Existing drugs can sometimes be repurposed to treat rare diseases. But making that match can be hard — and the financial incentives are weak. Guest host Steve Levitt tries to solve the puzzle.

• SOURCES:
  • Chris Snyder, professor of economics at Dartmouth College.
  • David Fajgenbaum, co-founder and president of Every Cure, physician-scientist at the University of Pennsylvania.
  • Heather Stone, health science policy analyst at the Food & Drug Administration.
  • Sarrin Chethik, senior policy analyst at the Market Shaping Accelerator.

• RESOURCES:
  • Chasing My Cure: A Doctor's Race to Turn Hope into Action; A Memoir, by David Fajgenbaum (2019).
  • Strong Medicine: Creating Incentives for Pharmaceutical Research on Neglected Diseases, by Michael Kremer and Rachel Glennerster (2016).
  • Market Shaping Accelerator.
  • CURE ID Registry.

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When Richard Thaler first published Nudge, the world was just starting to believe in his brand of behavioral economics. In this 2021 episode, we ask: How has nudge theory held up in the face of a global financial meltdown, a pandemic, and other existential crises?

• SOURCES:
  • Richard Thaler, professor of economics at the University of Chicago.

• RESOURCES:
  • Nudge: The Final Edition, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein (2021).
  • Sludge: What Stops Us from Getting Things Done and What to Do About It, by Cass Sunstein (2021).
  • "Sludge: Americans Spend 11.4 Billion Hours Filling Out Federal Paperwork," by Cass Sunstein (Big Think, 2021).
  • "Carbon Taxation in Sweden," by Government Offices of Sweden Ministry of Finance (2021).
  • "The Climate Club: How to Fix a Failing Global Effort," by William Nordhaus (Foreign Affairs, 2020).
  • "Organ Donation: Presumed Consent and Focusing on What Matters," by Rebecca Brown (The Journal of Medical Ethics Blog, 2017).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Sludge," series by Freakonomics Radio (2025).
  • “People Aren’t Dumb. The World Is Hard. (Ep. 340 Rebroadcast),” by Freakonomics Radio (2018).

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The science says no, at least not in the athletic sense. But the psychic benefits can be large — just ask former N.F.L. star Ricky Williams. He says athletes should consider cannabis a healing drug, not a party drug. Even the N.F.L. is starting to agree. (Part two of a two-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Angela Bryan, professor, associate chair for faculty development in the department of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
  • Ricky Williams, former N.F.L. running back, founder of Highsman.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Using A Lab On Wheels To Study Weed From Dispensaries," by Science Friday (2024).
  • "Exercise-induced euphoria and anxiolysis do not depend on endogenous opioids in humans," by Michael Siebers, Sarah Biedermann, Laura Bindila, Beat Lutz, and Johannes Fuss (Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2021).
  • "Endocannabinoids mediate runner’s high," by Sudhakaran Prabakaran (Science Signaling, 2015).
  • "Cannabis and Exercise Science: A Commentary on Existing Studies and Suggestions for Future Directions," by Angela Bryan, Arielle Gilman, and Kent Hutchison (Sports Medicine, 2015).
  • Run Ricky Run, documentary (2010).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Is America Switching from Booze to Weed?" series by Freakonomics Radio (2024).

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