641. What Does It Cost to Lead a Creative Life?
18 July - 46 minsFor years, the playwright David Adjmi was considered “polarizing and difficult.” But creating Stereophonic seems to have healed him. Stephen Dubner gets the story — and sorts out what Adjmi has in common with Richard Wagner.
SOURCES:David Adjmi, author and playwright.
RESOURCES:"The West End is enjoying a theatre revival. Can Broadway keep up?" by Daniel Thomas (Financial Times, 2025).Lot Six: A Memoir, by David Adjmi (2020).Stereophonic, (2023).
EXTRAS:"How Is Live Theater Still Alive?" by Freakonomics Radio (2025)."How to Make the Coolest Show on Broadway," by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
Series Episodes
640. Why Governments Are Betting Big on Sports
The Gulf States and China are spending billions to build stadiums and buy up teams — but what are they really buying? And can an entrepreneur from Cincinnati make his own billions by bringing baseball to Dubai?
50 mins
11 July Finished
How to Make Your Own Luck (Update)
Before she decided to become a poker pro, Maria Konnikova didn’t know how many cards are in a deck. But she did have a Ph.D. in psychology, a brilliant coach, and a burning desire to know whether life is driven more by skill or chance. She found some answers in poker — and she’s willing to tell us everything she learned.
58 mins
9 July Finished
639. “This Country Kicks My Ass All the Time”
Cory Booker on the politics of fear, the politics of hope, and how to split the difference.
53 mins
4 July Finished
638. Are You Ready for the Elder Swell?
In the U.S., there will soon be more people over 65 than there are under 18 — and it’s not just lifespan that’s improving, it’s “healthspan” too. Unfortunately, the American approach to aging is stuck in the 20th century. In less than an hour, we try to unstick it. (Part three of a three-part series, “Cradle to Grave.”)
54 mins
27 June Finished
What Do Medieval Nuns and Bo Jackson Have in Common? (Update)
In this episode from 2013, we look at whether spite pays — and if it even exists.
36 mins
25 June Finished
