By Dan Nonte, University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-4314
Posted 2-2-09
Stephen J. Dubner
GREENSBORO, NC – Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms?
Journalist Stephen J. Dubner and economist Steven D. Levitt explore the answers to these questions and more in their bestseller “Freakonomics.” On March 25, Dubner will share his compelling storytelling at the annual Friends of the UNCG Libraries dinner in Elliott University Center’s Cone Ballroom.
A reception will start at 6 p.m., dinner at 6:30 p.m., and the program at 8 p.m. After his speech, Dubner will sign copies of his books, which will be available for purchase.
Tickets – $45 for Friends members, $55 for non-members and $12 for the program only – are available from the UNCG Box Office, (336) 334-4849 or www.uncg.edu/euc/boxoffice. Dinner tickets must be reserved by March 18. Contact Barry Miller, (336) 256-0112, for information about table sponsorships.
Originally published in 2005, “Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything” has been translated into more than 30 languages and has sold more than 3 million copies. It explores the ways to change behavior, the incentives that work and don’t work, and the value of asking unpopular questions.
Dubner and Levitt write a monthly Freakonomics column for the New York Times Magazine and maintain a blog on the New York Times’ web site: http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com.
A native of upstate New York, Dubner earned a bachelor’s degree at Appalachian State and an MFA in writing at Columbia. He worked as an editor and writer at New York and The New York Times magazines. His writing has also appeared in Time, The New Yorker and The Washington Post.
In addition to “Freakonomics,” he is also the author of “Turbulent Souls: A Catholic Son’s Return to His Jewish Family” (1998), “Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper” (2003), and a children’s book, “The Boy with Two Belly Buttons” (2007).
He is working on several book projects, including another book with Levitt tentatively titled “SuperFreakonomics.” He lives in Manhattan with his wife, the documentary photographer Ellen Binder, and their two children.
