People I (Mostly) Admire

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Freakonomics co-author Steve Levitt tracks down other high achievers for surprising, revealing conversations about their lives and obsessions. Join Levitt as he goes through the most interesting midlife crisis you’ve ever heard — and learn how a renegade sheriff is transforming Chicago's jail, how a biologist is finding the secrets of evolution in the Arctic tundra, and how a trivia champion memorized 160,000 flashcards.To get every show in our network without ads and a monthly bonus episode of Freakonomics Radio, sign up for SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts at http://apple.co/SiriusXM.

Recent Episodes
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Recent Reviews
  • lrhhrl
    Steve loves himself
    I am finally tired of this show. Steve is smart but he is way too into himself. It always comes back to him. Unfortunately confirms many peoples priors about arrogant academics.
  • Alimoyni
    Love it!
    Steve is such a fun interviewer! He asks great questions and has a great way of looking at issues. The Q&A section is great as well.
  • danteangelo
    An Important Podcast/An Important Topic
    If the spoke word is supposed to lead to more careful and mindful thinking, then this is the podcast that has achieved that objective. My spouse and I have listened to it thrice, and still we know that we are not fully comprehending ALL the major points. We are now fans of this podcasts (just subscribed) and Ellen Langer (bought her books yesterday)!
  • Seahawk69
    Always Amazing
    A show I often share with family and friends!!
  • Dtheman555
    Idiotic comments
    How about insurance companies refuse to pay claims for smokers, over weight people, alcoholics, people that abuse drugs, diabetics and everyone else that chooses NOT to take care of themselves. This last podcast explained the whole problem with education. Idiotic liberal ideals that 1+1 can equal 1 if you’re adding piles of sand. In what world is this acceptable teaching math class.
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    Initiate soon fix no ya account posts am pc plz we B know so woo in Oslo
  • ashra043
    Leagues ahead
    PIMA is probably my favorite interview podcast available and I cannot emphasize enough how high the caliber of guests are. Its continual focus on helping the public discover academics, authors, and other interesting people should not be ignored. Levitt is also clearly able to the match the intellectual level of his guests (albeit sometimes awkwardly), which is refreshing compared to many other podcasts.
  • CrtgNprt
    Don’t Even Think About It!
    Just heard a listener question about ending PIMA. The question sent shivers through my soul screaming Don’t! As a 76 y o woman just l feel 20 years younger and ready to read Tough Broad after listening to todays show and receiving a new perspective Thank you
  • wisconsinlistener
    Great Podcast
    Keep doing what you do! Guests are interesting and topics relevant. Thanks!
  • Pablo Grande2
    Starting to lose objectivity and balance
    Increasingly, the topics and guests have a political slant. Questioning is too softball. Guests allowed to spot of unchallenged. Sad trend
  • OldKidvsGlobalWarming
    Always broadening my horizons
    This is a great podcast. I’m fascinated by the people who are chosen, and I always learn something each time I listen. Thanks!
  • moving on-missu
    Why?
    There is a good show here without crazy politics. I have been a long time follower but had to stop. Crazy not open minded. Sad I can no longer recommend this show.
  • OLBlondie
    Love this podcast!
    Thanks Steve for being a great interviewer and for being open-minded.
  • primecello
    Bad host
    I can’t stand Steven Levitt. He’s just so…douchey.
  • Mayor of Keefer
    Too much time in Germany
    Steve, you are a great interviewer. I always enjoy your show, but was surprised by your recent interview with several comments disparaging American soldiers after WWII and for describing German as having strength you haven’t seen in American women. I was really struck by these statements and was disappointed. Maybe you've forgotten that germany started the war and I’m sure there is great strength in the german people, but certainly there are many examples of strength of many American moms and wives when their sons and husbands were taken by germany in their war. Maybe you’ve spent too much time in Germany.
  • Sunshine on my shoulders...
    Thomas Curran (Sep. 15, 2023)
    Anyone who actually suffers from perfectionism knows (at least subconsciously!) that Curran’s definition of perfectionism (that is, not simply an adherence to high standards, but an insecurity around one’s one “deficiency” that causes one to chase perfectionism as a feeble attempt to compensate) is incredibly spot-on. And the way the host can’t get that (and therefore concludes that *Curran*, not to mention all the experts who agree with him, has it wrong??!) is a sign that he simply doesn’t get it.
  • Starman128
    Disappointing choices
    Some interviews are interesting, others deserve less (or no) administration. I stopped following after Avi Loeb.
  • pkkell
    Obi Felten
    What an inspiring interview, and such a great topic! I will listen to this one at a second time.
  • etherdog
    Defender of patent troll
    It is inexcusable that Levitt gives any time to a notorious patent troll like myrvold. Yuck! I actually started to listen to it and found it to be revolting. The preponderance of white guys is disconcerting. The new show from Zachary Crockett is so less than Bepu. Dubner, if you don’t change radically, we are going to unsubscribe from all your feeds. Actually, we know you don’t care so, bye. And we will never if you have a good idea.
  • Aselman
    Fantastic
    All fascinating guests with consistently is gigtful and probing questions.
  • Jbcarsny
    Awesome
    Great guests, incredible conversations and interesting topics. Onwards!
  • Neopound
    Great conversations
    I love the conversations on this podcast. I can listen endlessly.
  • Nattyice69
    Kristine Tompkins
    Interview Kristine Tompkins please I love this show and I’ll Venmo Steve like $5 thank you
  • elwurd
    More please
    I don't think I will ever be too full to enjoy more interesting and insightful and fun podcasts of People I Mostly Admire. One of the best podcasts out there.
  • Dionne1210
    I Really Enjoy PIMA!!!
    I learn something new from every episode! 😊
  • ssbenji59
    Can’t believe how much I like this podcast
    Thank you to Steve and the Freakonomics team for putting together such an awesome podcast. Seemingly every episode I find myself coming away with some new profound idea or knowledge. It’s also made me cry more than once, which is how you know this podcast is really good! 🥹
  • mau5convert
    Mostly like this Show But….
    Overall this show has been good and I’ve enjoyed several episodes. Putting Norman on here though? Come on. There is nothing to (mostly) or (at all) admire about a man who called chopping off the limbs of a reporter “….we all make mistakes…”. That, along with taking loads of money from such people are not mistakes. They are choices made by very bad people. One of whom is Greg Norman.
  • Joy Jiang Chen
    I can’t get enough of this great podcast
    Steve Levitt’s interviews/conversations with his formidable guests have been a total delight and nourishing! After many episodes, I’d further research either the topic or his guests to learn more. Levitt, like Freakonomics host Dubner, has such a deep knowledge of the subject matter and a fun flair in their approach. I so appreciate them and always wish for more. Thank you and please continue this great work!
  • Miquel R.B.
    Simple devotion to humanistic exchange and exploration of ideas
    Sincere analysis of big range of ideas from a big spectrum of first rate guests. Always interviewed and challenged from unapologetic but respectful scientific and atheist perspective. Same as mine. There is always straight connection with the guests and a deep love for discovery and truth.
  • KEITH LESNIAK
    If you love learning…
    Listen up! This is like taking a mini one time course in every topic they discuss. F&&@@“ing awesome!!!!
  • Connie RR
    Best part of freakonomics
    Love the guests and learning about them
  • Definitely download Mint
    Very enjoyable listen
    Thoughtful questions and I always learn something new
  • berlaewhsdahic
    This had been a great series, but John Green and Annie Duke? Wow
    The guests to date had been almost uniformly first rate, and I loved Leavitt’s down to earth interviewing style. But scheduling a teen fiction author and TikTok star really had me scratching my head. But then following that up with a professional gambler whose best advice is to quit whenever things get tough? I’m out. Do better
  • Interested bystander
    Peter Singer
    Smart, but look into his views on seniors, particularly family members. Ask him about his mother.
  • LordeFell
    Steven does a great job
    I’d love if they had interviews longer than an hour. They have incredible guests.
  • arrowfarm72
    Peter Singer
    Steven, impressed you were able to book the prince of darkness. Peter, God loves you and can bring you healing and a right mind if you repent.
  • 2246787311890"
    Oscar
    Big fan of the show
  • 3-2 Hop
    If you’re looking for a reason to think more…
    This is the podcast for you! I absolutely love how much this podcast makes me think, makes me question everything I know, and stretches my mind to new limits. Fantastic podcast, and always includes laughs. Steve has a great sense of humor and is a total data nerd (compliment!)
  • DocDrew2080
    Exception exchange of ideas
    I am grateful for this podcast.
  • KDoddles
    Really interesting and a joy
    Fun perspectives and interesting guests. Steve Levit doesn’t think like most people and I like that. I think he doesn’t fit into one box and I like that too. It doesn’t feel like a one sided agenda but it is filter through him and his thoughts. Morgan nicely checks him from time to time. Another win for freakonomics.
  • Musashi1961
    Mr. Levitt, You’ve Done it Again!
    Good Morning Steven, Jill Tarter, the inspiration for one of my favorite movies EVER! Too cool! Thank-you x 10^100. Love the podcast, always have. Thanks also to the group of professionals who make this podcast happen. Have a great 4th of July weekend! V/r, ~BEB~
  • cissp-taker-2020
    Science ignoramus
    Regarding the episode on Why Bother Searching for Aliens, it’s fine if the host is scientifically ignorant, but he was glaringly so. Additionally, he makes assumptions that imply a lack of value to scientific exploration. Finally, I found it quite presumptive to say that a majority of his audience would fall into the category of saying “what’s the point” to searching for alien civilizations. The average scientific layman listening to this episode will be further skeptical of scientists and scientific endeavors. I think there’s plenty of that going around without being spread by this podcast.
  • dldnh
    Excellent
    An excellent podcast, always very interesting.
  • Positone
    PIMA mostly admired
    During the pandemic lockdowns, everyone found their own ways to adjust and cope with the strange reality surrounding us. We were like people within earthbound spaceships. Podcasts like this have helped to connect to some of the great minds all around the world. Despite his modesty about it, Levitt’s podcast from its early time starting up and learning a bit on air to today has been wonderful for its candor, vulnerability, and earnest aim to understand the world and make it a little better through clearer understanding and frequently great morals/advice.
  • Gnm98
    Hmmm
    Maybe a character & integrity show?
  • Esteban_PodcastReview
    Thoughtful Conversations!
    Great show 👍🏼
  • KatWey4444
    I don’t always agree
    …but I always learn something from an interesting perspective. Very valuable.
  • ceez21
    Awesome podcast
    Love to listen to this podcast ! Very interesting guest and perspectives .
  • zebrasnothorses
    Episode 72
    I find the conversation around the 30.56 mark of this episode to be incredibly lazy for two intelligent people. This is the second episode I’ve listened to featuring this guest. I imagine that to have published an entire book, his research led him to more than two examples of instances where the judgement of “woke culture” resulted in a negative professional consequence, but on both occasions he cites the same two: Alison Roman and a curator at SF MoMA. If I recall the first interview correctly, your guest betrayed some affection for Roman, which —one would guess — has amped up his sense of outrage on her behalf. Either way, she seems to have landed on her feet. As for the curator, I find it incredibly hard to believe that this gaff was the main contributing factor to his firing. Perhaps it was just provided sufficient cover to make a desired change. Has your guest investigated and verified? Or is it just easier to repeat this anecdote? I would guess that he has also landed on his feet, and it would be more useful to point this out. As for the pre-school parent, for goodness sakes, that is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Any reasonable person would have a conversation, admit their fears and carry on. I would wager that very, very few people are standing around with a guillotine waiting to chop off the head of a sincere person. And to amplify that as a woeful consequence is, as I said at the beginning, incredibly lazy. No doubt there will be some consequences, perhaps disproportionate, as we examine and try to turn the corner from the institutionalized racism that is so steeped in American culture that it is simply accepted as the American way. There is a whole movement actively trying to negate the validity of these observations and the effort to move forward. Do you really need to contribute to that? I don’t object to challenging discourse, but contrarianism for its own sake is cheap. Your podcast typically sets a higher standard, so why lower it for this topic?
  • JenDevilKitty
    Excellent interesting engaging!
    I love these interviews! I learn so much; about how people navigate their lives, their interesting histories, and the differences (or dropping pre conceived perceptions) of people. Including their mid life crisis ;)
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