logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2020
39m 29s

“One Does Not Know Where an Insight Will...

Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
About this episode
The dean of Yale’s School of Management grew up in a small village in Guyana. During his unlikely journey, he has researched video-gaming habits, communicable disease, and why so many African-Americans haven’t had the kind of success he’s had. Steve Levitt talks to Charles about his parents’ encouragement, his love of Sports Illustrated, and how he talks to ... Show More
Up next
Jul 24
682. Should A.I. Move to Space?
At first it sounds ridiculous. But it might be inevitable. Guest host Steve Levitt talks to a team that hopes to push A.I. infrastructure off the planet. Part one of a two-part series.) SOURCES: Blaise Agüera y Arcas, vice president and fellow at Google, C.T.O. of technology and ... Show More
48m 18s
Jul 22
Why Cooking is Caregiving, with Chef Hillary Sterling | Better in Person
Hillary Sterling was a Brooklyn kid raised on cream cheese sandwiches and canned potatoes. So how did she become one of New York City's best chefs? The Ci Siamo executive chef explains on the second episode of Better in Person. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.ad ... Show More
42m 47s
Jul 17
Are You Really Allergic to Penicillin? (Update)
Like tens of millions of people, Stephen Dubner thought he had a penicillin allergy. Like the vast majority, he didn’t. This misdiagnosis costs billions of dollars and causes serious health problems, so why hasn’t it been fixed? We find out in this update of a 2025 episode. SOURC ... Show More
1h 5m
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2020
3. Kerwin Charles: “One Does Not Know Where an Insight Will Come From”
<p>The dean of Yale’s School of Management grew up in a small village in Guyana. During his unlikely journey, he has researched video-gaming habits, communicable disease, and why so many African-Americans haven’t had the kind of success he’s had. Steve Levitt talks to Charles abo ... Show More
39m 29s
May 2022
Steven Bartlett
Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO podcast tops the charts most weeks. But he rarely goes on other people’s podcasts. Making an exception for Tony he steps into the ring to chat all things anger. We hear about life growing up as the only black kid in a white area of Plymouth, racis ... Show More
56m 17s
Oct 2020
4. Ken Jennings: “Don’t Neglect the Thing That Makes You Weird”
<p>It was only in his late twenties that America’s favorite brainiac began to seriously embrace his love of trivia. Now he holds the “Greatest of All Time” title on Jeopardy! Steve Levitt digs into how he trained for the show, what it means to have a "geographic memory," and why ... Show More
42m 18s
Oct 2020
You Used to Smile
<p>The smart, opinionated, funny women who raised Saeed Jones—his mother and his grandmother—had a profound influence on his identity. But it was the things they couldn’t talk about that echoed the loudest with Saeed as he began to navigate adulthood, trying to figure out where h ... Show More
42m 1s
Jan 2021
13. Yul Kwon: “Don't Try to Change Yourself All at Once.”
<p>He has been a lawyer, an instructor at the F.B.I. Academy, the owner of a frozen-yogurt chain, and a winner of the TV show <em>Survivor</em>. Today, Kwon works at Google, where he helped build tools to track the spread of COVID-19. But things haven’t always come easily for him ... Show More
35m 13s
Jan 2021
Marcus Chambers: Olympian Hopeful and Motivational Speaker
“They thought because I was Black and fast that I enjoyed having low academic achievement”Marcus describes his initial successes, failures and what brought him back to success on the field, in academics and as a professional speaker. This interview is chalked full of great public ... Show More
35m 11s
Jul 2022
Black Sheep
We hear what it's like to grow up as the only person of colour in an English village from author and ultra marathon runner Sabrina Pace-Humphreys. 
33m 8s
Nov 2022
Notes from America: 'Blackness (Un)interrupted'
So many of our perceptions of race have to do with color. How does that change if you've lived in both Black and white skin? Our Executive Producer Veralyn Williams, explores this question in conversation with her sister, Lovis. Lovis has vitiligo, a skin disease that causes loss ... Show More
29m 45s
Feb 2025
How little experiments can lead to big success | Emmanuel Acho and David Epstein
Are your goals and resolutions actually holding you back from becoming your best self? Emmanuel Acho — a former NFL player, now an author and TV sports analyst — sits down with investigative reporter David Epstein to explore why goal-setting often backfires. They dive into how le ... Show More
53m 45s