EconTalk

Facing Death (with Sebastian Junger)

Tom Cruise's Body of Work (with Aled Maclean-Jones)

The modern human experience increasingly suffers from alienation due to technological insulation, creating a profound disconnect between our mental lives and physical reality. Tom Cruise’s recent filmography, particularly Edge of Tomorrow and the Mission Impossible series, serves as a lens to examine the value of "embo...

Thinking Inside the Box (with David Epstein)

Constraints often function as catalysts for creativity and productivity rather than obstacles to success. While conventional wisdom suggests that complete freedom fosters innovation, the reality of scientific and professional breakthroughs—such as the development of the periodic table or the evolution of complex techno...

Golfing Alone (with Gary Belsky)

Solo golf, defined as playing the game alone, offers a transformative, meditative experience that contrasts sharply with the social, performance-oriented nature of traditional foursomes. By removing the pressure of being watched or the need to maintain a specific pace for others, solo play allows for a yoga-like focus ...

Claude, War, and the State of the Republic (with Dean Ball)

Adam Smith's Warning About Wealth, Fame, and Status (with Ross Levine)

The Man Who Built NVIDIA (with Stephen Witt)

NVIDIA’s ascent from a niche video game chip manufacturer to the world’s most valuable company reflects the strategic vision of CEO Jensen Huang. By pioneering the CUDA platform, Huang enabled parallel computing, which eventually provided the essential infrastructure for the modern artificial intelligence revolution. T...

The Unseen Work: Stewart Brand on Maintenance and Civilization

Stewart Brand, author of Maintenance of Everything, Part One, joins EconTalk to discuss the often-overlooked importance of maintenance in various aspects of life. The conversation explores how maintenance styles differentiate success, using the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race as a central example, contrasting the a...

AI, Employment, and Education (with Tyler Cowen)

The conversation centers on the transformative potential of AI in both the job market and higher education. Tyler Cowen argues that AI will generate new jobs in sectors like energy, biomedicine, and law, while also increasing leisure time. He expresses concern over AI's impact on governance, suggesting it could worsen ...

The Match That Lit the Flame: Hannah Senesh and the Creation of Modern Israel (with Matti Friedman)

The Economics of Scarcity and the UNC-Duke Basketball Game (with Michael Munger)

How We Tamed Ourselves and Invented Good and Evil (with Hanno Sauer)

The Power of Introverts (with Susan Cain)

The Man Who Would Be King of Saudi Arabia (with Karen Elliott House)

Seiko, Swatch, and the Swiss Watch Industry (with Aled Maclean-Jones)

A Military Analysis of Israel's War in Gaza (with Andrew Fox)

How to Flourish (with Daniel Coyle)

Zionism, the Melting Pot, and the Galveston Project (with Rachel Cockerell)

Nature, Nurture, and Identical Twins (with David Bessis)

David Bessis returns to EconTalk to discuss his essay, "Twins Reared Apart, Do Not Exist," which critiques the science of genetic determinism. Bessis challenges the notion that genetics overwhelmingly dictate traits like intelligence, arguing that environment and personal experiences play crucial roles. He questions th...

The Mattering Instinct (with Rebecca Newberger Goldstein)

The podcast explores the "mattering instinct," defined as the fundamental human longing to feel significant and worthy of attention. Philosopher Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of "The Mattering Instinct," discusses how this instinct originates from our biological resistance to entropy and manifests in various ways...