How to Have Good Ideas
Sarah Stein Greenberg runs Stanford’s d.school, which teaches design as a mode of problem solving. She and Steve talk about what makes her field different from other academic disciplines, how to...
View ArticleWhy Numbers are Music to Our Ears (Update)
Sarah Hart investigates the mathematical structures underlying musical compositions and literature. Using examples from Monteverdi to Lewis Carroll, Sarah explains to Steve how math affects how we hear...
View ArticleStanford’s President Knows He Can’t Make Everyone Happy
Jonathan Levin is an academic economist who now runs one of the most influential universities in the world. He tells Steve how he saved Comcast a billion dollars, why he turned down Steve’s unusual...
View ArticleHis Brilliant Videos Get Millions of Views. Why Don’t They Make Money?
Hank Green is an internet phenomenon and a master communicator, with a plan to reform higher education. He and Steve talk about the video blog that launched Hank’s career, the economics of the...
View ArticleJane Goodall Changed the Way We See Animals. She’s Not Done. (Replay)
The primatologist discusses the thrill of observing chimpanzees in the wild, the value of challenging orthodoxy, and why dying is her next great adventure. The post Jane Goodall Changed the Way We See...
View ArticleNeurobiologist, Philosopher, and Addict
Owen Flanagan’s newest book details his 20-year dependence on alcohol and pills — and outlines his research on what addiction can tell us about the nature of consciousness. The post Neurobiologist,...
View ArticleHunting for the Origins of Life
Chemist Jack Szostak wants to understand how the first life forms came into being on Earth. He and Steve discuss the danger of “mirror bacteria,” the origin of biology in poisonous chemicals, and the...
View ArticleReading Dostoevsky Behind Bars (Update)
Reginald Dwayne Betts spent more than eight years in prison. Today he’s a Yale Law graduate, a MacArthur Fellow, and a poet. His nonprofit works to build libraries in prisons so that more incarcerated...
View ArticleWe’re Not Getting Sicker — We’re Overdiagnosed
Suzanne O’Sullivan is a neurologist who sees many patients with psychosomatic disorders. Their symptoms may be psychological in origin, but their pain is real and physical — and the way we practice...
View ArticleCan Robots Get a Grip?
Ken Goldberg is at the forefront of robotics — which means he tries to teach machines to do things humans find trivial. The post Can Robots Get a Grip? appeared first on Freakonomics.
View ArticleYul Kwon: “Don’t Try to Change Yourself All at Once.” (UPDATE)
He has been a lawyer, an instructor at the F.B.I. Academy, the owner of a frozen-yogurt chain, and a winner of the TV show Survivor. Today, Kwon works at Google, but things haven’t always come easily...
View ArticleHelping People Die
Ellen Wiebe is a physician who helps seriously ill patients end their lives in Canada, where assisted suicide is legal. Is death a human right? The post Helping People Die appeared first on Freakonomics.
View ArticleA Solution to America’s Gun Problem
Jens Ludwig has an idea for how to fix America’s gun violence problem — and it starts by rejecting conventional wisdom from both sides of the political aisle. The post A Solution to America’s Gun...
View ArticleAbraham Verghese Thinks Medicine Can Do Better (Update)
Abraham Verghese is a physician and a best-selling author — in that order, he says. He explains the difference between curing and healing, and tells Steve why doctors should spend more time with...
View ArticleThe Deadliest Virus in Human History
John Green returns to the show to talk about tuberculosis — a disease that kills more than a million people a year. Steve has an idea for a new way to get treatment to those in need. The post The...
View ArticleWhy Did Rome Fall — and Are We Next?
Historian Tom Holland narrowly escaped a career writing vampire novels to become the co-host of the wildly popular podcast The Rest Is History. At Steve’s request, he compares President Trump and...
View ArticleDoes Death Have to Be a Death Sentence? (Update)
Palliative physician B.J. Miller asks: Is there a better way to think about dying? And can death be beautiful? The post Does Death Have to Be a Death Sentence? (Update) appeared first on Freakonomics.
View ArticleRobin Wall Kimmerer’s Manifesto for a Gift Economy
She’s a botanist, a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and the author of the bestselling Braiding Sweetgrass. In her new book she criticizes the market economy — but she and Steve find a...
View ArticleHow to Help Kids Succeed
Psychologist David Yeager thinks the conventional wisdom for how to motivate young people is all wrong. His model for helping kids cope with stress is required reading at Steve’s new high school. The...
View ArticleAnnie Duke Thinks You Should Quit (Update)
Former professional poker player Annie Duke wrote a book about Steve’s favorite subject: quitting. They talk about why quitting is so hard, how to do it sooner, and why we feel shame when we do...
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