📊 Daily pulse · Fri, 03 Jul 2026

Freakonomics Radio · Pulse

Freakonomics Radio is a weekly economics-and-applied-economics podcast hosted by Stephen J. Dubner (co-author of the 2005 "Freakonomics" book with University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt), produced by Freakonomics Radio Network, examining how economic-thinking and behavioural-research apply to everyday life, public policy, and intellectual curiosity. Founded in 2010 as the audio-extension of the "Freakonomics" book franchise, the podcast has accumulated 600+ episodes through 2024 with weekly publication and substantial guest-interview programming featuring economists, social scientists, business executives, policymakers, and academics.\n\nThe editorial approach combines substantial expert-interview content (the substantial Steven Levitt collaboration plus the broader academic-economics-and-social-science research community engagement), substantial public-policy-applied analysis (the post-2010 substantial expansion of behavioural-economics-and-public-policy applications), and the broader pop-economics-and-public-intellectual editorial format. The associated Freakonomics Radio Network includes complementary podcasts (No Stupid Questions co-hosted by Angela Duckworth and Mike Maughan, People I (Mostly) Admire co-hosted by Steven Levitt, plus the broader Freakonomics Radio Network programming).\n\nThe substantial post-2010 economics-podcast medium has expanded substantially with Freakonomics Radio remaining among the most-respected economics-and-applied-economics podcast platforms globally. The substantial post-2020 podcast-and-academic-research integration plus the broader pop-economics-and-public-intellectual discourse has continued to drive substantial Freakonomics Radio Network programming. The substantial post-2024 expansion of the Freakonomics Radio Network through additional spin-off podcasts plus the substantial Stephen Dubner public-speaking-and-conference engagement reflect the substantial broader brand-extension positioning.\n\nFor a globally-mobile professional with economics-and-applied-policy interests, Freakonomics Radio provides substantive intellectual content with substantial academic-research grounding. The podcast is freely available across major podcast platforms with optional Stitcher Premium-and-SiriusXM bonus content. Indian-listener engagement is substantial particularly among economics-and-public-policy professionals plus business-school and policy-school students at major Indian institutions (Indian School of Public Policy, IIM economics faculties, the substantial broader Indian academic-and-policy community).