Stephen J. Dubner

Stephen J. Dubner
Stephen J. Dubner
Born	(1963-08-26) August 26, 1963
Occupation	Journalism
Known for	Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

Stephen J. Dubner (born August 26, 1963) is an American journalist who has written four books and numerous articles. Dubner is best known as co-author (with economist Steven Levitt) of the pop-economics book Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything and its 2009 sequel, SuperFreakonomics.

Background

Dubner grew up in Duanesburg, New York as the youngest of eight children in a devout Roman Catholic family. His parents, Paul and Veronica Dubner, had converted to Catholicism from Judaism, which Dubner then returned to as an adult.[1] His first published work was in the American children's magazine Highlights for Children.

Dubner received a scholarship from Appalachian State University in North Carolina, and graduated in 1984. At Appalachian he formed a band, "The Right Profile," which was signed to Arista Records. In 1988, he stopped playing music to focus more on writing, going on to receive an MFA in Writing from Columbia University (1990), where he also taught in the English Department.

Dubner currently resides in New York City with his wife, Ellen Binder, and their two children.

Books

• Turbulent Souls: A Catholic Son’s Return to His Jewish Family (1998) (ISBN 0-380-72930-X)
• Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper (2003) (ISBN 0-688-17365-9)
• Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, co-author (2005) (ISBN 0-06-089637-X)
• The Boy With Two Belly Buttons (2006) Dubner's first children's book (ISBN 0-061-13402-3)
• SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance, co-author (2009) (ISBN 0-060-88957-8)

Affiliations

• New York Times Magazine
• The New York Times
• The New Yorker
• Time Magazine
• New York Observer
• New York Magazine
• Slate

Anthologies

• The Best American Crime Writing
• The Best American Sports Writing

Book Awards

• Finalist for the Koret National Jewish Book Award
• Quill Award
• Short-listed for Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year award

Articles

• "The Economist of Odd Questions: Inside the Astonishingly Curious Mind of Steven D. Levitt"[2] New York Times Magazine (2003)
• "Blackonomics at Harvard"[3] New York Times Magazine (2005)
• "The Silver Thief: The Story of a Burglar Who Was Too Good for His Own Good"[4] The New Yorker (2004)
• "Choosing My Religion"[5] New York Times Magazine (1996)
• "'I Don't Want To Live Long …' Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, Talks From Prison"[6] Time Magazine (1999)
• "The Unhappy Inheritors: Suddenly Popular, and Bursting With Shame"[7] New York Times Magazine (2003)
• "Life Is a Contact Sport: Where N.F.L. Rookies Learn the Facts of Life"[8] New York Times Magazine (2002)
• "Behaviorists at the Gate: The New Economists Have Their Say"[9] The New York Times (2003)
• "Steven Spielberg, in Black and White"[10] New York Times Magazine (1999)
• "John Unitas, Steel-Town Quarterback"[11] New York Times Magazine (2002)
• "What Kind of an Addiction Is Israel, Anyway?"[12] New York Observer (2001)
• "The Pop Perfectionist on a Crowded Stage:Paul Simon Comes to Broadway"[13] New York Times Magazine (1997)
• "Dutch Schultz's Millions"[14] The New Yorker (2001)
• "Looking For Heroes - and Finding Them" New York Times (OpEd) (2001)
• "Stronger Than Steel: The Demise of Three Rivers Stadium" New York Times Magazine (2000)
• "What Is Stephen King Trying to Prove?" New York Times Magazine (2000)
• "Stephen Dubner recalls the cardinal as a peacemaker -- between him and his mom" New York (2000)
• "Ricky Who?" New York Times Magazine (1999)
• "Orthodox in an Unorthodox Place" Las Vegas Life (2000)
• "Monkey Business: Keith Chen’s Monkey Research" New York Times Magazine (2005)
• "The Seat-Belt Solution: How Much Good Do Car Seats Do?" New York Times Magazine (2005)
• "Up in Smoke: Whatever Happened to Crack Cocaine?" New York Times Magazine (2005)
• "Does the Truth Lie Within? One professor's lifetime of self-experimentation" New York Times Magazine (2005)
• "The DNA of Dog Dirt: Can technology keep New York City scooped?" New York Times Magazine (2005)
• "Why Vote?" New York Times Magazine (2005)
• "What the Bagel Man Saw: An Accidental Glimpse at Human Nature" New York Times Magazine (2005)
• "Stephen Dubner recalls the cardinal . . ." New York Magazine (2000)
• "The Search for 100 Million Missing Women" Slate (2005)
• "Trading Up: Where Do Baby Names Come From?" Slate (2005)
• "A Roshanda by Any Other Name: How do babies with super-black names fare?" Slate (2005)
• "Is There One Right Way To Be a Jew?" Slate (1999)

See also

• Freakonomics
• SuperFreakonomics
• Steven Levitt

External links

• My big decision by Stephen Dubner, from Grant Thornton UK blog
• Good Morning America appearance, August 27, 2009
• [15] Television Appearance
• Video Interview on LX.TV
• Homepage
• Blog
• Appalachian State University
• Reading guide and chapter excerpts (Official publisher web page)