Why People I (Mostly) Admire Has A Boring Host Yet Irresistible Podcast?

 I will sometimes watch a Ted Talk or listen to Ted Talks Daily. The topics are fascinating -- robots, sex and imagination, microdosing, and whatever the hell the Spermageddon is. The speakers match that dynamism in their manner, tone, and intellectual muscularity.

Now imagine this. A stodgy, flat-lined toned economics professor has a podcast in which he holds conversations with smart, captivating people who are apt to shoot insights into the audio verse at a rapid fire pace.

How could a podcast like that succeed? 

The answer is a definitive, "I have no idea" but it does. 

Launched in August 2020, People I (Mostly) Admire finds University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt, co-author of the best-selling Freakonomics books, interviewing a wide array of thinkers, researchers, government leaders, authors, and the occasional celebrity.

In fact, in 2021, Adweek announced its third-annual Podcast of the Year Awards and it chose People I (Mostly) Admire in the Best interview Podcast category.

If you don't know, Levitt is the co-founder of Freakonomics, which is a collaboration between writer Steven Dubner and University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt, who have achieved success in publishing, radio and podcasts. Freakonomics was an early podcast adopter and has a loyal and sizable fan base.

In People I (Mostly Admire), Freakonomics co-author Steven Levitt takes the podcasting reins and interviews some of the most interesting, unorthodox people around. 

“The perfect guest for me is someone who's not only wildly intelligent, but also a little bit off the rails,” Levitt says. “Someone who thinks differently and who doesn't care at all how the world perceives him or her.”

 Levitt has spent decades as an academic economist, “studying strange phenomena and human behavior in weird circumstances.” Now, in People I (Mostly Admire) he turns his curiosity to something new: interviewing some of the most interesting, unorthodox people around — from actresses to athletes, authors to inventors.

This is not your typical interview podcast, however, First, Levitt's vibrant mind and insightful queries encourage guests to go well beyond cursory responses and prepared talking points. Second, Levitt's roster of guests focuses on mental acuity and high-intensity intelligence instead of vapid oversharing about celebrity life. To his credit, Levitt is not only simply interested in eliciting responses from his podcast guests, but also in "fracking" for illumination and comprehension.

Take, for example, Levitt's first episode with Harvard psychologist and linguist Steven Pinker, where Pinker speaks frankly about enraging people on opposite ends of the political spectrum.

 Levitt isn't a flashy interviewer and has a modulated tone and patient speaking cadence along with a willingness to draw out his guests into discussions that reveal something about them personally and a state of the world we live in. 

After almost four years, how has Steven Levitt survived in podcasting? 

First, his guest list is top-notch, first-class, possibly genetically enhanced like Khan on Star Trek, and capable of thought bubbles that are beyond our comprehension.

His October 27, 2023 episode with data scientist Nate Silver should be required listening for all political enthusiasts. Listen to his March 1,2024 episode with "The Power of Habit" author Charles Duhigg, who wrote his new book in an attempt to learn how to communicate better. Duhigg has written a new book, Supercommunicators," which I highly recommend.

In that episode, Levitt goes full disclosure and shares how the book helped him understand his own conversational weaknesses.

In one of my favorite episodes, Levitt tackles the criminal justice system. Talk about your tough nut to crack. On the episode, Levitt talks to Clementine Jacoby, who went from performing in a circus to founding a nonprofit that works to shrink the prison population.

Here's Levitt on the episode: "Clementine Jacoby started her nonprofit called Recidiviz around the same time I started my RISC center at the University of Chicago. We’re both trying to change criminal justice. And she’s having a lot more success than I am. I’m curious to hear how she’s made so much happen so quickly."

For people who think that locking more people away in prison will magically reduce crime, listen to this episode for a more thoughtful and ultimately more effective approach.  

In many ways, Levitt is the academic equivalent of Lt. Columbo on TV. Levitt doesn't impress, and nor does he stand out with his dynamism or verbal skills. But his Columbo-like "oh, just one more thing" and deceptively profound questions ensure that no guest lets his guard down around Levitt. 

If you like theatrical interviews with the pretense of scientific accuracy and the cherry-picking of low-hanging data, then listen to those two-hour Joe Rogan shows.

If, however, you understand the rigor of scientific investigation and the preference for data over confirmation bias, listen to People I (Mostly) Admire with Steve Levitt.