CSPI Podcast
Episodes
Abundance, Liberals, and the Future of Conservatism
24 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jesse Arm (X, Substack) is the Vice President of External Affairs at the Manhattan Institute. He joins the podcast to talk about his recent article, “...
Populism as a Backlash to Immigration
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Laurenz Guenther (X, website) is a Research Fellow at the Toulouse School of Economics. He joins the podcast to discuss his working paper, “Politica...
Do We Need a More Assertive Congress?
13 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Philip Wallach (follow on X) is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of the book Why Congress, which he joins Richard H...
Answering the Anti-Vaxxers | Stephen Goldstein & Richard Hanania
17 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Stephen Goldstein (follow on X) is a postdoc in Evolutionary Virology at the University of Utah School of Medicine, where he specializes in coronaviru...
How the Race Taboo Swallowed Our Political Culture | Eric Kaufmann & Richard Hanania
15 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Eric Kaufmann is a research fellow at CSPI and a professor of politics at the University of Buckingham. He joins the podcast to talk about his new boo...
Sorting Through 498,000 Clinical Trials
17 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Bess Stillman (email) is a doctor at the Mayo Clinic and writes at Everything Is An Emergency. She is also an excellent storyteller who uses her skill...
Nature, Nurture, and Overcoming Hardship | Rob Henderson and Richard Hanania on "Troubled"
06 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rob Henderson joins the podcast to talk about his book Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class. The conversation starts with a dis...
Debt Commission to the Rescue? | Romina Boccia & Richard Hanania
01 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Romina Boccia is the director of budget and entitlement policy at the Cato Institute, where she writes about government spending, the debt problem, an...
The Threat of AI Regulation with Brian Chau
18 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Brian Chau writes and hosts a podcast at the From the New World Substack, and recently established a new think tank, the Alliance for the Future.He jo...
Ideology, Trade, and War | Andrew Roberts & Richard Hanania on Napoleon
22 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Andrew Roberts (website, follow on X) is a historian, Visiting Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and a member of the H...
Heading Towards the Fiscal Cliff | Brian Riedl & Richard Hanania
20 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Brian Riedl is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, focusing on budget, tax, and economic policy. His previous jobs include chief economist to ...
No Need to Argue. Just Build | Niklas Anzinger & Richard Hanania
30 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Niklas Anzinger is the founder and General Partner of Infinita, the first Próspera-based VC fund, which invests in founders overcoming regulatory ca...
Propaganda and Power | Chris Rufo & Richard Hanania
24 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Chris Rufo joins the podcast to talk about his new book, America's Cultural Revolution: How the Radical Left Conquered Everything.Rufo begins by talki...
AI Alignment as a Solvable Problem | Leopold Aschenbrenner & Richard Hanania
15 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the popular imagination, the AI alignment debate is between those who say everything is hopeless, and others who tell us there is nothing to worry ...
Understanding Right and Left | Bryan Caplan & Richard Hanania
01 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Bryan Caplan joins the podcast to talk about his new book, Voters as Mad Scientists: Essays on Political Irrationality.Bryan begins by explaining why ...
Marc Andreessen On Venture Capital, Science, Tech, Progress, and More (Rerelease)
27 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week we’re rereleasing a previous episode with Marc Andreessen, originally released on August 16, 2021. He is co-founder and general partner of...
Waiting for the Betterness Explosion | Robin Hanson & Richard Hanania
13 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Robin Hanson joins the podcast to talk about the AI debate. He explains his reasons for being skeptical about “foom,” or the idea that there will ...
Administrative Procedure and the Common Good | Nicholas Bagley & Richard Hanania
27 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Nicholas Bagley is a professor of law at the University of Michigan, former Chief Legal Counsel to Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and a former attorney in...
Right-Wing Populism and Moral Corrosion | Tim Miller & Richard Hanania
13 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Tim Miller is a former political operative who has worked for Jeb Bush and John Huntsman, and is currently a writer for The Bulwark and an MSNBC analy...
Why the Singularity Might Never Come | Jobst Landgrebe, Barry Smith, and Richard Hanania
30 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jobst Landgrebe is a German scientist and entrepreneur. He began his career as a Fellow at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, then moved on to be...
Why is the West Special? | Joe Henrich & Richard Hanania
16 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Joe Henrich is the Ruth Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology and Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. He is the author...
Understanding the Flows of History | Garett Jones & Richard Hanania
02 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Garett Jones is a Professor of Economics at George Mason University. He joins the podcast to talk about his new book, The Culture Transplant. Richard ...
Getting at True Heritability | Alexander Young & Richard Hanania
19 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Alexander Young is a researcher at the UCLA Anderson School of Management Genomics Department and School of Medicine’s Human Genetics Department, wo...
The Right-Wing Echo Chamber | Aaron Sibarium & Richard Hanania
05 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Aaron Sibarium is a recent graduate of Yale University (2018) and journalist who writes for the Washington Free Beacon. He joins the podcast to discus...
Blame Elites...or the Masses? | Rob Henderson, Zach Goldberg, & Richard Hanania
07 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rob Henderson recently received his PhD in psychology at St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge. Zach Goldberg is a former research fellow at CSPI and c...
Identity and Elite Polarization | Eric Kaufmann & Richard Hanania
24 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Eric Kaufmann is a distinguished researcher and a fellow at CSPI. He joins the podcast to talk about his latest CSPI report, “Diverse and Divided: A...
Operation Warp Speed and the Triumph of Governance | Alex Tabarrok & Richard Hanania
10 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Alex Tabarrok is a professor of economics at George Mason University. He joins the podcast to talk about his involvement in Operation Warp Speed, a un...
Thinking about "Social Justice" Like an Economist | Bryan Caplan & Richard Hanania
26 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Bryan Caplan joins the podcast to talk about his new book Don’t Be a Feminist: Essays on Genuine Justice. The lead essay is written as a letter to h...
"How Ambitious Are You?" | Tyler Cowen & Richard Hanania
12 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tyler Cowen needs no introduction. He joins the podcast to talk about his new book, co-authored with Daniel Gross, called Talent: How to Identify Ener...
Diversity, Debate, Decline | Amy Wax & Richard Hanania
29 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Amy Wax is the Robert Mundheim Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She joins the podcast to talk about the ongoing attempt ...
Mana from Heaven | Stephen Grugett, James Grugett, & Richard Hanania
15 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Stephen and James Grugett are programmers, entrepreneurs, and cofounders of the website Manifold Markets, which hosts user-created prediction markets....
Policy Reform for Progress | Andrew Kenneson, Maxwell Tabarrok, Brent Skorup & Richard Hanania
01 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s CSPI Podcast, Richard interviews the top three winners of the CSPI Essay Contest: Policy Reform For Progress. The first interview is ...
Lessons from the Frontlines of the University Wars | Richard Lowery & Richard Hanania
18 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Lowery is an Associate Professor of Finance at The University of Texas at Austin and a senior scholar at the Salem Center for Public Policy. H...
The American Race Regime | David Bernstein & Richard Hanania
04 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
David Bernstein is a Law Professor and Executive Director of the Liberty and Law Center at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. H...
Does Big Data Know Best? | Seth Stephens-Davidowitz & Richard Hanania
20 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Seth Stephens-Davidowitz is a data scientist, author, and keynote speaker. He holds a PhD in economics from Harvard and is a contributing op-ed writer...
How LGBT Are the Kids? | Eric Kaufmann & Richard Hanania
06 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Eric Kaufmann is Professor of Politics at Birkbeck College, University of London, a CSPI research fellow, and the author of several books, including W...
Social Desirability as the Enemy of Truth | Bryan Caplan & Richard Hanania
23 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Bryan Caplan is a professor of economics at George Mason University, a visiting senior scholar at the University of Texas at Austin, and the author of...
The Future of Tech (Bonus Episode) | Eron Wolf & Richard Hanania
18 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Eron Wolf is the founder of Yahoo! Games, a WhatsApp seed investor, and the founder and CEO of FUTO, an Austin-based organization dedicated to develop...
Baby Brainwaves and Broken Science | Jordan Lasker & Richard Hanania
09 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jordan Lasker is a PhD student at Texas Tech University and a bioinformatician. He joins the podcast to discuss his recent report for CSPI, “About T...
The Le Pen Curse | Philippe Lemoine & Richard Hanania
25 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Philippe Lemoine returns to the CSPI Podcast to discuss his prediction for the 2022 French Presidential election. This episode was recorded on April 2...
Towards an Anti-Woke Political Program | Gail Heriot & Richard Hanania
11 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Gail Heriot is a Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law and a member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. She joins...
Is the West to Blame for Ukraine? | Noah Carl & Richard Hanania
28 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Noah Carl is an independent researcher, writer, and free speech advocate. He invited Richard on his new podcast (which you can find at Noah’s Substa...
"The Pressure to Conform is Enormous": Steve Hsu on Affirmative Action, Assimilation, and IQ Outliers | Steve Hsu & Richard Hanania
14 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Steve Hsu is a Professor of Theoretical Physics and Professor of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. He ...
Vision, Beauty, and Creative Destruction in Silicon Valley | Jimmy Soni & Richard Hanania
28 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jimmy Soni is a biographer and speechwriter. He joins the podcast to talk about his new book, “The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneu...
The Future of Humanity Is IVF Babies and Chinese Domination | Steve Hsu & Richard Hanania
14 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Stephen Hsu is a Professor of Theoretical Physics and Professor of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. H...
Practical Progress in DC | Alec Stapp & Richard Hanania
31 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Alec Stapp is co-CEO of the Institute for Progress, a new think tank that focuses on accelerating scientific, technological, and industrial progress. ...
Darwin and Marx: Friends or Foes? | Freddie deBoer & Richard Hanania
17 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Freddie deBoer joins the podcast to talk about his book “The Cult of Smart,” which argues that many problems in the education system and American ...
Underwhelmed by Academia (Year in Review) | Jonah Davids & Richard Hanania
03 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jonah Davids is CSPI’s director of communications. He joins Richard to talk about his essay on leaving academia, how social science is mostly storyt...
Wokeness and Civil Rights Law | Charles Fain Lehman, Gabriel Rossman & Richard Hanania
20 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Charles Fain Lehman is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and contributing editor of City Journal. Gabriel Rossman is a sociologist at UCLA. They joi...
Population Structure: What Epidemiology Has Gotten Wrong | Philippe Lemoine & Richard Hanania
06 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Philippe Lemoine is a Research Fellow at CSPI and a PhD candidate in philosophy at Cornell University. He returns to the podcast to discuss his new pa...
Is DEI Conquering Science? | Leif Rasmussen & Richard Hanania
22 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s guest is Leif Rasmussen, a PhD candidate in computer science at Northwestern University, and the author of the new CSPI report, “Incre...
The Queen of the Human Sciences | Robert Plomin & Richard Hanania
08 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Robert Plomin is a Professor of Behavioural Genetics at King’s College London and author of Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are. The conversation...
What's Wrong with the West Coast? | Michael Shellenberger & Richard Hanania
25 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Shellenberger is an activist and author. He joins the podcast to talk about his book San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities. He discusses...
History as Told Through Our Genes | Razib Khan & Richard Hanania
11 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Razib Khan is a geneticist and Substacker. He joins the podcast to talk about what genetics can tell us about the human past and the progress made in ...
Why Rationality Requires Incentives | Steven Pinker & Richard Hanania
27 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Steven Pinker is a professor of psychology at Harvard University. The author of several books, his latest is Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Sca...
How to Get Better Elites? | Robin Hanson & Richard Hanania
13 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Robin Hanson is a professor of economics at George Mason University. He joins the podcast to talk about futarchy, a system in which people would vote ...
Embryo Screening and the Future of Reproductive Choice | Noor Siddiqui & Richard Hanania
30 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Noor Siddiqui is a former Thiel Fellow who has taught at Stanford and the founder and CEO of Orchid (www.orchidhealth.com), a biotech company. She joi...
Flying X-Wings into the Death Star: On Investing and Tech | Marc Andreessen & Richard Hanania
16 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Marc Andreessen is a venture capitalist and the founder of Netscape. He joins the podcast to talk about what's the matter with science, the prerequisi...
How to Think about Stats | Philippe Lemoine & Richard Hanania
02 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Philippe Lemoine is a Research Fellow at CSPI and a PhD candidate in philosophy at Cornell University. He recently wrote a blog post called "Lockdowns...
Demagoguery: Left and Right | Eric Posner & Richard Hanania
19 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Eric Posner is a professor at the University of Chicago Law School. He is the author of several books, including The Executive Unbound (with Adrian Ve...
Israel, COVID, China, Critical Race Theory, and More | Razib Khan & Richard Hanania
05 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Hanania joins Razib Khan's podcast to talk about the recent Israeli/Palestinian conflict and its effects on American politics. Richard discuss...
Can Private Cities Help End Poverty? | Mark Lutter & Richard Hanania
21 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Mark Lutter has a PhD in economics from George Mason University and is the Founder and Executive Director of the Charter Cities Institute. He joins th...
The Good War? Myths of World War II | Sean McMeekin & Richard Hanania
07 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sean McMeekin is a professor of history at Bard University and the author of Stalin's War: A New History of World War II. He joins Richard for a wide ...
Can Psychology Be Fixed? | Jesse Singal & Richard Hanania
24 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jesse Singal is a contributing writer to New York Magazine and the author of The Quick Fix: Why Fad Psychology Can't Cure Our Social Ills. He discusse...
Too Much Education and Too Few Kids | Bryan Caplan & Richard Hanania
10 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Bryan Caplan is a professor of economics at George Mason University. He is the author of The Myth of the Rational Voter, Selfish Reasons to Have More ...
Do We Have Too Much Democracy? | Garett Jones & Richard Hanania
26 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Garett Jones is a Professor of Economics at George Mason University. He is the author of 10% Less Democracy and Hive Mind. He joins the podcast to tal...
War as Product of Human Stupidity | John Mueller & Richard Hanania
12 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
John Mueller is a Professor of Political Science at The Ohio State University and a Research Fellow at the Cato Institute. His latest book is called T...
Academic Freedom, Part II | Eric Kaufmann & Richard Hanania
29 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Eric Kaufmann joins Richard Hanania to continue the discussion of his report on academic freedom. Eric discusses recent reforms in the UK, and they de...
War on Science | Philippe Lemoine & Richard Hanania
15 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Philippe Lemoine is a PhD candidate in Philosophy at Cornell University and a research fellow at CSPI. He recently started a blog, War on Science, on ...
Academic Freedom, Part I | Eric Kaufmann & Richard Hanania
02 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Eric Kaufmann is a research fellow at CSPI and Professor of Politics at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is the author of a new CSPI report ...
US Civil War? | Razib Khan & Richard Hanania
04 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Razib Khan is the host of the Unsupervised Learning podcast. In the days following the Capitol Hill riots, he invited Richard Hanania on to talk about...
The Great Awokening | Zach Goldberg & Richard Hanania
22 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Zach Goldberg is a PhD candidate at Georgia State University and research fellow at CSPI. He is generally credited with discovering the "Great Awokeni...
The National Populist Illusion | George Hawley & Richard Hanania
09 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On the inaugural CSPI podcast, George Hawley joins Richard Hanania to talk about his books on the conservative movement, the alt right, and the differ...