Overcoming the Odds with Roland Fryer (S3 Ep.18)

My guest today is Roland Fryer. Roland is an economics professor at Harvard University. He is a recipient of the MacArthur Genius Grant and the Bates medal. Roland is probably among the top five most frequent guest requests that I get. So it was really exciting to finally have him on the show.

In this episode, we discuss Roland's childhood and the many obstacles he had to overcome in order to become a top-notch economist. We talk about his relationship with his grandmother and his father, our relationships to our own racial identities, the progress that America has made in fighting racism, and whether race consciousness can ever be a good thing. We also talk about why high school is boring for so many people and what can be done about it, stand-up comedy, and the power of humor. We discuss Roland's famous empirical work on the prevalence of racial bias and police shootings and arrests, and the implications of this research for the Black Lives Matter movement. We go on to talk about Roland's meeting with President Obama, what Roland learned by doing ride-alongs with police officers, data-driven ways to improve K through 12 education, the nebulous concept of systemic racism, Roland's alternative Diversity Equity and Inclusion company, and much more.