When a hospital closes in a rural area, it’s a big deal. But are all patients affected equally? We look at new research on the unexpected outcomes of traveling farther for care.

50. What Happens When a Hospital Closes?

Promising drugs keep failing in trials. Allegations of fraud have cast a shadow over the field. An expert explains why Alzheimer’s treatments have been so hard to find — and why one clue may lie in the Andes Mountains.

49. Why Don’t We Have a Cure for Alzheimer’s?

Beyond the immediate casualties, school shootings have costs — for survivors, and for the rest of us.

48. The Hidden Consequences of School Shootings

Hospitals compete for prime spots on the U.S. News rankings — but could those lists be doing more harm than good?

47. Should We Trust Hospital Rankings?

Our cognitive health can change as we get older. So, does leaving the workforce make problems like memory loss and difficulty focusing worse? We investigate the research, and Bapu asks: is it time for his dad to retire?

How Does Retirement Affect Your Brain? (Ep. 17 Replay)

Chronic fatigue syndrome looks remarkably similar to Long Covid, but has been ignored by the medical community. Could patients finally get some answers to their debilitating illness?

46. Could Long Covid Help Treat Other Chronic Illnesses?

Learning requires practice — and if you visit a teaching hospital in July, there’s a good chance your doctor hasn’t had much of it. So, will your care suffer? The dean of a medical school, an economist, and a hospital administrator help Bapu Jena find out.

45. Why Is July a Bad Month to Visit the Hospital?

Can you diagnose cancer too early? Do in-flight medical emergencies vary by location? We asked you to send Bapu your questions, and this week he tries to answer them. We’d love to get to the bottom of even more topics. Send your voice memos to bapu@freakonomics.com

44. Office Hours with Bapu

Before you start listening, we want to inform how your login helps us improve your experience. We kindly ask you to read through and approve the following.

Podplay uses cookies to enhance your user experience. If you do not agree to this, you can turn off cookies in your browser. Read our [cookie policy](https://podplay.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360037365292-Cookie-Policy) for more information about cookies and our [privacy policy](https://podplay.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360037735731-Privacy-Policy) for more information about our personal data processing.

Failed to load content!

The page you were looking for was moved or doesn't exist.


Exclusive content

This is an episode that only is available on Podplay for logged in users.

You now have access to our entire range of content!

You need to login to listen to this episode. Create an account or log in to explore our entire range of content!

Enter your email address and we will send you a link where you can choose a new password.

A link has been sent to the email address you entered.

To use Podplay, we recommend that you use the latest version of Safari, Edge, Firefox or Chrome. 

Podplay podcasts

Change playback speed

The podcast {{podcastName}} is embedded on this page from an open {{RSSLink}}. All files, descriptions, artwork and other metadata from the RSS-feed is the property of the podcast owner and not affiliated with or validated by Podplay.

The podcast {{podcastName}} is distributed by Podplay. Here you find the podcasts {{RSSLink}}.

Discover and listen to {{category}} podcasts

Popular podcasts

{{title}} | {{podcastTitle}} | Listen at Podplay

{{title}} | {{podcastTitle}} | Podplay

Page not found

An error has occurred

Forgot password

Log in for a better listening experience.

Log in

{{title}} | Listen at Podplay

Reset password

Sign up for a better listening experience

Sign up

Find and listen to your favourite podcasts at Podplay - Your home for podcasts.

Find and listen to your favourite podcasts at Podplay.

Podplay | Your Home for Podcasts

Discover the most popular podcasts on Podplay

Top 100 podcasts

Account settings - Consents

Account settings - Data

My account – delete account

Account settings - settings

My account - Settings

My account

My account - password

Something went wrong, please try again. If the problem persists, please contact us.


Before you start listening, we want to inform you how your login helps us improve your experience. We kindly ask you to read through and approve the following.

Go to start page

Top 100

Your consents

Click the button below to request your data. The data will be sent to the email associated with your account.

You have already requested your data. You must wait before requesting again.

A download link will be sent to your email when the file has been created.

Request your data

Click below to delete your account. Note that all information associated with your account, such as which podcasts you follow and listening history, will also be deleted.

Delete Account

Update account information

You have entered wrong password. Please try again.

Update password

For security reasons, please enter your password below to make this change.


Each week, physician and economist Dr. Bapu Jena will dig into a fascinating study at the intersection of economics and healthcare. He takes on questions like: Why do kids with summer birthdays get the flu more often? Can surviving a hurricane help you live longer? What do heart surgery and grocery-store pricing have in common?

Freakonomics, M.D.

About the podcast Freakonomics, M.D.

Categories