Episode · Freakonomics Radio · 2026-05-27
Books mentioned on The Brilliant Mr. Feynman (Update)
What happens when an existentially depressed and recently widowed young physicist from Queens gets a fresh start in California? We follow Richard Feynman out west, to explore his long and extremely fruitful second act.
Stephen Dubner discussed Genius by James Gleick. John Preskill discussed The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Richard Phillips Feynman.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Genius
Genius by James Gleick is widely recognized as the definitive biography of the renowned physicist Richard Feynman, originally published in 1992.
Discussed“The word most commonly attached to Richard Feynman would seem to be genius. That is the title of the definitive Feynman biography, published in 1992 by James Gleick.”
Where to get it
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The Feynman Lectures on Physics
The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Richard Phillips Feynman, Robert B.
Discussed“Feynman officially taught an undergraduate class only for 2 years. And those were captured by some now famous books called The Feynman Lectures on Physics. They're three big red books.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (1) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
Passing The Math Book
“At some point, the guy said something like, 'You should try reading a math book,' and I can just imagine my dad sort of holding it all in, and then at that point, he just couldn't.”