Civilization and the pleasantness of everyday life depend on unwritten rules. Early in the 20th century, an English mathematician and government official, Lord Moulton, described...
David Epstein is an American journalist and author who wrote the New York Times best-sellers, The Sports Gene and Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. Epstein was a high-level runner at Columbia University where he is a record holder and...
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.
David Epstein is an American journalist and author who wrote the New York Times best-sellers, The Sports Gene and Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. Epstein was a high-level runner at Columbia University where he is a record holder and was awarded with NCAA All-East honors twice in the 800 meters....
In this episode of EconTalk, Russ Roberts hosts Laurence Kotlikoff, a professor of economics at Boston University. Roberts and Kotlikoff discuss the fiscal health of the US federal government, and the so-called “fiscal gap” between official government debt and outstanding government obligations such as Social Secur...
Here are your favorite episodes of 2022 from our Annual Survey. 10th most popular or enjoyed in your voting was a four-way tie: Michael Munger on Industrial Policy Vinay Prasad on the Pandemic Marc Andreessen on Software, Immortality, and Bitcoin Matti Friedman on Leonard Cohen and the Yom Kippur War...
Civilization and the pleasantness of everyday life depend on unwritten rules. Early in the 20th century, an English mathematician and government official, Lord Moulton, described complying with these rules as "obedience to the unenforceable"--the area of personal choice that falls between illegal acts and complete free...
Horology. Did you know what that was before listening to this episode with author, watchmaker and restorer Rebecca Struthers. I know I didn't! And now I'm completely fascinated. Host Russ Roberts welcomed Struthers to talk about her new book, Hands of Time, but as usual the conversation spanned much, much more. ...
Called "a poem in clockwork," the self-winding Breguet watch made for Marie Antoinette was meant to be the most beautiful example of mechanical art in the world. Yet when she was imprisoned in the Tour du Temple, she wanted only a simple watch that would mark the passing of the hours until her meeting with the guilloti...
Les Snead is in his twelfth year as General Manager of the Los Angeles Rams. Snead is the fifth-longest tenured GM in the NFL today. Snead and the Rams won Super Bowl LVI in 2022. In this episode of EconTalk, host Russ Roberts welcomes Les Snead to explore the role of the NFL GM. The two discuss how Snead operates in ...
After nearly 12 years as general manager for the L.A. Rams, Les Snead has learned the power of humility when it comes to making big decisions--who to draft, who to hire as head coach, and how to create a shared vision for his team. Listen as he and EconTalk's Russ Roberts discuss what it's like to manage a professional...
Kevin Kelly is an author, photographer, and visionary with a keen interest in technology and futurism. In addition to his own books, Kelly is a founding editor and ongoing contributor for Wired Magazine. On his website, Kelly says, “I write in order to think.” On this episode of EconTalk, Russ Roberts welc...
Author and consultant Luca Dellanna talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the importance of avoiding ruin when facing risk. Along the way Dellanna makes understandable the arcane concept of ergodicity and shows the importance of avoiding ruin in every day life.
When there's no vaccine on the market, people will look for other ways to be safe, including school closures and the handwashing of groceries. Listen as economist Casey Mulligan of the University Chicago talks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about the costs of delaying a vaccine, the hidden costs of FDA regulation, and wh...
Economist Tyler Cowen of George Mason University talks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about the benefits and dangers of artificial intelligence. Cowen argues that the worriers--those who think that artificial intelligence will destroy mankind--need to make a more convincing case for their concerns. He also believes that ...
If you've been paying any attention to EconTalk over the last few months, you know that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is very much on host Russ Roberts' mind. This episode may end up being the most frightening of them all, as Russ welcomes Eliezer Yudkowsky, a Research Fellow at the Machine Intelligence Research Institu...
Eliezer Yudkowsky insists that once artificial intelligence becomes smarter than people, everyone on earth will die. Listen as Yudkokwsky speaks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts on why we should be very, very afraid and why we're not prepared or able to manage the terrifying risks of AI.
While operating on a 16-year-old girl who suffered from severe seizures, neurosurgeon Itzhak Fried stumbled on the region of the brain that makes us laugh. To neuroscientist Patrick House, Fried's ability to produce laughter surgically raises deep and disconcerting questions about how the brain works. Join Fried, Hous...
You've probably heard the phrase, "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good." What has it meant to you in the past, and might there be a way to apply this caution to the way we approach politics? That's what this episode is about. It's fan favorite Mike Munger's 44th appearance on EconTalk, and one of my favorit...