EPISODE · Aug 15, 2025 · 37 MIN
Why Do People Still Hunt Whales? (Update)
from Freakonomics Radio · host Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
For years, whale oil was used as lighting fuel, industrial lubricant, and the main ingredient in (yum!) margarine. Whale meat was also on a few menus. But today, demand for whale products is at a historic low. And yet some countries still have a whaling industry. We find out why. (Part 2 of “Everything You Never Knew About Whaling.”) SOURCES:Jay Alabaster, doctoral student at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.Bjorn Basberg, professor emeritus of economic history at the Norwegian School of Economics.Eric Hilt, professor of economics at Wellesley College.Kate O’Connell, senior policy consultant for the marine life program at the Animal Welfare Institute.Paul Watson, environmental activist and founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. RESOURCES:“The Soviet Union Killed an Appalling Number of Whales. I Wanted to Know Why,” by Ryan Tucker Jones (Slate, 2022).“Behind the Smile: The Multi-Billion Dollar Dolphin Entertainment Industry,” by World Animal Protection (2019).“Japan to Resume Commercial Whaling, Defying International Ban,” by Daniel Victor (The New York Times, 2018).“Why Is There Not More Outrage About Japan’s Barbaric Practice of Whaling?” by Boris Johnson (The Telegraph, 2018).“Margarine Once Contained a Whole Lot More Whale,” by Sarah Laskow (Gastro Obscura, 2017).“3 Million Whales Were Killed in the 20th Century: Report,” (N.B.C. News, 2015).“The Spectacular Rise and Fall of U.S. Whaling: An Innovation Story,” by Derek Thompson (The Atlantic, 2012).In Pursuit of Leviathan: Technology, Institutions, Productivity, and Profits in American Whaling, 1816-1906, by Lance E. Davis, Robert E. Gallman, and Karin Gleiter (1997).“Norway Is Planning to Resume Whaling Despite World Ban,” by Craig R. Whitney (The New York Times, 1992). EXTRAS:“The First Great American Industry,” by Freakonomics Radio (2023). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
What this episode covers
For years, whale oil was used as lighting fuel, industrial lubricant, and the main ingredient in (yum!) margarine. Whale meat was also on a few menus. But today, demand for whale products is at a historic low. And yet some countries still have a whaling industry. We find out why. (Part 2 of “Everything You Never Knew About Whaling.”)
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Why Do People Still Hunt Whales? (Update)
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