Just beneath the surface of the global economy, there is a hidden layer of dealmakers for whom war, chaos, and sanctions can be a great business opportunity. In this updated episode from 2025, journalists Javier Blas and Jack Farchy help us shine a light on the shadowy realm of commodity traders.

• SOURCES:
  • Javier Blas, opinion columnist at Bloomberg News.
  • Jack Farchy, energy and commodities senior reporter at Bloomberg News.
• RESOURCES:
  • The World For Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth's Resources, by Javier Blas and Jack Farchy (2021)
  • The King of Oil: The Secret Lives of Marc Rich, by Daniel Ammann (2010).
• EXTRAS:
  • "How the Supermarket Helped America Win the Cold War (Update)" by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
  • "The First Great American Industry," by Freakonomics Radio (2023).

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... of bad reviews, meager financing, or artificial intelligence. But he is worried that the world is full of sloppy thinkers who mistake facts for the truth.

• SOURCES:
  • Werner Herzog, writer, filmmaker, and actor.

• RESOURCES:
  • The Future of Truth, by Werner Herzog (2025).
  • Every Man for Himself and God Against All: A Memoir, by Werner Herzog (2023).

• EXTRAS:
  • "When Did We All Start Watching Documentaries?" by Freakonomics Radio (2025).
  • "Werner Herzog Thinks His Films Are a Distraction," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2023).

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For 50 years, the healthcare industry has been trying (and failing) to harness the power of artificial intelligence. It may finally be ready for prime time. What will this mean for human doctors — and the rest of us? (Part four of “The Freakonomics Radio Guide to Getting Better.”)

• SOURCES:
  • Bob Wachter, professor, chair of the department of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
  • Pierre Elias, cardiologist, assistant professor of biomedical informatics at Columbia University, medical director for artificial intelligence at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

• RESOURCES:
  • A Giant Leap: How AI Is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future, by Bob Wachter (2026).
  • "Epic Systems (MyChart)," by Acquired (2025).
  • "Detecting structural heart disease from electrocardiograms using AI," by Pierre Elias and Timothy Poterucha (Nature, 2025).
  • "What Are the Risks of Sharing Medical Records With ChatGPT?" by Maggie Astor (New York Times, 2025).
  • "Will Generative Artificial Intelligence Deliver on Its Promise in Health Care?" by Bob Wachter and Erik Brynjolfsson (JAMA, 2023).
  • The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype, and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine’s Computer Age, by Bob Wachter (2015).

• EXTRAS:
  • "The Doctor Won’t See You Now," by Freakonomics Radio (2025).
  • "How to Stop Worrying and Love the Robot Apocalypse (Update)," by Freakonomics Radio (2024).

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