Better in Person with Stephen Dubner

Season 1

1. Trusting Your Senses Over Science, with Chef Hillary Sterling

   Episode 2

   Show notes

   Hillary Sterling was a Brooklyn kid raised on cream cheese sandwiches and canned potatoes. So how did she become one of New York City's best chefs? The Ci Siamo executive chef explains on the second episode of Better in Person.

   Jul 14, 2026 43 min

2. How a Great Architect Thinks, with Bjarke Ingels

   Episode 1

   Show notes

   Is the oxymoron really “the secret sauce to everything”? That’s the case Ingels makes in this debut episode of our new video show Better in Person, filmed in Stephen Dubner’s living room.

   Jul 14, 2026 43 min

3. Introducing Better in Person with Stephen Dubner Trailer

   Show notes

   Everyone has a public story. Stephen Dubner wants the rest.

   On Better in Person, Dubner invites remarkable people into his home for a kind of conversation that’s hard to find: curious, free-wheeling, even profound. They talk, play, eat and drink, argue and laugh. The result? Less interview, more shared discovery.

   This is how a conversation works.

   Jul 15, 2026 2 min

4. How Gary Gulman Turned Depression Into Comedy Gold

   Episode 3

   Show notes

   Gary and Stephen talk about creativity, recovery, getting fired, and holding grudges. They also get outside and play basketball, which is a big part of how Gary stays well.

   Jul 21, 2026 48 min

5. Does it Take a Twisted Mind to Write Twisted Stories?

   Episode 4

   Show notes

   Harlan Coben doesn’t think so. The mega-best-selling author talks suburbia, impostor syndrome, and what he learned from his college friend David Foster Wallace.

   Jul 28, 2026 44 min

6. What If Being a Stranger Is Actually Your Superpower?

   Episode 5

   Show notes

   Angela Buchdahl was the first Asian American to be ordained as a rabbi, and now she is among the most influential rabbis in the world. She and Stephen Dubner talk about boundary-crossing, the aftermath of October 7, and whether you can be a good Jew without believing in God.

   Aug 4, 2026 33 min

7. Meet Warren Zanes, the Author and Rocker Behind the Springsteen Movie

   Episode 6

   Show notes

   When he joined the Del Fuegos, his big brother’s band, all Warren knew how to play was a record player. Things went great for a while — and then it all fell apart. So how did he wind up writing definitive books on Springsteen and Tom Petty?

   Aug 11, 2026 53 min

8. “I Trust Almost Anyone More Than Myself”

   Episode 7

   Show notes

   The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jennifer Egan talks about confidence, luck, and why it takes 35 drafts to get to the finish line.

   Aug 18, 2026 43 min

9. How to Run an Institution in an Anti-Institution Era

   Episode 8

   Show notes

   Anne Pasternak (Brooklyn Museum) and Michael Roth (Wesleyan University) tell Stephen Dubner how they keep the peace in the middle of a culture war.

   Aug 25, 2026 37 min

10. Amazon Was Supposed to Kill the Bookstore. James Daunt Had Other Plans

    Episode 9

    Show notes

    He started with one small shop in London. He has since resuscitated both Barnes & Noble and Waterstones. He tells Stephen Dubner exactly how he does it.

    Sep 1, 2026 31 min

11. How to Be a Double Unicorn, with John Urschel

    Episode 10

    Show notes

    He was thriving in the N.F.L., but then he decided to focus on mathematics — a subject he now teaches at M.I.T. John walks Stephen Dubner through the whole story, teaches him some blocking techniques, and explains why some infinities are bigger than others.

    Sep 8, 2026 32 min