Stephen J. Dubner’s Substack

Stephen J. Dubner’s Substack

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May 2025

“Fault-Finder Is a Minimum-Wage Job”
Austan Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, is far less reserved than the average banker.
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Stephen J. Dubner
3
The Most Powerful People You’ve Never Heard Of
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…
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Stephen J. Dubner
2
How to Succeed at Failing, Part 1: The Chain of Events
We tend to think of tragedies as a single terrible moment, rather than the result of multiple bad decisions. Can this pattern be reversed?
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Stephen J. Dubner
1
When Did We All Start Watching Documentaries?
Award-winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler talks to Stephen Dubner about capturing Billie Eilish’s musical genius and Martha Stewart’s vulnerability — and why…
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Stephen J. Dubner
1

April 2025

Will 3 Summers of Lincoln Make It to Broadway?
It’s been in development for five years and has at least a year to go — and the producers still need to raise another $15 million. There really is no…
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Stephen J. Dubner
On Broadway, Nobody Knows Nothing
A hit can come from nowhere while a sure bet can lose $20 million. We speak with some of the biggest producers in the game and learn that there is only…
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Stephen J. Dubner
1
How Is Live Theater Still Alive?
It has become fiendishly expensive to produce, and has more competition than ever. And yet the believers still believe. Why? And does the world really…
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Stephen J. Dubner
Is Government the Cause of the Sludge Problem, or the Solution?
There is no sludgier place in America than Washington, D.C. But could that be changing? And where do Elon Musk and DOGE fit in?
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Stephen J. Dubner
1

March 2025

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