674. How Does a Composer Feel After the World Premiere?

Great. Then depressed. Then great again. Stephen Dubner gets the full story from David Lang; we also hear from some fans, and the New York Philharmonic’s president. The math and the aftermath of wealth of nations. (Part two of a series (freakonomics.com/david-langs-the-wealth-of-nat…).)

• SOURCES:

• David Lang (davidlangmusic.com/about), composer and professor at the Yale School of Music.

• Matías Tarnopolsky (nyphil.org/about-us/artists/matias-tarnopolsky), president and C.E.O. of the New York Philharmonic.

• RESOURCES:

• "Finally, an Opera About Economics (bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-20/gustavo…)," by Stacey Vanek Smith (Bloomberg, 2026).

• "The Little Match Girl Passion (davidlangmusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-little-m…)," by David Lang (2023).

• The Wealth of Nations (archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.207956/p…), by Adam Smith (1776).

• EXTRAS:

• "David Lang’s the wealth of nations (freakonomics.com/david-langs-the-wealth-of-nat…)," series by Freakonomics Radio (2026).

• "In Search of the Real Adam Smith (freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/in-search-of-the-…)," series by Freakonomics Radio (2022).

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