Freakonomics Radio

That’s the worry. Even the humble eyeglass industry is dominated by a single firm. 

We look into the global spike in myopia, how the Lemtosh got its name, and what your eye doctor knows that you don’t. (Part two of a two-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Maria Liu, professor of clinical optometry at the University of California, Berkeley.
  • Harvey Moscot, C.E.O. of MOSCOT Eyewear and Eyecare.
  • Zachary Moscot, chief design officer of MOSCOT Eyewear and Eyecare.
  • Cédric Rossi, equity research analyst at Bryan Garnier.
  • Tim Wu, professor of law, science and technology at Columbia Law School.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Meta in Talks to Buy Stake in Eyewear Giant EssilorLuxottica," by Salvador Rodriguez and Lauren Thomas (The Wall Street Journal, 2024).
  • "The Story Behind Soaring Myopia Among Kids," by Manoush Zomorodi, Katie Monteleone, Sanaz Meshkinpour, and Rachel Faulkner White (Body Electric, 2024).
  • "Why So Many People Need Glasses Now," by Christophe Haubursin (Vox, 2023).
  • "Eyes on World Sight: Taking Action to Advance Eye Health in China," by EssilorLuxottica (2022).
  • "Global Prevalence of Myopia and High Myopia and Temporal Trends from 2000 through 2050," by Brien A. Holden, Timothy R. Fricke, Serge Resnikoff, et al. (Ophthalmology, 2016).
  • "Increased Prevalence of Myopia in the United States Between 1971-1972 and 1999-2004," by Susan Vitale, Robert D. Sperduto, and Frederick L. Ferris (Archives of Ophthalmology, 2009).

• EXTRAS:
  • "The Economics of Eyeglasses," series by Freakonomics Radio (2024).

A single company, EssilorLuxottica, owns so much of the eyewear industry that it’s hard to escape their gravitational pull — or their “obscene” markups. Should regulators do something? Can Warby Parker steal market share? And how did Ray-Bans become a luxury brand? (Part one of a two-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Neil Blumenthal, co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker.
  • Dave Gilboa, co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker.
  • Jessica Glasscock, fashion historian and lecturer at the Parsons School of Design.
  • Neil Handley, curator of the British Optical Association Museum at the College of Optometrists.
  • Ryan McDevitt, professor of economics at Duke University.
  • Cédric Rossi, equity research analyst at Bryan Garnier.
  • Tim Wu, professor of law, science and technology at Columbia Law School.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Leonardo Del Vecchio Dies at 87; Transformed Eyeglass Industry," by Jonathan Kandell (The New York Times, 2022).
  • Making a Spectacle: A Fashionable History of Glasses, by Jessica Glasscock (2021).
  • "Dave Gilboa and Neil Blumenthal: ‍A Vision for Business," by Lucy Handley (CNBC, 2020).
  • "The Roots of Big Tech Run Disturbingly Deep," by Tim Wu and Stuart A. Thompson (The New York Times, 2019).
  • "The Spectacular Power of Big Lens," by Sam Knight (The Guardian, 2018).
  • The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age, by Tim Wu (2018).
  • "Statement of the Federal Trade Commission Concerning the Proposed Acquisition of Luxottica Group S.p.A. by Essilor International (Compagnie Generale d’Optique) S.A.," FTC File No. 171-0060 (2018).
  • Cult Eyewear: The World's Enduring Classics, by Neil Handley (2011).
  • A Far-Sighted Man, by Luca Goldoni (1991).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Direct-to-Consumer Mattresses," by The Economics of Everyday Things (2024).
  • "Are Two C.E.O.s Better Than One?" by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
  • “Are We in a Mattress-Store Bubble?” by Freakonomics Radio (2016).

You wouldn’t think you could win a Nobel Prize for showing that humans tend to make irrational decisions. But that’s what Richard Thaler has done. In an interview from 2018, the founder of behavioral economics describes his unlikely route to success; his reputation for being lazy; and his efforts to fix the world — one nudge at a time.

• SOURCES:
  • Richard Thaler, professor of behavioral science and economics at the University of Chicago.

• RESOURCES:
  • “Behavioral Economics,” by Richard Thaler (The Past, Present, and Future of Economics: A Celebration of the 125-Year Anniversary of the JPE and of Chicago Economics, December 2017).
  • Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics, by Richard Thaler (2015).
  • Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein (2008).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Farewell to a Generational Talent," by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
  • "Why Is Richard Thaler Such a ****ing Optimist?" by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021).
  • "All You Need Is Nudge," by Freakonomics Radio (2021).
  • "How to Launch a Behavior-Change Revolution," by Freakonomics Radio (2017).
  • “How To Win A Nobel Prize," by Freakonomics Radio (2015).
  • The Big Short, film by Adam McKay (2015).

Daniel Kahneman left his mark on academia (and the real world) in countless ways. A group of his friends and colleagues recently gathered in Chicago to reflect on this legacy — and we were there, with microphones.

• SOURCES:
  • Maya Bar-Hillel, professor emeritus of psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
  • Shane Frederick, professor of marketing at the Yale School of Management.
  • Thomas Gilovich, professor of psychology at Cornell University.
  • Matt Killingsworth, senior fellow at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
  • Barbara Mellers, professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.
  • Eldar Shafir, director of the Kahneman-Treisman Center for Behavioral Science & Public Policy at Princeton University.
  • Richard Thaler, professor of behavioral science and economics at the University of Chicago.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Experienced Well-Being Rises With Income, Even Above $75,000 Per Year," by Matthew A. Killingsworth (PNAS, 2021).
  • "The False Allure of Fast Lures," by Yigal Attali and Maya Bar-Hillel (Judgment and Decision Making, 2020).
  • "Learning Psychology From Riddles: The Case of Stumpers," by Maya Bar-Hillel and Tom Noah (Judgment and Decision Making, 2018).
  • Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman (2011).
  • "High Income Improves Evaluation of Life but Not Emotional Well-Being," by Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton (PNAS, 2010).
  • "Varieties of Regret: A Debate and Partial Resolution," by Thomas Gilovich, Victoria Husted Medvec, and Daniel Kahneman (Psychological Review, 1998).
  • "Some Counterfactual Determinants of Satisfaction and Regret," by Thomas Gilovich and Victoria Husted Medvec (What Might Have Been: The Social Psychology of Counterfactual Thinking, 1995).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Remembering Daniel Kahneman," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2024).
  • "Academic Fraud," series by Freakonomics Radio (2021).
  • "Here’s Why All Your Projects Are Always Late — and What to Do About It," by Freakonomics Radio (2018).
  • "The Men Who Started a Thinking Revolution," by Freakonomics Radio (2017).

American politics is trapped in a duopoly, with two all-powerful parties colluding to stifle competition. We revisit a 2018 episode to explain how the political industry works, and talk to a reformer (and former presidential candidate) who is pushing for change.

• SOURCES:
  • Katherine Gehl, former president and C.E.O. of Gehl Foods.
  • Michael Porter, professor at Harvard Business School.
  • Andrew Yang, co-chair of the Forward Party and former U.S. presidential candidate.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Why U.S. Politics Is Broken — and How to Fix It," by Andrew Yang (TED, 2024).
  • The Politics Industry: How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy, by Michael Porter and Katherine Gehl (2020).
  • “Why Competition in the Politics Industry is Failing America,” Katherine Gehl and Michael Porter (Harvard Business School, 2017).
  • “Stronger Parties, Stronger Democracy: Rethinking Reform,” by Ian Vandewalker and  Daniel I. Weiner (Brennan Center for Justice, 2015).
  • On Competition, by Michael Porter (2008).
  • Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors, by Michael Porter (1980).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Andrew Yang Is Not Giving Up on Politics — or the U.S. — Yet," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021).
  • "The Future of New York City Is in Question. Could Andrew Yang Be the Answer?" by Freakonomics Radio (2021).
  • "Why Is This Man Running for President? (Update)," by Freakonomics Radio (2019).
  • “Ten Ideas to Make Politics Less Rotten,” Freakonomics Radio (2016).

It’s hard to know whether the benefits of hiring a celebrity are worth the risk. We dig into one gruesome story of an endorsement gone wrong, and find a surprising result.

• SOURCES:
  • John Cawley, professor of economics at Cornell University.
  • Elizabeth (Zab) Johnson, executive director and senior fellow with the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania.
  • Alvin Roth, professor of economics at Stanford University.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Kanye and Adidas: Money, Misconduct and the Price of Appeasement," by Megan Twohey (The New York Times, 2023).
  • "The Role of Repugnance in Markets: How the Jared Fogle Scandal Affected Patronage of Subway," by John Cawley, Julia Eddelbuettel, Scott Cunningham, Matthew D. Eisenberg, Alan D. Mathios, and Rosemary J. Avery (NBER Working Paper, 2023).
  • "How Celebrity Status and Gaze Direction in Ads Drive Visual Attention to Shape Consumer Decisions," by Simone D'Ambrogio, Noah Werksman, Michael L. Platt, and Elizabeth Johnson (Psychology & Marketing, 2022).
  • "Consumer Responses to Firms’ Voluntary Disclosure of Information: Evidence from Calorie Labeling by Starbucks," by Rosemary Avery, John Cawley, Julia Eddelbuettel, Matthew D. Eisenberg, Charlie Mann, and Alan D. Mathios (NBER Working Paper, 2021).
  • "Consumer Heterogeneity and Paid Search Effectiveness: A Large Scale Field Experiment," by Thomas Blake, Chris Nosko, and Steven Tadelis (NBER Working Paper, 2014).
  • "The Economics of Obesity," by John Cawley (The Reporter, 2013).
  • "Repugnance as a Constraint on Markets," by Alvin Roth (Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2007).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Does Advertising Actually Work? (Part 2: Digital)," by Freakonomics Radio (2020).
  • "Does Advertising Actually Work? (Part 1: TV)," by Freakonomics Radio (2020).

Broadway operates on a winner-take-most business model. A runaway hit like Stereophonic — which just won five Tony Awards — will create a few big winners. But even the stars of the show will have to go elsewhere to make real money. (Part two of a two-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • David Adjmi, author and playwright.
  • Sonia Friedman, theater producer and founder of Sonia Friedman Productions.
  • John Johnson, theater producer and co-founder of Wagner Johnson Productions.
  • Tom Pecinka, actor.
  • Sarah Pidgeon, actor.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Tony Award Winners 2024: The Full List," by Rachel Sherman (The New York Times, 2024).
  • "Everything to Know About the Stranger Things: The First Shadow Play in London," by Tara Bitran (Tudum, 2024).
  • Stereophonic, by David Adjmi, Will Butler, and Daniel Aukin (2023).

• EXTRAS:
  • "How to Make the Coolest Show on Broadway," by Freakonomics Radio (2024).

The Berlin dance mecca Berghain is known for its eight-hour line and inscrutable door policy. PJ Vogt, host of the podcast Search Engine, joins us to crack the code. It has to do with Cold War rivalries, German tax law, and one very talented bouncer.

• SOURCES:
  • Lutz Leichsenring, executive board member of Clubcommission Berlin and co-founder of VibeLab.
  • PJ Vogt, reporter, writer, and host of the podcast Search Engine.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Berghain: 36 Hours Inside the World's Most Exclusive Nightclub," by Linux (Paper Magazine, 2022).
  • Berlin Bouncer, documentary by David Dietl (2019).
  • "High Culture Club: Berghain Secures Same Tax Status as Berlin Concert Venues," by Philip Oltermann (The Guardian, 2016).
  • "One Eye on the Door, the Other on His Photography," by Nicholas Kulish (The New York Times, 2011).
  • Lost and Sound: Berlin, Techno and the Easyjet Set, by Tobias Rapp (2009).

• EXTRA:
  • Search Engine, podcast by PJ Vogt.

Hit by Covid, runaway costs, and a zillion streams of competition, serious theater is in serious trouble. A new hit play called Stereophonic — the most Tony-nominated play in history — has something to say about that. We speak with the people who make it happen every night. (Part one of a two-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • David Adjmi, author and playwright.
  • Sonia Friedman, theater producer and founder of Sonia Friedman Productions.
  • John Johnson, theater producer and co-founder of Wagner Johnson Productions.
  • Tom Pecinka, actor.
  • Sarah Pidgeon, actor.

• RESOURCES:
  • Stereophonic, by David Adjmi, Will Butler, and Daniel Aukin (2023).
  • Lot Six: A Memoir, by David Adjmi (2020).
  • "On the Performing Arts: The Anatomy of Their Economic Problems," by W. J. Baumol and W. G. Bowen (The American Economic Review, 1965).

Every December, a British man named Tom Whitwell publishes a list of 52 things he’s learned that year. These fascinating facts reveal the spectrum of human behavior, from fraud and hypocrisy to Whitwell’s steadfast belief in progress. Should we also believe?

• SOURCES:
  • Tom Whitwell, managing consultant at Magnetic.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Supercentenarian and Remarkable Age Records Exhibit Patterns Indicative of Clerical Errors and Pension Fraud," by Saul Justin Newman (Working Paper, 2024).
  • "52 things I learned in 2023," by Tom Whitwell (Magnetic Notes, 2023).
  • "Job Satisfaction 2023," by The Conference Board (2023).
  • "What Fax Machines and Floppy Disks Reveal About Britain’s Productivity Problem," (The Economist, 2017).
  • Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City, by Peter D. Norton (2008).
  • "Beyond Propaganda," by John Kenney (The New York Times, 2006).

An update of our 2020 series, in which we spoke with physicians, researchers, and addicts about the root causes of the crisis — and the tension between abstinence and harm reduction.

• SOURCES:
  • Gail D’Onofrio, professor and chair of emergency medicine at the Yale School of Medicine and chief of emergency services at Yale-New Haven Health.
  • Keith Humphreys, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University.
  • Stephen Loyd, chief medical officer of Cedar Recovery and chair of the Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council.
  • Nicole O’Donnell, certified recovery specialist at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Addiction Medicine and Policy.
  • Jeanmarie Perrone, professor of emergency medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
  • Eileen Richardson, restaurant manager.

• RESOURCES:
  • “Toward Healthy Drug Policy in the United States — The Case of Safehouse,” by Evan D. Anderson, Leo Beletsky, Scott Burris, and Corey S. Davis (The New England Journal of Medicine, 2020).
  • “Buprenorphine Deregulation and Mainstreaming Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder,” by Leo Beletsky, Kevin Fiscella, and Sarah E. Wakeman (JAMA Psychiatry, 2018).
  • “Emergency Department–Initiated Buprenorphine/Naloxone Treatment for Opioid Dependence,” by Gail D’Onofrio, Patrick G. O’Connor, Michael V. Pantalon, Marek C. Chawarski, Susan H. Busch, Patricia H. Owens, Steven L. Bernstein, and David A. Fiellin (JAMA, 2015).
  • “Buprenorphine-Naloxone Therapy In Pain Management,” by Lucy Chen, Kelly Yan Chen, and Jianren Mao (National Institutes of Health, 2014).
  • “Prevalence and Correlates of Street-Obtained Buprenorphine Use Among Current and Former Injectors In Baltimore, Maryland,” by Jacquie Astemborski, Becky L. Genberg, Mirinda Gillespie, Chris-Ellyn Johanson, Gregory D. Kirk, Shruti H. Mehta, Charles R. Schuster, and David Vlahov (U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, 2014).
  • “The Promotion and Marketing of OxyContin: Commercial Triumph, Public Health Tragedy,” by Art Van Zee (U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, 2009).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Why Is the Opioid Epidemic Still Raging?" series by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
  • "The Opioid Tragedy, Part 1: 'We’ve Addicted an Entire Generation,'" by Freakonomics Radio (2020).
  • “The Truth About the Vaping Crisis,” by Freakonomics Radio (2019).

Thanks to legal settlements with drug makers and distributors, states have plenty of money to boost prevention and treatment. Will it work? (Part two of a two-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Keith Humphreys, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University.
  • Stephen Loyd, chief medical officer of Cedar Recovery and chair of the Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council.
  • Christine Minhee, founder of OpioidSettlementTracker.com.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Court Conflicted Over Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Plan That Shields Sacklers From Liability," by Amy Howe (SCOTUSblog, 2023).
  • NationalOpioidSettlement.com.
  • OpioidSettlementTracker.com.
  • The Helios Alliance.

• EXTRAS:
  • "The Opioid Tragedy, Part 2: 'It’s Not a Death Sentence,'" by Freakonomics Radio (2020).

Most epidemics flare up, do their damage, and fade away. This one has been raging for almost 30 years. To find out why, it’s time to ask some uncomfortable questions. (Part one of a two-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • David Cutler, professor of economics at Harvard University.
  • Travis Donahoe, professor of health policy and management at the University of Pittsburgh.
  • Keith Humphreys, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University.
  • Stephen Loyd, chief medical officer of Cedar Recovery and chair of the Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Thick Market Externalities and the Persistence of the Opioid Epidemic," by David Cutler and J. Travis Donahoe (NBER Working Paper, 2024).
  • "Responding to the Opioid Crisis in North America and Beyond: Recommendations of the Stanford-Lancet Commission," by Keith Humphreys, Chelsea L. Shover, Christine Timko, et al. (The Lancet, 2022).
  • "When Innovation Goes Wrong: Technological Regress and the Opioid Epidemic," by David Cutler and Edward Glaeser (Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2021).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Nuclear Power Isn’t Perfect. Is It Good Enough?" by Freakonomics Radio (2022).
  • "The Opioid Tragedy, Part 2: 'It’s Not a Death Sentence,'" by Freakonomics Radio (2020).
  • "The Opioid Tragedy, Part 1: 'We’ve Addicted an Entire Generation,'" by Freakonomics Radio (2020).

Presenting two stories from The Economics of Everyday Things: Why does it seem like every car is black, white, or gray these days? And: How self-storage took over America.

• SOURCES:
  • Tom Crockett, classic car enthusiast.
  • Zachary Dickens, executive vice president and chief investment officer of Extra Space Storage.
  • Mark Gutjahr, global head of design at BASF.
  • Kara Kolodziej, self-storage unit tenant.
  • Anne Mari DeCoster, self-storage consultant.
  • Nikkie Riedel, carline planning manager at Subaru of America.

• RESOURCES:
  • “A Fifth Of Americans Rent Self Storage, With Millennials Overtaking Gen Xers In Generational Storage Wars,” by Francis Chantree (Storage Cafe, 2024).
  • “Lessors of Mini Warehouses and Self-Storage Units Show Significant Financial Gains During COVID-19 Pandemic,” by Ben Chandler and Robin Enlow (United States Census Bureau, 2024).
  • BASF Color Report 2023 for Automotive OEM Coatings, (2023).
  • “The Fate of Oversupplied Self-Storage Markets and How to Pull Back From the Brink,” by Frank DeSalvo and David Perlleshi (Inside Self Storage, 2023).
  • “A Pandemic Space Race: Self-Storage Roars Back,” by Ellen Rosen (The New York Times, 2021).
  • “Beige on an S.U.V. Will Cost You, but for Pickups It’s Golden,” by Roy Furchgott (The New York Times, 2021).
  • “A Brief History Of Car Colors — And Why Are We So Boring Now?” (Consumer Reports, 2018).
  • “The Link Between the Colour of Cars and the Economy,” (The Economist, 2018).
  • “Need to Store That? Booming Self-Storage Industry Says No Problem,” by Liam Pleven (The Wall Street Journal, 2015).

• EXTRAS:
  • “Car Washes,” by The Economics of Everyday Things (2023).
  • Storage Wars, TV series (2010-present).
  • Auction Hunters, TV series (2010-2015).

The economist and social critic Glenn Loury has led a remarkably turbulent life, both professionally and personally. In a new memoir, he has chosen to reveal just about everything. Why?

• SOURCE:
  • Glenn Loury, professor of economics at Brown University and host of The Glenn Show.

• RESOURCES:
  • Late Admissions: Confessions of a Black Conservative, by Glenn Loury (2024).
  • "Amy Wax – The DEI Witch Hunt at Penn Law," by Glenn Loury (The Glenn Show, 2024).
  • "The Conservative Line on Race," by Glenn Loury (The Atlantic, 1997).
  • "Will Affirmative-Action Policies Eliminate Negative Stereotypes?" by Stephen Coate and Glenn Loury (The American Economic Review, 1993).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Roland Fryer Refuses to Lie to Black America," by Freakonomics Radio (2022).
  • "How Much Does Discrimination Hurt the Economy?" by Freakonomics Radio (2021).
  • "The Pros and Cons of Reparations," by Freakonomics Radio (2020).

The employee ownership movement is growing, and one of its biggest champions is also a private equity heavyweight. Is this meaningful change, or just window dressing?

• SOURCES:
  • Marjorie Kelly, distinguished senior fellow at The Democracy Collaborative.
  • Corey Rosen, founder and senior staff member of the National Center for Employee Ownership.
  • Pete Stavros, co-head of Global Private Equity at KKR.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Private Equity Is Starting to Share With Workers, Without Taking a Financial Hit," by Lydia DePillis (The New York Times, 2024).
  • "Private Equity Heavyweight Pushing Employee Ownership," (60 Minutes, 2024).
  • "Ownership Works: Scaling a Profitable Social Mission," by Ethan Rouen, Dennis Campbell, and Andrew Robinson (HBS Case Collection, 2023).
  • "Research on Employee Ownership," by the National Center for Employee Ownership (2023).
  • Wealth Supremacy: How the Extractive Economy and the Biased Rules of Capitalism Drive Today’s Crises, by Marjorie Kelly (2023).
  • "Is Private Equity Joining — or Co-Opting—the Employee Ownership Movement?" by Marjorie Kelly and Karen Kahn (Fast Company, 2022).
  • "How Well Is Employee Ownership Working?" by Corey Rosen and Michael Quarrey (Harvard Business Review, 1987).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Are Private Equity Firms Plundering the U.S. Economy?" by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
  • "Do You Know Who Owns Your Vet?" by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
  • "Should You Trust Private Equity to Take Care of Your Dog?" by Freakonomics Radio (2023).

From politics and economics to psychology and the arts, many of the modern ideas we take for granted emerged a century ago from a single European capital. In this episode of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, the historian Richard Cockett explores all those ideas — and how the arrival of fascism can ruin in a few years what took generations to build.

• SOURCE:
  • Richard Cockett, author and senior editor at The Economist.

• RESOURCES:
  • Vienna: How the City of Ideas Created the Modern World, by Richard Cockett (2023).
  • "Birth, Death and Shopping," (The Economist, 2007).
  • The Hidden Persuaders, by Vance Packard (1957).
  • "An Economist's View of 'Planning,'" by Henry Hazlitt (The New York Times, 1944).
  • The World of Yesterday: Memoires of a European, by Stefan Zweig (1942).

• EXTRA:
  • "Arnold Schwarzenegger Has Some Advice for You," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2024).

Five years ago, we published an episode about the boom in home DNA testing kits, focusing on the high-flying firm 23andMe and its C.E.O. Anne Wojcicki. Their flight has been extremely bumpy since then. This update includes an additional interview with the Wall Street Journal reporter who has been investigating the firm’s collapse.

• SOURCES:
  • Rolfe Winkler, reporter at The Wall Street Journal.
  • Anne Wojcicki, co-founder and C.E.O. of 23andMe.

• RESOURCES:
  • "23andMe’s Fall From $6 Billion to Nearly $0," by Rolfe Winkler (The Wall Street Journal, 2024).
  • "23andMe User Data Stolen in Targeted Attack on Ashkenazi Jews," by Lily Hay Newman (Wired, 2023).
  • Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love, by Dani Shapiro (2019).
  • How To Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results, by Esther Wojcicki (2019).
  • “Diet and exercise changes following direct-to-consumer personal genomic testing,” by Daiva Elena Nielsen, Deanna Alexis Carere, Catharine Wang, J. Scott Roberts, and Robert C. Green (BMC Medical Genomics, 2016).
  • “The impact of communicating genetic risks of disease on risk-reducing health behaviour: systematic review with meta-analysis,” Gareth J Hollands, David P. French, Simon J. Griffin, A. Toby Prevost, Stephen Sutton, Sarah King, Theresa M. Marteau (The British Medical Journal, 2016).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Does Your DNA Determine Your Weight?" by No Stupid Questions (2023).
  • "What’s Stopping Us From Curing Rare Diseases?" by Freakonomics, M.D. (2023).
  • "We Can Play God Now," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2022).
  • "Susan Wojcicki: 'Hey, Let’s Go Buy YouTube!'" by People I (Mostly) Admire (2020).

Justin Trudeau, facing record-low approval numbers, is doubling down on his progressive agenda. But he is so upbeat (and Canada-polite) that it’s easy to miss just how radical his vision is. Can he make it work?

• SOURCE:
  • Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada.

• RESOURCES:
  • 2024 Canadian Federal Budget.
  • "Canada to Set First-Ever Cap on Temporary Residents," by Nadine Yousif (BBC News, 2023).
  • Common Ground, by Justin Trudeau (2014).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Why Is Everyone Moving to Canada?" by Freakonomics Radio (2024).

So you want to help people? That’s great — but beware the law of unintended consequences. Three stories from the modern workplace. 

• SOURCES:
  • Joshua Angrist, professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  • Zoe Cullen, professor of business administration at Harvard Business School.
  • Marina Gertsberg, senior lecturer in finance at the University of Melbourne.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Is Pay Transparency Good?" by Zoë Cullen (Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2024).
  • "DP18969 Economics Coauthorships in the Aftermath of MeToo," by Noriko Amano-Patino, Elisa Faraglia, and Chryssi Giannitsarou (CEPR Discussion Paper, 2024).
  • "The Underground Economy of Company Reviews," by Shikhar Sachdev (Career Fair, 2023).
  • "Why Did Gender Wage Convergence in the United States Stall?" by Peter Q. Blair and Benjamin Posmanick (NBER Working Paper, 2023).
  • "The Unintended Consequences of #MeToo: Evidence from Research Collaborations," by Marina Gertsberg (SSRN, 2022).
  • "Outsourcing Tasks Online: Matching Supply and Demand on Peer-to-Peer Internet Platforms," by Zoë Cullen and Chiara Farronato (Management Science, 2021).
  • "Equilibrium Effects of Pay Transparency," by Zoe B. Cullen and Bobak Pakzad-Hurson (NBER Working Paper, 2021).
  • "How Much Does Your Boss Make? The Effects of Salary Comparisons," by Zoë Cullen and Ricardo Perez-Truglia (NBER Working Paper, 2018).
  • "Wall Street Rule for the #MeToo Era: Avoid Women at All Cost," by Gillian Tan and Katia Porzecanski (Bloomberg, 2018).
  • "A Comprehensive Analysis of the Effects of US Disability Discrimination Laws on the Employment of the Disabled Population," by Patrick Button, Philip Armour, and Simon Hollands (NBER Working Paper, 2016).
  • "Consequences of Employment Protection? The Case of the Americans with Disabilities Act," by Daron Acemoglu and Joshua Angrist (Journal of Political Economy, 2001).