''Freakonomics Radio'' is an American public radio program and podcast network which discusses

socioeconomic Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

issues for a general audience. While the network, as of 2023, includes five programs, the primary podcast is also named Freakonomics and is a

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

of the 2005 book ''

Freakonomics ''Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything'' is the debut non-fiction book by University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt and ''New York Times'' journalist Stephen J. Dubner. Published on April 12, 2005, by Wil ...

''. Journalist Stephen Dubner hosts the show, with economist

Steven Levitt Steven David Levitt (born May 29, 1967) is an American economist and co-author of the best-selling book ''Freakonomics'' and its sequels (along with Stephen J. Dubner). Levitt was the winner of the 2003 John Bates Clark Medal for his work in th ...

as a regular guest, both of whom co-wrote the book of the same name. The show is primarily distributed as a

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

, and is among the most popular on iTunes.

History

''Freakonomics Radio'' was created in September 2010. Starting in July 2018, production moved from

WNYC WNYC is an audio service brand, under the control of New York Public Radio, a non-profit organization. Radio and other audio programming is primarily provided by a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations: WNYC (AM) and WNYC- ...

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; ''Freakonomics Radio'' is released at 11 p.m. on Wednesday each week on podcast aggregators such as

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Google Podcasts Google Podcasts was a podcast application developed by Google and released on June 18, 2018, for Android devices, and released on iOS devices on March 24, 2020. On September 28, 2023, Google announced that it would shut down the service in the ...

, as well as on the Freakonomics website. From November 16, 2016, until November 12, 2017, Freakonomics Radio produced episodes of “live journalism wrapped in a game show” called ''Tell Me Something I Don’t Know''. In November 2022, the Freakonomics podcast looked at whether

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

searches were getting worse. The episode featured former Google executive

Marissa Mayer Marissa Ann Mayer (; born May 30, 1975) is an American business executive and investor who served as President (corporate title), president and chief executive officer of Yahoo! from 2012 to 2017, when it was sold to Verizon. She was a long-tim ...

. In February 2023, Freakonomics Radio Network announced a deal with

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

to bring its podcasts to the video platform.

Podcasts

As of 2023, the Freakonomics Radio Network produces the following podcasts: *''Freakonomics Radio'', with Dubner. *''People I (Mostly) Admire'', with Levitt. *''The Economics of Everyday Things'', with journalist Zachary Crockett. Former programs include: *''No Stupid Questions'', with Dubner and

Angela Duckworth Angela Lee Duckworth (born 1970) is an American academic, psychologist, and popular science author. She is the Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, where she studies grit and self-control. She is t ...

. Dubner was replaced by Mike Maughan in later episodes. *''Freakonomics, M.D.'' with Dr. Bapu Jena. * ''Tell Me Something I Don't Know'' * ''Sudhir Breaks the Internet'', with sociologist Sudhir Venkatesh. *''Footy for Two'', with Dubner and his son Solomon. *''Question of the Day'', with Dubner and James Altucher.

References

External links

* {{Podcast platform links 2009 podcast debuts Audio podcasts Business and finance podcasts Radio programs about economics NPR programs WNYC Studios programs