Imagine there is a big government agency that is in charge of regulating a particular industry,

but is also an employer within that industry and is essentially a business partner.

That would describe the Federal Aviation Administration.

Is it possible for the FAA to serve all those functions,

including its all-important air traffic control function? Is it possible to maintain its high

safety standards with an aging infrastructure and with a funding stream that's tied to Congress?

Those are some of the questions we asked on last week's

episode, and this week we are back at it with part two, and even more questions. We also

wanted to hear from the humans who do the actual work of air traffic control. As you may

remember from last week, the series was inspired by a recently retired controller named Kenneth

Levine, who sent us an email a few months ago. We wrote back, and eventually we called him up. Yeah, it's Steven. Is that Kenneth? It is. This is Ken. Hey, Ken. Nice to meet you, Stephen. Nice to meet you. Thanks for writing. Oh, man. You know, I can't believe I'm talking to you. I love the podcast. I love what you guys do.

And I just can't believe we're sitting here, man.

It's a thrill.

I think a lot of times people just don't think about these things or are scared to think about them.

But, you know, you give us permission.

All right.

Now I'm blushing.

But, yeah, permission granted.

This is Freakonomics Radio, the podcast that explores the hidden side of everything with your host, Stephen Dubner.

Kenneth Levin recently retired after 23 years in the air traffic control industry.

What does it take to be a controller?

It has been described as playing 3D chess at 250 miles an hour.

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