Flying in the U.S. is still exceptionally safe, but the system relies on outdated tech and is under tremendous strain. Six experts tell us how it got this way and how it can (maybe) be fixed. (Part one of a two-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Dorothy Robyn, senior fellow at I.T.I.F.
  • Ed Bastian, C.E.O. of Delta Airlines.
  • John Strong, professor of finance and economics at the William and Mary School of Business.
  • Kenneth Levin, retired air traffic controller.
  • Polly Trottenberg, former deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Brand New Air Traffic Control System Plan," (Federal Aviation Administration, 2025).
  • The Air Traffic Controller Workforce Imperative: Staffing Models and Their Implementation to Ensure Safe and Efficient Airspace Operations, by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2025).
  • "Annual Aviation Infrastructure Report: 2025," by Marc Scribner (Reason Foundation, 2025).
  • "New air traffic academy died in Congress despite dire need for more staff," by Lori Aratani (The Washington Post, 2025).
  • "The Real Problem With the FAA," by Dorothy Robyn (The Atlantic, 2025).
  • "How Much Do Jet Aircraft Pay into the Airport and Airway Trust Fund to Fly from Dallas to D.C.?" by Ann Henebery, (Eno Center for Transportation, 2018).
  • Managing the Skies, by John Strong and Clinton Oster (2016).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Freakonomics Radio Takes to the Skies," series by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
  • "In Praise of Maintenance," by Freakonomics Radio (2016).

Patrick Deneen, a political philosopher at Notre Dame, says yes. He was a Democrat for years, and has now come to be seen as an “ideological guru” of the Trump administration. But that only tells half the story ...

• SOURCES:
  • Patrick Deneen, professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame.

• RESOURCES:
  • "The Ideological Gurus Battling for the Soul of Trump World," by Joshua Chaffin and Zusha Elinson (Wall Street Journal, 2025).
  • "Why the MAGA-DOGE coalition will hold," by Patrick Deneen (UnHerd, 2025).
  • "‘I Don’t Want to Violently Overthrow the Government. I Want Something Far More Revolutionary,’" by Ian Ward (POLITICO, 2023).
  • Regime Change: Toward a Postliberal Future, by Patrick Deneen (2023).
  • Why Liberalism Failed, by Patrick Deneen (2018).

• EXTRAS:
  • "In Search of the Real Adam Smith," series by Freakonomics Radio (2022).

Bjørn Andersen has killed hundreds of minke whales. He tells us how he does it, why he does it, and what he thinks would happen if whale-hunting ever stopped. (This bonus episode is a follow-up to our series “Everything You Never Knew About Whaling.”)

• SOURCES:
  • Bjørn Andersen, Norwegian whaler.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Digestive physiology of minke whales," by S.D. Mathiesen, T.H. Aagnes, W. Sørmo, E.S. Nordøy, A.S. Blix, M.A. Olsen (Developments in Marine Biology, 1995).
  • "Norway Is Planning to Resume Whaling Despite World Ban," by Craig Whitney (New York Times, 1992).
  • "Commission Votes to Ban Hunting of Whales," by Philip Shabecoff (New York Times, 1982).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Everything You Never Knew About Whaling," series by Freakonomics Radio (2023).