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Stephen Dubner’s book recommendations in 2025

49 books · 37 episodes · Stephen Dubner’s most recommended books, all years →

Every episode from 2025, newest first

657. Whose “Messiah” Is It Anyway?

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-12-19

Handel in London by Jane Glover · discussed · at 3:43
Tainted Glory in Handel's Messiah by Michael Marissen · discussed · at 21:00

656. How Handel Got His Mojo Back

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-12-12

Every Valley by Charles King · discussed · at 9:32

655. “The Greatest Piece of Participatory Art Ever Created”

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-12-05

Every Valley by Charles King · discussed · at 2:30

Dying Is Easy. Retail Is Hard. (Update)

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-11-28

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney · discussed · at 39:07

What Happens When You Turn 20

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-11-12

Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt · discussed · at 4:02
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman · recommended · at 25:12

Twenty Years of Freakonomics (with Stephen Dubner)

EconTalk · 2025-10-20

Grit by Angela Duckworth · discussed · at 1:10:30

A Question-Asker Becomes a Question-Answerer

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-10-17

Grit by Angela Duckworth · discussed · at 57:01

648. The Merger You Never Knew You Wanted

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-10-03

Turf Wars by DeMaurice Smith · discussed · at 40:32

647. China Is Run by Engineers. America Is Run by Lawyers.

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-09-19

Breakneck by Dan Wang · discussed · at 21:10

Is the World Ready for a Guaranteed Basic Income? (Update)

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-09-17

The Second Machine Age by Erik Brynjolfsson · discussed · at 1:54
The Rise and Fall of American Growth by Robert J. Gordon · discussed · at 22:20

646. An Air Traffic Controller Walks Into a Radio Studio ...

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-09-12

Breakneck by Dan Wang · recommended · at 59:18

645. Is the Air Traffic Control System Broken?

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-09-05

Managing the Skies by Clinton V. Oster · discussed · at 53:10

644. Has America Lost Its Appetite for the Common Good?

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-08-29

Why Liberalism Failed by Patrick J. Deneen · discussed · at 1:20
Regime Change by Patrick J. Deneen · discussed · at 4:11

Extra: A Modern Whaler Speaks Up (Update)

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-08-27

MOBY-DICK; or, THE WHALE by Herman Melville · discussed · at 21:05

What Can Whales Teach Us About Clean Energy, Workplace Harmony, and Living the Good Life?...

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-08-26

MOBY-DICK; or, THE WHALE by Herman Melville · discussed · at 0:31

The First Great American Industry (Update)

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-08-08

In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick · discussed · at 7:12
MOBY-DICK; or, THE WHALE by Herman Melville · discussed · at 7:26
Leviathan by Eric Jay Dolin · discussed · at 19:50

643. Why Do Candles Still Exist?

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-08-01

The Waste Makers by Vance Packard · discussed · at 28:16

Why Does One Tiny State Set the Rules for Everyone? (Update)

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-07-23

What’s the Matter with Delaware? by Hal Weitzman · discussed · at 4:04
Global Shell Games by Michael G. Findley · discussed · at 16:46

638. Are You Ready for the Elder Swell?

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-06-27

Golden Years by James Chappel · recommended · at 11:51
Old Age May be the Happiest Part of Life by James Coffee Harris · recommended · at 11:51
The Longevity Imperative by Andrew J Scott · recommended · at 27:40
In This Economy? by Kyla Scanlon · recommended · at 52:44

636. Why Aren’t We Having More Babies?

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-06-13

The Population Bomb by Paul R. Ehrlich · discussed · at 25:15
The King's Midwife by Nina Rattner Gelbart · recommended · at 40:48

How to Succeed at Failing, Part 3: Grit vs. Quit (Update)

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-05-16

Grit by Angela Duckworth · discussed · at 0:53
GRIT The Power of PASSION and PERSEVERANCE by Angela Duckworth · discussed · at 4:36
The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth · discussed · at 4:36

How to Succeed at Failing, Part 1: The Chain of Events (Update)

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-05-09

Right Kind of Wrong by Amy Edmondson · discussed · at 10:52
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling · discussed · at 13:50
The Violence Project by Jillian Peterson · discussed · at 47:29

631. Will "3 Summers of Lincoln" Make It to Broadway?

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-04-25

The Moral Foundations of Public Funding for the Arts by Michael Rushton · discussed · at 35:09

630. On Broadway, Nobody Knows Nothing

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-04-18

Relentless by Luis A. Miranda Jr. · discussed · at 7:01
Theater Kid by Jeffrey Seller · discussed · at 8:41
Beyond Broadway by Professor Stacy Wolf · discussed · at 49:13

629. How Is Live Theater Still Alive?

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-04-11

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain · discussed · at 2:14
Leadership in Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin · discussed · at 19:11

628. Sludge, Part 2: Is Government the Problem, or the Solution?

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-04-04

Nudge by Richard H. Thaler · discussed · at 39:52

627. Sludge, Part 1: The World Is Drowning in It

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-03-28

Nudge by Richard H. Thaler · discussed · at 4:50

Should America Be Run by … Trader Joe’s? (Update)

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-03-21

Build a Brand Like Trader Joe's by Mark Gardiner · discussed · at 39:28

624. The Animal No One Loves, Until They Do

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-02-28

Pests by Bethany Brookshire · discussed · at 16:55
Charlotte's Web by E. B. White · discussed · at 40:48

623. Can New York City Win Its War on Rats?

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-02-21

Rats by Robert Sullivan · discussed · at 19:22

The Show That Never Happened

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-02-20

Genius & Anxiety by Norman Lebrecht · discussed · at 12:42

622. Why Does Everyone Hate Rats?

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-02-14

Pests by Bethany Brookshire · discussed · at 11:35
Triumph of the City by Edward L. Glaeser · discussed · at 21:00
Data for Science and Technology; Proceedings of the Seventh International CODATA Conference; Kyoto, Japan, 8-11 October 1980 by PS Glaeser (ed) · discussed · at 21:00

621. Is Professional Licensing a Racket?

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-02-07

The Licensing Racket by Rebecca Haw Allensworth · discussed · at 1:38

When Is a Superstar Just Another Employee?

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-02-05

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl · recommended · at 1:05:12

620. Why Don’t Running Backs Get Paid Anymore?

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-01-31

The Licensing Racket by Rebecca Haw Allensworth · recommended · at 1:00:04

619. How to Poison the A.I. Machine

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-01-24

A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence by Michael Wooldridge · discussed · at 1:22

Can Academic Fraud Be Stopped? (Update)

Freakonomics Radio · 2025-01-02

Complicit by Max H. Bazerman · discussed · at 4:34

Other mentions in 2025 (20: passing, ad reads, own books)