Podcast
Stephen Dubner's book list: the books mentioned on Freakonomics Radio
Key facts
- 558 books have been mentioned on Freakonomics Radio, as of October 23, 2026.
- 451 episodes of Freakonomics Radio mention at least one book, as of October 23, 2026.
- 158 people brought up a book on the show, as of October 23, 2026.
- The 3 books mentioned in the most episodes of Freakonomics Radio, as of October 23, 2026: Freakonomics, Thinking, Fast and Slow and Grit.
- The latest episode of Freakonomics Radio with a book mention aired on October 23, 2026.
Updated
Freakonomics co-author Stephen J. Dubner uncovers the hidden side of everything. Why is it safer to fly in an airplane than drive a car? How do we decide whom to marry? Why is the media so full of bad news? Also: things you never knew you wanted to know about wolves, bananas, pollution, search engines, and the quirks of human behavior. To get every show in our network without ads and a monthly bon…
Books from the latest episodes
Most recommended on Freakonomics Radio
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Freakonomics
Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner's 'Freakonomics' was discussed on Freakonomics Radio by host Stephen Dubner, guest Bjarke Ingels, and contributor Geoff Bennett during a special episode marking the book's twentieth anniversary. David Rubenstein previously named it his favorite book of the last twenty years. Bjarke Ingels praised the co-authors' ability to collect compelling datasets, while Geoff Bennett and Stephen Dubner explored the book's lack of a central thesis, its tone of curiosity without cynicism, and the narrative nonfiction style that prioritized fact-checked storytelling over conventional wisdom.
Discussed“Freakonomics has actually been a book that I really enjoyed because it is saturated and because of your co-authors' ability to sort of collect all of these incredible data sets,”
Where to get it
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Thinking, Fast and Slow
On Freakonomics Radio, hosts and guests frequently discussed Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow across multiple episodes in 2024, 2025, and 2026. Stephen Dubner and other contributors referenced Kahneman's theories on system one and system two cognitive processing, his collaborative work with Amos Tversky, and the history of his research on heuristics and biases, while Nate Silver recommended the book as a modern guide to thinking.
Discussed“One reason why emotional arousal is so effective is that it overwhelms our slow, deliberate, analytical cognitive processing that we sometimes call type two or system two. And it causes us to process things through system one, which is quick, intuitive, where we often rely on these heuristic shortcuts.”
Where to get it
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Grit
Angela Duckworth's book Grit was discussed across several episodes of Freakonomics Radio by host Stephen Dubner, Chris Bosh, and Duckworth herself. Dubner frequently mentioned Duckworth and her book when discussing positive psychology, persistence, and how they originally met through an interview. Chris Bosh brought up discovering the book after his coach gifted it to him, leading into a conversation with Duckworth about the research behind passion and perseverance.
Discussed“You know, here's another thing that I only learned relatively late in life, and this was a lot through a friend of mine, Angela Duckworth, who wrote the book Grit, and she and I did a podcast together for a couple years called No Stupid Questions.”
Where to get it
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Think Like a Freak
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner and Steven D. Levitt discussed their book Think Like a Freak through various segments, including a dedicated book club series where they answered listener questions about the first three chapters. Guests such as Faith Salie, David Duchovny, and Debbie Millman also referenced the book and the broader Freakonomics series when discussing the authors' approach to asking unconventional questions and encouraging childlike thinking.
Discussed“Think Like a Freak in 2014, and When to Rob a Bank in 2015.”
Where to get it
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Nudge
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner discussed Nudge by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein across multiple episodes. He explored core concepts of behavioral economics and choice architecture with Thaler, promoted the newly published final and updated editions of the book, and examined how the ideas related to public policy and sludge.
Discussed“And you co-wrote a book years ago, a beloved book really, called Nudge. Correct. For anyone who's had the ill fortune to have not read Nudge, how would you describe it?”
Where to get it
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Superfreakonomics
Superfreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner was referenced across multiple episodes of Freakonomics Radio by hosts Steve Levitt and Stephen Dubner, as well as guests Debbie Millman and Jim Yong Kim. The authors and guests brought up the book over the years to discuss its publication history, methodology involving data hypotheses, the UK book tour, and an admitted fabrication regarding a life-insurance story in the text.
Discussed“If that isn't enough, the freconomics universe expanded with the subsequent publication of Super Freconomics in 2009,”
Where to get it
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Why Nations Fail
Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson was discussed across multiple episodes of Freakonomics Radio. Host Stephen Dubner frequently introduced Robinson and Acemoglu to explore how political institutions drive economic success and influence the impact of natural resources. Daron Acemoglu also reflected on co-authoring the book, sharing that it was a work he had dreamed of writing since his youth.
Discussed“When I first heard that you won the prize and I read your work about the importance of what you call culture in economic progress, I immediately compared it in my mind to the work of Deron Osamoglu and Jim Robinson who argue that institutions are the main driver of progress.”
Where to get it
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The Wealth of Nations
Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations was featured on Freakonomics Radio in connection with a modern musical adaptation by composer David Lang. Host Stephen Dubner and Lang discussed the creative process behind turning the eighteenth-century economic text into an oratorio. Guest Fleur Barron mentioned reading the book as a core text during her studies at Columbia. Additionally, the podcast referenced historical trivia surrounding the work, including the legend that Margaret Thatcher carried a copy in her handbag.
Discussed“At the end of March, the composer David Lang debuted a modern piece of music set to a 250-year-old book, Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations.”
Where to get it
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MOBY-DICK; or, THE WHALE
Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick; or, The Whale was discussed extensively across multiple episodes of Freakonomics Radio. Host Stephen Dubner referenced the book to introduce historical background on 19th-century whaling ships, transition into discussions about shipboard conditions, and query guests regarding crew diversity. Guest Hester Blum shared her long-standing affection for the text, detailed the intellectual challenges of sitting with its inconclusiveness, and noted how she teaches it to students. Additionally, Dubner recommended the book as a teaser for upcoming topics and asked guest Bjørn Andersen if he had read it.
Discussed“Have you read Moby Dick? No. I'm not a reader.”
Where to get it
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Outliers
On Freakonomics Radio, guests Chris Bosh and Angela Duckworth discussed Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, with Bosh noting he received the book when joining the Miami Heat. Host Stephen Dubner and guest Malcolm Gladwell later debated the book's popularization of the 10,000-hour rule, featuring critique from researcher Anders Ericsson regarding how Gladwell framed deliberate practice.
Discussed“yeah outliers you know the classics”
Where to get it
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Peak
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner discussed Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool's book "Peak" across several episodes examining expertise and practice. Dubner introduced Ericsson as a leading authority on deliberate practice, citing examples and studies from the book to explore how expertise develops and to challenge Malcolm Gladwell's accounts of practice.
Discussed“But the real guru of deliberate practice is Anders Ericsson, author of the book Peak. And I'm a professor of psychology at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.”
Where to get it
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Triumph of the City
Edward L. Glaeser's book Triumph of the City was discussed across multiple episodes of Freakonomics Radio. Host Stephen Dubner frequently cited Glaeser and his book when introducing discussions on urban economics, density, and the value of cities. Guests such as Tony Hsieh, Zach Ware, and Edward Glaeser himself referenced the book as foundational inspiration for urban revitalization projects and to clarify arguments regarding suburban versus city life.
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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Moneyball
Michael Lewis's book 'Moneyball' came up on Freakonomics Radio across multiple episodes featuring host Stephen Dubner, David Rubenstein, Brian Burke, and the author himself. The speakers discussed the book's 20th anniversary, its impact on analytics in baseball, how markets misjudge people, and Lewis's initial writing process regarding the Oakland A's.
Discussed“When the famous book was written, Moneyball, that book was written at a time that many people didn't realize that these mathematical models were being used and the Oakland A's had a big advantage in it.”
Where to get it
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Inside of a Dog
Alexandra Horowitz's Inside of a Dog was discussed across multiple episodes of Freakonomics Radio. Stephen Dubner recommended the book as part of a book club selection and praised it for offering a dog's point of view on cognition. Dubner also noted that Horowitz's previous appearances discussing the book eventually led to her own podcast.
Discussed“So, here's the story the way I remember it. Maybe a year and a half ago, we had you on Freakonomics Radio in an episode of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, and we talked about your first book, Inside of a Dog, which I had read years ago and loved, and then reread it and loved it even more.”
Where to get it
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The Food Lab
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner discussed J. Kenji López-Alt's cookbook The Food Lab, noting its massive size, subtitle about better home cooking through science, and James Beard Award win. Dubner quoted López-Alt's view that traditional cooking methods can be outdated or wrong, praised the book's indulgent approach to comfort food, and used its recipes and food geometry concepts to frame discussions about cooking hamburgers.
Discussed“He had just published his first cookbook, a massive thing, called The Food Lab, which went on to win a James Beard Award.”
Where to get it
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Adam Smith’s America
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner repeatedly discussed Glory M. Liu's book Adam Smith’s America: How a Scottish philosopher became an icon of American capitalism. Across multiple episodes in January 2023 and May 2026—including "674. How Does a Composer Feel After the World Premiere?" and the Adam Smith series—Dubner introduced political scientist Glory Liu by referencing her book, highlighting her arguments about how Smith's philosophies have been interpreted and used selectively by both the political left and right.
Discussed“When we published a Freakonomics Radio series on Adam Smith a few years ago, we interviewed Glory Liu, a political scientist at Georgetown and author of a book called Adam Smith's America: How a Scottish philosopher became an icon of American capitalism.”
Where to get it
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Bowling Alone
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner frequently referenced Robert D. Putnam's landmark book Bowling Alone. Dubner cited the book when discussing historical trends in American social capital, the decline of healthy civic life, and how community participation has shifted over the decades. He also mentioned the book during an interview with Mark Zuckerberg while asking about influences in social science and community membership.
Discussed“and the thought that comes to my mind is motivated by an essay of a sociologist named Robert Putnam that was written probably 20 some years ago entitled bowling alone and the thesis is relatively simple and that at that time Putnam was arguing that we don't have a healthy Civic life because we don't have what he called the”
Where to get it
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The Population Bomb
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner and guest Dan Wang discussed Paul R. Ehrlich's 1968 book The Population Bomb. The speakers referenced the historical text to contextualize the environmental movement's past fears of starvation and overpopulation, as well as the critiques raised by economists against population control policies.
Discussed“One of the things I will always be grateful to economists for is that economists were the greatest critics of the one child policy in China as well as briefly when it was kind of discussed in the US after Erlick published the population bomb.”
Where to get it
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The Theory of Moral Sentiments
During an episode of Freakonomics Radio titled Can Adam Smith Fix Our Economy?, the host and guests discussed Adam Smith's book The Theory of Moral Sentiments. John Ewell noted that Margaret Thatcher did not clearly read this first book of Smith's, but instead used his second book to promote her economic policies. Craig Smith and Caroline Howitt also discussed the rich context of the work and noted that Smith completed the final editions of his masterworks while at Panmure House, while the host described The Theory of Moral Sentiments as a true guide compared to The Wealth of Nations.
Discussed“she didn't read the first book the theory of moral sentiments clearly but she read the second one”
Where to get it
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Going Infinite
Going Infinite by Michael Lewis was featured on Freakonomics Radio in an episode exploring the public reaction to author Michael Lewis. Host Stephen Dubner read passages from the book and discussed how it chronicled Sam Bankman-Fried's transition from Jane Street Capital to Alameda Research, analyzing the fine line between illegal behavior and bizarre eccentricities in the cryptocurrency tycoon's life.
Discussed“his books include liars poker Moneyball The Big Short Flash Boys and now going infinite the rise and fall of a new Tycoon”
Where to get it
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Plunder
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner discussed Brendan Ballou's book Plunder, introducing its full title and noting that it made him feel insufficiently paranoid about private equity. Dubner observed that much of the book's evidence was previously reported elsewhere and used Ballou's findings to illustrate mobile home park rent control efforts. Ballou explained that the title reflected his negative view of private equity, and Dubner opened the discussion by noting the book's opening quotation from Justice Louis Brandeis.
Discussed“The title is Plunder: Private Equity's Plan to Pillage America.”
Where to get it
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The Truth About Immigration
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner and guest host discussions around Zeke Hernandez and his forthcoming book, "The Truth About Immigration." Hernandez, a professor at the Wharton School, was brought on to feature in immigration-focused segments and quizzes based on his research. Dubner referenced statistics from the book, such as the global percentage of immigrants, and noted that Hernandez's work served as a foundation for the show's series exploring common misconceptions about immigration.
Discussed“he came to our attention because of a book he has got coming out soon called the truth about immigration the book includes a quiz and we thought it might be interesting to have some freec economics radio”
Where to get it
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Sapiens
Yuval Noah Harari's book Sapiens was discussed across multiple episodes of Freakonomics Radio. Steve Levitt and Stephen Dubner talked about the book's massive readership and its unusual lack of characters. In separate episodes, Harari joined the podcast to discuss his writing process, noting that he did not take the project too seriously initially because he did not expect it to become a bestseller.
Discussed“And so what was interesting as I read his amazing book Sapiens, there is not a character in the entire book.”
Where to get it
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Age of Revolutions
On Freakonomics Radio in 2024, host Stephen Dubner discussed Fareed Zakaria's book, The Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present. Dubner referenced the work to explore whether the world is currently living through the most revolutionary period in recent history. They discussed Zakaria's perspective on the current state of global peril and how the book examines sweeping revolutionary eras beyond just geopolitics.
Discussed“do you see that as further proof that we're living through as you put it in the book of yours the most revolutionary period in recent history”
Where to get it
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Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat
Freakonomics Radio discussed Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat across several episodes in 2023 and 2024. Stephen Dubner and the show's host recommended the book, highlighting its impressive sales of over a million copies in the U.S. and its subsequent Netflix adaptation. Samin Nosrat joined the podcast to discuss the very long and challenging writing process behind her acclaimed book, which she began planning around 1999 or 2000 before its eventual publication in 2017.
Discussed“no chapter the title of the chapter is with beginner's eyes because she makes this observation about Salt Fat acid heat that when she very excitedly at the beginning of her cooking life tells a fellow Chef the fellow chef says”
Where to get it
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The Peter Principle
Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull's The Peter Principle was explored across multiple episodes of Freakonomics Radio. The host described it as a popular and humorous management book that explains the prevalence of incompetent bosses by arguing that employees rise to their level of incompetence. Stephen Dubner noted that people are promoted based on past experience rather than relevance to new roles, and the podcast discussed whether modern firms purposely choose to live with this systemic issue.
Discussed“The Peter Principle is a very funny and popular management book written by Lawrence J. Peter, and his book offers an explanation for why we might see incompetent bosses everywhere. 'Incompetent bosses everywhere... okay, I’m listening.”
Where to get it
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Modernist cuisine
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner and Alice Waters discussed Modernist Cuisine by Nathan Myhrvold. Dubner explored the six-volume, encyclopedic work on molecular gastronomy and its scientific approach to cooking, noting that many of its recipes could be adapted for home kitchens. Waters praised the project as an astonishing contribution to gastronomy, though she suggested that everyday cooks did not necessarily need their own copies.
Discussed“Last year, he published a cookbook called Modernist Cuisine. Well, it is an encyclopedic treatment of the science of cooking, how cooking really works, and describes modern cooking techniques that have evolved over the course of the last 20 years.”
Where to get it
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Influence
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner frequently discussed and recommended Robert Cialdini's Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, highlighting its status as a classic in business circles and introducing its newly expanded edition. Dubner detailed how Cialdini's career was dedicated to researching the power of social norms. Additionally, Richard Thaler invoked the book during an episode to explain a social-norm technique used in letters to encourage citizens to pay their taxes on time.
Discussed“but in this case cialdini did ship in the form of a book he wrote about this research it was called influence the psychology of persuasion it was published in 1984.”
Where to get it
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The Biggest Bluff
Maria Konnikova's book The Biggest Bluff was featured on Freakonomics Radio in 2020 and 2023. Stephen Dubner discussed the author's transition from poker novice to professional, previewed her journey, and recommended that listeners purchase the book.
Discussed“it's not exaggerated for the book that is Maria kekova her new book is called the biggest Bluff how I learned to pay attention master myself and Win It Chronicles her journey from poker novice to Poker professional”
Where to get it
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Expert Political Judgment
Philip E. Tetlock's book Expert Political Judgment was discussed on Freakonomics Radio across several episodes. Stephen Dubner explained that the book stemmed from Tetlock's extensive study of geopolitical predictions, noting that the title was ironic given that experts often performed poorly. Philip Tetlock also appeared on the show to discuss the book, using it as the source for an aphorism by Karl Marx regarding intellectuals and historical shifts.
Discussed“This study became the basis of a book that Tetlock titled Expert Political Judgment. It was a sly title because the experts' predictions often weren't very expert.”
Where to get it
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The Case against Education
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner repeatedly discussed Bryan Caplan's book The Case against Education across multiple episodes, including updates in 2022 and 2024. Dubner brought up the book to explore Caplan's controversial thesis that the primary function of a college degree is social signaling rather than human capital accumulation.
Discussed“The Economist Brian Kaplan in a book called the case against education argues that one major function of a college degree is to act as a social signal a way to tell the world that you are worth hiring worth being friends with perhaps worth being intimidated by in kaplan's view”
Where to get it
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The Index Card
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner and co-author Harold Pollack discussed The Index Card by Helaine Olen and Harold Pollack across multiple episodes. Dubner introduced the book as a popular text in savings and choice analysis based on Pollack's viral personal-finance rules, while Pollack and Dubner noted that the expanded book ultimately included a tenth rule concerning the social safety net.
Discussed“one popular book in Choice analysis is called the index card why personal finance doesn't have to be complicated it was written by Helene Olin a journalist and Harold Pollock who is a professor at the University of Chicago”
Where to get it
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Soccernomics
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner frequently referenced Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski's book Soccernomics. Dubner recommended the book to listeners and cited it when introducing co-author Stefan Szymanski, noting that the text explores the core economic questions behind winning soccer games.
Recommended“It is based on the book of the same name by Simon Cooper and Stefan Shaminesky.”
Where to get it
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Doughnut Economics
Stephen Dubner discussed Kate Raworth's book Doughnut Economics across multiple episodes of Freakonomics Radio. Dubner examined Raworth's 2017 publication as a compass for human prosperity and discussed how Amsterdam officials implemented a version of her economic plan.
Discussed“and yet that's how Kate rayworth saw things in 2017 she published a book called donut economics”
Where to get it
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The Sorrows of Young Werther
Across multiple episodes of Freakonomics Radio, reporter Sean Cole discussed Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's 1774 novel The Sorrows of Young Werther. Cole examined the epistolary fiction to explore historical discussions surrounding its popularity and its alleged connection to imitative copycat suicides.
Discussed“So we're going to have to go all the way back to 1774 when this novel came out. The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.”
Where to get it
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The war on normal people
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner discussed Andrew Yang's book The War on Normal People across multiple episodes. Dubner and Yang examined the book's pessimistic views on the American economy, the perceived failures of the political class, and specific policy proposals put forth by Yang, including legal penalties and jail time for executives of bailed-out or fined corporations.
Discussed“I know that in your book the war on normal people you propose that for every 100 million dollars that a company is fined by the Department of Justice or that they're bailed out by the federal government that both its CEO and its largest individual shareholders should spend one month in jail”
Where to get it
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The Wizard and the Prophet
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner referenced Charles C. Mann's book The Wizard and the Prophet to set up a discussion on contrasting worldviews and dueling visions for addressing climate change and shaping tomorrow's world.
Discussed“that fight and those two World Views are the subject of Charles Mann's latest book which he wound up calling the wizard and and the profit”
Where to get it
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Unfinished business
Stephen Dubner discussed Anne-Marie Slaughter's book Unfinished Business across several episodes of Freakonomics Radio between 2015 and 2023. Dubner highlighted Slaughter's work to introduce the concept of the care penalty as a primary driver of the gender pay gap and gender inequity. When the book was first published in 2015, Dubner interviewed the author, summarizing the book as a call to create genuinely equitable workplaces for both men and women, and questioning Slaughter about criticisms that work-life balance conversations often reflect elite, upper-class concerns.
Discussed“The noted public policy scholar Anne-Marie Slaughter, in a book called Unfinished Business, singled out what she calls the care penalty as a main driver of gender inequity.”
Where to get it
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Competitive Strategy
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner mentioned Michael E. Porter's book 'Competitive Strategy' across multiple episodes. Dubner cited the text when introducing Porter's professional background and noting his status as a heavily cited, landmark scholar in the field of business strategy.
Discussed“he's written Landmark books called competitive strategy and on competition he is cited more than any other scholar in the field”
Where to get it
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Genius & Anxiety
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner cited Norman Lebrecht's book Genius & Anxiety to introduce an explanation for the high level of Jewish achievement between 1847 and 1947.
Discussed“I thought back to this passage from a book called genius and anxiety how Jews changed the world 1847 and 1947 by Norman lebre”
Where to get it
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How to Win Friends and Influence People
Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People came up across multiple episodes of Freakonomics Radio. Angela Duckworth and Steve Levitt referenced Carnegie's interpersonal strategies, such as using someone's name and avoiding arguments, while discussing social dynamics and human behavior.
Discussed“How to win friends and influence people. So the Dale Carnegie effect where you say someone's name, Stephen, right?”
Where to get it
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On Competition
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner repeatedly referenced Michael E. Porter's book On Competition alongside his other landmark work, Competitive Strategy. Across episodes in November 2018, July 2019, and July 2024, Dubner mentioned these publications while introducing Porter during segments discussing business strategy, competitiveness, and why the United States sees certain political dynamics. Dubner noted that Porter is cited more than any other scholar in the field.
Discussed“he's written Landmark books called competitive strategy and on competition he is cited more than any other scholar in the field”
Where to get it
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The Protestant ethic and the "spirit" of capitalism and other writings
Max Weber's essay The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism was referenced by Stephen Dubner across several episodes of Freakonomics Radio. Dubner cited Weber's early twentieth-century work to provide historical context for discussions regarding the origins of the Protestant work ethic and common criticisms of inherited family wealth and nepotism.
Discussed“The idea goes back to the early 20th century, when the pioneering social scientist Max Weber wrote a long essay called The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.”
Where to get it
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The Secret of Our Success
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner referenced Joseph Henrich's 2016 book The Secret of Our Success across multiple episodes in late 2022 and early 2023. Dubner brought up the book to support discussions on American individualism, citing its arguments on how culture drives human evolution, domesticates the species, and makes human societies smarter.
Discussed“in 2016 Henrik published a book called The Secret of our success how culture is driving human evolution domesticating our species and making us smarter”
Where to get it
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The WEIRDest People in the World
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner discussed Joseph Henrich's book The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous. Dubner referenced the work across multiple episodes to explore how Western societies developed unique psychological traits and extreme individualism compared to the rest of the world.
Discussed“Henrik recently followed that book with another one called the weirdest people in the world how the West became psychologically peculiar and particularly prosperous”
Where to get it
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Think and Grow Rich
Stephen Dubner cited Napoleon Hill's popular 1937 book Think and Grow Rich across multiple episodes of Freakonomics Radio between 2011 and 2014. Dubner referenced the text to trace the origin of the familiar self-help adage that a quitter never wins and a winner never quits, noting that Hill was inspired in part by industrialist Andrew Carnegie.
Discussed“A quitter never wins and a winner never quits. In 1937 a self-help pundit named Napoleon Hill included that phrase in his very popular book Think and Grow Rich.”
Where to get it
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Moby Dick
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner and a guest explored Herman Melville's classic novel Moby Dick across episodes in July 2023. Dubner questioned why the nineteenth-century whaling novel remains a relevant and worthwhile read, highlighting its timeless themes and noting the remarkable ethnic diversity of the crew aboard the Pequod compared to modern workplaces. The guest shared that they first read the book at age seventeen, an experience that deeply inspired a lifelong fascination with whaling, and discussed the novel's complex portrayal of humanity beyond the literal subject of hunting whales.
Discussed“How many times have you read Moby Dick? I’m 50 years old.”
Where to get it
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Steve Jobs
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner and Walter Isaacson discussed Isaacson's biography Steve Jobs across episodes in 2012 and 2013. Isaacson described how Jobs commissioned the biography and opened up during interviews, and noted how readers reacted to Jobs's difficult personality. Guest Brad Wardell also shared how reading the book acted as a catalyst to change his own work habits and balance his professional and family life.
Discussed“Once he started working on this book with me, he just wanted to talk on and on, which was great. Walter Isaacson is an author, a journalist, and CEO of the Aspen Institute. Jobs hand-picked Isaacson to write his biography, which wound up being published just a couple of weeks after Jobs died.”
Where to get it
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Compassionomics
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner and guest Anthony Mazzarelli discussed the book Compassionomics by Stephen Trzeciak and Anthony Mazzarelli across multiple episodes. Dubner cited data points and statistics from the book to summarize its main arguments, highlighting its radical proposal that physician compassion improves medical outcomes and reduces costs. The narrative and authors also examined research papers showing how caring impacts patient physiology, pain perception, and quality of care while reducing medical errors.
Discussed“here's one data point that trisiac and mazzarelli cite in compassionomics when patients are asked what they consider extremely important traits in a doctor”
Where to get it
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How to Win Games and Beat People
Stephen Dubner featured Tom Whipple's book How to Win Games and Beat People on Freakonomics Radio, exploring its subtitle about demolishing friends and family. Whipple joined Dubner to play several games, connecting the book's competitive mindset to distrust in play. Dubner and Whipple discussed specific strategies from the book, including a table used for Hangman.
Discussed“Whipple has written a book titled How to Win Games and Beat People.”
Where to get it
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Eve
Cat Bohannon's Eve was discussed on Freakonomics Radio in December 2023. Steve Levitt and Stephen Dubner recommended the book, with Levitt sharing his initial skepticism and how the book's fresh perspective on the female body changed his worldview. Bohannon also discussed the writing and editing process behind the book.
Recommended“Welcome to a special episode of 'People I Mostly Admire' with Steve Levitt. I did not expect to like this book. I'm generally just not that interested in things that happened 200 million years ago or even 10,000 years ago.”
Where to get it
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Smarter Faster Better
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner and guest Charles Duhigg discussed Duhigg's book Smarter Faster Better in episodes from April and December 2016. Dubner described how the book combined reporting and academic literature to identify best productivity practices, noting its central argument that changing outcomes requires thinking differently about past approaches. Duhigg explained his rule of interviewing hundreds of people only for universal insights, while Dubner reflected on how the book's chapter on teams made him reconsider his own leadership.
Discussed“Duhigg's most recent book, Smarter, Faster, Better, combines old-fashioned reporting and a survey of the academic literature to identify best productivity practices. His first book, The Power of Habit, did the same for habit formation.”
Where to get it
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Hit Refresh
Satya Nadella's book Hit Refresh was discussed on Freakonomics Radio in 2018. Stephen Dubner quoted passages from the book regarding Microsoft's cloud computing ventures and Nadella's views on luck and timing, while Nadella himself reflected on the personal challenges of writing the book and its core message centered on continuous institutional and personal renewal.
Discussed“If anything, you know, my entire purpose of this book, at least, was, look, this process is a continuous process of renewal.”
Where to get it
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Power and Progress
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner and Adam Davidson discussed Power and Progress by Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson. The hosts referenced the book while exploring the historical relationship between technology and prosperity, examining why some nations succeed and analyzing how past decisions regarding technological adoption produced unpredictable consequences for generations.
Discussed“Johnson co-wrote a book power and progress our thousand year struggle of over technology and prosperity with another MIT Economist Daron assamoglu”
Where to get it
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Smoke gets in your eyes
Caitlin Doughty's memoir Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and Other Lessons from the Crematory was featured on Freakonomics Radio. Host Stephen Dubner and guest host Maria Konnikova discussed Doughty's early years working as a mortician, shared excerpts from the book, and selected it as a title for the Freakonomics Radio Book Club.
Discussed“Dodie published a book about those early years working in the funeral industry Smoke Gets In Your Eyes and other lessons from the Crematory”
Where to get it
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The Rise and Fall of American Growth
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner repeatedly discussed Robert J. Gordon's book The Rise and Fall of American Growth. Dubner introduced Gordon to explore the American economy, focusing on the book's central argument that the innovations of the Second Industrial Revolution transformed living standards far more than those of the Third Industrial Revolution. Dubner used the book's framework to question whether economic growth had permanently peaked and employed a low-hanging-fruit analogy to summarize Gordon's pessimistic outlook on future growth rates.
Discussed“Here's Robert Gordon, author of The Rise and Fall of American Growth.”
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The Licensing Racket
The Licensing Racket by Rebecca Haw Allensworth was discussed on Freakonomics Radio in January and February 2025. Host Stephen Dubner introduced legal scholar Rebecca Allensworth as a guest to examine the power, reach, and shortcomings of professional licensing boards. Dubner quoted from the book regarding barriers to entry and restrictions on practice, and recommended the publication to listeners at the conclusion of the episodes.
Discussed“Rebecca allensworth is a law professor at Vanderbilt University and she's written a book about Professional Licensing. We Americans like to think of our economy as open and dynamic. allensworth shows that in many ways it's not and that these licensing boards help too many bad actors stay in their professions and keep too many good ones out. and that's”
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Superforecasting
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner and Philip Tetlock discussed Superforecasting, co-authored by Tetlock and Dan Gardner. Dubner highlighted the book's central premise that forecasting is a skill that can be acquired and improved through deliberate habits of thought rather than innate talent, while Tetlock noted how the work incorporates lessons on probability from experts like poker player Aaron Brown.
Discussed“Tetlock argued in his book super forecasting that when it comes to predicting the future, even an expert can be beat by a thoughtful amateur.”
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Modern Romance
On Freakonomics Radio in July 2015 and August 2016, Stephen Dubner discussed Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg. Dubner introduced the nonfiction book during an interview with Ansari, noting its strong debut on the bestseller list and asking what inspired it. Throughout the conversation, Dubner cited a striking 1967 marriage study from the book and connected Ansari's thoughts on internet use to the text's examination of dating and the paradox of choice.
Discussed“He's been a comedian and an actor for 15 years now, and he just published his first book, a nonfiction book, with an NYU sociologist, Eric Kleinenberg, as a co-author. It's called Modern Romance, and it debuted at number two on the Times bestseller list.”
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The undoing project
Stephen Dubner discussed The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis on Freakonomics Radio. Dubner explored the book's premise, explaining that it portrays the partnership and research of Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, two academics who rewrote assumptions about human decision-making.
Discussed“his latest book May pose the biggest challenge yet it is called the undoing project and it's about a pair of academics in a room alone for a few decades writing papers”
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When to Rob a Bank
The book When to Rob a Bank by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner was discussed on Freakonomics Radio during the 2015 episode celebrating ten years of the podcast, as well as a 2025 episode. Faith Salie described the book as a collection of personal blog posts that featured questions and hypotheses without firm answers, praising the authors for the personal nature of their writing. Steven D. Levitt also referred to the book while explaining that a controversial blog post about a hypothetical terrorist attack was included within its pages. Debbie Millman later listed it alongside Think Like a Freak as part of the broader Freakonomics book series.
Discussed“Think Like a Freak in 2014, and When to Rob a Bank in 2015.”
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Breakneck
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner discussed Dan Wang's newly published book Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future. Dubner mentioned the book at the close of multiple episodes, noting that the author wrote the work in China before returning to live in the United States.
Discussed“Last year, instead of writing his annual letter from China, Dan Wong wrote a book called Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future. By the time it was published in August of this year, he was living back in the States.”
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Eating on the Wild Side
Stephen Dubner discussed Eating on the Wild Side by Jo Robinson on Freakonomics Radio, praising its insights into food, fruits, vegetables, and herbs. He cited Robinson's explanations of how plants produce protective chemical compounds that function as antioxidants when consumed by humans.
Discussed“Robinson's latest book is called Eating on the Wild Side. It's fascinating. Almost every page tells you something you don't know about food, especially fruits and veg and herbs. And a lot of it goes back to that split between delicious and nutritious.”
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Parent Nation
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner discussed Dana Suskind's book Parent Nation: Unlocking Every Child's Potential, Fulfilling Society's Promise. Dubner brought up the upcoming book to explore Suskind's perspectives on how poverty and parenting interact in American society.
Discussed“This is a point Dana suskin makes in a book she's publishing in April. It's called parent Nation unlocking every child's potential fulfilling society's promise”
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The Voltage Effect
On Freakonomics Radio, the host discussed John A. List's book The Voltage Effect across multiple episodes released on December 30, 2022. The host initially announced the publication of the book for a special book club edition, and later referenced specific concepts from it, including optimal quitting and the author's perspective on former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.
Discussed“In your book, John, you write, 'I don't believe Travis Kalanick is a bad person; he's a good person who made several bad calls at scale.'”
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Every Valley
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner repeatedly featured Charles King and his 2024 book Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel's Messiah. Dubner introduced King as a Georgetown political scientist, discussed the public's astonishment surrounding the historical premiere of Messiah, and quoted passages directly from King's work.
Discussed“And that is Charles King, a political scientist at Georgetown and author of the book Every Valley. We heard from him in part one of the series as well.”
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Misbehaving
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner and Richard Thaler discussed Thaler's book Misbehaving. Dubner introduced the work as an entertaining chronicle of behavioral economics and how people frequently act contrary to standard economic models. Thaler explained that the book's title derived from his early career observations of people misbehaving and noted that the book coined the phrase the invisible hand wave.
Discussed“Over time however failor work came to be tolerated if not outright accepted along the way he wrote A Few books including misbehaving the making of behaviorally econom I omics and nudge improving decisions about health wealth and happiness”
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Petty
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner and Warren Zanes discussed Zanes's biography Petty. Dubner interviewed Zanes about why Tom Petty allowed an unauthorized biography, and Zanes recounted the terms Petty set. Dubner noted that his primary takeaway from reading Petty was that the economics and psychology of being in a band serve as training for life, and mentioned the book initially because reading it evoked memories of his own early band experiences.
Discussed“So, when the idea of a book came up, he said, here's how it would happen. It's not ghostwritten. It's not co-written. It's not authorized. It's your book.”
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The Hunger Games
On Freakonomics Radio, Katy Milkman discussed Suzanne Collins's novel The Hunger Games during segments exploring willpower and temptation. Milkman explained that nearly half of the study's participants chose The Hunger Games as a tempting audio novel because the book was addictive and kept them eager to find out what happened next, making it a successful tool for the experiment.
Discussed“So these are books like The Da Vinci Code and The Hunger Games. The rules of The Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising, each of the 12 districts must provide one girl and one boy called tributes to participate.”
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The Peter Principle
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner and Kelly Shu discussed The Peter Principle by Lawrence Peter and Raymond Hall. They examined the book's origins, massive sales, and its comedic yet insightful explanation for why competent individuals are frequently promoted into positions of incompetence.
Discussed“so the Peter Principle is a very funny and popular management book written by Lawrence J Peter and his book offers an explanation for why we might see incompetent bosses everywhere”
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THE PETER PRINCIPLE WHY THINGS ALWAYS GO WRONG
On Freakonomics Radio, the podcast host and Stephen Dubner discussed the widespread impact of "The Peter Principle Why Things Always Go Wrong" by Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull. The hosts examined how the popular management book explains the prevalence of incompetent bosses and explored its impressive commercial success, noting that it sold millions of copies. Kelly Shu also referenced the text to explain the origin of the term "Peter Principle" and how corporate hierarchies function.
Discussed“the Peter principal is a very funny and popular management book written by Lawrence J Peter and his book offers an explanation for why we might see incompetent bosses everywhere”
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Man's Search for Meaning
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner recommended Viktor E. Frankl's classic book Man's Search for Meaning at the conclusion of the episode. Dubner highlighted Frankl's background as an Austrian psychologist and Holocaust survivor, suggesting that the book would provoke deep thought for readers.
Recommended“Frankle was an Austrian psychologist a holocaust Survivor best known for writing Man's Search for meaning if you haven't read it I'd suggest you do”
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Genius
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner discussed the book Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman by James Gleick during updates to the show. Dubner thanked Gleick for writing the definitive biography, which was published in 1992. He used details from the book to illustrate Richard Feynman's complex personal reputation, including his behavior and relationships while teaching at Cornell University.
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.”
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What’s the Matter with Delaware?
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner discussed Hal Weitzman's book What's the Matter with Delaware? during an interview segment and episode outro. Dubner introduced Weitzman and referenced the full subtitle, examining how the First State has favored the rich, powerful, and criminal at a broader societal cost.
Discussed“In 2022, Hal Whitesman published a book called What's the Matter with Delaware? How the First State Has Favored the Rich, Powerful, and Criminal, and How It Costs Us All.”
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A Crack in Creation
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner discussed A Crack in Creation by Jennifer A. Doudna and Samuel H. Sternberg across episodes in 2017 and 2018. Dubner brought up the co-authored book to explore the ethical implications of CRISPR, question the meaning behind its title, and ask the authors how they uncovered the molecular machine capable of slicing viral DNA.
Discussed“She wrestles with all this in a book she co-wrote with another CRISPR researcher, Samuel Sternberg. It's called A Crack in Creation.”
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Dark Money
On Freakonomics Radio, Tara McGowan referenced Jane Mayer's book Dark Money in January 2023 to explain her inspiration for building political infrastructure. Later, in June 2017, Stephen Dubner cited the book when questioning Charles Koch about his reputation among critics, prompting Koch to state that he had not read it and disputed its facts.
Discussed“so again taking a page out of a conservatives Playbook I read Jane Mayer's book dark money on the Koch brothers who have invested heavily for years in building for-profit companies and non-profit organizations and infrastructure on the right”
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Free to Choose
Milton Friedman's book Free to Choose was discussed by Stephen Dubner across multiple episodes of Freakonomics Radio. Dubner mentioned that Friedman had adapted the book into a public television series in 1980 and spoke with a guest about how reading the text served as a foundational guide for economic policy and governance in Estonia.
Discussed“In 1980, he made a public TV series called Free to Choose, based on his book of the same name.”
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Good to Great
On Freakonomics Radio, Tony Hsieh brought up Jim Collins's book Good to Great in January 2015 while discussing the correlation between strong company cultures and long-term financial success. Later, in January 2014, Stephen Dubner mentioned the book to Steve Levitt on the same podcast, asking about the difficulty for companies featured in the work to adapt and survive over time.
Discussed“but if you read books like good to great or tribal leadership there's a clear at least correlation right if not cause between companies that do well in the long term financially Although if you look at the good to Great companies if you looked at those lately”
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Inheritance
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner and the host brought up Dani Shapiro's memoir 'Inheritance' in multiple episodes, including '378. 23andMe (and You, and Everyone Else)' and the 2024 update on 23andMe. The speakers discussed the book to explore the emotional impact of unexpected genealogy results and family identity discoveries, highlighting Shapiro's background from an Orthodox Jewish family.
Discussed“do you know the book by Danny Shapiro inheritance”
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Pests
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner frequently referenced Bethany Brookshire and her book, "Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains". Across February 2025 episodes such as "Why Does Everyone Hate Rats?" and "The Animal No One Loves, Until They Do," Dubner introduced Brookshire as the author of the work. He highlighted how the book explores various animals—including rats, snakes, elephants, and coyotes—that face the label of pests despite not always deserving it.
Discussed“that is Bethany Brookshire we heard from her in part one of the series she's the author of a book called pests how humans create animal villains”
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Rich Dad, Poor Dad
Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter's Rich Dad, Poor Dad was mentioned on Freakonomics Radio by guest Chris Bosh, who recalled reading it after joining the NBA. Host Stephen Dubner also brought up the book when discussing an academic paper that compares popular personal finance advice to economic theory.
Discussed“and then after that once I got into the NBA I always thought it was fascinating how I started hearing the books like Rich Dad Poor Dad I read that too”
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Right Kind of Wrong
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner discussed Amy Edmondson's book Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing. Dubner introduced the Harvard Business School organizational psychologist and her recently published book during multiple episodes focusing on success and failure.
Discussed“She recently published a book called Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well.”
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Summary of Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner and the host referenced the 2008 book Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein. The discussions explored Thaler's academic work, the real-world applications of behavioral economics in public policy, and the proliferation of government nudge units around the world.
Discussed“Over time however failor work came to be tolerated if not outright accepted along the way he wrote A Few books including misbehaving the making of behaviorally econom I omics and nudge improving decisions about health wealth and happiness today governments around the world are running so-called nudge units”
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Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!
On Freakonomics Radio, Ralph Leighton and Stephen Dubner discussed how Ralph Leighton helped turn Richard Feynman's stories into two famous books. In the episode titled "The Curious Mr. Feynman (Update)" from May 2026, Ralph Leighton explained that these conversations formed the basis of their books, noting that the first one was published in 1985 as "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!". Earlier, in the March 2024 episode "The Vanishing Mr. Feynman," Stephen Dubner similarly detailed how Leighton helped turn Feynman's tales into bestsellers, describing the memoir as a catalog of the physicist's adventures and misadventures toward the end of his life.
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”
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The High Cost of Free Parking
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner introduced Donald Shoup's nearly 800-page book The High Cost of Free Parking across multiple episodes. Dubner used the book to explain Shoup's economic argument that parking is underpriced and that its true costs are borne by the public rather than just drivers, which inspired parking policy tests in San Francisco.
Discussed“He is the author of a nearly 800-page book called The High Cost of Free Parking.”
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The teacher wars
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner introduced Dana Goldstein as the author of The Teacher Wars. Across episodes in 2014 and 2016, Dubner used the book as background for discussions comparing U.S. teachers' standing with international peers. Goldstein explained her findings on historical reform efforts that focused on removing supposedly failing teachers and offered alternative approaches.
Discussed“That's Dana Goldstein, author of The Teacher Wars. So, we start from the assumption that our teachers are failing, and we know they're often not doing as well as we want them to.”
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Twilight
Stephenie Meyer's Twilight was discussed on Freakonomics Radio by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen Dubner. Levitt described an unusual calming effect he experienced while reading the book and noted how it removed ordinary human constraints, while also comparing the series to Harry Potter.
Discussed“So it was a long time ago that I read Twilight. But I had a reaction to it that was different than any other person I've ever met. Which is somehow Twilight had a very calming effect on me.”
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Two and Twenty
Stephen Dubner discussed Sachin Khajuria's book Two and Twenty on Freakonomics Radio in episodes examining private equity firms. Dubner introduced the book to explain how private equity gets paid, but also questioned the author about omissions regarding the negative impacts of private equity.
Discussed“These days, Kaduria is investing his own money and he has written a book called Two and Twenty, How the Masters of Private Equity Always Win.”
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A Different Way to Win
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner discussed Jim Rooney's book about his father Dan Rooney, titled A Different Way to Win. Dubner noted that the work falls into the category of a beatification rather than a tell-all and mentioned a forthcoming audio version featuring interviews with key figures.
Recommended“Jim Rooney wrote a book about his father Dan called a different way to win there is a forthcoming audio version of the book that includes interviews with several key Pittsburgh Steelers as well as current NFL commissioner Roger gell and former commissioner Paul tagliaboo”
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Being a Dog
Alexandra Horowitz's book Being a Dog was mentioned on Freakonomics Radio by host Stephen Dubner. Dubner referenced the work while introducing Horowitz to listeners during a segment focusing on animal cognition.
Recommended“Horowitz has written a couple of fascinating books inside of a dog and being a dog.”
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Bible
On Freakonomics Radio, Roger Nam suggested reading the Bible as a wild book about immigration to understand early migration stories, while Stephen Dubner referenced the text in a separate episode to explain the historical origins of tithing in ancient Israel.
Recommended“if you want to read a really wild book about immigration you might start with the Bible”
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The Politics Industry
The Politics Industry by Katherine M. Gehl, Michael E. Porter, and Stephen R. Thorne was discussed on Freakonomics Radio. In a September 2020 rebroadcast of episode 356, Stephen Dubner recommended the book, explaining that Gehl and Porter had expanded their Harvard Business School paper into a publication about breaking partisan gridlock. Dubner mentioned the book again in July 2024 during episode 595, noting that the authors had published it following their original appearance.
Discussed“Michael Porter and Katherine gaale published a book called called the politics industry and Gail in particular is still involved in electoral reform”
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An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
Adam Davidson and Stephen Dubner discussed An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith across episodes of Freakonomics Radio. Adam Davidson brought up the foundational text while talking about the fear of new technologies and economic questions, while Stephen Dubner explored the full title and background of Adam Smith's most famous book in a dedicated episode.
Discussed“it's right there in the title of the founding text of the field Adam Smith's book an inquiry into the nature and causes of The Wealth of Nations”
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City of Champions
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner discussed the book City of Champions: A History of Triumph and Defeat in Detroit, co-authored by Stefan Szymanski and Silke-Maria Weineck. During the December 30, 2022 episode, Dubner brought up the book in connection to Szymanski, who lived near Detroit. Dubner mentioned the text again on the November 9, 2023 replay episode while introducing guest Silke-Maria Weineck.
Discussed“the book shen shimansky wrote is called city of Champions a history of Triumph and defeat in Detroit”
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Craft Weed
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner mentioned Craft Weed by Ryan Stoa while introducing Stoa as a guest and expert on the cannabis industry. Dubner used the book to highlight Stoa's perspective on family farming and his opposition to corporate consolidation within the legal marijuana market.
Discussed“he is the author of a book called craft Weed family farming and the future of the marijuana industry”
Where to get it
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Democracy in America
Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America was discussed on Freakonomics Radio in two separate episodes. In January 2022, Stephen Dubner cited the 1830s book to explore American optimism. Later, in August 2025, Patrick Deneen brought up the work to describe his early encounters with political philosophy.
Discussed“I would attribute it my first encounter with Alexis Dtoqueville reading democracy in America.”
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Dethroning the King
On Freakonomics Radio, during the episode 38. The Church of Scionology and its rebroadcast, Stephen Dubner introduced Julie MacIntosh and her book Dethroning the King. Dubner referenced the work as a business journalist's account of the Bush family, providing essential background to August Busch III’s corporate coup. He explained how Busch ousted his father from Anheuser-Busch with the help of elite MBAs before charging ahead in the American market.
Discussed“That's Julie McIntosh a business journalist who wrote a book about the Bush family called Dethroning the King. And he ousted his dad in a coup and took over”
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Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Stephen Dubner mentioned Jeff Kinney's book series Diary of a Wimpy Kid on Freakonomics Radio while introducing guest Jeff Kinney and noting that his books had sold more than 300 million copies.
Discussed“In part one of this series, we heard from Kenny, author of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, which have sold more than 300 million copies.”
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Dying for Growth
Jim Yong Kim mentioned his book Dying for Growth, Global Inequality in the Health of the Poor, which he co-edited, on Freakonomics Radio during the episodes Hacking the World Bank Update on 2019-01-12 and 197. Hacking the World Bank on 2015-02-19. He brought up the book to illustrate his past criticisms of the approach that international financial institutions had taken toward the health of the poor.
Discussed“I was one of the editors on a book that's entitled Dying for Growth, Global Inequality in the Health of the Poor, and it basically was a critique of the approach that many of the international financial institutions had taken to health.”
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Ethnography in Organizations
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner referenced Helen Schwartzman's book in episodes from September 2019 and May 2020. Dubner mentioned the 1989 publication to discuss the author's anthropological research on meetings and how gatherings function within organizations and communities.
Discussed“In 1989, Schwartzman published a book called The Meeting, Gatherings in Organizations and Communities.”
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The next 300 books mentioned on Freakonomics Radio, ranked
- Fighting Traffic by Peter D. Norton
- Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
- Just Food by James E. McWilliams
- Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle
- Palaces for the People by Eric Klinenberg
- Principles by Ray Dalio
- Psychological Care of Infant and Child by John Broadus Watson
- Raising America by Ann Hulbert
- Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids by Bryan Caplan
- Smart People Should Build Things by Andrew Yang
- Subprime Attention Crisis by Tim Hwang
- Sugar by Elizabeth Abbott
- SuperFreakonomics LP by Steven D. Levitt
- The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker
- The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker
- The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
- The Doctors' Plague by Sherwin B. Nuland
- The House of God by Samuel Shem
- The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
- The Koran by Unknown
- The Last Gift of Time by Carolyn G. Heilbrun
- The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking
- The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley
- The Narrow Corridor by Daron Acemoglu
- The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens
- The Overeducated American by Richard Barry Freeman
- The Power of Bad by John Tierney, Roy F. Baumeister
- The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
- The Smartest Kids in the World by Amanda Ripley
- The Sonic Boom by Joel Beckerman
- The Surprising Science of Meetings by Steven G. Rogelberg
- The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell
- This Republic of Suffering by Drew Gilpin Faust
- Late Admissions by Glenn C. Loury
- The Inevitable by Kevin Kelly
- Risky Business by Liran Einav, Amy Finkelstein, Ray Fisman
- Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
- The courage to act by Ben Bernanke
- Nasty, Brutish, and Short by Scott Hershovitz
- Encyclopedia of Ethical Failure by Department of Defense
- The Third Pillar by Raghuram Rajan
- New York, New York, New York by Thomas Dyja
- Transformation by Larry Thomas
- The Work of Art by Adam Moss
- No Rules Rules: Netflix and the culture of reinvention by Reed Hastings
- A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
- If Mayors Ruled the World by Benjamin R. Barber
- United by Cory Booker
- Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis
- Six Faces of Globalization by Anthea Roberts, Nicolas Lamp
- Emma by Jane Austen
- Everybody Lies by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
- Stefan Zweig by Stefan Zweig Symposium
- World Without Mind by Franklin Foer
- China's Gilded Age by Yuen Yuen Ang
- Letters to a Young Athlete by Chris Bosh
- Sum by David Eagleman
- The Churchill Factor by Boris Johnson
- Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward
- Inside the Owner's Box by David M. Rubenstein
- Lights Out by Thomas Gryta
- Love Your Enemies by Arthur C. Brooks
- On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- Regime Change by Patrick J. Deneen
- Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert
- The Candy House by Jennifer Egan
- The Curse of Cash by Kenneth S. Rogoff
- The Myth of the Rational Voter by Bryan Caplan
- The World for Sale by Javier Blas
- Value of Everything by Mariana Mazzucato
- Who Really Cares by Arthur C. Brooks
- Livewired by David Eagleman
- Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli
- Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
- Doctored by Charles Piller
- Eat Like a Fish by Bren Smith
- Fist Stick Knife Gun by Geoffrey Canada
- Scorecasting by Tobias Moskowitz
- The Map That Changed the World by Simon Winchester
- The Science of Trust: Emotional Attunement for Couples by John M. Gottman
- The Third Coast by Thomas L. Dyja
- Vienna by Richard Cockett
- A Brief History of Motion by Tom Standage
- A Bright Future by Joshua S. Goldstein
- A Culture of Growth by Joel Mokyr
- Alice Neel: The Art of Not Sitting Pretty by Phoebe Hoban, Alice Neel
- America in Black and White by Stephan Thernstrom, Abigail Thernstrom
- Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- Churchill Style by Barry Singer
- Conscious Leadership by John Mackey, Steve Mcintosh, Carter Phipps
- Economics by Daron Acemoglu, David Laibson, John List
- Entrepreneurial State by Mariana Mazzucato
- Everything I Ever Needed to Know about Economics I Learned from Online Dating by Paul Oyer
- Fault Lines by Raghuram Rajan
- General Theory Of Employment , Interest And Money by John Maynard Keynes
- Heart of a Stranger by Angela Buchdahl
- Heat Wave by Eric Klinenberg
- Holy Sh*t by Melissa Mohr
- How the Mighty Fall by Jim Collins
- In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick
- Midnight in Moscow by John J. Sullivan
- More Human by Steve Hilton
- More Sex Is Safer Sex by Steven E. Landsburg
- Ours Was the Shining Future by David Leonhardt
- Pitch Perfect by Bill McGowan
- Saving capitalism from the capitalists by Raghuram Rajan
- The 4-hour Chef by Timothy Ferriss
- The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
- The American way of death by Jessica Mitford
- The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
- The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
- The Demagogue's Playbook by Eric A. Posner
- The End of History and the Last Man by Francis Fukuyama
- The Future of Truth by Werner Herzog
- The Imposter as Social Theory by Steve Woolgar, Else Vogel, David Moats, Claes-Fredrik Helgesson
- The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke by Suze Orman
- The Rise and Decline of Nations by Mancur Olson
- The Signal and the Noise by Nate Silver
- The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig
- This Idea Must Die by John Brockman
- To a Young Jazz Musician by Wynton Marsalis, Selwyn Seyfu Hinds
- Tribal Leadership by John King and Halee Fischer-Wright Dave Logan
- Turf Wars by DeMaurice Smith
- Wealth Supremacy by Marjorie Kelly
- What Do YOU Care what Other People Think? by Richard Phillips Feynman
- Work by James Suzman
- Working by Studs Terkel
- by Unknown
- Directory of Officers, Faculty, Students, Departments by University of Pennsylvania
- Golden Years by James Chappel
- Great Ideas for VBS by John Robert Cutshall
- In This Economy? by Kyla Scanlon
- Lost and Sound by Tobias Rapp
- Man's Search For Ultimate Meaning by Victor Frankl
- Misfit by Gary Gulman
- Official Dopamine Nation Workbook by Anna Lembke
- Old Age May be the Happiest Part of Life by James Coffee Harris
- Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
- Scoop by Evelyn Waugh
- Sons of Wichita by Daniel Schulman
- Spotify Teardown by Maria Eriksson
- The Accidental Superpower by Mr. Peter Zeihan
- The Five-Minute Journal Method by Eugenio De Leon
- The King of Oil by Daniel Ammann
- The King's Midwife by Nina Rattner Gelbart
- The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
- The Longevity Imperative by Andrew J Scott
- The Second Life of Tiger Woods by Michael Bamberger
- The Volcano Lover by Susan Sontag
- The Walkable City by Jennie Middleton
- What Is Life Worth? by Kenneth R. Feinberg
- Who Gets What - and Why by Alvin E. Roth
- Who gets what? by Kenneth R. Feinberg
- 1984 by George Orwell
- 30 Things Your Family Can Do to Save the Earth by The Earth Works Group
- 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology by Scott O. Lilienfeld
- A Beginner's Guide to the End by BJ Miller
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- A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume
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- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- Africa’s Struggle for Its Art by Bénédicte Savoy
- Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
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- Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre
- Barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough, John Helyar
- Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
- Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
- Better by Atul Gawande
- Beyond Broadway by Professor Stacy Wolf
- Big Coal by Jeff Goodell
- Birdwatcher by Elizabeth Rosenthal
- Blind Spots by Marty Makary
- Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
- Bright-sided by Barbara Ehrenreich
- Build a Brand Like Trader Joe's by Mark Gardiner
- Calculated Bets: Computers, Gambling, and Mathematical Modeling to Win by Steven Skiena
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- Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
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- Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant
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- Ed Defender by Ed Defender, The Philbrook Museum of Art
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- Everyday Utopia by Kristen Ghodsee
- Everything is Obvious by Duncan J. Watts
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- How Music Works by David Byrne
- How Not to Network a Nation by Benjamin Peters
- How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
- How to Become a Successful Artist by Magnus Resch
- How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan
- Human Development Report 1994 by United Nations Development Programme
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- Influence, New and Expanded: the Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B Cialdini
- Inside Of A Dog - What Dogs See, Smell, And Know - Book Club Edition by Alexandra Horowitz
- Inside the nudge unit by David Halpern
- Interaction of Color by Josef Albers
- Irrational Exuberance by Robert J. Shiller
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- Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer
- Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
- Karl Marx, Frederick Engels : Collected Works. Vol. 3 by Karl Marx
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- Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
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- Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
- Left Turn by Tim Groseclose
- Let Me Die Before I Wake by Derek Humphry
- Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
- Leviathan by Eric Jay Dolin
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- Life after television by George Gilder
- Life Is What You Make It by Peter Buffett
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- Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
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- Messiah by George Frideric Handel
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