Episode · Freakonomics Radio · 2026-05-22
Books mentioned on The Curious Mr. Feynman (Update)
From the Manhattan Project to the Challenger investigation, the physicist Richard Feynman loved to shoot down what he called “lousy ideas.” Today, the world is awash in lousy ideas — so maybe it’s time to get some more Feynman in our lives?
Ralph Leighton discussed Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard P. Feynman. Stephen Dubner recommended Genius by James Gleick, and discussed Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track by Richard P. Feynman. Helen Czerski discussed The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!
Surely You're Joking, Mr.
Discussed“they would become the basis of two books that he talked and Ralph Leighton wrote down the first one published in 1985 was called surely you're joking Mr Fineman”
Where to get it
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Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track
Discussed“Richard Feynman's daughter Michelle, whom we met earlier, is in her 50s now and she still lives in Pasadena. She is a primary keeper of her father's legacy and once edited a book of his letters.”
Where to get it
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The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye by J.
Discussed“Imagine if you were a novelist and, you know, you're writing this novel privately and it's published and then, like, uh, Mark Chapman holding The Catcher in the Rye, somebody uses your novel to do something that's really horrible. That's the great problem of humanity, isn't it?”
Where to get it
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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.
Recommended“And special thanks to James Gleick for writing Genius, his biography of Richard Feynman. It has been very helpful to us.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (1) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“The first one, published in 1985, was called 'Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!','the second was published in 1988, the same year Feynman died; it was called 'What Do You Care What Other People Think?'. The books were bestsellers.”