Russ Roberts | Godfather Of Podcasting

Curious Worldview Podcast | 7 September 2023 | 1h 25m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Russ Roberts replete with wisdom. Discusses Christopher Hitchens, good communication versus good talking, whether some cultures create more good communicators than others, Nassim Taleb and randomness, the role that serendipity played in Roberts’ life, and more.

See also the EconTalk episode with Christopher Hitchens discussing George Orwell.

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Alex Tabarrok on Innovation

EconTalk | 26 December 2011 | 1h 08m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Alex Tabarrok about his book Launching the Innovation Renaissance. Argues that innovation in the United States is being held back by patent law, the legal system, and immigration policies. Suggests how this might be improved to create a better climate for innovation, leading to higher productivity, and a higher standard of living.

See another 50 posts on innovation.

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Daron Acemoglu on Innovation and Shared Prosperity

EconTalk | 31 July 2023 | 1h 06m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Daron Acemoglu about his book Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity, co-authored with Simon Johnson. Argues that the productivity and prosperity that results from innovation is not always shared widely across the population and makes the case for regulating new technologies to ensure that the benefits of innovation are distributed equitably.

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Michael Easter on the Comfort Crisis

EconTalk | 19 July 2023 | 1h 13m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Michael Easter about his book The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort To Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self. Argues modern life is too easy, too comfortable. To be healthy, we need to move out of our comfort zones and every once in a while try to do something, especially something physically demanding, that we didn’t think was possible. Discusses rising levels of anxiety and depression in the West and why taking on challenges can be part of the solution.

I skipped this in 2021 but came back to it after reading the complimentary review by Mr Money Mustache.

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James Rebanks on the Shepherd’s Life

EconTalk | 3 July 2023 | 1h 14m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with James Rebanks about his book The Shepherd’s Life: Modern Dispatches from an Ancient Landscape. Discusses the deep pleasures and humbling privilege of being a sheep farmer on land his family has farmed for hundreds of years; economics; and looking after land and nature.

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Michael Munger on Obedience to the Unenforceable

EconTalk | 19 June 2023 | 1h 10m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Michael Munger about Lord Moulton’s article Law and Manners. Discusses how civilization and the pleasantness of everyday life depend on unwritten rules. Lord Moulton described complying with these rules as “obedience to the unenforceable” – the area of personal choice that falls between illegal acts and complete freedom.

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Luca Dellanna on Risk, Ruin, and Ergodicity

EconTalk | 29 May 2023 | 1h 07m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Luca Dellanna about his book Ergodicity. Makes the arcane concept of ergodicity understandable, stressing the importance of avoiding ruin when facing risk, and demonstrating the importance of avoiding ruin in everyday life.

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Tyler Cowen on the Risks and Impact of Artificial Intelligence

EconTalk | 15 May 2023 | 1h 00m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Tyler Cowen about the benefits and dangers of artificial intelligence. Argues that the worriers – those who think that artificial intelligence will destroy mankind – need to make a more convincing case for their concerns. Suggests that the worriers are too willing to reduce freedom and empower the state in the name of reducing a risk that is far from certain. Also discusses how AI might change various parts of the economy and the job market.

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