Freakonomics

We all like to throw around terms that describe human behavior — “bystander apathy” and “steep learning curve” and “hard-wired.” Most of the time, they don’t actually mean what we think they mean. But don’t worry — the experts are getting it wrong, too.   SOURCES: Sharon Begley, senior science

Probably not — the incentives are too strong. Scholarly publishing is a $28 billion global industry, with misconduct at every level. But a few reformers are gaining ground.   (Part 2 of 2)   SOURCES: Max Bazerman, professor of business administration at Harvard Business School. Leif Nelson, professor of business

Some of the biggest names in behavioral science stand accused of faking their results. Last year, an astonishing 10,000 research papers were retracted. We talk to whistleblowers, reformers, and a co-author who got caught up in the chaos. (Part 1 of 2)   SOURCES: Max Bazerman, professor of business administration

In a special episode of The Economics of Everyday Things, host Zachary Crockett explains what millennials do to show they care, how corrugated cardboard keeps your food warm, and why every city has a billboard for a guy who calls himself “The Hammer.”   SOURCES: Jason Abraham, managing partner of

In a special episode of People I (Mostly) Admire, Steve Levitt talks to Cat Bohannon about her new book Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution.   SOURCE: Cat Bohannon, researcher and author.   RESOURCES: Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of

In policing, as in most vocations, the best employees are often promoted into leadership without much training. One economist thinks he can address this problem — and, with it, America’s gun violence.   SOURCES Kenneth Corey, director of outreach and engagement for the Policing Leadership Academy at the University of

It boosts economic opportunity and social mobility. It’s good for the environment. So why do we charge people to use it? The short answer: it’s complicated. Also: We talk to the man who gets half the nation’s mass-transit riders where they want to go (most of the time).    SOURCES:

Most industries have become more productive over time. But not construction! We identify the causes — and possible solutions. (Can you say … “prefab”?)  RESOURCES: “The Strange and Awful Path of Productivity in the US Construction Sector,” by Austan Goolsbee and Chad Syverson (BFI Working Paper, 2023). “Infrastructure Costs,” by

Pro footballer and star podcaster Jason Kelce is ubiquitous right now (almost as ubiquitous as his brother and co-host Travis, who’s been in the limelight for his relationship with Taylor Swift). After you hear this wide-ranging interview, you might want even more Kelce in your life.    RESOURCES: “N.F.L. Player

They say they make companies more efficient through savvy management. Critics say they bend the rules to enrich themselves at the expense of consumers and employees. Can they both be right? (Probably not.)   RESOURCES: Plunder: Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America, by Brendan Ballou (2023). Two and Twenty: How