Introduction

This is a special bonus episode of the freconomics radio book club. In case you are not familiar with the format, it works like this: We select a very good book, we interview the author at length, and rather than force the author to provide a slap dash summary of the book they've spent years writing, we have them read actual excerpts for maximum effect. This episode features two people i happen to be exceedingly fond of, and i'm guessing you will be as well. Conducting the interview is kurt anderson, the author of several very good books himself,. He also created and hosted the public radio show studio three sixty. And before that, he cofounded and edited...