
EXTRA: In Praise of Maintenance (Update)
16 September 2024 - 42 minsWe revisit an episode from 2016 that asks: Has our culture’s obsession with innovation led us to neglect the fact that things also need to be taken care of?
SOURCES:Martin Casado, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz.Ruth Schwartz Cowan, professor emerita of history and sociology of science at University of Pennsylvania.Edward Glaeser, professor of economics at Harvard University.Chris Lacinak, founder and president of AVPreserve.Andrew Russell, provost of SUNY Polytechnic Institute.Lawrence Summers, professor and president emeritus of Harvard University; former Secretary of the Treasury and former director of the National Economic Council.Lee Vinsel, professor of science, technology,...

A Question-Asker Becomes a Question-Answerer
For the 20th anniversary of "Freakonomics," Debbie Millman of "Design Matters" interviews Stephen Dubner about his upbringing, his writing career, and why it's important to “swing your swing.” Plus: a sneak peek at a new project.
1 hour 14 mins
17 October Finished

How Can We Break Our Addiction to Contempt? (Update)
Arthur Brooks, an economist and former head of the American Enterprise Institute, believes that there is only one remedy for our political polarization: love. In this 2021 episode, we ask if Brooks is a fool for thinking this — and if perhaps you are his kind of fool?
40 mins
15 October Finished

649. Should Ohio State (and Michigan, and Clemson) Join the N.F.L.?
Soccer leagues around the world use a promotion-and-relegation system to reward the best teams and punish the worst. We ask whether American sports fans would enjoy a similar system. (Part two of a two-part series.)
55 mins
10 October Finished

648. The Merger You Never Knew You Wanted
The N.F.L. is a powerful cartel with imperial desires. College football is about to undergo a financial reckoning. So maybe they should team up? (Part one of a two-part series.)
1 hour 6 mins
3 October Finished

Is the U.S. Really Less Corrupt Than China? (Update)
In this episode we first published in 2021, the political scientist Yuen Yuen Ang argues that different forms of government create different styles of corruption — and that the U.S. and China have more in common than we’d like to admit.
57 mins
26 September Finished

647. China Is Run by Engineers. America Is Run by Lawyers.
In his new book “Breakneck,” Dan Wang argues that the U.S. has a lot to learn from China. He also says that “no two peoples are more alike.” We have questions.
1 hour 1 min
19 September Finished