Sam Quinones – Dreamland
The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic
EconTalk | 23 January 2017 | 1h 09m | Listen Later 
| iTunes | Spotify
Interview with Sam Quinones about his book Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic. Discusses the explosion in heroin use and how one small Mexican town changed how heroin was produced and sold in America. That, in turn, became entangled with the growth in the use of pain-killers as recreational drugs. Drawing on the investigative reporting that culminated in his book, Quinones lays out the recent history and economics of the growth in heroin and pain-killer usage and the lost lives along the way.
Sheryl Sandberg & Adam Grant – Option B
Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy
On Being with Krista Tippett | 24 April 2017 | 0h 51m | Listen Later | iTunes | Spotify
Interview with Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant about their book Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy. Sets out the path to growth from tragedy. It’s about the 3Ps: avoiding personalisation (“this was my fault”), pervasiveness (“this affects everything”), and permanence (“nothing will ever be the same again”).
James C. Scott – Against the Grain
A Deep History of the Earliest States
History Extra | 18 December 2017 | 0h 46m | Listen Later | iTunes | Spotify
Interview with political scientist James C Scott about his book Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States. Explores the evidence for the forces and processes involved in early agriculture and state-building. Includes some delicious asides about the necessity of grains to raising taxes.
Paul Bloom – Against Empathy
The Case for Rational Compassion
EconTalk | 27 February 2017 | 1h 08m | Listen Later | iTunes | Spotify
Interview with Paul Bloom about his book Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion. Bloom argues that empathy – the ability to feel the emotions of others – is a bad guide to charitable giving and public policy. Bloom argues that reason combined with compassion is a better and more effective guide to making the world a better place.
Anton Howes on Innovation, Invention, and Britain’s Industrial Revolution
Economics Detective Radio | 3 May 2017 | 0h 46m | Listen Later | iTunes | Spotify
Interview with historian of innovation Anton Howes about observations from his dataset of >1,000 British innovators during the Industrial Revolution. Innovation appears to be a mindset, spread between interconnected people developing technologies in industries outside their areas of expertise.
Lyanda Lynn Haupt – Mozart’s Starling
Reader’s Corner | 26 August 2017 | 0h 29m | Listen Later | 
Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Lyanda Lynn Haupt about her book Mozart’s Starling. Tells the story of Mozart’s relationship with his pet starling during one of the most creative and productive periods of his life. Also describes the remarkable capabilities of Haupt’s own pet starling.
Duncan Watts – Everything Is Obvious
*Once You Know the Answer
Getting to Yes, And | 2 May 2017 | 0h 31m | Listen Later
Interview with Duncan Watts about his book Everything Is Obvious: *Once You Know the Answer. Discusses how and why many of our predictions are wrong and we invent stories to make sense of an often insensible world.
Mr. Money Mustache – Living Beautifully on $25–27K Per Year
The Tim Ferriss Show | 13 February 2017 | 1h 47m | Listen Later | iTunes | Spotify
Interview with Mr Money Mustache, probably the most prominent and colourful proponent of achieving financial independence by optimising spending for happiness.