Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchCoase, the Rules of the Game, and the Costs of Perfection (with Daisy Christodoulou)
Episode 983
Surely perfection is better than imperfection. But applying technology to improve decision-making can backfire. Listen as ed-tech innovator Daisy Chr…
1 year, 8 months ago
Why AI Is Good for Humans (with Reid Hoffman)
Episode 982
Should we worry about the human future in a world of AI? Reid Hoffman is unafraid and even optimistic. He argues that the brave new world that awaits…
1 year, 9 months ago
Weep, Shudder, Die: The Secret of Opera Revealed (with Dana Gioia)
Episode 981
How can opera, with words we rarely understand, make us cry? Why does opera, filled with melodrama, move us? Listen as poet and librettist Dana Gioia…
1 year, 9 months ago
Will DOGE and Musk Make a Difference? (with Michael Munger)
Episode 980
Can Musk use DOGE to reduce the size and power of the bureaucracy and big government? Michael Munger of Duke University thinks not, but EconTalk's Ru…
1 year, 9 months ago
Understanding the Settler Colonialism Movement (with Adam Kirsch)
Episode 979
Under settler colonialism, you're either a settler or indigenous and the sin of the founding of America, Australia, and Israel, for example, is not j…
1 year, 9 months ago
The Power of Nuance: Lessons for Public Health (with Emily Oster)
Episode 978
Public health officials should tell the truth, even when it's complicated. Even when some people might misunderstand. Otherwise, says economist Emily…
1 year, 10 months ago
Fixing Sick Cities (with Alain Bertaud)
Episode 977
Why are European cities charming and American cities often so charmless? Simple, says urbanist Alain Bertaud: most American cities are zoned for sing…
1 year, 10 months ago
Is This War With Lebanon Different? (with Matti Friedman)
Episode 976
Is Israel's war with Lebanon going to end differently from past attempts to secure Israel's northern border? Journalist Matti Friedman, who recounted…
1 year, 10 months ago
Why Industrial Policy Is (Almost) Always a Bad Idea (with Scott Sumner)
Episode 975
Tariffs are in the air. Will they help or hurt Americans? Listen as economist Scott Sumner makes the case against tariffs and various other forms of …
1 year, 10 months ago
Translating Life and Fate (with Robert Chandler)
Episode 974
What does it take to translate a 900-page Russian novel written before the fall of the Soviet Union? For Robert Chandler it meant living in a seaside…
1 year, 10 months ago