Freakonomics To Celebrate 500th Episode with Four-Part Series On Higher Education

It is said that many learn through experience. And that's what the Freakonomics Radio podcast is doing. On April 20th, Freakonomics Radio will celebrate its 500th episode. And rather than look back for the occasion, the show is looking forward, as the 500th episode kicks off a new four-part series on the state of higher education. Host Stephen Dubner speaks with university presidents, academics, and economists to explore questions like:

— If the demand is there, why don't elite colleges increase supply?

— Why are more women going to college than men?

— What happens when Black and Hispanic students lose admissions advantages?

— Do people go to college to learn, or to get a degree?

— Who make better teachers, prizewinning researchers or untenured adjuncts?

Entering its twelfth year as one of the most popular podcasts,  Freakonomics Radio percolates with signs of new growth. In addition to the flagship show and podcast network both setting listenership records in 2021, the Freakonomics Radio staff has tripled in size in the past two years alone. Last month alone, the show hired Slate's former podcast chief Gabriel Roth as editorial director and celebrated being the subject of the first-ever digital podcast channel on SiriusXM.

The flagship Freakonomics Radio has been joined in the past few years by the podcasts No Stupid Questions, a show exploring the weird and wonderful ways in which humans behave, with hosts Dubner and research psychologist Angela Duckworth; People I (Mostly) Admire, a show where Dubner’s Freakonomics co-author Steven Levitt interviews other unorthodox high achievers; and Freakonomics M.D., a show exploring the intersection of economics and healthcare with Harvard physician and economist Dr. Bapu Jena. And the Freakonomics Radio Network's first new show of 2022 will launch in May (let me know if you'd like an off-the-record preview).

Will Freakonomics Radio make it to 1,000 episodes? No, that's not a stupid question because, after all, there are "No Stupid Questions."

Freakonomics Radio host Stephen Dubner