Economist and author Emily Oster of Brown University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the challenge of reopening schools in a pandemic. Oster has been collecting data from K-12 schools around the country. Her preliminary analysis finds little evidence that schools are super-spreaders of COVID. She argues tha...

By Amy Willis

Are you a crafter? If you weren't before, maybe the pandemic has started you on a "maker" kick. I have lots of friends who've taken up knitting, woodworking, gardening, and a variety of other hobbies. Maybe you're not crafty at all, but interested in exploring the human condition throughout history. Or maybe you're jus...

Philosopher and author Daniel Haybron of St. Louis University talks about his book, Happiness, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Happiness turns out to be a little more complicated than it sounds. Haybron discusses the good life and different philosophical perspectives on how to achieve happiness.

Author and journalist Virginia Postrel talks about her book The Fabric of Civilization and How Textiles Made the World with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Postrel tells the fascinating story behind the clothes we wear and everything that goes into producing them throughout history. The history of textiles, Postrel argues,...

Author and economist Steven Levitt is the William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago and host of the podcast "People I (Mostly) Admire." He is best known as the co-author, with Stephen Dubner, of Freakonomics. The book, published in 2005, became a phenomenon, selling more...

Rob Wiblin, host of the 80,000 Hours podcast, interviews EconTalk host Russ Roberts about charity, the reliability of data to inform decision-making, and utilitarianism.

Author and journalist Fredrik deBoer discusses his book The Cult of Smart with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. DeBoer argues that there is little that can be done to change the distribution of success in K-12 education. He argues that educational reforms like charter schools and No Child Left Behind are doomed to failure. ...

By Amy Willis

In this inspiring episode, author, poet, and lawyer Dwayne Betts describes the terrible choice he made at age 16 that left him in prison for almost a decade. Despite his tragic situation, the young Betts was determined to see his sentence more as an opportunity than a punishment. EconTalk host Russ Roberts explo...

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 books in 1,000 U.S. prisons. Betts discusses his plans for the project and how reading helped him tr...

By Amy Willis

Since the 1980s, "when Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan were the faces of the Conservative Movement, [it was] a movement that was anti-Communist, that emphasized the rule of law, of free markets, and democracy. What changed?" This question is at the heart of this episode, in which EconTalk host Russ Roberts welcomes...

Journalist and author Anne Applebaum talks about her book, Twilight of Democracy, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Applebaum discusses the rise of populist and nationalist movements in Eastern Europe as well as in the West, and the appeal of these movements even when they begin to erode or destroy democracy.

By Amy Willis

What does "learning" mean to you? Where and when does it occur? What are its outcomes? How does it affect your status in the world, and do we accord status in the right way? These questions and more are at the heart of this provocative conversation. EconTalk host Russ Roberts welcomes Zena Hitz of St. John's College to...

Philosopher and author Zena Hitz of St. John's College talks about her book, Lost in Thought, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Hitz defends learning for its own sake--learning that has nothing to do with passing an exam or preparing for a career. For Hitz, learning is a refuge and an essential part of what makes us hum...

By Amy Willis

What kind of person do you aspire to be? How do you know how to become that person? This is the realm of aspiration, as philosopher Agnes Callard describes it. In this episode, EconTalk host Russ Roberts welcomes Callard to discuss her book, Aspiration: The Agency of Becoming.   Callard defines aspirati...

Where do our deepest personal values come from? Can we choose those values? Philosopher and author Agnes Callard of the University of Chicago talks about her book, Aspiration, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Callard explores the challenge of aspiration--who we are versus who we would like to become. How does aspiratio...

By Amy Willis

How can antebellum racial violence and intolerance in America help explain the disappearance of bankers in post-Soviet Russia??? This "mystery" is at the heart of this episode in which EconTalk host Russ Roberts welcomes economist Lisa Cook to discuss her research. Cook had a notion that violent barriers to innovati...