Freakonomics Radio

Five years ago, we published an episode about the boom in home DNA testing kits, focusing on the high-flying firm 23andMe and its C.E.O. Anne Wojcicki. Their flight has been extremely bumpy since then. This update includes an additional interview with the Wall Street Journal reporter who has been investigating the firm’s collapse.

• SOURCES:
  • Rolfe Winkler, reporter at The Wall Street Journal.
  • Anne Wojcicki, co-founder and C.E.O...

Justin Trudeau, facing record-low approval numbers, is doubling down on his progressive agenda. But he is so upbeat (and Canada-polite) that it’s easy to miss just how radical his vision is. Can he make it work?

• SOURCE:
  • Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada.

• RESOURCES:
  • 2024 Canadian Federal Budget.
  • "Canada to Set First-Ever Cap on Temporary Residents," by Nadine Yousif (BBC News, 2023).
  • Common Ground, by Ju...

So you want to help people? That’s great — but beware the law of unintended consequences. Three stories from the modern workplace. 

• SOURCES:
  • Joshua Angrist, professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  • Zoe Cullen, professor of business administration at Harvard Business School.
  • Marina Gertsberg, senior lecturer in finance at the University of Melbourne.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Is Pay Transparency G...

The psychologist Daniel Kahneman — a Nobel laureate and the author of Thinking, Fast and Slow — recently died at age 90. Along with his collaborator Amos Tversky, he changed how we all think about decision-making. The journalist Michael Lewis told the Kahneman-Tversky story in a 2016 book called The Undoing Project. In this episode, Lewis explains why they had such a profound influence.

• SOURCE:
  • Michael Lewis, writer.

People who are good at their jobs routinely get promoted into bigger jobs they’re bad at. We explain why firms keep producing incompetent managers — and why that’s unlikely to change.

• SOURCES:
  • Nick Bloom, professor of economics at Stanford University.
  • Katie Johnson, freelance data and analytics coach.
  • Kelly Shue, professor of finance at the Yale University School of Management.
  • Steve Tadelis, professor of economics at the Unive...

Fareed Zakaria says yes. But it’s not just political revolution — it’s economic, technological, even emotional. He doesn’t offer easy solutions but he does offer some hope.

• SOURCES:
  • Fareed Zakaria, journalist and author.

• RESOURCES:
  • Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present, by Fareed Zakaria (2024).
  • "The Ultimate Election Year: All the Elections Around the World in 2024," by Koh Ewe (...

The political debates over immigration can generate a lot of fuzzy facts. We wanted to test Americans’ knowledge — so, to wrap up our special series on immigration, we called some Freakonomics Radio listeners and quizzed them.

• SOURCES:
  • Zeke Hernandez, professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

• RESOURCES:
  • The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers, by Zeke ...

As the U.S. tries to fix its messy immigration system, our neighbor to the north is scooping up more talented newcomers every year. Are the Canadians stealing America’s bacon? (Part three of a three-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Zeke Hernandez, professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
  • William Kerr, professor of business administration at Harvard Business School.
  • David Leonhardt, senior writer at the New York...

The U.S. immigration system is a massively complicated machine, with a lot of worn-out parts. How to fix it? Step one: Get hold of some actual facts and evidence. (We did this step for you.) (Part two of a three-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Zeke Hernandez, professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
  • David Leonhardt, senior writer at the New York Times.
  • Sindhu Mahadevan, creator of This Immigrant Life newslette...

She arrived in the U.S. as an 11-year-old refugee, then rose to become Secretary of State. Her views on immigration, nationalism, and borders, from this 2015 interview, are almost strangely appropriate to the present moment. 

• SOURCE:
  • Madeleine Albright, U.S. Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Madeleine Albright, First Woman to Serve a...

How did a nation of immigrants come to hate immigration? We start at the beginning, sort through the evidence, and explain why your grandfather was lying about Ellis Island. (Part one of a three-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Leah Boustan, professor of economics at Princeton University.
  • Zeke Hernandez, professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
  • Roger Nam, professor of Hebrew Bible at Emory University.

...

Economists have discovered an odd phenomenon: many people who use social media (even you, maybe?) wish it didn’t exist. But that doesn’t mean they can escape.

• SOURCES:
  • Leonardo Bursztyn, professor of economics at the University of Chicago.
  • Benjamin Handel, professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley.

• RESOURCES:
  • "When Product Markets Become Collective Traps: The Case of Social Media," by L...

In ancient Rome, it was bread and circuses. Today, it’s a World Cup, an Olympics, and a new Saudi-backed golf league that’s challenging the PGA Tour. Can a sporting event really repair a country’s reputation — or will it trigger the dreaded Streisand Effect? Also: why the major U.S. sports leagues are warming up to the idea of foreign investment.

• SOURCES:
  • Jodi Balsam, professor of clinical law at Brooklyn Law School.
  • Brandel ...

What surprises lurk in our sewage? How did racist city planners end up saving Black lives? Why does Arizona grow hay for cows in Saudi Arabia? Three strange stories about the most fundamental substance we all take for granted.

• SOURCES:
  • Brian Beach, professor of economics at Vanderbilt University.
  • Marc Johnson, professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the University of Missouri School of Medicine.
  • Amy Kirby, progra...

It used to feel like magic. Now it can feel like a set of cheap tricks. Is the problem with Google — or with us? And is Google Search finally facing a real rival, in the form of A.I.-powered “answer engines”? 

• SOURCES:
  • Marissa Mayer, co-founder of Sunshine; former C.E.O. of Yahoo! and vice president at Google.
  • Ryan McDevitt; professor of economics at Duke University.
  • Tim Hwang, media researcher and author; former Google employ...

A wide-open conversation with three women who guided Richard Feynman through some big adventures at the Esalen Institute. (Part of our Feynman series.)

• SOURCES: 
  • Barbara Berg, friend of Richard Feynman.
  • Cheryl Haley, friend of Richard Feynman.
  • Debby Harlow, friend of Richard Feynma
  • Sam Stern, content creator at the Esalen Institute.

• EXTRAS: 
  • Richard Feynman Series, by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
  • "The Future of Th...

In his final years, Richard Feynman's curiosity took him to some surprising places. We hear from his companions on the trips he took — and one he wasn’t able to. (Part three of a three-part series.)

• SOURCES: 
  • Alan Alda, actor and screenwriter.
  • Barbara Berg, friend of Richard Feynman.
  • Helen Czerski, physicist and oceanographer at University College London.
  • Michelle Feynman, photographer and daughter of Richard Feynman.
  • Cheryl Hal...

What happens when an existentially depressed and recently widowed young physicist from Queens gets a fresh start in California? We follow Richard Feynman out west, to explore his long and extremely fruitful second act. (Part two of a three-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Seamus Blackley, video game designer and creator of the Xbox.
  • Carl Feynman, computer scientist and son of Richard Feynman.
  • Michelle Feynman, photographer and daughter ...

They’re heading to the Super Bowl for the second time in five years. But back in 2018, they were coming off a long losing streak — and that’s the year we sat down with 49ers  players, coaches, and executives to hear their turnaround plans. It’s probably time to consider the turnaround a success. 

• SOURCES:
  • Jimmy Garoppolo, quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders; former quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers.
  • Al Guido, presiden...