Chicago Booth Review Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Why economics is not about numbers Nov 05, 2025

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Economics is all around us. At least, that's what Chicago Booth's Ram Shivakumar believes, and he's on a mission to demonstrate that economics is not about numbers or theoretical models, but is at play in many everyday decisions, like whether to order a pizza, where to buy it from and what toppings to get. If economics isn't about numbers, what is it about?

You Might Also Like: Markets for Pollution, from Shocked Nov 04, 2025

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A warmer world is here. Now what? Listen to Shocked, from the University of Chicago's Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth, and hear journalist Amy Harder and economist Michael Greenstone share new ways of thinking about climate change and cutting-edge solutions: https://lnk.to/shockedpodcast!boothreview

Does choosing your friends make you happier? Oct 29, 2025

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In the west, we are more likely to choose our friends and dropping them is relatively easily done. In other cultures, people tend to stick with the same social network for their whole lives. But does the ability to choose and to drop your friends make you happier? Chicago Booth's Thomas Talhelm tells us about his research on social circles and happiness. Why do friendships endure more in Japan than in the US? Who's happier? And how important is happiness anyway?

Does collaboration really produce better ideas? Oct 22, 2025

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Most companies talks about the importance of innovation and collaboration, but the connection tends to be more of a hunch than a demonstrable fact. So can we measure whether collaboration really produces better ideas? Chicago Booth's Mike Gibbs talks about his research on social networks and innovation. Does having a bigger network make you more likely to come up with new and better ideas? And how has remote work affected networking and innovation?

Apart from the paycheck, why do we work? Oct 15, 2025

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Would you work if you weren't being paid for it? Social media is full of people criticizing companies for exploiting interns and prospective hires by underpaying or not paying them. Is that a universal feeling, or does it reflect western values and attitudes that aren't replicated elsewhere in the world? Chicago Booth's Thomas Talhelm talks about his research on what motivates people around the world to work.

Why are home prices so high? Oct 08, 2025

Show notes

The median home price in the US in 1970 was approximately $23,400, less than 2.5 times the median family income at the time of about $9,870. By last year, the median home price was more than $400,000, about 5 times the median family income of about $80,000. No surprise that people are warning about a housing affordability crisis. To what extent is that driven by the increasing cost of building homes? Chicago Booth's Chad Syverson talks about his research on the weak link between building costs and home prices. What's really behind the price increases in residential real estate?

Are AI interviews better? Oct 01, 2025

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Have you had an AI job interview? Would you prefer to be interviewed by AI than by a human? And how would you expect AI interviewers to perform compared to their human counterparts? Chicago Booth's Brian Jabarian talks about his research on AI interviews. Will they make human-to-human job interviews a thing of the past?

Should we pay people to walk? Sep 24, 2025

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One way health policymakers can get people to exercise more is to pay them. But should we pay greater amounts to people who exercise more, and smaller sums to those who do less? Rebecca Dizon Ross tells us about her research on personalizing incentive payments to try to encourage exercise. Does getting people to choose their own exercise targets and financial compensation encourage them to walk more?

The 'Professor of Uncertainty' on AI Sep 17, 2025

Show notes

AI is untrustworthy. It hallucinates, making up information or extrapolating by itself. That might make it frustrating to use, but could it prove more of a feature than a bug? Chicago Booth's Veronika Ročková uses statistical methods that exploit the randomness in AI responses to improve medical diagnoses, and even to classify galaxies more efficiently.

Can virtual reality increase empathy? Sep 10, 2025

Show notes

Technology is typically thought of as driving humans apart. But could it be used to promote a sense of empathy with others? Chicago Booth's Alex Imas tells us about an experiment he ran using an immersive virtual-reality installation. Virtual reality, Imas reckons, could be used to help us relate to other people in real life.

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