Hey there, Steven Dubner. The holiday season is here, which gives us the opportunity, the

need, really, to open up the archives and play for you a few of the best episodes from

our checkered past. Before we get to that, if you still need to buy someone a gift, I

have a few suggestions. First, how about a couple tickets to an upcoming show of Frekenomics

Radio Live? We're in New York on March 8th and 9th in San Francisco on May 16th and Los Angeles

on May 18th. For tickets, go to Frekenomics.com, click the Live tab, or you need a more tangible

gift, click the GIFT's tab where we've got some Frekenomics Radio stuff for sale. Now, today's

show, one of my very favorites, and according to our top secret download data, it's one of

yours too, nearly 2 million listens already. It's our conversation with Richard Thaler, who helped

create the field we now know as behavioral economics, which brought him, among other things,

a Nobel Prize. So, let's begin right now.

So, let's begin if you would say your name and title. I'm Richard Thaler. I'm a professor at the Booth

School of Business at the University of Chicago. I see technically you're called the Charles

Ardwell's, or Walgreens Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Sciences, blah, blah,

blah, blah. Is that accurate? Walgreens? Yeah, yeah, that's accurate, but I didn't want to

take up the whole podcast. I understand. With my title. I was curious, however, I guess it's an

endowed chair or something, yeah? Is that what that is? Yeah, in fact, it's a chair that has only

been held by three people, all of whom have won a certain prize. Interesting. More important

though I want to know, as it's bestowed by the Walgreens family, does the position come with a

discount at Walgreens drug stores? There is no discount that I've been informed of. That said,

you, and I guess the other two holders of said chair, well, you were about a million plus dollars

richer since you were last on the show because I understand that you went out and won a Nobel prize

...