Reader's Digest Names Freakonomics M.D. One Of The 15 Podcasts To Make You Smarter

Podcasts typically have one of three espoused goals. To either inform, entertain, or persuade. Entertaining podcasts include comedy, musical, drama and even true-crime. Persuasive podcasts are often political in nature, with one group demonizing the other for its political beliefs and ascribing either treasonous or maleficent motives for its behavior. 

Informative podcasts, which were the dominant form at the advent of podcasting's genesis, include topics such as economics, behavior, life hacks, exercise, nutrition, and technology.

Last week, Reader's Digest named the 15 Podcasts Guaranteed to Make You Feel Smarter. The tagline to that announcement was, "How we chose the smartest podcasts."

The informational podcast chosen specifically for analytical minds was Freakonomics  M.D. 

 In its article, Reader's Digest wrote, "We love to learn new things—it’s one of the things that makes us human—but once you’re out of formal school, it can be hard to find the time to feed your brain. Enter podcasts. These audio shows let you learn straight from the experts in any field, but on your schedule. Fit in a five-minute grammar lesson in the bathroom, a 30-minute cultural experience on the treadmill, or an hour-long dive into history during your commute. Not only will you be smarter, but an interesting podcast can also motivate you to do things you’d otherwise find boring. (Ahem, the treadmill.)"

Reader's Digest based its ratings by analyzing their user reviews, star ratings (4 stars and up only), number of subscribers (10,000 or more), place on the download charts (top 100 for their category), and extras like awards won.

In choosing Freakonomics M.D., Reader's Digest commented, "
Nothing gets as twisted as statistics and the research studies they come from—especially in the health field. From the makers of the class Freakonomics (which also has its own entertaining educational podcast), Freakonomics, M.D. has real doctors break down the most important research studies. In very simple terms, they explain how the studies were done, what all the numbers mean, and, most importantly, what practical information you can take away."

Freakonomics M.D. is a relative newcomer to the growing Frakonomics stable of "smartest person in the room" podcasts. All the podcasts produced by Freakonomics share traits such as, original thinking, data-driven analysis, and carefully crafted solutions.

Each week on Freakonomics M.D., the host, Dr. Jena, digs into a fascinating study at the intersection of economics and healthcare. He takes on questions like: Why do kids with summer birthdays get the flu more often? Can surviving a hurricane help you live longer? What do heart surgery and grocery-store pricing have in common?

The most recent two episodes offer a good entry point to Freakonomics M.D.:

Last week's episode explored new research around the gender pay gap, including Dr. Jena's own research on how men promote their work more often than women (and exaggerate how "excellent" it is) and how female physicians earn an estimated $2 million less over a 40-year career.

And the most recent episode features an exit interview with Francis Collins, the longest-serving presidentially appointed director of the National Institutes of Health, who is stepping down after 12 years. Collins discusses how taking a Shark Tank approach sped up the development of Covid-19 rapid tests and his goals for ARPA-H, a new health agency dedicated to pursuing high-risk/high-reward projects with tentatively $3 billion of funding from Congress. 

Freakonomics M.D. can be a valuable resource for science-deniers who use social media for medical guidance, and for health enthusiasts who are searching for more data-intensive and cognitively rich information.

Listen to Freakonomics M.D. here.