If you haven’t read Freakonomics, you should. If you have read Freakonomics, you should read their blog. If you’ve read the book and the blog, you should listen to their podcasts.

If you’ve done all of those things, then you should eagerly anticipate the production of the Freakonomics documentary, like me! (To be produced by the same people that brought us Man on Wire and Food, Inc.)

For those of you back in the first category (those unfamiliar with Freakonomics), it’s this crazy fun book filled with what they refer to as “the hidden side of everything.” The authors work together (one is a journalist, the other an economist) to present data in a way I promise you’ve never thought of before. For instance, in one of their podcasts (which just recently started up), they talk about the dangers of increased safety measures. They look at the number of injuries, specifically concussions, in football players since the advent of good helmet technology – counter to what you might think, concussions are on the rise. Why? Mostly because football players now feel safe enough to use their heads as battering rams. They talk about the same sort of effect in Nascar – the cars are getting safer and safer, so the drivers are becoming more and more reckless.

In a different podcast, they talk about what the country would look like if economists ran it. One ecnonomist, when asked what the first thing he would do would be, replied something to the effect of “Well, I’d get rid of the Department of Education, because they’re not really doing any good, and I’d legalize all drugs and tax them.” So, that probably won’t get him elected, but it’s super interesting to hear about the numbers that really do back up the stuff they’re talking about.

This week’s podcast is about the authors’ first trip to Hong Kong – can’t wait to hear what they have to say!