Freakonomics Radio

We are constantly wowed by new technologies and policies meant to make childbirth better. But beware the unintended consequences.

High-stakes testing has produced some rotten apples. But they can be caught.

Did we needlessly scare ourselves into ditching a good thing? And, with millions of cars driving around with no passengers, should we be rooting for a renaissance?

The world is a more peaceful place today that at any time in history -- by a long, long shot.

You know the saying: a winner never quits and a quitter never wins. To which Freakonomics Radio says … Are you sure?

Human beings love to predict the future, but we're quite terrible at it. So how about punishing all those bad predictions?

There are more than twice as many suicides as murders in the U.S., but suicide attracts far less scrutiny. Freakonomics Radio digs through the numbers and finds all kinds of surprises.

Think you know how much parents matter? Think again. Economists crunch the numbers to learn the ROI on child-rearing.

We worship the tradition of handing off a family business to the next generation. But is that really such a good idea?

In restaurants and in life, bad things happen. But what happens next is just as important.

"Conspicuous conservation" is about showing off your environmental bona fides. In other words, if you lean green, there's extra value in being seen leaning green.

Freakonomics Radio hits the road, and plays some Quiz Bowl

What did Levitt and Dubner learn as kids from their dads?

Who is likelier to get to the fugitive first? When a fugitive is on the run, it’s not only the police he has to worry about. A bounty hunter could be coming after him, too.

What’s it like to wake up one day and realize Dad is a multi-billionaire? That's what happened to Warren Buffett’s son Peter -- who then started to think about whether or not to join the family business.

Does Las Vegas increase your risk of suicide? A researcher embeds himself in the city where Americans are most likely to kill themselves.

In our second round of FREAK-quently Asked Questions, Steve Levitt answers some queries from listeners and readers.

It won’t work for everyone, but there’s a cheap, quick, and simple way to lift some students’ grades.

We talk to a U.S. Geological Survey physicist about the science -- and folly -- of predicting earthquakes. There are lots of known knowns; and, fortunately, not too many unknown unknowns. But it's the known unknowns -- the timing of the next Big One -- that are the most dangerous.

Fire deaths in the U.S. have fallen 90 percent over the past 100 years, a great and greatly underappreciated gain. How did it happen -- and could we ever get to zero?