The show, episode by episode

No Stupid Questions

Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Research psychologist Angela Duckworth (author of "Grit") and tech and sports executive Mike Maughan really like to ask people questions, and they believe there’s no such thing as a stupid one. So they have a podcast where they can ask each other as many “stupid questions” as they want. New episodes each week. "No…

No Stupid Questions

87. What’s So Great About Retirement?

86. Should We All Be Taking More Long Shots?

85. Is Emotional Intelligence Really So Important?

84. Why Do We Find So Much Meaning in Meaningless Coincidences?

83. Can You Change Your Mind Without Losing Face?

82. Which Is More Powerful: Reward or Punishment?

81. Why Is It So Hard to Talk About Money?

80. Is a “Success Hangover” Real?

79. Why Do We Root for Underdogs?

78. Why Do We Put Things Off Until the Very Last Minute?

77. How Can You Avoid Boredom?

76. Why Can’t Baby Boomers and Millennials Just Get Along?

75. How Do You Deal With Intrusive Thoughts?

74. Does Reverse Psychology Really Work?

73. Is It Okay to Engage in “Social Loafing”?

72. If Everyone Hates Meetings, Why Do We Have So Many of Them?

71. Why Is Pig Milk the One Milk We Don’t Drink?

70. In a Job Interview, How Much Does Timing Matter?

69. How Can You Convince Someone They’re Wrong?

68. Why Do We Want What We Can’t Have?

67. How Can You Escape Binary Thinking?

65. What’s the Best Advice You’ve Ever Received?

64. Are Women Required to Be Nicer Than Men?

63. How Contagious Is Behavior? With Laurie Santos of “The Happiness Lab.” (Replay)

62. How Can You Escape a Drama Triangle?

61. Should We Just Ignore Our Weaknesses?

60. Why Do We Complain?

59. Do Dreams Actually Mean Anything?

58. What’s So Gratifying About Gossip?

57. Which Incentives Are Best at Boosting Vaccination, and Why?

56. Why Is Academic Writing So Bad?

55. What Changes Will Stick When the Pandemic Is Gone?

54. Do You Really Need a Muse to Be Creative?

53. What’s the Secret to Making a Great Prediction?

52. How Much Should We Be Able to Customize Our World?

51. What Separates Humans From Other Animals?

50. Are You as Observant as You Think?

49. How Does Facing Death Change Your Life?

48. Do Good Deeds Invite More Bad Ones?

47. Is Laziness Real?

46. How Can You Stop Feeling So Irritable?

45. How Much Better Do You Really Want to Be?

44. Is Empathy in Fact Immoral?

43. What Do We Really Learn From Failure?

42. How Does When You Are Born Affect Who You Are?

41. Why Are We So Attracted to Fame?

40. Have We All Lost Our Ability to Compromise?

39. Is Everybody Cheating These Days?

38. What Does It Mean to Be a “Good” Man?

37. How Do You Know if People Don’t Like You?

36. Which Matters More, a First or Last Impression?

35. Does Psychotherapy Actually Work?

34. Are Humans Smarter or Stupider Than We Used to Be?

33. Is Optimism a Luxury Good?

32. Which Gets You Further: Talent or Effort?

31. How Much Do Your Friends Affect Your Future?

30. Why Do We Seek Comfort in the Familiar?

29. How Do You Know When It’s Time to Quit?

28. Why Do We Hoard?

27. How Should You Ask for Forgiveness?

26. Do Checklists Make People Stupid?

25. Is Hedonism Better Than Self-Control?

24. Why Do We Forget So Much of What We’ve Read?

23. Is It Wrong to Crave Praise?

22. Why Do We Buy Things We’ll Never Use?

21. How Can You Identify Hidden Talent? With Eric Schmidt.

Presenting “Smart Girl Dumb Questions”

20. Should We Separate the Art From the Artist?

19. Is There Such a Thing as Good Estrangement?

18. How Do You Raise a “Likable” Kid?

17. How Can We Get More Virtue and Less ‘Virtue Signaling’?

16. What’s the Downside to Being Goal-Oriented?

15. How Much of Your Life Do You Actually Control?

14. Are You a Maximizer or a Satisficer?

13. How Can You Stop Comparing Yourself With Other People?

12. Does “As If” Thinking Really Work?

11. Are Ambitious People Inherently Selfish?

10. Why Are Stories Stickier Than Statistics?

9. Why Is It So Hard to Be Alone With Our Thoughts?