By Amy Willis

What are mind-body problems? Are they problems of science? Philosophy? Economics? Theology? The latest EconTalk guest, science writer John Horgan, calls them the problem of who we are, the very problems posed by human nature. This week's conversation explores these questions and more, getting to heart of what it reall...

Science journalist and author John Horgan talks about his book, Mind-Body Problems, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Horgan interviewed an array of scientists, philosophers, and others who have worked on consciousness, free-will, and what it means to be human. Horgan argues that no single solution to the problems in th...

By Amy Willis

In this week's episode, host Russ Roberts returns to the question of the Enlightenment- and the extent to which we have lost its legacy. Continuing with a theme started on EconTalk by Patrick Deneen, continued by Richard Reinsch, and then Yoram Hazony. So much how progress have we made in the enterprise of Enlightenmen...

Peter Berkowitz of Stanford University's Hoover Institution talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the origins of liberalism and the importance of John Locke. Berkowitz defends the liberal project of individual rights and liberty and argues that critics of Locke mischaracterize his thought. The conversation closes...

By Amy Willis

What's wrong with economic education today? That's the question at the heart of this week's EconTalk, in which host Russ Roberts welcomes Maeve Cohen, Co-director of Rethinking Economics to the show. Cohen argues for a more "human-centered" approach to economics, and she and Roberts find much to agree about. Both worry...

Maeve Cohen, Co-director of Rethinking Economics, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about her organization and its efforts to change economics education. Cohen, who co-founded the Post-Crash Economics Society, argues for a more human-centered approach to economics that would be less confident in its policy prescrip...

By Amy Willis

2018 marks ten years since the advent of the 2008 Financial Crisis, an event to which all of Econlib, including EconTalk, devoted a great deal of space. In this week's episode, host Russ Roberts welcomes back Stanford University professor of finance and economics Anat Admati to revisit the Crisis. Of this seminal event...

Anat Admati of Stanford's Graduate School of Business talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the financial crisis of 2008, the lessons she has learned, and how it has changed her view of economics, finance, and her career.

By Amy Willis

In this week's perfectly timed (for American Thanksgiving) episode, EconTalk host Russ Roberts welcomes author A.J. Jacobs to talk about his latest book, Thanks a Thousand. Jacobs describes an inspiring journey of gratitude, in which he sought to thank ALL the people who contributed to his enjoyment of his daily coffee...

Journalist and author A. J. Jacobs talks about his book, Thanks a Thousand, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Jacobs thanked a thousand different people who contributed to his morning cup of coffee. In this conversation, Jacobs talks about the power of gratitude and different ways we can express gratitude in everyday li...

By Amy Willis

  Have you been enjoying your red wine and dark chocolate every evening, amassing their health benefits along the way? Or have you been slowly subtracting days from your life via the same practice? It's hard to know what to make of the torrent of health and nutrition advice that comes our way, and that's the su...

Science writer Julia Belluz of Vox.com talks to EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the state of epidemiology, nutrition, and the relationship between obesity and metabolism.

Author and Physicist Alan Lightman talks about his book Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. This is a wide-ranging conversation on religion, science, transcendence, consciousness, impermanence, and whether matter is all that matters.

By Alice Temnick

What do ancient bazaars, the now defunct Sears catalogue,  and amazon.com have in common?  Which future platforms will enable us to share, charge for, or rent using our smartphones?  In this week's episode, frequent EconTalker Michael Munger and Russ Roberts cover many examples of the benefits we gain as transaction...

Economist and author Michael Munger of Duke University talks about his book, Tomorrow 3.0, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Munger analyzes the rise of companies like Uber and AirBnB as an example of how technology lowers transactions costs. Users and providers can find each other more easily through their smartphones,...

By Amy Willis

In this week's episode, EconTalk host Russ Roberts and Stanford University economist Ran Abramitzky explore the economic mystery of kibbutzim, communities in Israel that for many years were based on full equality in income. The greatest mystery of the kibbutz, according to Roberts, is just why that have lasted as long ...