Podcast
Stephen Dubner's book list: the books mentioned on Freakonomics Radio
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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Thinking, Fast and Slow
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman was discussed across multiple episodes of Freakonomics Radio. Stephen Dubner, Nate Silver, and other guests explored Daniel Kahneman's contributions to psychology and behavioral economics. Speakers referenced concepts such as system one and system two cognitive processing, cognitive blindness, and heuristic shortcuts, while Nate Silver praised the work as a great 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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Freakonomics
Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner's book Freakonomics was discussed on Freakonomics Radio, notably during an anniversary retrospective episode where Stephen Dubner reflected on the writing style, the absence of a central thesis, and the exercise in curiosity without cynicism. Guest David Rubenstein also praised it as his favorite book of the prior twenty years.
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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Grit
Angela Duckworth's book "Grit" came up frequently on Freakonomics Radio, often mentioned by host Stephen Dubner in connection with his friendship and past podcast collaboration with the author. Dubner frequently referenced Duckworth's research on passion and perseverance while discussing lessons he learned about positive psychology and the brain. Additionally, guest Chris Bosh shared that he discovered the book after his coach gifted it to him, praising its daily impact on his perspective.
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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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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Nudge
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner repeatedly discussed Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein's book Nudge across various episodes from 2019 to 2026. Dubner promoted the newly revised final edition of the book, recommended it to listeners, and frequently engaged Thaler on choice architecture, behavioral economics, and the concepts behind the nudge movement.
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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Moneyball
Michael Lewis's book Moneyball came up frequently on Freakonomics Radio. Host Stephen Dubner highlighted the book and its 20th anniversary in several episodes, including discussions on how its themes led into Lewis's later work and its adaptation into a film. Guest Brian Burke also mentioned reading Moneyball when discussing the beginnings of his football analytics career, and Michael Lewis himself appeared on the podcast in late 2022 to discuss the enjoyable writing process behind the book.
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.
Recommended“Alexandra Horowitz who runs a dog cognition Lab at Barnard college is the author of a wonderful book called inside of a dog I've gotten inside of the dog and have glimpsed the dog's point of view you can do the same if you have a dog in the room with you”
Where to get it
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Why Nations Fail
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner and Daron Acemoglu repeatedly discussed Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson's book across several episodes. Dubner used the book to frame discussions on institutional economics, the resource curse, and economic progress, while Acemoglu reflected on co-authoring the work as a realization of his teenage aspirations.
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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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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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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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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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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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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Triumph of the City
Triumph of the City by Edward L. Glaeser came up on Freakonomics Radio across multiple episodes. Stephen Dubner introduced the book during the interview in Why Does Everyone Hate Rats? and mentioned it in Is New York City Over? to discuss the value of cities. In the episode Could the Next Brooklyn Be… Las Vegas?, Stephen Dubner and guest Zach Ware discussed the book as a major inspiration for Tony Hsieh and the Downtown Project, with Tony Hsieh referencing the concept of the edifice complex from the text.
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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Bowling Alone
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner and the show's host referenced Robert Putnam's landmark book Bowling Alone. They discussed its thesis regarding civic life and explored historical trends of social capital in the United States.
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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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 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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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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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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Superfreakonomics
On Freakonomics Radio, Debbie Millman, Steve Levitt, and Jim Yong Kim mentioned Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner's book Superfreakonomics. Steve Levitt referenced the book when discussing predictions about carbon emissions, while Jim Yong Kim and Debbie Millman cited it alongside the original Freakonomics while praising the authors' methodology and the expansion of the series.
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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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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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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Compassionomics
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner and Anthony Mazzarelli discussed Compassionomics, a book co-authored by Anthony Mazzarelli, Stephen Trzeciak, and Cory Booker. Dubner and Mazzarelli cited data points from the book, summarized its premise that compassion improves medical outcomes and reduces costs, and highlighted its arguments regarding the physiological and psychological benefits of caring in healthcare.
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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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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Plunder
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner and guest Brendan Ballou discussed Ballou's book Plunder, using it to explore the rise and impact of private equity firms on the United States economy.
Discussed“I suppose if I thought that it was good for society I wouldn't have called the book plunder today on free economics radio the rise and Rise of the private Equity”
Where to get it
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Power and Progress
The book Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle of Technology and Prosperity by Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson was discussed across multiple episodes of Freakonomics Radio. In episode 555, host Adam Davidson introduced guest Simon Johnson and discussed the book to explore why some countries are rich while others are poor, highlighting historical examples of technological decisions with unpredictable consequences. Similarly, in episode 547, Stephen Dubner examined the book while discussing the concentration of technology within a few major firms, referencing an op-ed written by the authors on the same themes.
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 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”
Where to get it
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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”
Where to get it
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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.”
Where to get it
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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”
Where to get it
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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.'”
Where to get it
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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.”
Where to get it
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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”
Where to get it
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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”
Where to get it
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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”
Where to get it
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Soccernomics
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner recommended Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski's Soccernomics in June 2018 and June 2026, citing it as the foundational basis for sports-related podcast discussions.
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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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.”
Where to get it
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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.”
Where to get it
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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”
Where to get it
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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”
Where to get it
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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”
Where to get it
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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.”
Where to get it
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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”
Where to get it
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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”
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 episodes including a 2019 interview and a 2023 follow-up. Dubner highlighted Yang's pessimistic economic views and cited a specific proposal from the book regarding corporate fines and jail time for executives.
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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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”
Where to get it
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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.”
Where to get it
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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”
Where to get it
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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”
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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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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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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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Gang Leader for a Day
Sudhir Venkatesh's book Gang Leader for a Day was discussed on Freakonomics Radio. Venkatesh shared his surprise upon discovering that Mark Zuckerberg had included the book on his monthly reading list in 2015. Host Stephen Dubner also mentioned reading the book, praising it while introducing Venkatesh to discuss social science insights.
Discussed“yes I was very surprised to find out that Mark Zuckerberg put gang leader for a day the book that I wrote on his monthly reading list in 2015.”
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Just Food
Across episodes of Freakonomics Radio, including The Future of Meat (Rebroadcast) on August 29, 2019, and The Future of Meat on February 14, 2019, Stephen Dubner discussed Just Food by James E. McWilliams. Dubner brought up the agricultural historian's work to introduce arguments concerning the environmental impact of meat production.
Discussed“The agricultural historian James McWilliams, in a book called Just Food, argues that, quote,”
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Nicomachean Ethics
On Freakonomics Radio, guest Jeff Sachs referenced Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics in both an August 2018 episode and its January 2019 rebroadcast. Sachs brought up the ancient text to discuss the philosophical roots of human well-being and to emphasize that achieving happiness requires having basic material needs met.
Discussed“And he pointed out in the Nicomachean Ethics 2,300 years ago that to be happy requires the good benefit of having material needs met.”
Where to get it
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Palaces for the People
Stephen Dubner brought up Eric Klinenberg's Palaces for the People on Freakonomics Radio in January 2023. He cited the NYU sociologist's work to discuss social infrastructure, accessible public gathering places like old public libraries and YMCAs, and investments in public housing to combat issues like loneliness.
Discussed“The NYU sociologist, Eric Kleinenberg, he wrote a book called Palaces for the People. You think about old public libraries, YMCAs, things like that.”
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Principles
Ray Dalio's book Principles came up on Freakonomics Radio across two episodes. In an extra interview released on April 9, 2018, host Stephen Dubner discussed with Dalio how the book grew out of an earlier non-book publication. Earlier, in an episode on March 19, 2018, Dubner asked guest Jack Welch if he had seen Dalio's new book, and Welch praised it as a hell of a book.
Discussed“And Principles, the book, part one, grew out of a non-book version that you published a while back.”
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Subprime Attention Crisis
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner and the host referenced Tim Hwang's book Subprime Attention Crisis while introducing the author and discussing digital advertising and Google.
Discussed“now he is a media researcher and the author of a book about digital advertising called subprime attention crisis and what that basically meant is that Google as a search engine became a lot more profitable”
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SuperFreakonomics LP
SuperFreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner was discussed on Freakonomics Radio in August 2024 and March 2023. The host referenced specific chapters and calculations from the book, including a statistical look at Major League Baseball players and their sons to illustrate the impact of genetics, as well as a chapter titled Unbelievable Stories About Apathy and Altruism.
Discussed“In Super Freakonomics, one of the books I wrote with economist Steve Levitt, we performed a rough calculation showing that if a Major League Baseball player has a son, that boy is about 800 times more likely than a random boy to also make the majors.”
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The Art of Gathering
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner referenced The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker in both a September 2019 episode and its May 2020 rebroadcast. Dubner brought up Parker and her book to examine how people can make meetings less terrible by clearly defining the true purpose of gatherings.
Discussed“Priya Parker again. Her book is called The Art of Gathering.”
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The Food Lab
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner mentioned J. Kenji López-Alt's massive first cookbook, The Food Lab, when introducing his background and achievements, noting that it went on to win a James Beard Award.
Discussed“He had just published his first cookbook, a massive thing, called The Food Lab, which went on to win a James Beard Award.”
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The House of God
Stephen Dubner discussed Samuel Shem's 1978 cult novel, The House of God, on Freakonomics Radio to illustrate the cynicism, slang, and burnout experienced by medical residents. He noted that the book remains popular among medical students and follows a group of first-year residents working in a hospital they refer to by the book's title.
Discussed“there is a cult novel published in 1978 called the house of God which is still popular among medical students it follows a group of first-year residents at work in the hospital the house of God is their name for the hospital itself”
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The Index Card
On Freakonomics Radio in episodes from 2018 and 2022, Stephen Dubner discussed the book The Index Card by Helaine Olen and Harold Pollack. Dubner introduced the publication as a popular book in choice analysis examining why personal finance does not have to be complicated and explored how Harold Pollack turned a viral index card into a co-authored book with journalist Helaine Olen.
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”
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The Jungle
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner brought up Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle to compare historical meatpacking conditions to current industry concentration. Zeke Emanuel also mentioned the book to compare the modern wellness craze to the Gilded Age.
Discussed“So, you're back, if you will, to The Jungle. The Jungle is Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel, an expose of the harsh work conditions in Chicago's meat packing industry.”
Where to get it
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The Little Book of Hygge
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner discussed The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking during two separate episodes, including the 2018 episode 345 on how to be happy and a 2019 rebroadcast. Dubner introduced the work by referring to Wiking as the author of an international bestseller and mentioned the book while exploring the cultural concept of hygge in Denmark.
Discussed“Viking is the author of an international bestseller called The Little Book of Hygge.”
Where to get it
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The Millionaire Next Door
On Freakonomics Radio, Jacob Sabulski mentioned The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko to connect immigration statistics to generational wealth. Later in the podcast, Stephen Dubner cited the same book as one of the popular finance works analyzed in a research paper by James Choi.
Discussed“that makes me think of The Millionaire Next Door that book you know that like all these immigrant parents that come in like make their kids wealthy then they blow it all by the second generation”
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The Narrow Corridor
On Freakonomics Radio in 2020, host Stephen Dubner discussed The Narrow Corridor by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. Dubner brought up the book to explore the historical balance between states and societies and to examine the fate of liberty.
Discussed“Robinson's latest book, also co-authored with Daron Asimoglu, is called The Narrow Corridor, States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty. We emphasize this balance between state and society.”
Where to get it
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The Power of Bad
John Tierney and Roy F. Baumeister's book 'The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It' was featured on Freakonomics Radio. Host Stephen Dubner discussed the core psychological concept of negativity bias with reference to Roy Baumeister's work, subsequently introducing the co-authored book to explain how negative experiences disproportionately influence human behavior and how individuals can counteract those effects.
Discussed“the social psychologist Roy bowmeister calls it the power of bad”
Speaker Why Is U.S. Media So Negative? | Freakonomics Radio | Episode 477 2023-01-18 Listen at 14:09Where to get it
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The Surprising Science of Meetings
On Freakonomics Radio in September 2019 and May 2020, host Stephen Dubner brought up Steven G. Rogelberg's book, The Surprising Science of Meetings. Dubner mentioned the book to introduce Rogelberg as an organizational psychologist who studies workplace meetings.
Discussed“He's written a book called The Surprising Science of Meetings.”
Where to get it
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The Year of Living Danishly
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner discussed the book The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell in multiple episodes, including How to Be Happy (Rebroadcast) and 345. How to Be Happy. Dubner introduced the book to explain Helen Russell's journey moving to Denmark and investigating the country's happiness and the secrets behind its high happiness rankings.
Discussed“She set out to answer these questions in a book she called The Year of Living Danishly, Uncovering the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country.”
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Think Like a Freak
On Freakonomics Radio, Debbie Millman listed the book while discussing the Freakonomics series, and David Duchovny mentioned reading Freakonomics in 2005, explaining how it blew him away and praising the insightful questions asked by Steven Dubner.
Discussed“Think Like a Freak in 2014, and When to Rob a Bank in 2015.”
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Late Admissions
On an episode of Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner discussed Late Admissions: Confessions of a Black Conservative by Glenn C. Loury. Dubner praised the memoir as one of the most interesting and unusual books he had read, highlighting its blend of public policy discourse and deeply personal, sometimes uncomfortable admissions about Loury's life and career. Throughout the interview, the host and Loury explored the candid stories shared in the book, including Loury's sharing of the manuscript with Alice Schelling and his reflections on professional setbacks.
Discussed“it's called late admissions Confessions of a black conservative”
Where to get it
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Risky Business
Stephen Dubner and co-author Amy Finkelstein discussed the book Risky Business, co-authored by Liran Einav, Amy Finkelstein, and Ray Fisman, on an episode of Freakonomics Radio. The hosts explored why insurance markets fail, read excerpts from the book, and discussed historical examples of failed insurance products like divorce insurance.
Discussed“she is the co-author of a new book called risky business why Insurance markets fail and what to do about it”
Where to get it
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Manhattan Beach
During an episode of Freakonomics Radio on August 26, 2026, author Jennifer Egan and host Stephen Dubner discussed her historical fiction novel Manhattan Beach. Egan reflected on her initial ideas involving a noir-ish lens and wartime New York, the negative feedback her writer's group gave to her tricky narrative voice, and her emotional reactions to their dislike of her narrator.
Discussed“And it's funny because with Manhattan Beach, I initially thought, oh, I'm going to use some tricky narrative strategies. I'm going to try to do something that isn't just straight up historical fiction.”
Where to get it
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Nasty, Brutish, and Short
On an episode of Freakonomics Radio titled Does Philosophy Still Matter? on December 27, 2022, host Stephen Dubner discussed Nasty, Brutish, and Short by Scott Hershovitz. Throughout the interview, Dubner introduced the author and featured multiple excerpts from the book. The discussions explored how Hershovitz used parenting, everyday topics like bad words and employer-employee relations, and stories about figures like Taylor Swift to make philosophy accessible and demonstrate how legal systems reset social norms.
Discussed“he has now written his first book it is called Nasty brutish and short adventures in philosophy with my kids”
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New York, New York, New York
On the January 20, 2023 bonus episode of Freakonomics Radio titled How Does New York City Keep Reinventing Itself?, host Stephen Dubner and guest Kurt Andersen discussed Thomas Dyja's book New York, New York, New York. Dubner introduced the book as the main topic, while Andersen explored its coverage of five New York City mayors, the city's fiscal crisis, and how neighborhoods balance order and disorder.
Recommended“the author is Thomas Diga and the book is called New York New York New York four Decades of success excess and transformation if you care even a little bit about New York City possibly even if you don't this book will”
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Transformation
On Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner and guest Kurt Andersen discussed Thomas Dyja's book New York New York New York: Four Decades of Success, Excess, and Transformation. Andersen analyzed how the book examines the terms of five New York City mayors, the city's fiscal evolution, municipal bond usage, and the delicate balance between urban order and disorder.
Recommended“the author is Thomas Diga and the book is called New York New York New York four Decades of success excess and transformation if you care even a little bit about New York City possibly even if you don't this book will”
Where to get it
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The Work of Art
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner discussed Adam Moss's book, The Work of Art, during the episode "616. How to Make Something from Nothing." Dubner explored the book's double-entendre title and explained that Moss wrote it after shifting away from painting. The discussion highlighted how the book examines forty-three case studies of creative processes, detailing the journey from initial concepts to finished products.
Discussed“the something new eventually took the form of a book called the work of art how something comes from nothing the book is 43 cases of building something from first notion to finished product with all the kind of torture”
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No Rules Rules: Netflix and the culture of reinvention
On the Freakonomics Radio episode What if Your Company Had No Rules?, host Stephen Dubner and guest Maria Konnikova discussed No Rules Rules, Netflix and the culture of reinvention by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer. Dubner introduced Hastings at the start of the program, while Konnikova dedicated her interview segment to exploring the book's insights on Netflix and its unique corporate culture. Konnikova read passages from the book and played an audio clip of Hastings reading an excerpt. An announcer also mentioned the book and its publisher, Penguin Press, at the conclusion of the episode.
Discussed“Today's author is Reed Hastings, and the book is No Rules Rules, Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention, which Hastings co-wrote with Aaron Meyer.”
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A Visit from the Goon Squad
On the 2026-08-26 episode of Freakonomics Radio titled ‐I Trust Almost Anyone More Than Myself‐ | Better in Person, Stephen Dubner and Jennifer Egan discussed A Visit from the Goon Squad. Dubner introduced Egan by highlighting her Pulitzer Prize for the novel, while Egan explained her fragmentary writing style, lateral movement, and creative choices regarding future timelines.
Discussed“She is a novelist who has received many awards, including a Pulitzer Prize for a visit from the Goon Squad, a kaleidoscope of a book about music and ambition and the nature of time and memory.”
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Hit Refresh
On a March 2018 episode of Freakonomics Radio, Satya Nadella and host Stephen Dubner discussed Nadella's book Hit Refresh. Nadella explained that the core purpose of the book was to explore continuous personal and organizational renewal, reflecting on his writing process and personal life. Dubner highlighted passages concerning Microsoft's future in artificial intelligence and quantum computing, as well as Nadella's thoughts on good timing and luck.
Discussed“If anything, you know, my entire purpose of this book, at least, was, look, this process is a continuous process of renewal.”
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Liar's Poker
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner discussed Michael Lewis's first book, Liar's Poker. Dubner and the host highlighted the book as part memoir and part exposé of the money-harvesting industry on Wall Street during the 1980s. The segments explored how the book captured the beginning of a broader movement toward monetizing and financializing everything, and noted that Lewis had recently reread his early work.
Discussed“this began with his first book Liar's poker my first job was in the very best place to tell the story about Wall Street in the 1980s”
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Influence
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner discussed Robert B. Cialdini's classic book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion during an episode in January 2023. Dubner introduced the seminal 1984 text to explore the science of persuasion and how Cialdini's research advised both sides of the bargaining table. At the conclusion of the episode, Dubner officially recommended and promoted the newly expanded edition of the book to listeners.
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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Six Faces of Globalization
Anthea Roberts and Nicolas Lamp's book Six Faces of Globalization was featured on Freakonomics Radio. Host Stephen Dubner introduced the book and co-author at the beginning of the episode, referenced it to frame the establishment narrative, and recommended it during the outro. Guest Anthea Roberts also discussed the peer review process and how economists received the book.
Discussed“she is also the co-author with Nicholas lamp of a book called six faces of globalization who wins who loses and why it matters”
Where to get it
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Stefan Zweig
On Freakonomics Radio, the host discussed Stefan Zweig's memoir 'The World of Yesterday' while exploring the lost world of pre-war Vienna. The host described it as a heartbreaking book reflecting on a Vienna that viewed itself as a golden age before the devastation of subsequent wars and noted that the author finished the work just before his death in 1942. Passages from the memoir were read to illustrate the liberal idealism of the nineteenth century.
Discussed“The great Viennese writer Stefan Zweig, who killed himself in 1942, left behind a memoir called 'The World of Yesterday.' It is a heartbreaking book about a Vienna that, in retrospect, didn't stand a chance.”
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China's Gilded Age
On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner discussed China's Gilded Age by Yuen Yuen Ang. Dubner introduced Ang as a political science professor at the University of Michigan and highlighted her published book, which explores the paradox of economic booms and vast corruption, while mentioning the title again during the episode wrap-up.
Discussed“you and you and aung is a professor of political science at the University of Michigan she recently published a book called China's Gilded Age the Paradox of economic boom and vast corruption”
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Letters to a Young Athlete
On the January 23, 2023 episode of Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner and guest Angela Duckworth discussed Chris Bosh's book, Letters to a Young Athlete. Duckworth opened her interview by sharing her initial uncertainty about connecting with the book and asked Bosh about its unique format and whether he had his five children in mind while writing it. Dubner concluded the segment by mentioning the book's title and its publisher, Penguin Press.
Discussed“I didn't know whether I would connect with this new book Letters to a young athlete”
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Sum
David Eagleman's book Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives was featured on Freakonomics Radio in December 2024. Host Steve Levitt asked Eagleman to describe the themes of his book of speculative fiction during their conversation about the brain. Levitt also discussed Eagleman's concept of possibilianism and recommended Sum alongside other works by the author at the end of the episode.
Discussed“you wrote a book called sum that's suum so it's sum 40 Tales from the afterlives”
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The other 328 books mentioned on Freakonomics Radio, ranked, with the latest episode and time
- Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward
- How to Win Games and Beat People by Tom Whipple
- 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
- Regime Change by Patrick J. Deneen
- The Candy House by Jennifer Egan
- 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
- Doctored by Charles Piller
- Eat Like a Fish by Bren Smith
- Scorecasting by Tobias Moskowitz
- 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
- Conscious Leadership by John Mackey, Steve Mcintosh, Carter Phipps
- Economics by Daron Acemoglu, David Laibson, John List
- Entrepreneurial State by Mariana Mazzucato
- General Theory Of Employment , Interest And Money by John Maynard Keynes
- Good to Great by Jim Collins
- 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
- Ours Was the Shining Future by David Leonhardt
- Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
- Pitch Perfect by Bill McGowan
- 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
- 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
- Two and Twenty by Sachin Khajuria
- 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
- Bible by Bible
- 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
- Spotify Teardown by Maria Eriksson
- The Accidental Superpower by Mr. Peter Zeihan
- 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
- What Is Life Worth? by Kenneth R. Feinberg
- Who Gets What - and Why by Alvin E. Roth
- Who gets what? by Kenneth R. Feinberg
- 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
- A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence by Michael Wooldridge
- A Crack in Creation by Jennifer A. Doudna
- A History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage
- A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume
- A tree grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
- 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
- Allergic by Theresa MacPhail
- Arid Empire by Natalie Koch
- Barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough, John Helyar
- Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
- Better by Atul Gawande
- Beyond Broadway by Professor Stacy Wolf
- 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
- Capital by Karl Marx
- Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
- Chicken Soup for the Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Amy Newmark
- Choke by Sian Beilock
- Cognitive Behaviour Therapy with Children. An Investigation Into Cognitive Skills and Cognitive Content in Clinically Referrred and Non-clinical Young Children by Sarah Michelle Quakley
- Common Ground by Justin Trudeau
- Common sense book of baby and child care by Benjamin Spock
- Complications by Atul Gawande
- Complicit by Max H. Bazerman
- Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper by Stephen J. Dubner
- Conscious Capitalism by John Mackey, Rajendra Sisodia
- Cosmos by Carl Sagan
- Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant
- Dark Money by Jane Mayer
- Data for Science and Technology; Proceedings of the Seventh International CODATA Conference; Kyoto, Japan, 8-11 October 1980 by PS Glaeser (ed)
- David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
- Doping by April Henning
- Dow 36,000 by James K. Glassman
- Dying for Growth by Jim Yong Kim
- Eat Your Ice Cream by Ezekiel J. Emanuel
- Ed Defender by Ed Defender, The Philbrook Museum of Art
- Edison's Conquest of Mars by Garrett Putnam Serviss
- Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker
- Every Man for Himself and God Against All by Werner Herzog
- Everyday Utopia by Kristen Ghodsee
- Fighting Traffic by Peter D. Norton
- Fire Shut Up in My Bones by Charles M. Blow
- Foundations of Economic Analysis by Paul Anthony Samuelson
- Freedom's Laboratory by Audra J. Wolfe
- Genius and Anxiety by Norman Lebrecht
- Global Shell Games by Michael G. Findley
- Going Solo by Eric Klinenberg
- GRIT The Power of PASSION and PERSEVERANCE by Angela Duckworth
- Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
- Handel in London by Jane Glover
- Harry Potter by Unknown
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
- Hershey by Michael D'Antonio
- Holy Bible (NIV) by Various Authors,
- Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, Henry Lincoln
- Horses at Work by Ann Norton Greene
- Hot Seat by Jeff Immelt
- How China Escaped the Poverty Trap by Yuen Yuen Ang
- How Music Works by David Byrne
- 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
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
- Human Development Report 1994 by United Nations Development Programme
- Identity Economics by George A. Akerlof
- 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
- Is Marriage for White People? by Ralph Richard Banks
- Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer
- Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
- Karl Marx, Frederick Engels : Collected Works. Vol. 3 by Karl Marx
- Keeping the Republic by Mitch Daniels
- Kidnap by Anja Shortland
- Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
- Leadership in Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Let Me Die Before I Wake by Derek Humphry
- Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
- Leviathan by Eric Jay Dolin
- Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
- Life after television by George Gilder
- Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith
- Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
- Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- Little Match Girl Passion by David Lang
- Living Your Dying by Stanley Keleman
- Long Tail by Chris Anderson
- Lot Six by David Adjmi
- Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
- Making a Spectacle by Jessica Glasscock
- Managing the Skies by Clinton V. Oster
- Markets, Minds, and Money by Miguel Urquiola
- Mass Flourishing by Edmund S. Phelps
- Mastermind by Maria Konnikova
- Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar
- Messiah by George Frideric Handel
- Misbehaving by Richard H. Thaler
- Mom's Cancer by Brian Fies
- More Work for Mother: The Ironies of Household Technology from the Open Hearth to the Microwave by Ruth Schwartz Cowan
- Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen
- Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
- Ninety Percent Mental by Bob Tewksbury
- No Judgment by Lauren Oyler
- No More Throw-away People by Edgar S. Cahn
- Parentology by Dalton Conley
- Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track by Richard P. Feynman
- Personal Finance For Dummies® by Eric Tyson
- Persuasion by Herbert I. Abelson
- Phil by Alan Shipnuck
- Pictures from Home by Larry Sultan
- Planet Funny by Ken Jennings
- Positively False by Floyd Landis
- Postcards From the Edge by Carrie Fisher
- Prayer Has Spoiled Everything by Adeline Masquelier
- Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
- Presidential Power by Richard E. Neustadt
- Private Government by Elizabeth Anderson
- Protecting Antiquities by Michael Kremer
- Prototype Nation by Silvia M. Lindtner
- Putting Meat on the American Table by Roger Horowitz
- Raised by Wolves by Jim Goldberg
- Raising America by Ann Hulbert
- Random Acts of Medicine by Anupam B. Jena, Christopher Worsham
- Rats by Robert Sullivan
- Rebel Talent by Francesca Gino
- Reinventing American Health Care by Ezekiel J. Emanuel
- Relentless by Luis A. Miranda Jr.
- Road to Survival by William Vogt
- Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
- Roofs Or Ceilings? by Milton Friedman
- Rules of Play by Katie Salen Tekinbas
- Safe Enough Spaces by Michael S. Roth
- Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott
- Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids by Bryan Caplan
- Shop class as soulcraft by Matthew B. Crawford
- Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
- Smart People Should Build Things by Andrew Yang
- Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult
- Streets of Gold by Ran Abramitzky
- Sugar by Elizabeth Abbott
- Superforecasting by Philip E. Tetlock
- Supermarket USA by Shane Hamilton
- Superstition by Stuart Vyse
- Tainted Glory in Handel's Messiah by Michael Marissen
- The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene, Joost Elffers
- The Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith
- The American Experiment by David M. Rubenstein
- The American Story by David M. Rubenstein
- The Anaconda in the Chandelier: Writings on China by Perry Link
- The Art of Not Being Governed by James C. Scott
- The Backgammon Chronicles by Robert Wachtel
- The Bell Curve by Richard J. Herrnstein, Charles Murray
- The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker
- The Big Book of Tell Me why by Arkady Leokum
- The big short by Michael Lewis
- The Blind Side by Michael Lewis
- The Brutish Museums by Dan Hicks
- The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by Perry Moore
- The Chrysanthemum and the Sword by Ruth Benedict
- The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
- The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman
- The confidence game by Maria Konnikova
- The conservative heart by Brooks, Arthur C.
- The Curse of Bigness by Tim Wu
- The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
- The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs
- The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker
- The Devil You Know by Charles M. Blow
- The Economic Effects of Private Equity Buyouts by Steven J. Davis
- The Economics of Airlines by Volodymyr Bilotkach
- The Ends of Human Life by Ezekiel J. Emanuel
- The Executive Unbound by Eric A. Posner
- The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Richard Phillips Feynman
- The Future of Freedom by Fareed Zakaria
- The grasshopper : games, life, and Utopia by Bernard Herbert Suits
- The Great Bridge by David McCullough
- The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
- The Hidden Persuaders by Vance Packard
- The Horse in the City by Clay McShane
- The Infidel and the Professor by Dennis C. Rasmussen
- The Innovators by Walter Isaacson
- The Manager's Communication Toolbox by Everett Chasen, Bob Putnam
- The Market for "lemons" by George A. Akerlof
- The Mental ABC's of Pitching by H. A. Dorfman
- The Mental Game of Baseball by Harvey A. Dorfman
- The Moral Foundations of Public Funding for the Arts by Michael Rushton
- The Most Good You Can Do by Peter Singer
- The Nation City by Rahm Emanuel
- The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
- The One Minute Manager by Kenneth H. Blanchard, Spencer Johnson
- The Open Society and Its Enemies by Karl Popper
- The Organization Man by William H. Whyte
- The Original Bambi by Felix Salten
- The Ostrich Paradox by Robert Meyer
- The Oxford Dictionary of American Legal Quotations by Fred R. Shapiro
- The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
- The Premonition by Michael Lewis
- The Price We Pay by Marty Makary
- The Prisoner Of Sex by Norman Mailer
- The Protestant ethic and the "spirit" of capitalism and other writings by Max Weber
- The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
- The Republic by Plato
- The Rise and Fall of American Growth by Robert J. Gordon
- The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel
- The Second Machine Age by Erik Brynjolfsson
- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan
- The Song of Songs by Origen
- The Sports Gene by David Epstein
- The streets were paved with gold by Ken Auletta
- The Stuff of Thought by Steven Pinker
- The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
- The Superstition by Mark Stewart
- The Talented Tenth by W E B Du Bois
- The Violence Project by Jillian Peterson
- The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
- The Waste Makers by Vance Packard
- The Weirdest People in the World? by Steven J. Heine, Ara Norenzayan
- Theater Kid by Jeffrey Seller
- Theory of Games and Economic Behavior by John von Neumann
- Thirty Million Words by Dana Suskind
- This Time Is Different by Carmen M. Reinhart
- Time Dollars by Edgar S. Cahn
- Together by Vivek Murthy
- Two Paths to Prosperity by Avner Greif
- Unfinished business by Anne-Marie Slaughter
- WALDEN TWO by B.F. SKINNER
- Water, Race, and Disease by Werner Troesken
- What Do People Do All Day? by Richard Scarry
- What Is Intelligence? by Blaise Aguera y Arcas
- When to Rob a Bank by Steven D. Levitt
- While England Slept by Winston Churchill
- Why Liberalism Failed by Patrick J. Deneen
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Latest mentions
“Rubenstein has also compiled several books worth of these interviews. There's the American story, conversations with master historians and the American experiment, dialogues on a dream.”
“Rubenstein has also compiled several books worth of these interviews. There's the American story, conversations with master historians and the American experiment, dialogues on a dream.”
“He's just published a new book called Inside the Owners Box: Conversations on Power and Leadership in Sports.”
“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.”
“A couple decades ago, Harowitz published a book called Putting Meat on the American Table.”
“So, you're back, if you will, to The Jungle. The Jungle is Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel, an expose of the harsh work conditions in Chicago's meat packing industry.”
“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.”
“Yes. You brought this book. The big book of Tell Me Why.”
“Michael Roth isn't even scared of the free speech debate. He wrote a book called Safe Enough Spaces, and in 2012, Wesleyan hosted the Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.”
“So this is a photograph by Jim Goldberg. Jim is from New Haven originally, but he's been in Northern California for many decades. He's retired now from CCA, where I got to know him when I was president of the art school. And this is from a book called Raised by Wolves, which is a story of kids living on”
“And then he did a book from which this is taken called Pictures from Home. This photograph is called Mom in Green Nightgown.”
“She is a novelist who has received many awards, including a Pulitzer Prize for a visit from the Goon Squad, a kaleidoscope of a book about music and ambition and the nature of time and memory.”
“And it's funny because with Manhattan Beach, I initially thought, oh, I'm going to use some tricky narrative strategies. I'm going to try to do something that isn't just straight up historical fiction.”
“I dedicated The Candy House to them.”
“That is Benedict Seavois, a French professor of art history at the technical university in Berlin. As for the Benin plunder, most important pieces went directly to the British Museum, but the rest has been sold on the art market and the art market around 1900.”
“Consider the book he published in 2020. It's called The Brutish Museums: The Beninian Bronzes:es Colonial Violence and Cultural Rest. Here is a typical sentence. The sacking of Benin City in February 1897 was an attack on human life, on culture, on belief, on art, and on sovereignty.”
“Well, I think his memoir, Born to Run, is one of the great rock books.”
“Well, I think his memoir, Born to Run, is one of the great rock books., But in it, Nebraska goes by in just a couple pages.”
“And now Buchdahl is a New York Times bestselling author. Her memoir is called Heart of a Stranger, an unlikely rabbi's story of faith, identity, and belonging.”
“I remember there's a book by Abraham Joshua Heschel called The Sabbath, where if I recall correctly, and I probably don't, he described how the Sabbath represents not the earth moving through time, but rather time going across the earth.”
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