Freakonomics Radio

The 166-year-old chain, which is fighting extinction, calls the parade its “gift to the nation.” With 30 million TV viewers, it’s also a big moneymaker. At least we think it is — Macy’s is famously tight-lipped about parade economics. We try to loosen them up. (Part one of a two-part series.) Please take our audience survey at freakonomics.com/survey. SOURCES:Will CossJeff KinneyKevin LynchTony SpringJessica TischDawn Tolson RESOURCES:Macy's: The Store. The Star. The Story., History of Macy's of New York, 1853-1919: Chapters in the Evolution of the Department StoreMacy's Thanksgiving Day Parade EXTRA:The Economics of Everyday Things.

It’s true that robots (and other smart technologies) will kill many jobs. It may also be true that newer collaborative robots (“cobots”) will totally reinvigorate how work gets done. That, at least, is what the economists are telling us. Should we believe them? SOURCES:David AutorJames RosenmanKaren EgglestonYong Suk Lee RESOURCES:Robots and Labor in Nursing HomesNBER Working Paper, Global Robotics Race: Korea, Singapore and Germany in the LeadUnmet Need for Equipment to Help With Bathing and Toileting Among Older US AdultsJAMA Internal Medicine, Robots and Labor in the Service Sector: Evidence from Nursing Homes,(NBER Working Papers, The Work of the Future: Building Better Jobs in an Age of Intelligent MachinesRobots and Jobs: Evidence from US Labor MarketsUniversity of Chicago Press,The Slowdown in Productivity Growth and Policies That Can Restore ItThe Hamilton Project,The China Shock: Learning from Labor Market Adjustment to Large Changes in Trade,NBER Working Papers, Deregulation at Heart of Japan's New Robotics RevolutionReuters, EXTRAS:What Do People Do All Day?Freakonomics Radio Did China Eat America’s Jobs?Freakonomics Radio

After a dramatic election, Donald Trump has returned from exile. We hear what to expect at home and abroad — and what to do if you didn’t vote for Trump. SOURCE: Fareed Zakaria RESOURCES: The Most Dangerous Moment Since the Cold WarThe Washington Post,America’s Failed Approach to Iran Can’t Really Be Called a StrategyThe Washington Post,Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present, EXTRAS: Are We Living Through the Most Revolutionary Period in History?Freakonomics RadioAre Private Equity Firms Plundering the U.S. Economy?Freakonomics Radio

Some people want the new cannabis economy to look like the craft-beer movement. Others are hoping to build the Amazon of pot. And one expert would prefer a government-run monopoly. We listen in as they fight it out. (Part four of a four-part series.) SOURCES:Jon CaulkinsAdam GoersYasmin HurdJared PolisRyan Stoa RESOURCES:Prevalence of and Trends in Current Cannabis Use Among U.S. Youth and Adults, 2013–2022Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports, Colorado’s Weed Market Is Coming Down Hard and It’s Making Other States NervousPolitico, Reducing Alcohol Consumption, the Nordic Way: Alcohol Monopolies, Marketing Bans and Higher TaxationEconomic Benefits and Social Costs of Legalizing Recreational MarijuanaFederal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Research Working Paper, Competition in the Markets for Beer, Wine, and SpiritsAlcohol MonopoliesScottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems, Craft Beer Is the Strangest, Happiest Economic Story in AmericaThe Atlantic, Marijuana Discontinuation, Anxiety Symptoms, and Relapse to MarijuanaAddictive Behaviors, EXTRAS:Is America Switching from Booze to Weed?Freakonomics Radio Why Do Your Eyeglasses Cost $1,000?Freakonomics Radio Should You Trust Private Equity to Take Care of Your Dog?Freakonomics Radio Is Dialysis a Test Case of Medicare for All?Freakonomics Radio

Chris Weld worked for years in emergency rooms, then ditched that career and bought an old farm in Massachusetts. He set up a distillery and started making prize-winning spirits. When cannabis was legalized, he jumped into that too — and the first few years were lucrative. But now? It turns out that growing, processing, and selling weed is more complicated than it looks. He gave us the grand tour. (Part three of a four-part series.) SOURCES:Yasmin HurdChris Weld RESOURCES:As America’s Marijuana Use Grows, So Do the HarmsThe New York Times, Evaluation of Dispensaries’ Cannabis Flowers for Accuracy of Labeling of Cannabinoids ContentJournal of Cannabis Research, The Complicated, Risky — but Potentially Lucrative — Business of Selling CannabisThe Wall Street Journal, Marijuana Content Labels Can’t Be TrustedCommonWealth Beacon, Growing Cannabis Indoors Produces a Lot of Greenhouse Gases — Just How Much Depends on Where It’s GrownThe Conversation, Blood and Urinary Metal Levels Among Exclusive Marijuana Users in NHANES (2005-2018)Environmental Health Perspectives, The Carbon Footprint of Indoor Cannabis ProductionEnergy Policy, EXTRAS:Cannabis Is Booming, So Why Isn’t Anyone Getting Rich?Freakonomics Radio Is America Switching From Booze to Weed?Freakonomics Radio

With abortion on the Nov. 5 ballot, we look back at Steve Levitt’s controversial research about an unintended consequence of Roe v. Wade. SOURCES:John DonohueSteve LevittPeople I (Mostly) AdmireJessica Wolpaw Reyes RESOURCES:The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime Over the Last Two DecadesThe National Bureau of Economic ResearchThe Demise of the Death Penalty in Connecticut(Stanford Law School Legal AggregateEnvironmental Policy as Social Policy? The Impact of Childhood Lead Exposure on CrimeThe B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & PolicyThe Impact of Legalized Abortion on CrimeThe Quarterly Journal of EconomicsState Abortion Rates: The Impact of Policies, Providers, Politics, Demographics, and Economic EnvironmentThe National Bureau of Economic Research EXTRAS:John Donohue: 'I’m Frequently Called a Treasonous Enemy of the Constitution,'People I (Mostly) Admire

There are a lot of reasons, including heavy regulations, high taxes, and competition from illegal weed shops. Most operators are losing money and waiting for Washington to get out of the way. In the meantime, it’s not that easy being green. (Part two of a four-part series.) SOURCES:Jon CaulkinsAdam GoersPrecious Osagie-EreseNikesh PatelNikesh PatelTom StandageThe Economist. RESOURCES:Most Americans Favor Legalizing Marijuana for Medical, Recreational UseWhitney Economics U.S. Legal Cannabis Forecast - 2024 - 2035Whitney Economics, Beer Sellers Use a Loophole to Break Into Weed Drinks MarketBloomberg, Cannabis Producer Seeks Boston Beer MergerThe Wall Street Journal, California's 'Apple Store of Weed' Declares Bankruptcy With $410M in DebtSFGate, Is the State Democratic Chair Influencing Who Can Sell Legal Weed in this N.J. City?NJ.com, When Prohibition Works: Comparing Fireworks and Cannabis Regulations, Markets, and HarmsInternational Journal of Drug Policy, Did Minnesota Accidentally Legalize Weed?Politico, EXTRAS:Is America Switching From Booze to Weed?Freakonomics Radio The Economics of Sports GamblingFreakonomics Radio

We have always been a nation of drinkers — but now there are more daily users of cannabis than alcohol. Considering alcohol’s harms, maybe that’s a good thing. But some people worry that the legalization of cannabis has outpaced the research. (Part one of a four-part series.) SOURCES:Jon CaulkinsYasmin HurdMichael SiegelTom StandageThe Economist.Ryan Stoa RESOURCES:Cannabis Tops Alcohol as Americans’ Daily Drug of ChoiceThe New York Times, Deaths from Excessive Alcohol Use — United States, 2016–2021Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Nixon Started the War on Drugs. Privately, He Said Pot Was ‘Not Particularly DangerousThe New York Times, A Brief Global History of the War on CannabisThe MIT Press Reader, Craft Weed: Family Farming and the Future of the Marijuana Industry, How the Sugar Industry Shifted Blame to FatThe New York Times, The Perils of Ignoring History: Big Tobacco Played Dirty and Millions Died. How Similar Is Big Food?The Milbank Quarterly, A History Of The World In Six Glasses, Cancer and Coronary Artery Disease Among Seventh-Day AdventistsCancer, EXTRAS:Why Is the Opioid Epidemic Still Raging?Freakonomics Radio Daron Acemoglu on Economics, Politics, and PowerPeople I (Mostly) Admire Let’s Be Blunt: Marijuana Is a Boon for Older WorkersFreakonomics Radio What’s More Dangerous: Marijuana or Alcohol?Freakonomics Radio

Are betting markets more accurate than polls? What kind of chaos would a second Trump term bring? And is U.S. democracy really in danger, or just “sputtering on”? (Part two of a two-part series.) SOURCES:Eric PosnerKoleman Strumpf RESOURCES:A Trump Dictatorship Won’t HappenProject Syndicate, The Demagogue's Playbook: The Battle for American Democracy from the Founders to Trump, The Long History of Political Betting Markets: An International PerspectiveThe Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Gambling, Manipulating Political Stock Markets: A Field Experiment and a Century of Observational DataHistorical Presidential Betting MarketsJournal of Economic Perspectives, EXTRAS:Has the U.S. Presidency Become a Dictatorship? (Update)Freakonomics Radio Does the President Matter as Much as You Think?Freakonomics Radio How Much Does the President Really Matter?Freakonomics Radio

Sure, we all pay lip service to the Madisonian system of checks and balances. But presidents have been steadily expanding the reach of the job. With an election around the corner, we updated our 2016 conversation with the legal scholar Eric Posner — who has some good news and some not-so-good news about the power of the presidency. (Part one of a two-part series.) SOURCE:Eric Posner RESOURCES:Presidential Leadership and the Separation of PowersDaedalus, The Executive Unbound: After the Madisonian Republic, EXTRA:Does the President Matter as Much as You Think?Freakonomics Radio

Sixty percent of the jobs that Americans do today didn’t exist in 1940. What happens as our labor becomes more technical and less physical? And what kinds of jobs will exist in the future? SOURCES:David AutorPaula BarmaimonThe New York Times.Ellen GriesedieckAdina LichtmanAvi PopackHuck ScarryJames SuzmanBen Varon RESOURCES:New Frontiers: The Origins and Content of New Work, 1940–2018The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Work: A Deep History, from the Stone Age to the Age of Robots, Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, What Do People Do All Day?, Economic Possibilities for our GrandchildrenAmerican Mural Project EXTRAS:Will the Democrats 'Make America Great Again'?Freakonomics Radio How to Stop Worrying and Love the Robot ApocalypseFreakonomics Radio Did China Eat America’s Jobs?Freakonomics Radio People I (Mostly) Admire.

His research on police brutality and school incentives won him acclaim, but also enemies. He was suspended for two years by Harvard, during which time he took a hard look at corporate diversity programs. As a follow-up to our recent series on the Rooney Rule, we revisit our 2022 conversation with the controversial economist. SOURCE:Roland Fryer RESOURCES:How to Make Up the Covid Learning LossWall Street Journal, Roland Fryer on Better Alternatives to Defunding the PoliceThe Economist, Harvard Suspends Roland Fryer, Star Economist, After Sexual Harassment ClaimsThe New York Times, Why Diversity Programs Fail: And What Works BetterHarvard Business Review, An Empirical Analysis of Racial Differences in Police Use of ForceNBER Working Paper, Getting Beneath the Veil of Effective Schools: Evidence from New York CityAmerican Economics Journal, Financial Incentives and Student Achievement: Evidence From Randomized TrialsThe Quarterly Journal of Economics, Toward a Unified Theory of Black AmericaThe New York Times, Equal Opportunity VenturesIntus CareReconstructionSigma Squared EXTRAS:Did the N.F.L. Solve Diversity Hiring?Freakonomics Radio The True Story of the Gender Pay GapFreakonomics Radio Does “Early Education” Come Way Too Late?Freakonomics Radio

What happened when the Rooney Rule made its way from pro football to corporate America? Some progress, some backsliding, and a lot of controversy. (Second in a two-part series.) SOURCES:Tynesia Boyea-RobinsonN. Jeremi DuruHerm EdwardsChristopher RiderJim RooneyScott Shephard RESOURCES:The Social Impact Advantage: Win Customers and Talent By Harnessing Your Business For Good, A Different Way to Win: Dan Rooney’s Story from the Super Bowl to the Rooney Rule, If There’s Only One Woman in Your Candidate Pool, There’s Statistically No Chance She’ll Be HiredHarvard Business Review, Racial Disparity in Leadership: Performance-Reward Bias in Promotions of National Football League CoachesSSRN, Advancing the Ball: Race, Reformation, and the Quest for Equal Coaching Opportunity in the NFL, EXTRAS:Did the N.F.L. Solve Diversity Hiring? (Part 1)Freakonomics Radio When Is a Superstar Just Another Employee?Freakonomics Radio How Much Does Discrimination Hurt the Economy? (Replay)Freakonomics Radio

The biggest sports league in history had a problem: While most of its players were Black, almost none of its head coaches were. So the N.F.L. launched a hiring policy called the Rooney Rule. In the first episode of a two-part series, we look at how the rule succeeded — until it failed. SOURCES:N. Jeremi DuruHerm EdwardsJim Rooney RESOURCES:A Different Way to Win: Dan Rooney's Story from the Super Bowl to the Rooney Rule, For ASU's Herm Edwards, Sports Bubble Helped to Overcome Racism Growing UpThe Arizona Republic, Advancing the Ball: Race, Reformation, and the Quest for Equal Coaching Opportunity in the NFL, Differences in the Success of NFL Coaches by Race, 1990-2002: Evidence of Last Hire, First FireJournal of Sports Economics, EXTRAS:When Is a Superstar Just Another Employee?Freakonomics Radio How Much Does Discrimination Hurt the Economy? (Replay)Freakonomics Radio

We revisit an episode from 2016 that asks: Has our culture’s obsession with innovation led us to neglect the fact that things also need to be taken care of? SOURCES:Martin CasadoRuth Schwartz CowanEdward GlaeserChris LacinakAndrew RussellLawrence SummersLee Vinsel RESOURCES:Hail the MaintainersAeon, A Lesson on Infrastructure From the Anderson Bridge FiascoThe Boston GlobeTriumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier,More Work for Mother: The Ironies of Household Technology from the Open Hearth to the Microwave EXTRAS:Freakonomics Radio Takes to the SkiesFreakonomics Radio Edward Glaeser Explains Why Some Cities Thrive While Others Fade AwayPeople I (Mostly) Admire Why Larry Summers Is the Economist Everyone Hates to LoveFreakonomics Radio

Young people have been reporting a sharp rise in anxiety and depression. This maps neatly onto the global rise of the smartphone. Some researchers are convinced that one is causing the other. But how strong is the evidence? SOURCES:David BlanchflowerLauren OylerAndrew Przybylski RESOURCES:The Declining Mental Health Of The Young And The Global Disappearance Of The Hump Shape In Age In UnhappinessNBER Working Paper, Further Evidence on the Global Decline in the Mental Health of the YoungNBER Working Paper, No Judgment: Essays, To What Extent are Trends in Teen Mental Health Driven by Changes in Reporting?Journal of Human Resources, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, Global Well-Being and Mental Health in the Internet AgeClinical Psychological Science, Are Mental Health Awareness Efforts Contributing to the Rise in Reported Mental Health Problems? A Call to Test the Prevalence Inflation HypothesisNew Ideas in Psychology, The Association Between Adolescent Well-Being and Digital Technology UseNature Human Behaviour, iGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy — and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood — and What That Means for the Rest of Us, EXTRAS:Are You Caught in a Social Media Trap?Freakonomics Radio Are We Getting Lonelier?No Stupid Questions Is Facebook Bad for Your Mental Health?Freakonomics, M.D.

Only a tiny number of “supertaskers” are capable of doing two things at once. The rest of us are just making ourselves miserable, and less productive. How can we put the — hang on a second, I've just got to get this. Come see Stephen Dubner live! “A Questionable Evening: A strategic interrogation from two people who ask questions for a living,” featuring Stephen Dubner and PJ Vogt from Search Engine. Thursday, Sept. 26th, at the Bell House in Brooklyn, NY. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-questionable-evening-evening-with-stephen-dubner-and-pj-vogt-tickets-1002544747327 SOURCES:Olivia GraceGloria MarkDavid Strayer RESOURCES:Immersion in Nature Enhances Neural Indices of Executive AttentionNature: Scientific Reports, Contribution to the Study on the ‘Right to Disconnect’ From Work. Are France and Spain Examples for Other Countries and E.U. Law?European Labour Law Journal, Task Errors by Emergency Physicians Are Associated With Interruptions, Multitasking, Fatigue and Working Memory Capacity: A Prospective, Direct Observation StudyBMJ Quality & Safety, Supertaskers: Profiles in Extraordinary Multitasking AbilityPsychonomic Bulletin & Review, The Effects of Video Game Playing on Attention, Memory, and Executive ControlActa Psychologica, 'Constant, Constant, Multi-Tasking Craziness': Managing Multiple Working SpheresProceedings of the 2004 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI, EXTRAS:Why Is the U.S. So Good at Killing Pedestrians?Freakonomics Radio Why Did You Marry That Person?Freakonomics Radio How Much Should We Be Able to Customize Our World?No Stupid Questions

Educators and economists tell us all the reasons college enrollment has been dropping, especially for men, and how to stop the bleeding. (Part 3 of our series from 2022, “Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.”) SOURCES:Zachary BleemerD'Wayne EdwardsCatharine HillPano KanelosAmalia MillerDonald RuffMorton SchapiroRuth SimmonsMiguel Urquiola RESOURCES:What Gay Men’s Stunning Success Might Teach Us About the Academic Gender GapThe Washington PostWe Can't Wait for Universities to Fix Themselves. So We're Starting a New OneCommon SenseAcademic Freedom in Crisis: Punishment, Political Discrimination, and Self-CensorshipA Generation of American Men Give Up on College: ‘I Just Feel Lost’The Wall Street JournalCommunity Colleges and Upward MobilityNBER Working PaperElite Schools and Opting In: Effects of College Selectivity on Career and Family OutcomesNBER Working PaperLeaving Boys Behind: Gender Disparities in High Academic AchievementNBER Working Paper EXTRAS:Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to SchoolFreakonomics Radio 'If We’re All in It for Ourselves, Who Are We?'Freakonomics Radio

Stephen Dubner appears as a guest on Fail Better, a new podcast hosted by David Duchovny. The two of them trade stories about failure, and ponder the lessons that success could never teach. SOURCES:David Duchovny RESOURCES:Martin Seligman and the Rise of Positive PsychologyHumanities, Rick Reilly: ‘Donald Trump Will Cheat You on the Golf Course and Then Buy You LunchThe Guardian, How The X-Files Invented Modern TelevisionVox, Happiness & the GorillaNo Mercy/No Malice, EXTRAS:Fail Better with David Duchovny,How to Succeed at FailingFreakonomics Radio Annie Duke Thinks You Should QuitPeople I (Mostly) Admire The Upside of QuittingFreakonomics Radio

America’s top colleges are facing record demand. So why don’t they increase supply? (Part 2 of our series from 2022, “Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.”) SOURCES:Peter BlairZachary BleemerAmalia MillerMorton SchapiroMiguel Urquiola RESOURCES:Elite Schools and Opting In: Effects of College Selectivity on Career and Family OutcomesJournal of Labor EconomicsWhy Don’t Elite Colleges Expand Supply?NBER Working PaperLori Loughlin Pleads Guilty via Zoom in College Admissions CaseThe New York TimesMarkets, Minds, and Money: Why America Leads the World in University ResearchTo Cheat and Lie in L.A.: How the College-Admissions Scandal Ensnared the Richest Families in Southern CaliforniaVanity FairThe Case Against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and MoneyThe World Might Be Better Off Without College for EveryoneThe AtlanticAre Tenure Track Professors Better Teachers?NBER Working PaperEstimating the Payoff to Attending a More Selective College: An Application of Selection on Observables and UnobservablesNBER Working PaperReport on the University’s Role in Political and Social Action EXTRAS:What Exactly Is College For? (Update)Freakonomics Radio