Monica Bertagnolli went from a childhood on a cattle ranch to a career as a surgeon to a top post... more

Nobel laureate, bestselling author, and groundbreaking psychologist Daniel Kahneman died in March. In 2021 he talked with Steve Levitt —... more

Google researcher Blaise Agüera y Arcas spends his work days developing artificial intelligence models and his free time conducting surveys... more

After Haiti’s devastating earthquake, Rajiv Shah headed the largest humanitarian effort in U.S. history. As chief economist of the Gates... more

"The Power of Habit" author Charles Duhigg wrote his new book in an attempt to learn how to communicate better.... more

Cat Bohannon’s new book puts female anatomy at the center of human evolution. She tells Steve why it takes us... more

Economist Daron Acemoglu likes to tackle big questions. He tells Steve how colonialism still affects us today, who benefits from... more

Journalist Walt Hickey uses data to understand how culture works. He and Steve talk about why China hasn’t produced any... more

Arnold Schwarzenegger has been a bodybuilder, an actor, a governor, and, now, an author. He tells Steve how he’s managed... more

Physicist Helen Czerski loves to explain how the world works. She talks with Steve about studying bubbles, setting off explosives,... more

The filmmaker doesn’t want to be known only for his movies. He tells Steve why he considers himself a writer... more

Economist Michael D. Smith says universities are scrambling to protect a status quo that deserves to die. He tells Steve... more

Computer scientist Fei-Fei Li had a wild idea: download one billion images from the internet and teach a computer to... more

Data scientist Nate Silver gained attention for his election predictions. But even the best prognosticators get it wrong sometimes. He... more

Abraham Verghese is a physician and a best-selling author — in that order, he says. He explains the difference between... more

Claudia Goldin is the newest winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics. Steve spoke to her in 2021 about how... more

For 37 years, Rick Doblin has been pushing the F.D.A. to approve treating post-traumatic stress disorder with MDMA, better known... more

Psychologist Thomas Curran argues that perfectionism isn’t about high standards — it’s about never being enough. He explains how the... more

Avi Loeb is a Harvard astronomer who argues that we’ve already encountered extraterrestrial technology. His approach to the search for... more

Reginald Dwayne Betts spent more than eight years in prison. Today he's a Yale Law graduate, a MacArthur Fellow, and... more

Obi Felten used to launch projects for X, Google’s innovation lab, but she’s now tackling mental health. She explains why... more

Artist Wendy MacNaughton knows the difficulty of sitting in silence and the power of having fun. She explains to Steve... more

Sal Khan returns to discuss his innovative online high school’s first year — and Steve grills a member of the... more

The creator of "The Wire", "The Deuce", and other shows is leading the Writers Guild on the picket lines. He... more

In the newest show from the Freakonomics Radio Network, host Zachary Crockett explores the hidden side of the things around... more

Robert Solow is 98 years old and a giant among economists. He tells Steve about cracking German codes in World... more

Talithia Williams thinks you should rigorously track your body's data. She and Steve Levitt trade birth stories and bemoan the... more

Kevin Kelly believes A.I. will create more problems for humanity — and help us solve them. He talks to Steve... more

Clementine Jacoby went from performing in a circus to founding a nonprofit that works to shrink the prison population.

Steve is on a mission to reform math education, and Sarah Hart is ready to join the cause. In her... more

From recording some of the first rap hits to revitalizing Johnny Cash's career, the legendary producer has had an extraordinary... more

Physician Peter Attia returns to the show to talk about the science of longevity — which focuses not only on... more

Steve and producer Morgan Levey look back at the first 100 episodes of the podcast, including surprising answers, spectacular explanations,... more

Tom Dart is transforming Cook County’s jail, reforming evictions, and, with Steve Levitt, trying a new approach to electronic monitoring.

Since his last visit to "People I (Mostly) Admire," the formerly top-ranked golfer has become the sport's most controversial figure.... more

Neil Shubin hunts for fossils in the Arctic and experiments with D.N.A. in the lab, hoping to find out how... more

Ecologist Suzanne Simard studies the relationships between trees in a forest: they talk to each other, punish each other, and... more

The mathematician and author sees mathematical patterns everywhere — from DNA to fireflies to social connections.

When "Freakonomics" co-authors Steve Levitt and Stephen Dubner first met, one of them hated the other. Two decades later, Levitt... more

From baseball card conventions to Walmart, John List has always used field experiments to say revolutionary things about economics. He... more

Former professional poker player Annie Duke has a new book on Steve’s favorite subject: quitting. They talk about why quitting... more

Author and YouTuber John Green thought his breakout bestseller wouldn’t be a commercial success, wrote 40,000 words for one sentence,... more

The ethologist and conservationist discusses the thrill of observing chimpanzees in the wild, the value of challenging orthodoxy, and why... more

The philosopher known for his rigorous ethics explains why Steve is leading a morally inconsistent life.

Stanford professor Carolyn Bertozzi’s imaginative ideas for treating disease have led to ten start-ups. She talks with Steve about the... more

Heeding the warnings of public health officer Charity Dean about Covid-19 could have saved lives. Charity explains why she loves... more

The documentary filmmaker, known for "The Civil War," "Jazz," and "Baseball," turns his attention to the Holocaust, and asks what... more

Harvard economist Raj Chetty uses tax data to study inequality, kid success, and social mobility. He explains why you should... more

Philosopher Will MacAskill thinks about how to do as much good as possible. But that's really hard, especially when you're... more

Victoria Groce is one of the best trivia contestants on earth. She explains the structure of a good question, why... more

The author of "Sapiens" has a knack for finding the profound in the obvious. He tells Steve why money is... more

When she's not rescuing chickens from coyotes, Susan Athey uses economics to address real-world challenges — from online ad auctions... more

Khan Academy founder Sal Khan returns to share his vision for a new way to learn — and the conversation... more

Astronomer Jill Tarter spent her career searching for extraterrestrial intelligence. She explains what civilizations from other planets could teach us... more

Game theorist Barry Nalebuff explains how he used basic economics to build Honest Tea into a multimillion-dollar business, and shares... more

David Keith has spent his career studying ways to reflect sunlight away from the earth. It could reduce the risks... more

Billionaire John Arnold is figuring out how to do as much good as he can with his wealth. It takes... more

Many of us hate to think about future crises. Game designer Jane McGonigal wants to make it fun.

Jane McGonigal designed a game to help herself recover from a traumatic brain injury — and she thinks playing games... more

Seth Stephens-Davidowitz combs through mountains of information to find advice for everyday life.

Soil scientist Asmeret Asefaw Berhe could soon hold one of the most important jobs in science. She explains why the... more

How psychologist Dan Gilbert went from high school dropout to Harvard professor, found the secret of joy, and inspired Steve... more

Linguist and social commentator John McWhorter explains how good intentions may be hurting Black America — and where the word... more

Beatrice Fihn wants to rid the world of nuclear weapons. As Russian aggression raises the prospect of global conflict, can... more

Nobel Prize winner Joshua Angrist explains how the draft lottery, the Talmud, and West Point let economists ask — and... more

Palliative physician B.J. Miller asks: Is there a better way to think about dying? And can death be beautiful?

Naturalist Sy Montgomery explains how she learned to be social from a pig, discovered octopuses have souls, and came to... more

Gene-editing pioneer Jennifer Doudna worries that humanity might not be ready for the technology she helped develop.

Columbia astrophysicist David Helfand is an academic who does things his own way — from turning down job security to... more

Stanford professor Carolyn Bertozzi’s imaginative ideas for treating disease have led to ten start-ups. She talks with Steve about the... more

Climbing the corporate ladder to become head of Nike’s Jordan brand, he kept his teenage murder conviction a secret from... more

Steve loved Michael Lewis’s latest, The Premonition, but has one critique: Why aren’t there even more villains? Also, why the... more

A leading expert on the Reformation era, Brad, a University of Notre Dame professor, tells Steve about how the “blood... more

The former chairman of the Obama administration’s Council of Economic Advisors tells Steve how improv comedy was a better training... more

By mid-century, 10 million people a year are projected to die from untreatable infections. Can Cassandra, an ethnobotanist at Emory... more

The Columbia neuroscientist and psychology professor Carl Hart believes that recreational drug use, even heroin, methamphetamines, and cocaine, is an... more

Amaryllis Fox is a former C.I.A. operative and host of the Netflix show The Business of Drugs. She explains why... more

Steve usually asks his guests for advice, whether they’re magicians or Nobel laureates. After nearly 60 episodes, is any of... more

The Nobel laureate and pioneering behavioral economist spars with Steve over what makes a nudge a nudge, and admits that... more

The legendary venture capitalist believes the same intuition that led him to bet early on Google can help us reach... more

Harvard economist Claudia Goldin and Steve talk about how inflexible jobs and family responsibilities make it harder for women to... more

He’s the award-winning author of hugely popular books like Guns, Germs, and Steel; Collapse; and Upheaval. But Jared actually started... more

He’s tried to shake up the status quo — as a Democratic presidential candidate, a New York City mayoral candidate,... more

Everyone agrees that massive deforestation is an environmental disaster. But most of the standard solutions — scolding the Brazilians, invoking... more

He’s an M.I.T. cosmologist, physicist, and machine-learning expert, and once upon a time, almost an economist. Max and Steve continue... more

How likely is it that this conversation is happening in more than one universe? Should we worry more about Covid... more

He’s a pioneer of using randomized control experiments in economics — studying the long-term benefits of a $1 health intervention... more

Playing notes on her piano, she demonstrates for Steve why whole numbers sound pleasing, why octaves are mathematically imperfect, and... more

His childhood dream of playing in the N.B.A. led him to a career as a referee. Marc is one of... more

It was only in his late twenties that America’s favorite brainiac began to seriously embrace his love of trivia. Jeopardy!’s... more

This new Jeopardy! host is best known for playing neurobiologist Amy Farrah Fowler on The Big Bang Theory, but she... more

The prisoner’s dilemma is a classic game-theory problem. Robert, a political scientist at the University of Michigan, has spent his... more

Steve shows a different side of himself in very personal interviews with his two oldest daughters. Amanda talks about growing... more

When we try to improve things, our first thought is often: What can we add to make this better? But... more

An expert on urban economics and co-author of the new book Survival of the City, Ed says cities have faced... more

Former U.S. Secretary of Education, 3x3 basketball champion, and leader of an anti-gun violence organization are all on Arne’s resume.... more

A special episode: Steve reports on a passion of his. Most high-school math classes are still preparing students for the... more

He’s a Harvard physician and economist who just started a third job: host of the new podcast Freakonomics, M.D. He’s... more

He argues that personal finance is so simple all you need to know can fit on an index card. How... more

She’s the C.E.O. of Zoox, an autonomous vehicle company. Steve asks Aicha about the big promises the A.V. industry hasn’t... more