Chicago Booth Review Podcast

Should billionaires pay higher fines than the rest of us? Does remote work kill productivity? Is insider trading always bad? The Chicago Booth Review Podcast addresses the big questions in business, policy, and markets with insights from the world’s leading academic researchers. It’s groundbreaking research—explained in a clear and straightforward way.

The ‘Professor of Uncertainty’ on AI 09/17/2025

The ‘Professor of Uncertainty’ on AI 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. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/38252135

Can virtual reality increase empathy? 09/10/2025

Can virtual reality increase empathy? 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. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/38146315

Is self-awareness always a good thing? 09/03/2025

Is self-awareness always a good thing? We typically think of self-awareness as being a good thing. But if someone behaves badly and is aware that they’re behaving badly, is that worse than if they’re blissfully unaware? Chicago Booth’s Shereen Chaudhry has conducted research into the effects of self-awareness. When should we express self-awareness, and when should we convey that we weren’t as self-aware as we should have been? /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/37965330

Do all loans have “a pound of flesh” clause? 08/27/2025

Do all loans have “a pound of flesh” clause? Almost all companies borrow money – some of secured by assets they own, other debts unsecured. But is that distinction meaningful in the real world? Chicago Booth’s Raghuram Rajan talks about his research into corporate debt. In the past century, the amount of unsecured debt has soared. What’s the significance of that, and is it really unsecured? /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/37965345

What investors look for in a startup pitch 08/20/2025

What investors look for in a startup pitch What do startup founders need to do to get venture capitalists to invest? Do VCs invest in the right team, or the right idea? Do they invest where they can add value, or do they try to pick new businesses that are going to be winners from the start? Chicago Booth’s Steve Kaplan has surveyed venture capitalists to find out what they look for in startups, and he has a framework he uses to advise both founders and funders on how to pick winning companies. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/37882065

Why students lie about using AI 08/13/2025

Why students lie about using AI When students are asked if they use AI to do their work, many say they don’t. But when they’re asked if other students re using AI, many more say that they do. Should we conclude that they’re not being honest about their own AI use? Chicago Booth’s Alex Imas has conducted research on students and AI. Why is using AI such a taboo? And how should schools and colleges respond to its inevitable creep? /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/37792465

Why is apologizing so hard? 08/06/2025

Why is apologizing so hard? It’s hard to say sorry, and it can be even harder to say sorry without following it up with whatever the other person did wrong. Why are apologies so hard? Chicago Booth’s Shereen Chaudhry has conducted research into the strategy of apologizing and blaming. Why do we care so much about others accepting their share of the blame? And when we know that we’ve done wrong, what’s holding us back from apologizing? /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/37697750

Trumponomics: How robust are America’s institutions? 07/30/2025

Trumponomics: How robust are America’s institutions? The Trump administration has gutted central government, lashed out at the Federal Reserve, and is attempting to dismantle the international trading order. Can America’s institutions survive? We hear from Chicago Booth’s Raghuram Rajan about the role of institutions in political economy. Are we seeing a reversal of fortunes, in which the US is looking more and more like a caricature of a poor country with poorly regarded institutions, growing inequality and a looming sovereign debt crisis? /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/37604145

Decoding the signals in private equity reports 07/23/2025

Decoding the signals in private equity reports Private equity investments are typically locked up for many years, which means investors don’t know at any point in time how much their stakes are worth. Should they take at face value the valuations that PE firms provide? Chicago Booth’s Steve Kaplan has detected patterns in private equity valuation reports that reveal whether the company will be sold at a premium, and when that exit might happen. So how can investors get a better sense of when and how big their payoffs will be? /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/37515160

Should we pay coal miners to go to college? 07/16/2025

Should we pay coal miners to go to college? In recent decades, many manufacturing workers in developed economies have lost their jobs, replaced by robots or cheaper imports. One option is to try to get those jobs back. Another is to retrain them to acquire skills that are in demand. But does it really make sense to send displaced manual workers to college? Chicago Booth’s Anders Humlum talks about his research on retraining injured workers, which suggests that paying them to go to college reaps big returns. Is the same true for workers who lose their jobs to automation or trade? /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/37419185

How can we address conflicts of interest in research? 07/09/2025

How can we address conflicts of interest in research? Imagine that you hear about a powerful new miracle drug just discovered. If the scientist who did the research had stock options in the drug maker and stood to make a lot of money if the drug got approved, would that affect how you think about it? Luigi Zingales talks about his research into conflicts of interest in research and what should be done about them. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/37335540

Is America’s cultural divide growing? 07/02/2025

Is America’s cultural divide growing? Many of us have a general sense that as a society, we’re not just becoming more polarized politically, but we’re also moving further apart culturally – what we buy, what we watch, how we spend our spare time - these consumer behaviors are also increasingly diverging. Chicago Booth’s Emir Kamenica has studied the cultural divide in America. While his research confirms a widening gap in social attitudes between conservatives and liberals, it also reveals that the culture gap is remarkably stable. How did he arrive at that conclusion, and what does it mean for society? /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/37256165

If the bank won’t lend to you, who will? 06/25/2025

If the bank won’t lend to you, who will? One of the fastest-growing parts of the financial system in the past 15 years has been private credit, that is, lending not by banks but by other financial institutions or funds that don’t take deposits. The sector expanded ten fold between 2009 and 2023, to reach a value of about $2 trillion, according to McKinsey. And McKinsey thinks it has room to continue growing to become a $30 trillion industry. What does this mean for companies, and for the broader US economy? Welcome to the Chicago Booth Review podcast, where we bring you groundbreaking academic research in a clear and straightforward way. I’m Hal Weitzman, and today, I’m talking with Chicago Booth’s Amir Sufi about the rise of private capital. Is it better or worse for borrowers? Should we be worried about systemic risk? And why aren’t banks lending as they used to? /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/37137615

Why AI isn’t boosting the economy 06/18/2025

Why AI isn’t boosting the economy Employees are increasingly using AI, and their employers are increasingly encouraging them to do so. Companies are building their own chatbots, and training their staff in how best to use the technology. You might think this would be feeding through into corporate profits and boosting the economy. So why isn’t it? We hear from Chicago Booth’s Anders Humlum, whose research documents the paltry effects AI is having on company earnings and economic growth /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/37045860

How to negotiate home prices 06/11/2025

How to negotiate home prices Moving home is one of the most stressful things you’ll do in life, but negotiating to buy a home has to be up there. Chicago Booth’s George Wu teaches negotiation to MBAs. What techniques does he recommend to reduce the stress and improve the success when it comes to getting a deal over the price of a home? /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/36948215

Low-cost ways to tackle America’s murder rate 06/04/2025

Low-cost ways to tackle America’s murder rate The US murder rate is around 5 per 100,000 people, lower than a recent COVID-era spike, but nonetheless much higher than most other developed countries. Many Americans have concluded that either they need a gun to protect themselves, or that the problem is too big to address. In our second episode with Jens Ludwig, author of Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence, he outlines some small and cheap interventions that could make a big difference in how we tackle homicides. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/36843055

What the Right and Left get wrong about gun violence 05/28/2025

What the Right and Left get wrong about gun violence The United States has more guns than people, and one of the world’s highest rates of gun homicide. What’s really driving America’s appalling murder rate? Is it bad people, poverty, or something else? Jens Ludwig, a professor at the Harris School of Public Policy, and Director of the University of Chicago’s Crime Lab, talks to us about his new book, Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence. Ludwig thinks America’s failure to tackle gun violence stem from a fundamental misunderstanding about what causes it in the first place. This is the first of two episodes with Ludwig about his book. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/36736605

The data on sex, marriage, and happiness 05/21/2025

The data on sex, marriage, and happiness Married people are happier than the unmarried, on average. Those who are married and having regular sex are even happier. And over time, the difference between the happiness of the married and the unmarried is growing. So what do the statistics tell us about sex, marriage, and happiness? Chicago Booth’s Sam Peltzman talks about his research into happiness and marriage. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/36645935

Why nonprofits should be more like corporations 05/14/2025

Why nonprofits should be more like corporations Most nonprofits depend on donations. But should they be acting more like companies, and focus on raising revenue instead? Chicago Booth’s Rob Gertner thinks philanthropy might not be the best way to achieve a social goal. He talks about his research into social enterprises—organizations that have a social goal, but achieve it in part by charging money for goods and services. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/36554090

Are customers more important than revenue? 05/07/2025

Are customers more important than revenue? Many of us have so many subscriptions that we’ve lost track of them all. Companies also increasingly have subscriptions for services such as software and cloud computing. As customers, they’re the source of a lot of value to providers. Chicago Booth’s Amir Sufi says this “customer capital” accounts for a lot of the differences in how companies are valued between industries. And it might even have overturned what has been a cardinal rule of business: that revenue is more important than acquiring and maintaining customers. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/36456640

Why is some news more newsworthy? 04/30/2025

Why is some news more newsworthy? What makes news stories newsworthy? Can you measure newsworthiness? Are people right in thinking that the media tend to focus on bad news? Chicago Booth’s Emir Kamenica argues that accounting for newsworthiness changes how we view the media’s apparent focus on negative news. So how do you measure newsworthiness? And is the news not always as negative as it may first appear? /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/36362745

Trumponomics: Will DOGE actually cut government spending? 04/23/2025

Trumponomics: Will DOGE actually cut government spending? Elon Musk’s DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, has driven a steamroller through the federal government, slashing jobs and dismantling entire agencies. But will it actually do much to address the US’s budget deficit? We hear from Chicago Booth’s Sam Peltzman, a longtime critic of government regulation and bureaucracy, and a onetime federal employee himself. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/36252190

Trumponomics: Is the media taking orders from the White House? 04/09/2025

Trumponomics: Is the media taking orders from the White House? In February, Jeff Bezos, owner of the Washington Post, said its opinion section would focus on contributions that support “personal liberties and free markets” and would not run any opinions that oppose those two values. In response, Chicago Booth’s Luigi Zingales called for opinion writers to boycott the publication. What does Zingales think the episode tells us about media coverage in the age of Trump? To follow the Stigler Center's 2025 Antitrust and Competition Conference, visit /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/36057360

BONUS: The Many Faces of Capitalism 04/03/2025

BONUS: The Many Faces of Capitalism Who is the face of capitalism? And how has that face changed over time? In this bonus episode, John Paul Rollert, our In-House Ethicist, Rollert analyzes some of the characters who have represented capitalism over time in the popular imagination, revealing how many people perceive the economic system. He charts the evolution of capitalism’s protagonists from the hardworking professional lauded by Adam Smith to the tech founders of Silicon Valley. So who will be the next face of capitalism? https://www.chicagobooth.edu/review/ihe-podcast#sort=%40articledate%20descending /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/35960385

How to negotiate salary 04/02/2025

How to negotiate salary Salary negotiations are difficult. Many of us hate talking about money, particularly with a potential employer. So what can you do to make sure you arrive at a fair wage? Chicago Booth’s George Wu says the trick to a successful salary conversation is to prepare, give yourself options, and don’t celebrate too soon. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/35960070

Don’t avoid workplace conflict 03/26/2025

Don’t avoid workplace conflict As long as there’s been a workplace, there’s been tension, strains, and disagreements between coworkers. Many of us are conflict-averse, and try to avoid sensitive areas that we know could lead to confrontation. But is that the wrong approach? Chicago Booth’s Lisa Stefanac says that workplace conflict contains valuable data, if only we know how to gather and learn from it. Confronting conflict, rather than avoiding it, she says, can lead to a healthier work environment. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/35844970

What’s behind the AI gender gap? 03/19/2025

What’s behind the AI gender gap? Research suggests that women are using generative AI much less than men. Why? And who is using the technology to make them more productive at work? In this episode, we hear from The Pie, a podcast from the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at the University of Chicago. Host Tess Vigeland speaks with Chicago Booth’s Anders Humlum, a labor economist, about the effect of generative AI on the workforce. Who will be the winners and losers from the AI revolution? /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/35675690

How will climate change affect culture? 03/12/2025

How will climate change affect culture? What shapes a society’s culture? Chicago Booth’s Thomas Talhelm links the abundance of water in a region to its attitude to the future. His research finds that people who live in areas where water is plentiful tend to live more in the moment, whereas those who live where water is scarce tend to plan more for the longer term. Climate change will result in big changes to water access in the coming decades. So what effect could that have on culture? /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/35574035

Trumponomics: Will DOGE fail? 03/05/2025

Trumponomics: Will DOGE fail? Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has taken a sledgehammer to Washington, closing government agencies and leaving many federal employees unsure if they still have jobs. Will that really make government more effective? Chicago Booth’s Rob Gertner says DOGE may end up creating a less effective and less efficient federal government. Rather than smashing things up, he advises focusing on incentives, funding and management. So how could we structure things to make government agencies worth their funding? /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/35531790

Trumponomics: Will the White House wage war on the Fed? 02/26/2025

Trumponomics: Will the White House wage war on the Fed? President Trump has accused the Federal Reserve of causing and failing to stop inflation. Instead, Trump says he will take care of the issue by producing more energy and boosting US manufacturing. Will the next four years see a confrontation between the Fed and the White House? We ask Chicago Booth’s Randy Kroszner—a former member of both the President’s Council of Economic Advisers and the board of the Federal Reserve—if the Fed and the White House are on a collision course. /episode/index/show/thebigquestion/id/35333430

Chicago Booth Review Podcast

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