What Do Medieval Nuns and Bo Jackson Hav...

They say they make companies more efficient through savvy management. Critics say they bend the rules to enrich themselves at the expense of consumers and employees. Can they both be right? (Probably not.) SOURCES:Brendan Ballou, C.E.O. of the Public Integrity Project.Dan Glickbe ... Show More

David Rubenstein, a product of the old bipartisan D.C., made his fortune in private equity. He’s been spending it on “patriotic philanthropy” and institutions like the Kennedy Center, where Trump fired him as chairman. Now he wonders if the center can hold. SOURCES:David Rubenste ... Show More

Podcasting started as a niche-nerd pursuit. Now it’s a $9 billion industry. Is that a lot? The strange economics of this thing we do. SOURCES:Jim Bankoff, chairman and C.E.O. of Vox Media.Ben Davis, head of digital at WME.Will Page, former chief economist at Spotify and author of ... Show More

<p>Steve Levitt has spent decades as an academic economist, “studying strange phenomena and human behavior in weird circumstances.” Now he’s turning his curiosity to something new: interviewing some of the most interesting, unorthodox people around — from actresses to athletes, a ... Show More

The Skeptic Editor Michael Marshall talks to Matthew Sweet about how we judge actions and truth. They're joined by New Generation Thinkers Elsa Richardson, who is a historian of the emotions at the University of Strathclyde working on a popular history of the gut-brain connection ... Show More

Freakonomics - by Stephen J Dubner & Steven Levitt'The hidden side of everything' Economics ultimately boils down to the study of incentives. Incentives are all around us, whether natural or manufactured (like by a parent, teacher, boss, politician or economist). In this episode, ... Show More

Once upon a time, Bapu Jena was a graduate student at the University of Chicago. His most interesting teacher? The economist Steve Levitt. This week on Freakonomics, M.D., a replay of a conversation between Steve and Bapu from Steve’s podcast, People I (Mostly) Admire, where they ... Show More

<p>Why do short people dominate soccer? Is owning a library more important than actually reading the books? And is being handsome important to being taken seriously as a scientist? Will and Mango delve into some super weird ways people wield advantage.</p><p> </p> Learn more abou ... Show More

Are we witnessing the slow death of Facebook? Does Adam Neumann (WeWork) deserve a second chance? Is the War for Talent real? Plus, thoughts on everything from Serena, to Kim Kardashian, to House of the Dragon, and more. This is an episode of After Hours, a weekly chat show about ... Show More

<p>What do IKEA executives and eight-year-olds have in common, and why do we care so much about Kate Middleton? Trevor dives in with Christiana Mbakwe Medina and Oscar-winning writer & comedian Travon Free. They all swear they’re not conspiracy theorists, but they wonder: Is MI5 ... Show More