November 18, 2022. New York City is at war... with rats. And today, Mayor Eric Adams is set to announce four new pieces of legislation aimed at combating this scurrying problem.
Two of these laws will target garbage, the rats' main source of food. If you put trash in places the rats can't get, their population will plummet, and New York will get a major vict ... Show More
Yesterday
Shut Out of the Majors, They Created Their Own
LINK TO OUR LIVE SHOW! (or visit historythisweekpodcast.com) Feb 13, 1920. For over thirty years, Black baseball players have been locked out of the major leagues. So on this day in Kansas City, Rube Foster, a former pitcher and now a team owner, is trying to make his own league ... Show More
31m 25s
Feb 2
The Great Comic Book Scare
February 4, 1955. In a New York courtroom, the Comics Czar takes the stand. He’s in charge of enforcing a new code, meant to keep comic books from corrupting America’s youth, and he’s here to prove that his work has cleaned up the industry. But that afternoon, a noted psychologis ... Show More
31m 13s
Jan 26
The Dogs Who Saved Nome, Alaska
On January 5, 2026, Jirdes Winther Baxter passed away at 101 years old — the last known survivor of the 1925 diphtheria epidemic in Nome, Alaska. A few years ago, we told the story of the Serum Run: the desperate relay of mushers and sled dogs who carried a life-saving antitoxin ... Show More
37m 21s
Feb 2025
623. Can New York City Win Its War on Rats?
<p>Even with a new rat czar, an arsenal of poisons, and a fleet of new garbage trucks, it won’t be easy — because, at root, the enemy is us. (Part two of <a href="https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/sympathy-for-the-rat/">a three-part series</a>, “Sympathy for the Rat.”)</p><p> ... Show More
50m 23s
Oct 2025
Andrew Cuomo on Beating Mamdani for New York Mayor, Donald Trump BEEF, Losing Charlie Kirk
<p>Governor Andrew Cuomo joins the boys to discuss his plan to BEAT Zohran Mamdani for NYC Mayor, his rocky relationship with Donald Trump, Charlie Kirk getting assassinated, why NYC is the BEST city on the planet + how he would fix the rat problem, why raising taxes & defund ... Show More
1h 23m
Apr 2025
NYC Mayor Adams on Bribery Charges, Corruption, & Which Borough Has The Baddest Shawtys
YERRR! NYC Mayor Eric Adams pulled up to FLAGRANT and it got real. Adams talked about his Turkish controversies, and broke down how he handles crime, critics, and chaos. He talks about what it actually means to lead NYC, why NYC is the best, what it takes to be a New Yorker and d ... Show More
1h 54m
Aug 2024
Bruce W. Dearstyne, "Progressive New York: Change and Reform in the Empire State, 1900-1920: A Reader" (SUNY Press, 2024)
In the first two decades of the twentieth century, New York State was a hotbed of change. Cities grew as immigrants arrived from Europe and African Americans trekked up from the South. Corporations grew in power and women fought for the right to vote.
In political speeches, muckr ... Show More
49m 45s
Oct 2025
Andrew Cuomo on Beating Mamdani for New York Mayor, Donald Trump BEEF, Losing Charlie Kirk
<p>Governor Andrew Cuomo joins the boys to discuss his plan to BEAT Zohran Mamdani for NYC Mayor, his rocky relationship with Donald Trump, Charlie Kirk getting assassinated, why NYC is the BEST city on the planet + how he would fix the rat problem, why raising taxes & defund ... Show More
1h 23m
Nov 5
LEMON DROP | Zohran Mamdani’s Historic Win in New York City
This morning, New York woke up changed. In a city that rarely rewards idealists, Zohran Kwame Mamdani, the 34-year-old son of Uganda and India, a proud democratic socialist, just made history as the new Mayor of New York City. His victory wasn’t bought by billionaires or party bo ... Show More
7m 32s