People I (Mostly) Admire cover art

People I (Mostly) Admire

Freakonomics co-author Steve Levitt tracks down other high achievers for surprising, revealing conversations about their lives and obsessions.

Website

Most frequent guests

  1. Sendhil Mullainathan 5 episodes
  2. Sal Khan 4 episodes
  3. Yul Kwon 4 episodes
  4. Carl Hart 3 episodes
  5. Peter Attia 3 episodes
  6. Steven Pinker 3 episodes
  7. Sue Bird 3 episodes
  8. Daniel Kahneman 3 episodes
  9. John Green 3 episodes
  10. Susan Wojcicki 3 episodes

Every guest on People I (Mostly) Admire

160 guests, ranked by how many people never want them back.

  1. —
    Irving Finkel

    169. Decoding the World’s First Writing · Oct 2025

    0 votes
  2. —
    Brian Cox

    170. Finding the God Particle · Nov 2025

    0 votes
  3. —
    Rick Rubin

    Rick Rubin on How to Make Something Great (Update) · 2 episodes

    0 votes
  4. —
    Charles Duhigg

    How to Have Great Conversations (Update) · 2 episodes

    0 votes
  5. —
    Steven Pinker

    1. Steven Pinker: "I Manage My Controversy Portfolio Carefully” · 3 episodes

    0 votes
  6. —
    James Nestor

    140. How to Breathe Better · Sep 2024

    0 votes
  7. —
    Annie Duke

    Annie Duke Thinks You Should Quit (Update) · 2 episodes

    0 votes
  8. —
    Tom Holland

    158. Why Did Rome Fall — and Are We Next? · May 2025

    0 votes
  9. —
    Jane Goodall

    Jane Goodall Changed the Way We See Animals. She’s Not Done. (Replay) · 2 episodes

    0 votes
  10. —
    Suleika Jaouad

    Suleika Jaouad’s Survival Mechanisms (Replay) · 2 episodes

    0 votes
  11. —
    Suzanne O'Sullivan

    153. We’re Not Getting Sicker — We’re Overdiagnosed · Mar 2025

    0 votes
  12. —
    Ken Goldberg

    154. Can Robots Get a Grip? · Mar 2025

    0 votes
  13. —
    Daniel Kahneman

    27. Daniel Kahneman on Why Our Judgment is Flawed — and What to Do About It · 3 episodes

    0 votes
  14. —
    David Autor

    142. What’s Impacting American Workers? · Oct 2024

    0 votes
  15. —
    Michael Greenstone

    171. Measuring Pollution on Parallel Earths · Nov 2025

    0 votes
  16. —
    Reginald Dwayne Betts

    Reading Dostoevsky Behind Bars (Update) · 2 episodes

    0 votes
  17. —
    Uri Simonsohn

    163. The Data Sleuth Taking on Shoddy Science · Aug 2025

    0 votes
  18. —
    Abraham Verghese

    Abraham Verghese Thinks Medicine Can Do Better (Update) · 2 episodes

    0 votes
  19. —
    Adam Riess

    164. Unravelling the Universe, Again · Aug 2025

    0 votes
  20. —
    Arne Duncan

    Arne Duncan Says All Kids Deserve a Chance — and Criminals Deserve a Second One (Update) · 2 episodes

    0 votes
  21. —
    Daron Acemoglu

    Nobel Laureate Daron Acemoglu on Economics, Politics, and Power (Replay) · 2 episodes

    0 votes
  22. —
    David Yeager

    160. How to Help Kids Succeed · Jun 2025

    0 votes
  23. —
    Ellen Wiebe

    155. Helping People Die · Apr 2025

    0 votes
  24. —
    Frances Arnold

    168. Chemistry, Evolved · Oct 2025

    0 votes
  25. —
    Hank Green

    150. His Brilliant Videos Get Millions of Views. Why Don’t They Make Money? · Feb 2025

    0 votes
  26. —
    Jack Szostak

    152. Hunting for the Origins of Life · Mar 2025

    0 votes
  27. —
    Jens Ludwig

    156. A Solution to America’s Gun Problem · Apr 2025

    0 votes
  28. —
    John Green

    157. The Deadliest Disease in Human History · 3 episodes

    0 votes
  29. —
    Kate Marvel

    162. Will We Solve the Climate Problem? · Jul 2025

    0 votes
  30. —
    Michael Crow

    172. A New Kind of University · Dec 2025

    0 votes
  31. —
    Moon Duchin

    Is There a Fair Way to Divide Us? (Update) · 2 episodes

    0 votes
  32. —
    Owen Flanagan

    151. Neurobiologist, Philosopher, and Addict · Feb 2025

    0 votes
  33. —
    Robert Solow

    Ninety-Eight Years of Economic Wisdom (Replay) · 2 episodes

    0 votes
  34. —
    Robin Wall Kimmerer

    159. Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Manifesto for a Gift Economy · Jun 2025

    0 votes
  35. —
    Seth Berkley

    166. The World’s Most Effective Public Health Intervention Is Under Attack · Sep 2025

    0 votes
  36. —
    Stefanie Stantcheva

    165. The Economist Who (Gasp!) Asks People What They Think · Aug 2025

    0 votes
  37. —
    Susan Wojcicki

    5. Susan Wojcicki: “Hey, Let’s Go Buy YouTube!” · 3 episodes

    0 votes
  38. —
    Yul Kwon

    13. Yul Kwon: “Don't Try to Change Yourself All at Once.” (UPDATE) · 4 episodes

    0 votes
  39. —
    David Epstein

    35. David Epstein Knows Something About Almost Everything · 2 episodes

    0 votes
  40. —
    Richard Reeves

    143. Why Are Boys and Men in Trouble? · Oct 2024

    0 votes

Recent episodes

245 episodes from the feed, newest first.

  1. 38. Sendhil Mullainathan Explains How to Generate an Idea a Minute (Part 2)

    with Sendhil Mullainathan

    Sep 2026
  2. 37. Sendhil Mullainathan Thinks Messing Around Is the Best Use of Your Time

    with Sendhil Mullainathan

    Aug 2026
  3. 36. How Rahm Emanuel Would Run the World

    with Rahm Emanuel

    Aug 2026
  4. 35. David Epstein Knows Something About Almost Everything

    with David Epstein

    Aug 2026
  5. 34. Maya Shankar Is Changing People’s Behavior — and Her Own

    with Maya Shankar

    Aug 2026
  6. 33. Travis Tygart Is Coming for Cheaters — Just Ask Lance Armstrong

    with Travis Tygart

    Aug 2026
  7. 32. Angela Duckworth Explains How to Manage Your Goal Hierarchy

    with Angela Duckworth

    Jul 2026
  8. 31. Peter Leeson on Why Trial-by-Fire Wasn’t Barbaric and Why Pirates Were Democratic

    with Peter Leeson

    Jul 2026
  9. 30. Dambisa Moyo Says Foreign Aid Can’t Solve Problems, but Maybe Corporations Can

    with Dambisa Moyo

    Jul 2026
  10. 29. Bruce Friedrich Thinks There’s a Better Way to Eat Meat

    with Bruce Friedrich

    Jul 2026
  11. 28. Professor Carl Hart Argues All Drugs Should Be Legal — Can He Convince Steve?

    with Carl Hart

    Jun 2026
  12. 27. Daniel Kahneman on Why Our Judgment is Flawed — and What to Do About It

    with Daniel Kahneman

    Jun 2026
  13. 26. Memory Champion Nelson Dellis Helps Steve Train His Brain

    with Nelson Dellis

    Jun 2026
  14. 25. Sam Harris: “Spirituality Is a Loaded Term.”

    with Sam Harris

    Jun 2026
  15. 24. Are We Under Threat from a New Kind of Terror? (Replay Ep. 24)

    with Amaryllis Fox

    May 2026
  16. 23. Greg Norman & Mark Broadie: Why Golf Beats an Orgasm and Why Data Beats Everything

    with Greg Norman

    May 2026
  17. 22. Sal Khan: “If It Works for 15 Cousins, It Could Work for a Billion People.”

    with Sal Khan

    May 2026
  18. 21. Pete Docter: “What If Monsters Really Do Exist?”

    with Pete Docter

    May 2026
  19. 20. John Donohue: “I'm Frequently Called a Treasonous Enemy of the Constitution.”

    with John Donohue

    May 2026
  20. 19. Marina Nitze: “If You Googled ‘Business Efficiency Consultant,’ I Was the Only Result.”

    with Marina Nitze

    Apr 2026
  21. 18. Robert Sapolsky: “I Don’t Think We Have Any Free Will Whatsoever.”

    with Robert Sapolsky

    Apr 2026
  22. 17. Emily Oster: “I Am a Woman Who Is Prominently Discussing Vaginas.”

    with Emily Oster

    Apr 2026
  23. 16. Joshua Jay: “Humans Are So, So Easy to Fool.”

    with Joshua Jay

    Apr 2026
  24. 15. Tim Harford: “If You Can Make Sure You're Not An Idiot, You've Done Well.”

    with Tim Harford

    Mar 2026
  25. 13. Yul Kwon: “Don't Try to Change Yourself All at Once.” (UPDATE)

    with Yul Kwon

    Mar 2026