Freakonomics Radio15 Aug 2025

Why Do People Still Hunt Whales? (Update)

For years, whale oil was used as lighting fuel, industrial lubricant, and the main ingredient in (yum!) margarine. Whale meat was also on a few menus. But today, demand for whale products is at a historic low. And yet some countries still have a whaling industry. We find out why. (Part 2 of “Everything You Never Knew About Whaling.”)

SOURCES:
- Jay Alabaster, doctoral student at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.
- Bjorn Basberg, professor emeritus of economic history at the Norwegian School of Economics.
- Eric Hilt, professor of economics at Wellesley College.
- Kate O’Connell, senior policy consultant for the marine life program at the Animal Welfare Institute.
- Paul Watson, environmental activist and founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

RESOURCES:
- “The Soviet Union Killed an Appalling Number of Whales. I Wanted to Know Why,” by Ryan Tucker Jones (Slate, 2022).
- “Behind the Smile: The Multi-Billion Dollar Dolphin Entertainment Industry,” by World Animal Protection (2019).
- “Japan to Resume Commercial Whaling, Defying International Ban,” by Daniel Victor (The New York Times, 2018).
- “Why Is There Not More Outrage About Japan’s Barbaric Practice of Whaling?” by Boris Johnson (The Telegraph, 2018).
- “Margarine Once Contained a Whole Lot More Whale,” by Sarah Laskow (Gastro Obscura, 2017).
- “3 Million Whales Were Killed in the 20th Century: Report,” (N.B.C. News, 2015).
- “The Spectacular Rise and Fall of U.S. Whaling: An Innovation Story,” by Derek Thompson (The Atlantic, 2012).
- In Pursuit of Leviathan: Technology, Institutions, Productivity, and Profits in American Whaling, 1816-1906, by Lance E. Davis, Robert E. Gallman, and Karin Gleiter (1997).
- “Norway Is Planning to Resume Whaling Despite World Ban,” by Craig R. Whitney (The New York Times, 1992).

EXTRAS:
- “The First Great American Industry,” 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.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(922)

682. Should A.I. Move to Space?

At first it sounds ridiculous. But it might be inevitable. Guest host Steve Levitt talks to a team that hopes to push A.I. infrastructure off the planet. Part one of a two-part series.) SOURCES: ...

24 Jul 0s

Why Cooking is Caregiving, with Chef Hillary Sterling | Better in Person

Hillary Sterling was a Brooklyn kid raised on cream cheese sandwiches and canned potatoes. So how did she become one of New York City's best chefs? The Ci Siamo executive chef explains on the second e...

22 Jul 0s

Are You Really Allergic to Penicillin? (Update)

Like tens of millions of people, Stephen Dubner thought he had a penicillin allergy. Like the vast majority, he didn’t. This misdiagnosis costs billions of dollars and causes serious health problems, ...

17 Jul 1h 5min

How a Great Architect Thinks, with Bjarke Ingels | Better in Person

Is the oxymoron really “the secret sauce to everything”? That’s the case Ingels makes in this debut episode of our new video show Better in Person, filmed in Stephen Dubner’s living room. If you'd l...

14 Jul 43min

681. How to Host a Talk Show, with Dick Cavett

Stephen Dubner had an idea for a new project. So he drove to Connecticut and knocked on the door of the master. Dubner’s new TV talk show Better in Person launches July 14 on the Freakonomics YouTube ...

9 Jul 43min

680. Can Universities Win Back Our Trust?

Dartmouth president Sian Beilock, a psychologist by training, made her name studying why people choke. Now she’s applying those insights to one of the most scrutinized jobs in America. No pressure! ...

3 Jul 49min

679. Why Does Vanderbilt Keep Winning?

It’s a hard time to run a university: public trust is low, political pressure is high, and finances are fragile. But Daniel Diermeier, who trained as a political scientist, has Vanderbilt humming. How...

26 Jun 1h 4min

The World Is (Still) Drowning in Sludge

Insurance forms that make no sense. Subscriptions that can’t be cancelled. A never-ending blizzard of automated notifications. In this update of a 2025 episode, Stephen Dubner discovers where all this...

24 Jun 54min