EconTalk

If Life Is Random, Is It Meaningless? (with Brian Klaas)

22 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How did a husband-and-wife vacation end up saving a city from the atomic bomb while destroying another? And how did a century-old murder of one famil...

Can a Nation Plunder Its Way to Wealth (with Noah Smith)

15 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Did nations get rich on the backs of other nations? Did the West get rich from imperialism? Noah Smith says no. But why not? If you can steal stuff, i...

The Challenge of Covering the Most Important Story on Earth (with Matti Friedman)

08 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist Matti Friedman worked for the Jerusalem Bureau of the Associated Press from 2006 to 2011. Looking back at that experience, Friedman argu...

From the Second Intifada to October 7th (with Daniel Gordis)

01 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Over the 25 years he's lived in Israel, author Daniel Gordis of Shalem College has seen many chapters of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, beginning w...

Can Artificial Intelligence Be Moral? (with Paul Bloom)

25 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It seems obvious that moral artificial intelligence would be better than the alternative. But psychologist Paul Bloom of the University of Toronto thi...

An Extraordinary Introduction to the Birth of Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (with Haviv Rettig Gur)

18 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Israeli journalist Haviv Rettig Gur takes us on a deep dive into the origins of Israel--how European Jew-hatred gave birth to Zionism and the foundin...

Niall Ferguson on Free Speech and Kissinger's Role in the Middle East

11 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How can we create a radically different atmosphere at American universities? Easy, says historian Niall Ferguson of Stanford University's Hoover Insti...

Yossi Klein Halevi on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict

04 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 2018, author Yossi Klein Halevi wanted Palestinians to understand his story of how Israel came into existence. At the same time, he wanted Palestin...

Tyler Cowen on the GOAT of Economics

27 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Who is the greatest economist of all time? In Tyler Cowen's eclectic view, you need both breadth and depth, macro and micro. You can't have been too w...

Andrew McAfee on the Geek Way

20 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What's different about companies that accomplish amazing things? Perhaps surprisingly, says Andrew McAfee of MIT, it has nothing to do with being agil...

Jennifer Burns on Milton Friedman

13 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Who was Milton Friedman? Jennifer Burns of Stanford University finds in her biography of Friedman that the answer to that question is more complicated...

Zach Weinersmith on Space Settlement and A City on Mars

06 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Loss of taste for most foods, vision problems, loss of muscle mass and bone density. In light of these and the many unpleasant our outright dangerous ...

Michael Easter on Excess, Moderation, and the Scarcity Brain

30 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Slot machines, social media, and potato chips: we humans seem to find a lot of things hard to consume in moderation. Why does "enough" seem so much ha...

Robert Sapolsky on Determinism, Free Will, and Responsibility

23 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Your mother's socio-economic status at the time of your birth. Whether your ancestors raised crops or led camels through the desert. The smell of the ...

Alexandra Hudson on the Soul of Civility

16 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When Alexandra Hudson arrived in Washington, DC, she discovered that outward behavior is not always a reflection of a person's character. Her disillu...

Adam Mastroianni on Learning and Mostly Forgetting

09 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How much do we remember of what we learn in school or from conversation? Psychologist Adam Mastroianni says: from little to nothing much. What do our ...

Elie Hassenfeld on GiveWell

02 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When then-hedge fund manager Elie Hassenfeld began his philanthropic journey in 2006, he knew that he wanted to get the most charitable bang for his b...

Peter Attia on Lifespan, Healthspan, and Outlive

25 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We spend too much of our health care focus on lifespan and not enough on healthspan--the quality of our life as we get older. So argues Dr. Peter Atti...

Michael Munger on How Adam Smith Solved the Trolley Problem

18 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the original version of a now classic thought experiment, five people are about to be killed by a runaway trolley. Would you divert the trolley k...

Anupam Bapu Jena on Random Acts of Medicine

11 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Do marathons kill people who aren't in the race? Does when you're born make you more likely to get the flu? And what's the difference between a good d...

Roland Fryer on Race, Diversity, and Affirmative Action

04 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Can economics and better measurement help us understand racial disparities and suggest how to reduce or eliminate them? Economist Roland Fryer of Har...

Vinay Prasad on Cancer Screening

28 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Early detection of cancer seems like a very good idea. But it's a lot more complicated than it seems. Oncologist and epidemiologist Vinay Prasad of th...

Walter Russell Mead on Innovation, Religion, and the State of the World

21 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Historian and author Walter Russell Mead of Bard College and the Hudson Institute talks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about how innovation and religion...

Adam Mastroianni on the Brain, the Ears, and How We Learn

14 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Psychologist and writer Adam Mastroianni says our minds are like the keep of a castle protecting our deepest held values and beliefs from even the mo...

Zvi Mowshowitz on AI and the Dial of Progress

07 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The future of AI keeps Zvi Mowshowitz up at night. He also wonders why so many smart people seem to think that AI is more likely to save humanity tha...

Daron Acemoglu on Innovation and Shared Prosperity

31 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Economist and author Daron Acemoglu of MIT discusses his book Power and Progress with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Acemoglu argues that the productiv...

Erik Hoel on Consciousness, Free Will, and the Limits of Science

24 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Neuroscientist and author Erik Hoel talks about his book, The World Behind the World, with EconTalk's Russ Roberts. Is it possible to reconcile the se...

Lydia Dugdale on the Lost Art of Dying

17 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Physician and author Lydia Dugdale wants to teach us a better way to die. She argues that this will help us find a better way to live. Listen as she d...

Marc Andreessen on Why AI Will Save the World

10 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Marc Andreessen thinks AI will make everything better--if only we get out of the way. He argues that in every aspect of human activity, our ability to...

James Rebanks on the Shepherd's Life

03 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

James Rebanks's family has raised sheep in the same small English village for at least four centuries. There are records of people with his same last ...

Jacob Howland on the Hidden Human Costs of AI

26 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the early 1900s, the philosopher Henry Adams expressed concern about the rapid rate of social change ushered in by new technologies, from the railw...

Michael Munger on Obedience to the Unenforceable

19 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Civilization and the pleasantness of everyday life depend on unwritten rules. Early in the 20th century, an English mathematician and government offic...

Rebecca Struthers on Watches, Watchmaking, and the Hands of Time

12 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Called "a poem in clockwork," the self-winding Breguet watch made for Marie Antoinette was meant to be the most beautiful example of mechanical art in...

Les Snead on Risk, Decisions, and Football

05 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After nearly 12 years as general manager for the L.A. Rams, Les Snead has learned the power of humility when it comes to making big decisions--who to ...

Luca Dellanna on Risk, Ruin, and Ergodicity

29 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Author and consultant Luca Dellanna talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the importance of avoiding ruin when facing risk. Along the way Dellan...

Casey Mulligan on Vaccines, the Pandemic, and the FDA

22 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When there's no vaccine on the market, people will look for other ways to be safe, including school closures and the handwashing of groceries. Listen ...

Tyler Cowen on the Risks and Impact of Artificial Intelligence

15 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Economist Tyler Cowen of George Mason University talks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about the benefits and dangers of artificial intelligence. Cowen a...

Eliezer Yudkowsky on the Dangers of AI

08 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Eliezer Yudkowsky insists that once artificial intelligence becomes smarter than people, everyone on earth will die. Listen as Yudkowsky speaks with E...

Patrick House and Itzhak Fried on the Brain's Mysteries

01 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

While operating on a 16-year-old girl who suffered from severe seizures, neurosurgeon Itzhak Fried stumbled on the region of the brain that makes us ...

Michael Munger on the Perfect vs. the Good

24 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Is the perfect really the enemy of the good? Or is it the other way around? In 2008, Duke University economist Michael Munger ran for governor and pro...

Dana Gioia on Poetry, Death and Mortality

17 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When he was a child, poet Dana Gioia's mother would come home from a long day of work and recite poems while she cleaned. It was a way, he realized la...

Daniel Gordis on Israel and Impossible Takes Longer

10 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As Israel turns 75, has it fulfilled the promise of its founders? Daniel Gordis of Shalem College talks about his book, Impossible Takes Longer, with ...

Erik Hoel on the Threat to Humanity from AI

03 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

They operate according to rules we can never fully understand. They can be unreliable, uncontrollable, and misaligned with human values. They're fast...

Kevin Kelly on Advice, AI, and Technology

27 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Photographer, author, and visionary Kevin Kelly talks about his book Excellent Advice for Living with EconTalk's Russ Roberts. His advice includes h...

Megan McArdle on the Oedipus Trap

20 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When physician Walter Freeman died in 1972, he still believed that lobotomies were the best treatment for mental illness. A pioneer in the method, he ...

Zach Weinersmith on Beowulf and Bea Wolf

13 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tolkien read it as a tale about mortality. The poet David Whyte said it was a metaphor for the psychological demons deep in our minds. And that, insis...

Omer Moav on the Emergence of the State

06 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Since at least Adam Smith, the common wisdom has been that the transition from hunter-gathering to farming allowed the creation of the State. Farming,...

Paul Bloom on Psych, Psychology, and the Human Mind

27 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Do psychologists know anything? Psychologist Paul Bloom says yes--but not the things that you might think. Bloom discusses his book Psych with EconTal...

Marco Ramos on Misunderstanding Mental Illness

20 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When psychiatrist Marco Ramos of Yale University prescribes antidepressants to patients in distress and they ask him how they work, Ramos admits: We d...

Adam Mastroianni on Peer Review and the Academic Kitchen

13 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Psychologist Adam Mastroianni says peer review has failed. Papers with major errors make it through the process. The ones without errors often fail to...

Sam Harris on Meditation, Mindfulness, and Morality

06 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

According to neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris, rationality is the key to safeguarding everything we cherish, and its only true enemy is dogma...

Vinay Prasad on Pharmaceuticals, the FDA, and the Death of Duty

30 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Oncologist and epidemiologist Vinay Prasad argues that too many very expensive drugs get approved by the FDA that have very limited impact on the live...

Dwayne Betts on Beauty, Prison, and Redaction

23 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dwayne Betts was a 16-year-old in solitary confinement when a fellow inmate slid a book of poetry under his cell door. What happened next is an astou...

Tiffany Jenkins on Plunder, Museums, and Marbles

16 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Should the British Museum return the Elgin Marbles, taken from the Parthenon in Athens about 200 years ago? What should be the purpose of museums, ed...

Ian Leslie on Being Human in the Age of AI

09 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When OpenAI launched its conversational chatbot this past November, author Ian Leslie was struck by the humanness of the computer's dialogue. Then he ...

Hannah Ritchie on Eating Local

02 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Having completed several degrees in environmental science, Hannah Ritchie nearly left the field out of helplessness and frustration, worried she would...

Judge Glock on Zoning and Local Government

26 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Economic historian Judge Glock talks to EconTalk host Russ Roberts about zoning and the housing market. Glock argues the impact on zoning on housing a...

Arnold Kling on Twitter, FTX, and ChatGPT

19 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Economist and author Arnold Kling talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the recent drama in the tech world--Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, ...

Monica Guzman on Curiosity and Conversation in Contentious Times

12 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In our highly polarized times, everyone seems obsessed with the truth: what is it, who has it, and which side's got it all wrong. What we don't seem t...

Patrick House on Consciousness

05 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How does the mind work? What makes us sad? What makes us laugh? Despite advances in neuroscience, the answers to these questions remain elusive. Neuro...

Annie Duke on the Power of Quitting

28 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Annie Duke is angry that quitting gets such a bad rap. Instead of our relentless focus on grit and "going for it," the former professional poker playe...

Johnathan Bi on Mimesis and René Girard

21 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

When the 20-year-old overachiever Johnathan Bi's first startup crashed and burned, he headed to a Zen retreat in the Catskills to "debug himself." He ...

Agnes Callard on Meaning, the Human Quest, and the Aims of Education

14 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Suppose all of humanity was infected by a virus that left us all infertile--no one will come along after us. How would you react to such a world? Agne...

Jessica Todd Harper on Beauty, Family, and Photography

07 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

When everyone is carrying a camera in their pocket, what raises the act of taking pictures to the level of fine art photography? Jessica Todd Harper, ...

Michael Munger on Industrial Policy

31 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Economist and political scientist Michael Munger of Duke University talks about industrial policy with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Munger argues that ...

Ryan Holiday on Discipline Is Destiny

24 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Author Ryan Holiday talks about his book, Discipline Is Destiny, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Holiday discusses the mentor who taught him discipli...

Devon Zuegel on Inflation, Argentina, and Crypto

17 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Devon Zuegel talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the crazy world of money and finance in Argentina. When inflation is often high and unpredict...

Roland Fryer on Educational Reform

10 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The good news about educational reform, says Harvard economist Roland Fryer, is that we know what it takes to turn a school around. The bad news is th...

Sonat Birnecker Hart on Whiskey

03 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Scholar and distiller Sonat Birnecker Hart of the Koval Distillery talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about her career move from academia to whiske...

Erik Hoel on Effective Altruism, Utilitarianism, and the Repugnant Conclusion

26 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Neuroscientist Erik Hoel talks about why he is not an "effective altruist" with EconTalk host, Russ Roberts. Hoel argues that the utilitarianism that ...

Kieran Setiya on Midlife

19 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

John Stuart Mill's midlife crisis came at 20 when he realized that if he got what he desired he still wouldn't be happy. Art and poetry (and maybe lov...

David McRaney on How Minds Change

12 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

To the Founding Fathers it was free libraries. To the 19th century rationalist philosophers it was a system of public schools. Today it's access to th...

Will MacAskill on Longtermism and What We Owe the Future

05 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Philosopher William MacAskill of the University of Oxford and a founder of the effective altruism movement talks about his book What We Owe the Future...

Amor Towles on A Gentleman in Moscow and the Writer's Craft

29 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Author Amor Towles talks about his book, A Gentleman in Moscow, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Along the way they discuss the craft of writing, the ...

Raj Chetty on Economic Mobility

22 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Economist Raj Chetty of Harvard University talks about his work on economic mobility with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. The focus is on Chetty's recent ...

Tyler Cowen on Talent

15 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How do you hone your craft on an everyday basis? It could be writing, meeting with experts, even listening to podcasts, just so long, argues economist...

Russ Roberts and Mike Munger on Wild Problems

08 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Waze and Google Maps tell us the best way to get to where we're going. But no app or algorithm can tell us whether we should head there in the first p...

Gerd Gigerenzer on How to Stay Smart in a Smart World

01 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

IBM's super-computer Watson was a runaway success on Jeopardy! But it wasn't nearly as good at diagnosing cancer. This came as no surprise to Max ...

John List on Scale, Uber, and the Voltage Effect

25 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Economist John List of the University of Chicago talks about his book, The Voltage Effect, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. He discusses what determin...

Vinay Prasad on the Pandemic

18 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

When it comes to the COVID-19 vaccination, is the risk of myocarditis greater than the benefit to a healthy male teen? Is natural immunity really bett...

Nassim Nicholas Taleb on the Nations, States, and Scale

11 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A language, a flag, a national anthem and shared history—like a heart that has to pump harder to support a heavier body, the bigger a nation gets, t...

Ran Abramitzky and Leah Boustan on Immigration Then and Now

04 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Immigration to the United States, say Ran Abramitzky and Leah Boustan, is more novel than short story: It takes decades for new immigrants to catch up...

A.J. Jacobs on Solving Life's Puzzles

27 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How much of life can be solved by algorithms, and how much just can't be solved? Listen as A.J. Jacobs, author of The Puzzler, talks with EconTalk ho...

Roosevelt Montás on Rescuing Socrates

20 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How do books change our lives? Educator and author Roosevelt Montás of Columbia University talks about his book Rescuing Socrates with EconTalk host ...

Sridhar Ramaswamy on Google, Search, and Neeva

13 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Former Google ads boss Sridhar Ramaswamy says that we live in a world that seems to give out free content when we use a search engine. But that world ...

Matti Friedman on Leonard Cohen and the Yom Kippur War

06 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In October 1973, an unhappy Leonard Cohen was listening to the radio on his Greek island home when he heard that Israel was at war. He headed to Tel A...

Ian Leslie on Curiosity

30 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Why are some people incurious? Is curiosity a teachable thing? And why, if all knowledge can be googled, is curiosity now the domain of a small elite?...

Diane Coyle on Cogs, Monsters, and Better Economics

23 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Mainstream economics, says author Diane Coyle, keeps treating people like cogs: self-interested, rational agents. But in the digital economy, we're le...

Marc Andreessen on Software, Immortality, and Bitcoin

16 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What's the single best thing happening in technology right now? According to entrepreneur and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, it's the ability to ...

Chris Blattman on Why We Fight

09 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It's tempting to explain Russia's invasion of Ukraine with Putin's megalomania. Economist Chris Blattman of the University of Chicago talks about his...

Dwayne Betts on Ellison, Levi, and Human Suffering

02 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In his memoir of his time in Auschwitz, Primo Levi describes Jewish prisoners bathing in freezing water without soap--not because they thought it woul...

Michael Munger on Antitrust

25 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Are tech giants such as Google, Amazon, or Facebook dangerous? Do they have too much power? Dive into the murky waters of antitrust as Michael Munger ...

Tyler Cowen on Reading

18 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Intellectual omnivore Tyler Cowen of George Mason University and EconTalk host Russ Roberts talk about their reading habits, their favorite books, an...

Russ Roberts on Education

11 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What do crossing rivers and investing in stocks have in common? Real education is seeing the connection between things that seem very different. Econ...

Richard Gunderman on Greed, Adam Smith, and Leo Tolstoy

04 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Physician and careful reader Richard Gunderman of Indiana University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about how Adam Smith and Leo Tolstoy looked...

Pano Kanelos on Education and UATX

28 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What is real education? What can colleges provide their students? Pano Kanelos, president of the new college-to-be in Austin, UATX, talks with EconTa...

Robert Pindyck on Averting and Adapting to Climate Change

21 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Economist Robert Pindyck of MIT talks about his book, Climate Future, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Pindyck lays out what we know and do not know a...

Maxine Clark on Building the Build-a-Bear Workshop

14 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Stuff it, fluff it, stitch it, dress it: Build-a-Bear Founder and former CEO Maxine Clark built a retail-entertainment empire by letting people make t...

Angela Duckworth on Character

07 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Many people think schools are no place for teaching character. Psychologist Angela Duckworth of the University of Pennsylvania and founder of Characte...

Tamar Haspel on First-Hand Food

28 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What did author and Washington Post columnist Tamar Haspel learn from her quest to eat at least one thing she'd grown, caught, or killed every day? Fo...