American politics is trapped in a duopoly, with two all-powerful parties colluding to stifle competition. We revisit a 2018 episode to explain how the political industry works, and talk to a reformer (and former presidential candidate) who is pushing for change.
Nov 14
653. Does Horse Racing Have a Future?
<p>Thoroughbred auction prices keep setting records. But tracks are closing, gambling revenues are falling, and the sport is increasingly reliant on subsidies. Is that the kind of long shot anybody wants? (Part three of a series, “<a href="https://freakonomics.com/the-horse-is-us ... Show More
1h 1m
Jun 2020
Applying Porter’s Five Forces to Fix U.S. Politics
Katherine Gehl, a former CEO and the founder of the Institute for Political Innovation, and Michael Porter, a professor at Harvard Business School, apply his Five Forces framework to explain why U.S. politics are dysfunctional. They argue that the Republican and Democratic partie ... Show More
22m 52s
Feb 2024
124. Daron Acemoglu on Economics, Politics, and Power
<p>Economist Daron Acemoglu likes to tackle big questions. He tells Steve how colonialism still affects us today, who benefits from new technology, and why democracy wasn’t always a sure thing.</p><p> </p><ul><li><strong>SOURCE:</strong><ul><li><a href="https://economics.mit.edu/ ... Show More
44m 32s
Nov 2022
A Powerful Theory of Why the Far Right Is Thriving Across the Globe
<p>As we approach the 2022 midterms, the outlook for American democracy doesn’t appear promising. An increasingly Trumpist, anti-democratic Republican Party is poised to take over at least one chamber of Congress. And the Democratic Party, facing an inflationary economy and with ... Show More
1h 30m
Dec 2023
1. The Future of Democracy
This year's BBC Reith Lecturer is Ben Ansell, Professor of Comparative Democratic Institutions at Nuffield College, Oxford University. He will deliver four lectures called “Our Democratic Future,” asking how we can build a politics that works for all of us with systems which are ... Show More
58m 8s
Nov 2021
Andrew Yang On Grace, Tolerance & Human-Centered Government
Like many, I despair of our country’s division, which is rapidly expanding in lockstep with our inability to productively communicate alongside growing distrust in institutions and the media.Also like many, I want solutions. Much of this rests with us. But we also need leadership ... Show More
1h 21m
Aug 2023
A Conservative on How His Party Has Changed Since 2016
<p>The 2024 Republican presidential primary is officially underway, and Donald Trump is dominating the field. But this is a very different contest than it was in 2016. Back then, the Republican Party was the party of foreign policy interventionism, free trade and cutting entitlem ... Show More
56m 58s
Apr 2023
Best Of: The War Within the Republican Party
<p>On Monday, Fox News abruptly announced that the network and its star primetime host, Tucker Carlson, “have agreed to part ways” after more than a decade. The announcement came less than a week after Fox agreed to pay $787.5 million in a defamation lawsuit that prominently feat ... Show More
1h 23m