The Freakonomics Radio Book Club
44 FOLLOWERS
From the podcast that explores the hidden side of everything, hear authors like you've never heard them before. Stephen Dubner and a stable of Freakonomics friends talk with the writers of mind-bending books, and we hear the best excerpts as well. You'll learn about skill versus chance, the American discomfort with death, the secret life of dogs, and much more.
The Freakonomics Radio Book Club
1w ago
Nobel laureate, bestselling author, and groundbreaking psychologist Daniel Kahneman died in March. In 2021 he talked with Steve Levitt — his friend and former business partner — about his book Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment (cowritten with Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein) and much more.
SOURCES:
Daniel Kahneman, professor emeritus of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University.
RESOURCES:
Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment, by Olivier Sibony, Daniel Kahneman, and Cass R. Sunstein (2021).
Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman (2011).
EXTRAS:
"What ..read more
The Freakonomics Radio Book Club
2w ago
Fareed Zakaria says yes. But it’s not just political revolution — it’s economic, technological, even emotional. He doesn’t offer easy solutions but he does offer some hope.
SOURCES:
Fareed Zakaria, journalist and author.
RESOURCES:
Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present, by Fareed Zakaria (2024).
"The Ultimate Election Year: All the Elections Around the World in 2024," by Koh Ewe (TIME, 2023).
"The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism," by Vanessa Williamson, Theda Skocpol, and John Coggin (Perspectives on Politics, 2011).
The P ..read more
The Freakonomics Radio Book Club
4M ago
Lewis got incredible access to Sam Bankman-Fried, the billionaire behind the spectacular FTX fraud. His book is a bestseller, but some critics say he went too easy on S.B.F. Lewis tells us why the critics are wrong — and what it’s like to watch your book get turned into a courtroom drama.
SOURCES:
Michael Lewis, author.
RESOURCES:
Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon, by Michael Lewis (2023).
"Column: In Michael Lewis, Sam Bankman-Fried Found His Last and Most Willing Victim," by Michael Hiltzik (Los Angeles Times, 2023).
"Even Michael Lewis Can’t Make a ..read more
The Freakonomics Radio Book Club
7M ago
In her new book The Two-Parent Privilege, the economist Melissa Kearney says it’s time for liberals to face the facts: U.S. marriage rates have plummeted but the babies keep coming, and the U.S. now leads the world in single-parent households. Plus: our friends at Atlas Obscura explore just how many parents a kid can have ..read more
The Freakonomics Radio Book Club
7M ago
U.S. marriage rates have plummeted. But the babies keep coming, and the U.S. now leads the world in single-parent households. In her new book The Two-Parent Privilege, the economist Melissa Kearney says this is a huge problem, and that it’s time for liberals to face the facts. Plus: our friends at Atlas Obscura explore just how many parents a kid can have.  ..read more
The Freakonomics Radio Book Club
10M ago
And with her book "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat," she succeeded. Now she's not so sure how to feel about all the attention.  ..read more
The Freakonomics Radio Book Club
10M ago
It used to be at the center of our conversations about politics and society. Scott Hershovitz is the author of Nasty, Brutish, and Short, in which he argues that philosophy still has a lot to say about work, justice, and parenthood ..read more
The Freakonomics Radio Book Club
10M ago
In a new book called The Voltage Effect, the economist John List — who has already revolutionized how his profession does research — is trying to start a scaling revolution. In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, List teaches us how to avoid false positives, how to know whether a given success is due to the chef or the ingredients, and how to practice “optimal quitting.”   ..read more
The Freakonomics Radio Book Club
10M ago
The N.B.A. superstar Chris Bosh was still competing at the highest level when a blood clot abruptly ended his career. In his new book, Letters to a Young Athlete, Bosh covers the highlights and the struggles. In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, he talks with guest host Angela Duckworth ..read more
The Freakonomics Radio Book Club
10M ago
To her neighbors in the English countryside, the woman known as Mrs. Burton was a cake-baking mother of three. To the Soviet Union, she was an invaluable Cold War operative. Ben Macintyre, author of Agent Sonya: Moscow’s Most Daring Wartime Spy, explains how the woman who fed America’s atomic secrets to the Russians also struggled to balance her family and her cause. Hosted by Sarah Lyall.  ..read more