The Freakonomics Radio Book Club

U.S. marriage rates have plummeted. But the babies keep coming, and the U.S. now leads the world in single-parent households. In her new book The Two-Parent Privilege, the economist Melissa Kearney says this is a huge problem, and that it's time for liberals to face the facts. Plus: our friends at Atlas Obscura explore just how many parents a kid can have. 

The economist Amy Finkelstein explains why insurance markets are broken and how to fix them. Also: why can't you buy divorce insurance?

And with her book "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat," she succeeded. Now she's not so sure how to feel about all the attention. 

No — but he does have a knack for stumbling into the perfect moment, including the recent FTX debacle. In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, we revisit the book that launched the analytics revolution.

It used to be at the center of our conversations about politics and society. Scott Hershovitz is the author of Nasty, Brutish, and Short, in which he argues that philosophy still has a lot to say about work, justice, and parenthood.

In a new book called The Voltage Effect, the economist John List — who has already revolutionized how his profession does research — is trying to start a scaling revolution. In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, List teaches us how to avoid false positives, how to know whether a given success is due to the chef or the ingredients, and how to practice “optimal quitting.”   

You know the saying: “There are no shortcuts in life.” What if that saying is just wrong? In his new book Thinking Better: The Art of the Shortcut in Math and Life, the mathematician Marcus du Sautoy argues that shortcuts can be applied to practically anything: music, psychotherapy, even politics. Our latest installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club.

The N.B.A. superstar Chris Bosh was still competing at the highest level when a blood clot abruptly ended his career. In his new book, Letters to a Young Athlete, Bosh covers the highlights and the struggles. In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, he talks with guest host Angela Duckworth.

To her neighbors in the English countryside, the woman known as Mrs. Burton was a cake-baking mother of three. To the Soviet Union, she was an invaluable Cold War operative. Ben Macintyre, author of Agent Sonya: Moscow's Most Daring Wartime Spy, explains how the woman who fed America's atomic secrets to the Russians also struggled to balance her family and her cause. Hosted by Sarah Lyall. 

Do you think public bathrooms are too small, smartphones are too big, and public transit just wasn't made for you? Then you're probably a woman. In her book Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, Caroline Criado Perez argues that products and processes — from medications to snowplow routes —  have historically been tailored for the “standard male.” Hosted by Maria Konnikova. 

When Richard Thaler published Nudge in 2008 (with co-author Cass Sunstein), the world was just starting to believe in his brand of behavioral economics. How did nudge theory hold up in the face of a global financial meltdown, a pandemic, and other existential crises? With the publication of a new, radically updated edition, Thaler tries to persuade Stephen Dubner that nudging is more relevant today than ever.

Bren Smith, who grew up fishing and fighting, is now part of a movement that seeks to feed the planet while putting less environmental stress on it. He makes his argument in a book called Eat Like a Fish; his secret ingredient: kelp. But don't worry, you won't have to eat it (not much, at least). Hosted by Stephen Dubner.

The social psychologist Robert Cialdini is a pioneer in the science of persuasion. His 1984 book Influence is a classic, and he has just published an expanded and revised edition. In this episode, he gives a master class in the seven psychological levers that bewitch our rational minds and lead us to buy, behave, or believe without a second thought. Hosted by Stephen Dubner.

In a word: networks. Once it embraced information as its main currency, New York was able to climb out of a deep fiscal (and psychic) pit. Will that magic trick still work after Covid? In this episode, hear Thomas Dyja, author of New York, New York, New York: Four Decades of Success, Excess and Transformation, tell us about the past and future of the Big Apple. Hosted by Kurt Andersen.

New York Times columnist Charles Blow argues that white supremacy in America will never fully recede, and that it's time for Black people to do something radical about it. In his new book, The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto, he urges a “reverse migration” to the South to consolidate political power and create a region where it's safe to be Black. Hosted by Stephen Dubner.

Caitlin Doughty is a mortician who would like to put herself out of business. Our corporate funeral industry, she argues, has made us forget how to offer our loved ones an authentic sendoff. In this episode, Doughty shares insights from her book Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons From the Crematory. Hosted by Maria Konnikova.

As beloved and familiar as they are, we rarely stop to consider life from the dog's point of view. That stops now. In this episode, we discuss the book Inside of a Dog with author and cognitive scientist (and dog devotee) Alexandra Horowitz. Hosted by Stephen Dubner.

Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings came to believe that corporate rules can kill creativity and innovation. In this episode, Hastings talks about his new book, No Rules Rules, and why for some companies the greatest risk is taking no risks at all. Hosted by Maria Konnikova.

Before she decided to become a poker pro, Maria Konnikova didn't know how many cards are in a deck. But she did have a Ph.D. in psychology, a brilliant coach, and a burning desire to know whether life is driven more by skill or chance. She found some answers in poker — and in her new book The Biggest Bluff, she's willing to tell us everything she learned. Hosted by Stephen Dubner.