Steven D. Levitt is the William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, where he directs the Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory. He is a winner of the John Bates Clark Medal and has been named one of Time magazine's 100 People Who Shape Our World. In addition to his academic and Freakonomics pursuits, he is a founding partner of the TGG Group consulting firm. Stephen J. Dubner is an award-winning author, journalist, and radio and TV personality. He has written six books, including the Freakonomics trilogy; he is host of Freakonomics Radio and was host of the NFL Network's Football Freakonomics, which was nominated for an Emmy.

He has taught English at Columbia and played in a rock band that was signed to Arista Records; he was first published at the age of 11, in Highlights for Children.