logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2021
55m 44s

481. Is the U.S. Really Less Corrupt Tha...

Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
About this episode
A new book by an unorthodox political scientist argues that the two rivals have more in common than we’d like to admit. It’s just that most American corruption is essentially legal. 
Up next
Yesterday
What Now? with Trevor Noah | Michael Che: The Unspoken Rules of Comedy
SNL writer and Weekend Update anchor Michael Che joins Trevor and Eugene in this episode preview. Watch What Now? with Trevor Noah on Youtube or tune-in anywhere you listen to podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collec ... Show More
10m 27s
Oct 30
693. What’s Our Job as Humans Anymore?
It may just be being human. Stephen Dubner interviews A.I. performer Tilly Norwood to find out if we are as replaceable as we fear. (Part two of a two-part series.) SOURCES:Sean Astin, actor, president of SAG-AFTRA.Kevin Kelly, co-founder of Wired.Ethan Mollick, associate profess ... Show More
57m 32s
Oct 23
692. What Will A.I. Do to (and for) Human Creativity?
Writers, designers, actors, coders, musicians, thinkers — they’re all worried about being replaced by machines. But what if the A.I.s are actually here to help? (Part one of a two-part series.) SOURCES:Sean Astin, actor, president of SAG-AFTRA.Kevin Kelly, co-founder of Wired.Eth ... Show More
59m 9s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2024
345. TRIP US: The Golden Age of Corruption
Is the United States entering a new age of corruption? Why are Democrats staying silent? What will be different about a second Trump term? This week, Anthony Scaramucci is joined by Alastair Campbell to answer all this and more in this episode of The Rest Is Politics US. Instag ... Show More
49m 37s
Jun 2022
How To Citizen, with Baratunde Thurston
<p>Most Americans can agree that society isn't perfect -- in fact, most people in other parts of the world can say the same about their own societies. But how can we attempt to address these issues? Is there genuinely a conspiracy between the world's wealthiest people to keep the ... Show More
1h 19m
Oct 2020
99: A Passage about Ideologic Bias
Dr. Gray and Jack Westin unfold a passage about ideological corruption and contemporary science. Join us in dissecting this CARS passage. 
26m 30s
Feb 2023
CLASSIC: The Gulen Movement
What do private schools and revolution have in common? The answer may surprise you. Join the guys as they bring on their intern Sam Teegardin and for a firsthand look at an strange and insidious conspiracy reaching from the Eastern US seaboard and journeying through locations acr ... Show More
1 h
Nov 2025
Wolfgang Wagner, "The Democratic Politics of Military Interventions" (Oxford UP, 2020)
According to a widely shared notion, foreign affairs are exempted from democratic politics, i.e. party-political divisions are overcome-and should be overcome-for the sake of a common national interest. This book shows that this is not the case. Examining votes in the US Congress ... Show More
37m 32s
Jan 2018
E Pluribus Unum?
<p>The tone of American politics can be...nasty. But is this nastiness really worse than in previous eras, and if so, what does that mean for our democracy? Historian David Moss takes the long view — arguing that American democracy is much more resilient than we realize. This wee ... Show More
35m 44s
Dec 2020
Why America's bitter politics are like a bad marriage, with Eli Finkel, PhD
These days, Republicans and Democrats don't just disagree with each other's political opinions -- many view members of the other party as immoral and even abhorrent. Eli Finkel, PhD, a social psychologist at Northwestern University in Chicago, led a group of social scientists who ... Show More
27m 37s
Jan 2024
Strange News: The Mouse Moves Public -- or Does He? An AirBnB Scam, a Tale of Two Secret Spacecraft
With a cavalcade of hot takes and further questions, Steamboat Willie debuts in the public domain. A long-run, unethical Air BnB grift nets profits and consequences. China and the US continue a strange bromance with the Shenlong and X-37B -- a space race, or a Space Olympics? The ... Show More
56m 57s
Aug 2017
How Do Con Artists Keep Fooling Us?
<p>America has a soft spot for scoundrels. From the (evil) genius who kept selling the Brooklyn Bridge to foreigners to the original snake oil salesman, we race through history's most legendary cons and discover why Denver was the Florence of the Con-Man Renaissance. Featuring Ma ... Show More
46m 12s