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 engines, and the quirks of human behavior. To get every show in our network without ads and a monthly bonus episode of Freakonomics Radio, sign up for SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts at http://apple.co/SiriusXM.
621. Is Professional Licensing a Racket?
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.
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SOURCES:Rebecca Allensworth, professor of law at Vanderbilt University.Â
RESOURCES:"The Licensing Racket: How We Decide Who Is Allowed to Work, and Why It Goes Wrong" by Rebecca Allensworth (2025)."Licensed to Pill," by Rebecca Allensworth (The New York...When Is a Superstar Just Another Employee? (Update)
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.Â
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SOURCES:Tom Garfinkel, vice chairman, C.E.O., and president of the Miami Dolphins.Jim Ivler, certified contract advisor for players in the National Football League.Jason Kelce, host of New Heights podcast and former center for the Philadelphia Eagles.Jalen Reeves-Maybin, linebacker for the Detroit Li...620. Why Don’t Running Backs Get Paid Anymore?
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.
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SOURCES:Brian Burke, sports data scientist at ESPNRoland Fryer, professor of economics at Harvard UniversityLeSean McCoy, former running back in the N.F.L. and co-host for Fox's daily studio show, "The Facility"Robert Smith, former running bac...619. How to Poison the A.I. Machine
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.
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SOURCES:Erik Brynjolfsson, professor of economics at Stanford UniversityBen Zhao, professor of computer science at the University of ChicagoÂ
RESOURCES:"The AI lab waging a guerrilla war over exploitative AI," by Melissa Heikkilä (MIT Technology Review, 2024)"Glaze: Protecting Artists fro...Is San Francisco a Failed State? (And Other Questions You Shouldn’t Ask the Mayor)
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.
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SOURCES:London Breed, former mayor of San Francisco.Erik Brynjolfsson, professor of economics at Stanford UniversityKoleman Strumpf, professor of economics at Wake Forest UniversityÂ
RESOURCES:"SF crime rate at lowest point in more than 20 years, mayor says," by George Kelly (The San Francisco Standard, 2025)"How the Trump Whale and Prediction Markets Beat the Pollsters in 2024," by Niall Ferguson and Manny Rincon-Cruz (Wall Street Journal, 2024)"Artificial Intell...618. Are Realtors Having an Existential Crisis?
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?
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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.Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.Â
RESOURCES:"Heterogeneous Real Estate Agents and the Housing Cycle," by Sonia Gilbukh and Paul Gold...617. Are You Really Allergic to Penicillin?
Like tens of millions of people, Stephen Dubner thought he had a penicillin allergy. Like the vast majority, he didn’t. This misdiagnosis costs billions of dollars and causes serious health problems, so why hasn’t it been fixed? And how about all the other things we think we’re allergic to?
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SOURCES:Kimberly Blumenthal, allergist-immunologist and researcher at Mass General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.Theresa MacPhail, associate professor of science and technology studies at Stevens Institute of Technology.Thomas Platts-Mills, professor of medicine at the University of Virginia.Elena Resnick, allergist and immunologist at Mount S...Highway Signs and Prison Labor
Incarcerated people grow crops, fight wildfires, and manufacture everything from prescription glasses to highway signs — often for pennies an hour. Zachary Crockett takes the next exit, in this special episode of The Economics of Everyday Things.
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SOURCES:Laura Appleman, professor of law at Willamette University.Christopher Barnes, inmate at the Franklin Correctional Center.Lee Blackman, general manager at Correction Enterprises.Gene Hawkins, senior principal engineer at Kittelson and professor emeritus of civil engineering at Texas A&M University.Renee Roach, state signing and delineation engineer for the North Carolina Department of Transportation.Brian Scott, ex-inmate, former wor...Can Academic Fraud Be Stopped? (Update)
Probably not — the incentives are too strong. But a few reformers are trying. We check in on their progress, in an update to an episode originally published last year. (Part 2 of 2)
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SOURCES:Max Bazerman, professor of business administration at Harvard Business School.Leif Nelson, professor of business administration at the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business.Brian Nosek, professor of psychology at the University of Virginia and executive director at the Center for Open Science.Ivan Oransky, distinguished journalist-in-residence at New York University, editor-in-chief of The Transmitter, and co-founder of Retraction Watch.Joseph Simmons, pro...Why Is There So Much Fraud in Academia? (Update)
Some of the biggest names in behavioral science stand accused of faking their results. Last year, an astonishing 10,000 research papers were retracted. In a series originally published in early 2024, we talk to whistleblowers, reformers, and a co-author who got caught up in the chaos. (Part 1 of 2)
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SOURCES:Max Bazerman, professor of business administration at Harvard Business School.Leif Nelson, professor of business administration at the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business.Brian Nosek, professor of psychology at the University of Virginia and executive director at the Center for Open Science.Joseph Simmons, professor of a...