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
Policymaking Is Not a Science — Yet (Update)
Why do so many promising solutions in education, medicine, and criminal justice fail to scale up into great policy? And can a new breed of “implementation scientists” crack the code? SOURCES:Patti Cha...
9 Apr 202545min
628. Sludge, Part 2: Is Government the Problem, or the Solution?
There is no sludgier place in America than Washington, D.C. But there are signs of a change. We’ll hear about this progress — and ask where Elon Musk and DOGE fit in. (Part two of a two-part series.) ...
4 Apr 202548min
627. Sludge, Part 1: The World Is Drowning in It
Insurance forms that make no sense. Subscriptions that can’t be cancelled. A never-ending blizzard of automated notifications. Where does all this sludge come from — and how much is it costing us? (Pa...
28 Mars 202554min
