How to Succeed at Failing, Part 3: Grit vs. Quit (Update)
Giving up can be painful. That's why we need to talk about it. Today: stories about glitchy apps, leaky paint cans, broken sculptures — and a quest for the perfect bowl of ramen. (Part three of a four...
16 Maj 20251h 3min
How to Succeed at Failing, Part 2: Life and Death (Update)
In medicine, failure can be catastrophic. It can also produce discoveries that save millions of lives. Tales from the front line, the lab, and the I.T. department. (Part two of a four-part series.) SO...
14 Maj 202553min
How to Succeed at Failing, Part 1: The Chain of Events (Update)
We tend to think of tragedies as a single terrible moment, rather than the result of multiple bad decisions. Can this pattern be reversed? We try — with stories about wildfires, school shootings, and ...
9 Maj 202555min
632. When Did We All Start Watching Documentaries?
It used to be that making documentary films meant taking a vow of poverty (and obscurity). The streaming revolution changed that. Award-winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler talks to Stephen Dubner about capt...
2 Maj 202554min
631. Will "3 Summers of Lincoln" Make It to Broadway?
It’s been in development for five years and has at least a year to go. On the eve of its out-of-town debut, the actor playing Lincoln quit. And the producers still need to raise another $15 million to...
25 Apr 202546min
Is It a Theater Piece or a Psychological Experiment? (Update)
In an episode from 2012, we looked at what Sleep No More and the Stanford Prison Experiment can tell us about who we really are. SOURCES:Felix Barrett, artistic director of Punchdrunk.Steven Levitt, p...
23 Apr 202537min
630. On Broadway, Nobody Knows Nothing
A hit like Hamilton can come from nowhere while a sure bet can lose $20 million in a flash. We speak with some of the biggest producers in the game — Sonia Friedman, Jeffrey Seller, Hal Luftig — and l...
18 Apr 20251h 1min
629. How Is Live Theater Still Alive?
It has become fiendishly expensive to produce, and has more competition than ever. And yet the believers still believe. Why? And does the world really want a new musical about ... Abraham Lincoln?! (P...
11 Apr 202559min
