By Charles Desrochers
The co-authors of the acclaimed books ‘Freakonomics’ and ‘Super Freakonomics’ released a weekly podcast of the same name discussing what they call “the hidden side of everything.”
‘Freakonomics Radio’ is narrated mostly by Stephen Dubner with commentary by Steven Levitt and expert guests. It is presented as a half-hour story flowing seamlessly from one segment to another with one central topic.
For their first show, the two discussed the relationship between feared dangers, actual dangers and safety. The first case study was American Football. Dubner describes the anti-intuitive sport by saying, “instead of running away from scary things that are highly improbable, football players run into each other on purpose, really hard.”
This is no new observation on America’s most well-liked sport but he goes further by interviewing Dallas Cowboys’ corner back, Terrence Newman, and Philidalphia Eagles’ strong safety, Quentin Michaels. Both players say how their favorite moment in the game is hitting another human being as hard as they can. Michaels even says that he suffered a concussion as a result of laying a big hit on a wide receiver.
There is no point made on the morality or ethics of the game. The question brought to light is “Why do they need high tech safety equipment when the higher risks taken are a result of their more advanced gear?”
Both players tell Dubner that if it weren’t for their helmets they wouldn’t lead with their heads and use their helmets to inflict the most damage.
This sentiment is brought up again and again over the 27-minute program and the style of having an arching topic with more focused seemingly unrelated examples.
Fortunately, ‘Freakonomics’ and all of its incarnations are all the same. At this point it’s a brand that is synonymous with research and revealing causality. The debate that follows is also a part of the package. ‘Freakonomics Radio’ provides nothing new to fans of Levitt and Dubner, but it is enjoyable nonetheless and easier than reading a book.
As of now, Feb. 16, there is only one episode but more are promised in the near future.
