[ANNUAL LISTENER SURVEY: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/EconTalk2022Fav. Vote for your 2022 favorites!] Dwayne Betts was a 16-year-old in solitary confinement when a fellow inmate slid a book of...
You've heard us make the case plenty of times before that "eating local" isn't economically efficient. But is there an environmental argument for doing so? After all, transport costs are obviously minimized when food doesn't have to travel far to...
Author, lawyer, and poet Dwayne Betts talks about his time in prison and the power of reading with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Betts is the founder of the Million Book Project, which aims to put a small library of great...
You've heard us make the case plenty of times before that "eating local" isn't economically efficient. But is there an environmental argument for doing so? After all, transport costs are obviously minimized when food doesn't have to travel far to get to your plate. Right??? In this episode, host Russ Roberts welcome...
[ANNUAL LISTENER SURVEY: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/EconTalk2022Fav. Vote for your 2022 favorites!] 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 astounding story of transformation: from desperation to the discovery ...
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, education or social justice? Listen as Tiffany Jenkins, author of Keeping Their Marbles, discusses these questions and more with EconTalk host Russ Roberts.
When OpenAI launched its conversational chatbot this past November, author Ian Leslie was struck by the humanness of the computer's dialogue. Then he realized that he had it exactly backward: In an age that favors the formulaic and generic to the ambiguous, complex, and unexpected, it's no wonder that computers can sou...
Having completed several degrees in environmental science, Hannah Ritchie nearly left the field out of helplessness and frustration, worried she would never make a real difference. Today, she's a passionate advocate for changing climate messaging, replacing what she believes are paralyzing--and often false--claims with...
Economic historian Judge Glock talks to EconTalk host Russ Roberts about zoning and the housing market. Glock argues the impact on zoning on housing affordability is small and that we should learn to love property taxes as long as they're administered properly. The conversation includes a discussion of the environment...
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, the collapse of FTX, and the appearance of ChatGPT. Underlying topics discussed include the potential for price discrimination to make social media profitable, whether yo...
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 to care about, says journalist Monica Guzman, is the truth behind perspectives other than our own. Listen as Guzman and host Russ Roberts discuss Guzman's book I Never Tho...
How does the mind work? What makes us sad? What makes us laugh? Despite advances in neuroscience, the answers to these questions remain elusive. Neuroscientist Patrick House talks about these mysteries and about his book Nineteen Ways of Looking at Consciousness with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. House's insights illumi...
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 player, decision strategist, and author of Quit wants us to recognize the costs associated with sticking to a losing outcome. Listen as she explains to EconTalk host Russ Rob...
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 discovered René Girard and his mimetic theory--the idea that imitation is a key and often unconscious driver of human behavior. Listen as entrepreneur and philosopher Bi...
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? How would you feel if you learned that the last humans had just been born? On this cheerful note, EconTalk host Russ Roberts launches another thoughtful (and thought-provokin...
For Russ Roberts’ long-running EconTalk podcast fans, here is a chance to hear the tables turned as Russ responds to outstanding questions from another expert “OG” interviewer. Sam Harris delivers by taking this lengthy conversation on this Making Sense podcast in many interesting directions. Harris opens...
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? Agnes Callard of the University of Chicago says she would be filled with despair. But why does this seem worse than our own inevitable deaths? Callard speaks with EconTalk ho...
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, the award-winning portrait photographer, says that it's equal parts mindset and technique--and lots of setting the stage to seize that perfect light. Listen as Harper spe...
What do people have in mind when they talk about industrial policy today? And why do politicians of all stripes clamor for industrial policies? In this episode, EconTalk Russ Roberts welcomes back perennial favorite guest Mike Munger to discuss. Roberts and Munger agree that people often don't like what the profit-a...