Freakonomics Radio

He started with one small shop in London. He has since resuscitated both Barnes & Noble and Waterstones. He tells Stephen Dubner exactly how he does it.

If you'd like to see the video version of Better in Person, you can watch it on YouTube or Apple Podcasts.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Gina Raimondo, a former commerce secretary and governor, thinks A.I. will create plenty of jobs in the long run. She also thinks a poorly managed transition could tear the country apart. So she came up with a plan.

SOURCES:Gina Raimondo, co-chair and C.E.O. of RAISE US.


RESOURCES:"What Makes New Work Different from More Work?," by David Autor, Caroline Chin, Anna Salomons, and Bryan Seegmiller (NBER, 2026).
"$500 million AI jobs push launches with bipartisan backing," by Christine Mui (POLITICO, 2026).
"Gina Raimondo and Eric Holcomb Launch RAISE US, Uniting the Nation’s Leading Employers and Bipartisan Governors Behind American Workers," (RAISE US, 2026).
"Young Graduates Face the Grimmest Job Market in Years," (New York Times, 2026).
"Why AI Giants Are Investing $500 Million To Retrain American Workforce," by Jon Markman (Forbes, 2026).
"Wicker Praises Research, STEM Education Provisions in New CHIPS Act," (U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 2022).


EXTRAS:"Can A.I. Save Your Life?," by Freakonomics Radio (2026).
"Will the Democrats 'Make America Great Again'?," by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
"How Do You Reopen a Country?," by Freakonomics Radio (2020).
"How to Be a Modern Democrat — and Win," by Freakonomics Radio (2018).

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Anne Pasternak (Brooklyn Museum) and Michael Roth (Wesleyan University) tell Stephen Dubner how they keep the peace in the middle of a culture war.



If you'd like to see the video version of Better in Person, you can watch it on YouTube or Apple Podcasts.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Museums are purging their collections of looted treasures. Can they also get something in return? And what does it mean to be a museum in the 21st century? (Part 3 of an updated series originally published in 2023.)



SOURCES:

Patricia Allan, museum consultant, former curator of world cultures for the Glasgow Museums.

Andrea Bayer, deputy director for collections and administration at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

Victor Ehikhamenor, Nigerian writer and artist.

Patty Gerstenblith, professor emeritus of law at DePaul University College of Law.

Tom Wilkening, professor of economics at the University of Melbourne.





RESOURCES:

"After Seizures, the Met Sets a Plan to Scour Collections for Looted Art," by Robin Pogrebin and Graham Bowley (The New York Times, 2023).

"Nigeria Benin Bronzes: Buhari Declaration 'Blindsides' Museum Officials," by Barnaby Phillips (B.B.C., 2023).

"Shared Stewardship and Ethical Returns Policy," by the Smithsonian Ethical Returns Working Group (2022).

"Protecting Antiquities: A Role for Long-Term Leases?" by Michael Kremer and Tom Wilkening (Working Paper, 2015).





EXTRAS:

“Stealing Art Is Easy. Giving It Back Is Hard,” series by Freakonomics Radio (2023).



Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jennifer Egan talks about confidence, luck, and why it takes 35 drafts to get to the finish line.

If you'd like to see the video version of Better in Person, you can watch it on YouTube or Apple Podcasts.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.