Freakonomics Radio

Americans are having fewer children than they want. Government attempts to boost birth rates haven’t done much. But new research points to a surprisingly simple way to help — and it starts at home. (Part one of a two-part series.)

SOURCES:Nick Bloom, professor of economics at Stanford University.
Melissa Kearney, professor of economics at the University of Notre Dame.
Lyman Stone, director of the Pronatalism Initiative at the Institute for Family Studies.


RESOURCES:"Does Remote Work Increase Fertility?" by Andrew C. Johnston (National Bureau of Economic Research, 2026).
"Is the iPhone Birth Control? Causal Evidence from AT&T’s 2007–2011 Carrier Monopoly," by Caitlin K. Meyers and Ezekiel Hooper (National Bureau of Economic Research, 2026).
"Work from Home and Fertility," by Steven J. Davis, Cevat Giray Aksoy, Jose Maria Barrero, Nicholas Bloom, Katelyn Cranney, Mathias Dolls, and Pablo Zarate (National Bureau of Economic Research, 2026).
"Why is Fertility so Low in High Income Countries?" by Melissa Schettini Kearney and Phillip B. Levine (National Bureau of Economic Research, 2025).
"Can Housing Policy Raise Birth Rates? Lessons from Federal Mortgage Programs During the Baby Boom," by Lisa J. Dettling and Melissa Schettini Kearney (National Bureau of Economic Research, 2025).


EXTRAS:"The Facts Are In: Two Parents Are Better Than One," by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
"The Unintended Consequences of Working from Home," by Freakonomics Radio (2022).
"The Fracking Boom, a Baby Boom, and the Retreat From Marriage," by Freakonomics Radio (2017).
"Does 'Early Education' Come Way Too Late?" by Freakonomics Radio (2015).

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Stephen Dubner recently served on a criminal jury. Twelve strangers — selected randomly and barely paid — took the job seriously. Afterward, he wondered: why can’t our politics work that way? A growing movement, inspired by Athenian democracy, says it can.

SOURCES:Terry Bouricius, author and former Vermont state representative.
Dj Hairston, public-defense lawyer.
Kathy Hochul, governor of New York.
Hélène Landemore, professor of political science at Yale University.


RESOURCES:Democracy Without Politicians: Government by the People, by Terry Bouricius (2026).
Politics Without Politicians: The Case for Citizen Rule, by Hélène Landemore (2026).
The Principles of Representative Government, by Bernard Manin (1997).


EXTRAS:"Has America Lost the Plot?" by Freakonomics Radio (2026).

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

SNL writer and Weekend Update anchor Michael Che joins Trevor and Eugene in this episode preview. Watch What Now? with Trevor Noah on Youtube or tune-in anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It may just be being human. Stephen Dubner interviews A.I. performer Tilly Norwood to find out if we are as replaceable as we fear. (Part two of a two-part series.)

SOURCES:Sean Astin, actor, president of SAG-AFTRA.
Kevin Kelly, co-founder of Wired.
Ethan Mollick, associate professor of management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Tilly Norwood, A.I. performer.
Eline Van der Velden, founder and C.E.O. of Particle6.
Joel Waldfogel, economist at the University of Minnesota.


RESOURCES:"Quiet, My Exoself," by Kevin Kelly (KK, 2026).
"How Large Language Models Are Reshaping the Book Market," by Imke Reimers and Joel Waldfogel (NBER, 2026).
"Intellectual Property and Creative Machines," by Gaétan De Rassenfosse, Adam B. Jaffe, and Joel Waldfogel (NBER, 2024).
Digital Renaissance: What Data and Economics Tell Us About the Future of Popular Culture, by Joel Waldfogel (2018).
"The Random Long Tail and the Golden Age of Television," by Joel Waldfogel (Innovation Policy and the Economy, 2017).
"Quality Predictability and the Welfare Benefits From New Products: Evidence From the Digitization of Recorded Music," by Luis Aguiar and Joel Waldfogel (NBER, 2016).
"Copyright Protection, Technological Change, and the Quality of New Products: Evidence from Recorded Music since Napster," by Joel Waldfogel (NBER, 2011).


EXTRAS:"How to Survive the A.I. Shock," by Freakonomics Radio (2026).
"Should A.I. Move to Space?," by Freakonomics Radio (2026).
"Are Thousands of Medical Cures Hiding in Plain Sight?," by Freakonomics Radio (2026).
"Can A.I. Save Your Life?," by Freakonomics Radio (2026).

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Writers, designers, actors, coders, musicians, thinkers — they’re all worried about being replaced by machines. But what if the A.I.s are actually here to help? (Part one of a two-part series.)

SOURCES:Sean Astin, actor, president of SAG-AFTRA.
Kevin Kelly, co-founder of Wired.
Ethan Mollick, associate professor of management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Eline Van der Velden, founder and C.E.O. of Particle6.


RESOURCES:Co-Existence: The Next Phase of AI, by Ethan Mollick (2026).
"Apocalypse Now and Then," by Arundhati Roy (Equator, 2026).
"Artificial Intelligence and Its Impact on Creativity and Diversity: An Empirical Study of Large Language Model-Generated Product Ideas," by Christian Terwiesch, Lennart Meincke, Karan Girotra, Ethan Mollick, Gideon Nave, and Karl Ulrich (Production and Operations Management, 2026).
"Quiet, My Exoself," by Kevin Kelly (KK, 2026).
Co-Intelligence: Living and Working With AI, by Ethan Mollick (2024).
"The O-Ring Theory of Economic Development," by Michael Kremer (Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1993).


EXTRAS:"How to Poison the A.I. Machine," by Freakonomics Radio (2025).
"The Curious, Brilliant, Vanishing Mr. Feynman," series by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
"How to Think About A.I.," series by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
"103 Pieces of Advice That May or May Not Work," by Freakonomics Radio (2022).

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.