The Art Of Freakonomics

Podcasts #484, #485, #486, December, 2021

Freakonomics is one of my favorite podcast series. It’s devoted to, as they say, the hidden side of economics.

Last month, the show featured a three-part series discussing the commercial aspects of the art market. Specifically, the show’s journalists examine the fine art market, but there are many, many similarities to any aspect of art collecting, including comic art. Someof the topics — such as purchasing at auctions vs. dealers vs. directly from the artist — will ring familiar to anyone who owns more than one or two pieces of original art.

Admittedly, this could have been a two-parter (they spend an inordinate amount of time discussing the fine art career of Alice Neel and the increase in value of her works in recent years), but as always, the pod episodes are interesting and valuable.

If you buy art, or have ever considered it, it’s definitely a worthwhile listen.

See you back here next Tuesday, January 11 with the start of our salute to the 70th anniversary of Mad.