The Future of Talking: A Discussion with Shane O’Mara

The Future of . . . with Owen Bennett-Jones | 26 August 2023 | 0h 41m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Shane O Mara about his book Talking Heads: the New Science of How Conversation Shapes our Worlds. Discusses the purpose of conversation, both for the individual and for society; what happens in our brains as we converse, and the role of conversation in creating communities.

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Jeremy Black on Why the Industrial Revolution Happened in Britain

New Books in Economic and Business History | 26 August 2023 | 0h 25m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Jeremy Black about his book Why the Industrial Revolution Happened in Britain. Discusses the factors behind the Industrial Revolution: coal and steam; entrepreneurs; consumerism, fashion and an ability to purchase goods; parliamentary government, the rule of law, a society open to talent, and no internal tariff boundaries; and factors combining to produce vital synergies.

See also other interviews on the Industrial Revolution.

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The City That Sold Itself To Wall Street

Cautionary Tales | 1 September 2023 | 0h 38m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
First tells the cautionary tale, from Henry Grabar’s book, Paved Paradise, of what went wrong when the Chicago City Council leased its parking meters to Morgan Stanley. Then finishes with an interview with Grabar about the wider lessons on why parking is such an emotive issue for so many people.

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Nicholas Hoover Wilson on Modernity’s Corruption

Asian Review of Books | 17 August 2023 | 0h 45m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Nicholas Hoover Wilson about his book Modernity’s Corruption: Empire and Morality in the Making of British India. Uses East India Company rule in India, and Robert Clive’s behaviour in particular, to examine how society’s view of corruption changed–from something governed by one’s situation, to a behaviour that violates a universal code of ethics.

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Ultra-Processed: What Fake Food Is Doing to Our Health

The Next Big Idea | 17 August 2023 | 1h 15m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Chris van Tulleken about his book Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food That Isn’t Food. Argues that the ultra-processed food that makes up 60 percent of the American diet is an industrially produced edible substance that is not really food and is killing us. Advocates stronger government regulations to curb its consumption.

This is a hard-hitting critique of ultra-processed food. Adam Gopnik and Helen Lewis have good reviews that push back on the strongest claims and argue for a more nuanced position.

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Celebrating Marginal Revolution’s 20th Anniversary

Conversations with Tyler | 23 August 2023 | 0h 58m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Alex Tabarrok and Tyler Cowen on the 20th anniversary of Marginal Revolution. Discusses MR’s legacy, including the golden age of blogging in the mid-2000s, the decline of independent blogs and the rise of social media, the robust community—and even marriage—forged through MR, favorite commenters, how MR catalyzed separate real-world pandemic responses by each of them, what’s happened to Tyrone, whether the site’s popularity has tempted them into self-censoring, and more.

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Greger Larson: Animal Domestication and Human Evolution

The Dissenter | 31 August 2023 | 1h 01m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Greger Larson about the domestication of animals. Discusses the evidence from genetics and archaeology about how domestication got started; the impact of animal domestication on human evolution; issues with how we think about domestication and the supposed intentionality behind it; how we should think about the early stages of our relationship with other animal species; and insights from animal domestication on the timing of human dispersal.

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