Well-Versed Ghosts and 4 More Must-Hear Podcasts
Also, a cursed piano competition, three inches containing 1,500 languages, and more.
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Stuck in traffic on your way to the office? Consider Uber—or rather, consider how Uber's database of customer information provides economists with a rare understanding of how demand curves work. Looking for something even more sinister than databases of your financial decision-making? Listen to the true story of a man who encounters spirits through his radio. But wait, that's not all we have in this week's podcast roundup! You should also make time for a creepy story of a roommate possessed by a spirit well-versed in English Lit 101, learn how human language will survive the apocalypse (in very tiny font), and get started on American Public Media’s new podcast delving into the abduction of Jacob Wetterling.
Getty ImagesStrange, "Sheila Wysocki, Russell Koonce, Whitley Strieber, Scott Cantrell and Eli Sanders"
A man talks to a spirit through the radio in his apartment. A curse haunts an international piano competition. A woman becomes a private investigator to research the gruesome murder of her college roommate—and helps to solve the crime, 20 years later. In *Strange*, five people share their own experiences with the sordid and mysterious. [Listen here.](https://audioboom.com/boos/5028548-ep-2-sheila-wysocki-russell-koonce-whitley-strieber-scott-cantrell-and-eli-sanders)
WNYCFreakonomics, “Why Uber is an Economist’s Dream”
Uber’s trove of data on its customers strikes many consumers as sinister—but for an economist, it’s a gold mine. Economist Steven Levitt gained access to 54 million user sessions from Uber, detailing when people used the app to take a ride—and when they opened the app, saw surge pricing, and thought better of it. Levitt explains how this Uber data offers insight into long-unproven ideas about demand curves—and explains how the rise and fall of surge pricing actually works. [Listen here.](http://freakonomics.com/podcast/uber-economists-dream/)
APM ReportsIn the Dark, “The Crime”
On Oct. 22, 1989, 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling was abducted. American Public Media’s *In the Dark* will examine the Wetterling case—which was [solved](http://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/09/06/danny-heinrich-wetterling-case-court-appearance) just last week—and how it fueled national concerns about stranger danger and led to the first nationally mandated sex offender registry. In the first episode, listen to his brother’s audio testimony from the original investigation, and hear from Jacob himself. [Listen here.](http://www.apmreports.org/story/2016/09/07/in-the-dark-1)
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Charley Locke writes about growing up and growing old for publications including The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine, and WIRED. ... Read More
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