Freakonomics Radio

Angela Buchdahl was the first Asian American to be ordained as a rabbi, and now she is among the most influential rabbis in the world. She and Stephen Dubner talk about boundary-crossing, the aftermath of October 7, and whether you can be a good Jew without believing in God. 

 

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Former S.E.C. chair Gary Gensler has had a front-row seat to numerous financial booms and busts. How does he feel about America’s massive bet on A.I.? “Something has to give.”

 

SOURCES:

Gary Gensler, professor of the practice of global economics, management, and finance at M.I.T.



 

RESOURCES:

This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly, by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff (2011).



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Harlan Coben doesn’t think so. The mega-best-selling author talks suburbia, impostor syndrome, and what he learned from his college friend David Foster Wallace.

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Governments started the space age. Now, billionaires and private firms are reinventing it. Guest host Steve Levitt explores what the past can teach us about a high-stakes future. (Part two of a two-part series.)

 

SOURCES:

Blaise Agüera y Arcas, vice president and fellow at Google, C.T.O. of technology and society.

Rosanna Hoffman, head of space law, policy, and sustainability at the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.

Alex Macdonald, former first chief economist at NASA, senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Will Marshall, co-founder and C.E.O. of Planet Labs.



 

RESOURCES:

"The mission to create a searchable database of Earth's surface," by Will Marshall (TED, 2018).

The Long Space Age, by Alex Macdonald (2017).

Planet Labs A.I. 



 

EXTRAS:

"Should A.I. Move to Space?," series by Freakonomics Radio (2026).



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Gary and Stephen talk about creativity, recovery, getting fired, and holding grudges. They also get outside and play basketball, which is a big part of how Gary stays well.

 

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

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