Episode · Freakonomics Radio · 2025-02-14
Books mentioned on 622. Why Does Everyone Hate Rats?
New York City’s mayor calls them “public enemy number one.” History books say they caused the Black Death — although recent scientific evidence disputes that claim.
Stephen Dubner discussed Pests by Bethany Brookshire, Triumph of the City by Edward L. Glaeser, and Data for Science and Technology; Proceedings of the Seventh International CODATA Conference; Kyoto, Japan, 8-11 October 1980 by PS Glaeser (ed).
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Pests
Pests by Bethany Brookshire is a fascinating examination of how human societies culturally construct and categorize certain animals as unwelcome villains while embracing others.
Discussed“she recently published a book called pests how humans create animal villains so you can see where her Allegiance lies”
Where to get it
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Triumph of the City
Triumph of the City by Edward L.
Discussed“Glazer is the author of a book called Triumph of the city how our greatest invention makes us richer smarter Greener healthier and happier”
Where to get it
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Data for Science and Technology; Proceedings of the Seventh International CODATA Conference; Kyoto, Japan, 8-11 October 1980
Discussed“Glaeser is the author of a book called Triumph of the city, how our greatest invention makes us richer, smarter, greener, healthier, and happier.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (1) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
Plugged Pests
“I'm the author of The 2022 book pests how humans create animal villains talk about just the title itself”