The Complexity of the Industrial Revolution

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I don't think we're responsible for the Industrial Revolution. What we're, what we're good at is understanding the full picture of what's sprang from that. In America, 1940% of the people worked on the farm. Today it's 2%. And I know it's you wrote it's 2% in England today. But there's something glorious about that because all these other things could could be created as a result. We had to devote fewer resources than we did before the farming but we lost something.

James Rebanks's family has raised sheep in the same small English village for at least four centuries. There are records of people with his same last name going back a few hundred more. Even his sheep are rooted in place: their DNA is from Viking times. It's enough to make anyone feel insignificant--and according to Rebanks, that's a wonderful thing. Listen as the author of The Shepherd's Life speaks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about the deep pleasures and humbling privilege of being a sheep farmer.