of economics at Harvard University.
  • Robert Sullivan, author of ...

A brief meditation on loss, relativity, and the vagaries of show business.

• RESOURCES:
  • Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry, documentary (2021)
  • Genius & Anxiety: How Jews Changed the World, 1847-1947, by Norman Lebrecht (2019)
  • The War Room, documentary (1993)

• EXTRAS:
  • “Is San Francisco a Failed State? (And Other Questions You Shouldn’t Ask the Mayor)” by Freakonomics Radio (2025)
  • “Ari Emanuel Is Never Indiff...

New York City’s mayor calls them “public enemy number one.” History books say they caused the Black Death — although recent scientific evidence disputes that claim. So is the rat a scapegoat? And what does our rat hatred say about us? (Part one of a three-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Bethany Brookshire, author of Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains.
  • Kathy Corradi, director of rodent mitigation for New York City.
  • Ed Glaeser, pro...

Licensing began with medicine and law; now it extends to 20 percent of the U.S. workforce, including hair stylists and auctioneers. In a new book, the legal scholar Rebecca Allensworth calls licensing boards “a thicket of self-dealing and ineptitude” and says they keep bad workers in their jobs and good ones out — while failing to protect the public.

• SOURCES:
  • Rebecca Allensworth, professor of law at Vanderbilt University.

In 2023, the N.F.L. players’ union conducted a workplace survey that revealed clogged showers, rats in the locker room — and some insights for those of us who don’t play football. Today we’re updating that episode, with extra commentary from Omnipresent Football Guy (and former Philadelphia Eagle) Jason Kelce. 

• SOURCES:
  • Tom Garfinkel, vice chairman, C.E.O., and president of the Miami Dolphins.
  • Jim Ivler, certified contract ad...

They used to be the N.F.L.’s biggest stars, with paychecks to match. Now their salaries are near the bottom, and their careers are shorter than ever. We speak with an analytics guru, an agent, some former running backs (including LeSean McCoy), and the economist Roland Fryer (a former Pop Warner running back himself) to understand why.

• SOURCES:
  • Brian Burke, sports data scientist at ESPN
  • Roland Fryer, professor of economics at...

When the computer scientist Ben Zhao learned that artists were having their work stolen by A.I. models, he invented a tool to thwart the machines. He also knows how to foil an eavesdropping Alexa and how to guard your online footprint. The big news, he says, is that the A.I. bubble is bursting.

• SOURCES:
  • Erik Brynjolfsson, professor of economics at Stanford University
  • Ben Zhao, professor of computer science at the University o...

Stephen Dubner, live on stage, mixes it up with outbound mayor London Breed, and asks economists whether A.I. can be “human-centered” and if Tang is a gateway drug.

• SOURCES:
  • London Breed, former mayor of San Francisco.
  • Erik Brynjolfsson, professor of economics at Stanford University
  • Koleman Strumpf, professor of economics at Wake Forest University

• RESOURCES:
  • "SF crime rate at lowest point in more than 20 years...

Their trade organization just lost a huge lawsuit. Their infamous commission model is under attack. And there are way too many of them. If they go the way of travel agents, will we miss them when they’re gone?

• SOURCES:
  • Sonia Gilbukh, assistant professor of real estate at CUNY Baruch College.
  • Kevin Sears, 2025 president of the National Association of Realtors.
  • Chad Syverson, professor of economics at the University of Chicago.
  • L...