Freakonomics Radio Network Continues Growth with Hire of Gabriel Roth as Editorial Director

In 2021, the Freakonomics Radio Network set a listenership record with over 160 million downloads across its four podcasts: Freakonomics Radio, No Stupid Questions, People I (Mostly) Admire, and the new Freakonomics M.D.Now the podcast network is expanding on their current growth with the hiring of a new editorial director, Gabriel Roth, alongside consultant Jared Hohlt.

Before joining the Freakonomics Radio team, Roth worked at Slate for seven years, where he oversaw podcasts and helped launch the groundbreaking series Slow Burn, along with many other shows. Before coming to Slate, he was city editor at the San Francisco Bay Guardian and is the author of a novel, The Unknowns (Little, Brown, 2013). Roth joins the Freakonomics Radio leadership team of host and founder Stephen J. Dubner and longtime Executive Producer Alison Craiglow. "I've been a fan of the Freakonomics Radio team's work for more than a decade, and I'm thrilled to get the chance to work on their terrific podcasts and help grow the network,” he says.

His former colleague Hohlt, Slate’s editor-in-chief for three years, has also begun helping Freakonomics Radio as a part-time consultant. Roth will oversee all existing and future shows in the network, with a special concentration on the flagship show, and Hohlt is focusing especially on two new podcasts, one in the early stages and the other in piloting mode, while helping with the existing shows as well.

Entering its twelfth year as one of the biggest podcasts on the planet, Freakonomics Radio is now growing faster than it ever has before. In addition to the flagship show and podcast network both setting listenership records in 2021, the Freakonomics Radio staff has tripled in size in the past two years alone.

The flagship show Freakonomics Radio will celebrate its 500th episode at the end of March and has been joined in the past few years by the podcasts No Stupid Questions, a show exploring the weird and wonderful ways in which humans behave, with hosts Dubner and research psychologist Angela Duckworth; People I (Mostly) Admire, a show where Dubner’s Freakonomicsco-author Steven Levitt interviews other unorthodox high achievers; andFreakonomics M.D., a show exploring the intersection of economics and healthcare with Harvard physician and economist Dr. Bapu Jena.

The team also has several new shows in development to launch on the Freakonomics Radio Network this spring.

ABOUT FREAKONOMICS RADIO NETWORK

The Freakonomics Radio Network produces Freakonomics Radio, No Stupid Questions,People I (Mostly) Admire, and Freakonomics M.D.. Freakonomics Radio is one of the most enduring and popular podcasts in the world, with over 10 million listeners per month and an archive going back 10-plus years. No Stupid Questions launched in May of 2020, People I (Mostly) Admire launched in August of 2020, and Freakonomics M.D. launched in August of 2021. In total in 2021, podcasts from the Freakonomics Radio Network had over 160 million downloads. Freakonomics Radio Network will announce additional podcasts in 2022.

For more information about Freakonomics Radio, please contact Ray Padgett (raypadgett@shorefire.com) or Mark Satlof (msatlof@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media.