Journalist and author Sarah Carr talks about her book Hope Against Hope with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Carr looked at three schools in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and chronicled their successes, failures, and the challenges facing educational reform in the poorest parts of America.

Author Martin Gurri, Visiting Fellow at George Mason University's Mercatus Center, talks about his book The Revolt of the Public with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Gurri argues that a digital tsunami--the increase in information that the web provides--has destabilized authority and many institutions. He talks about the a...

By Amy Willis

K12 education has long been an EconTalk theme, and in this episode, host Russ Roberts welcomed author, teacher, ad education reformer Robert Pondiscio. Pondiscio shared his experience both as a second-career inner city teacher and a year spent in one of the (in)famous Success Academy charter schools in New York City. ...

  Author and teacher Robert Pondiscio of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute talks about his book How the Other Half Learns with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Pondiscio shares his experience of being embedded in a Success Academy Charter School in New York City for a year--lessons about teaching, education policy, an...

In this Bonus Episode of EconTalk, economist and Nobel Laureate Paul Romer discusses the coronavirus pandemic with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Romer argues that the status quo of shutdown and fear of infection is unsustainable. Returning to normal requires an inexpensive, quick, and relatively painless test. Such tests...

By Amy Willis

There are lots of potential surprises in this episode. Let's start with guest Branko Milanovic's claims about capitalism; there are (at least) two different varieties, and he considers China a definitively capitalist country. The conversation also raises fascinating questions about inequality and the effects that capit...

Economist and author Branko Milanovic of the Graduate Center, CUNY, talks about his book, Capitalism, Alone, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. They discuss inequality, the challenge of corruption in the Chinese system, and Milanovic's claim that in American capitalism, the texture of daily life is increasingly affected ...

By Amy Willis

Why would anyone want to become a vampire? And why would that be such a hard decision? It may sound silly, but this is the basis of a serious thought experiment at the heart of this episode. Host Russ Roberts welcomed philosopher L.A. Paul to discuss her book, Transformative Experience; choosing to become a vampire wou...

Philosopher and author L.A. Paul talks about her book Transformative Experience with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Paul explores the uncertainties that surround the transformative experiences that we choose and that happen to us without choosing. How should we think about the morality and personal impact of these kinds o...

Physicist and author Alan Lightman talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the origins of the universe, meaning, transcendence, and the relationship between science and religion.

By Amy Willis

In this episode, EconTalk host Russ Roberts returns to a common theme- the treatment of cancer. With author and oncologist Vinay Prasad, Roberts explores why today's cancer drugs cost too much and deliver too little, even when we consider some exceptionally successful drugs. Should we think of cancer treatment drugs in...

Oncologist, author, and podcaster Vinay Prasad talks about his book Malignant with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Prasad lays out the conflicts of interest and scientific challenges that make drugs that fight cancer so disappointing at times. The conversation looks at how policy changes might improve the incentives facing...

By Amy Willis

How much does effort contribute to the measures of inequality that we gather when we look at the data?   That's the central question explored in this episode. Host Russ Roberts welcomed Ed Leamer to discuss a recent paper in which he investigated the role of effort in measuring inequality and the transformat...

Economist Ed Leamer of UCLA talks about manufacturing, effort, and inequality with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. The conversation draws on recent empirical work of Leamer's on how measured inequality is affected by the work effort of Americans at different levels of education. The conversation ends with a discussion of h...

By Amy Willis

In this episode, author and economist Arnold Kling returns to talk about his book, The Three Languages of Politics, which he originally spoke with host Russ Roberts about in this 2013 episode. Kling describes three "languages" and axes of opposition for progressives, conservatives, and libertarians in an effort to expl...

Economist and author Arnold Kling talks about the revised edition of his book The Three Languages of Politics in front of a live audience at the Cato Institute, recorded in September of 2019. Kling talks about the changed political landscape in the United States and around the world and how his ideas have changed since...