By Amy Willis

In this week's episode, Obstetrician and Gynecologist Amy Tuteur asks us to consider, "Why do good mothers feel so badly about themselves?" Tuteur, a mom of four herself, tells EconTalk host Russ Roberts that the natural parenting movement deserves much of the blame. How many of the decisions mothers make during pregna...

Obstetrician gynecologist Amy Tuteur and author of Push Back, talks about the book with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Tuteur argues that natural parenting--the encouragement to women to give birth without epidurals or caesarians and to breastfeed--is bad for women's health and has little or no benefit for their children.

Futurist and author Amy Webb talks about her book, The Big Nine, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Webb observes that artificial intelligence is currently evolving in a handful of companies in the United States and China. She worries that innovation in the United States may lead to social changes that we may not ultimat...

By Amy Willis

In early 2014, the small city of Sea-Tac, Washington was the first to raise its minimum wage to $15, the result of a referendum. The large city of Seattle soon followed suit. What has been the impact on the area economy? That is the subject of the research of Jacob Vigdor, the guest on this week's EconTalk episode. Hos...

Jacob Vigdor of the University of Washington talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the impact of Seattle's minimum wage increases in recent years. Vigdor along with others from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance have tried to measure the change in employment, hours worked, and wages for low-skilled ...

By Amy Willis

Is "real" capitalism inherently unstable? Have we been so worried about the "road to serfdom" that we've missed the road to crony capitalism? Are there any sectors of the American economy that are not crony-ized? Have we lost all sense of the concept of character? In this week's episode, EconTalk host Russ Roberts we...

Michael Munger of Duke University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about whether real capitalism is unstable and leads inevitably to crony capitalism. They also discuss ways to prevent the descent into cronyism and speculate on their own blind spots.

By Russ Roberts

I want to make a few remarks about the recent EconTalk Survey of your favorite episodes of last year. A little over 2400 people listening in 65 countries filled out the Survey, which I'm very grateful for. You gave me some wonderful feedback and some great ideas. Many of you remain unaware of the Archives of EconTal...

Catherine Semcer of the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the role of incentives in preserving wildlife in Africa. The conversation discusses how allowing limited hunting of big game such as elephants and using revenue from hunting licenses to reward local commu...

By Amy Willis

 In this week's episode, EconTalk host Russ Roberts tells a story of watching a cardinal in his backyard bird feeder. The bird seems nervous, giving off an air of unease. But how can Roberts be sure that's what the bird is feeling? As it flits back and forth between trees, is that "just instinct" in action, or does ...

Historian Jessica Riskin of Stanford University talks about her book The Restless Clock with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. What is the difference between human beings and machines? How has science thought about this distinction? When do we have agency and when are we constrained? Riskin discusses these issues and the imp...

By Amy Willis

When is it acceptable for medical professionals to be dishonest? This week's guest, psychotherapist Gary Greenberg, argues that all medicine "works somehow or other by deception." The 'placebo effect' may be a case in point. In this week's episode, EconTalk host Russ Roberts sits down with Greenberg to discuss its infl...

Author and psychotherapist Gary Greenberg talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the placebo effect. Is it real? How does the placebo effect influence drug testing? If it's real, what is the underlying mechanism of why it works and how might it be harnessed to improve health care? The conversation concludes with a...

Patrick Collison, co-founder and CEO of Stripe, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the pace of innovation. Collison argues that despite enormous increases in the numbers of scientists and researchers, the pace of progress in scientific and technological understanding does not seem to be increasing accordingly....

By Amy Willis

Can economics be utilized to improve the criminal justice system? Or are economists too enamored of unintended consequences to be effective in this realm? Is technology transforming criminal justice for the better or worse? In this week's episode, EconTalk host Russ Roberts welcomed economist Jennifer Doleac to talk ab...

Economist Jennifer Doleac of Texas A&M University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about her research on crime, police, and the unexpected consequences of the criminal justice system. Topics discussed include legislation banning asking job applicants if they've been in prison, body cameras for police, the use ...