EconTalk
Russ Roberts
EconTalk: Conversations for the Curious is an award-winning weekly podcast hosted by Russ Roberts of Shalem College in Jerusalem and Stanford's Hoover Institution. The eclectic guest list includes authors, doctors, psychologists, historians, philosophers, economists, and more. Learn how the health care system really works, the serenity that comes from humility, the challenge of interpreting data, how potato chips are made, what it's like to run an upscale Manhattan restaurant, what caused the 2008 financial crisis, the nature of consciousness, and more. EconTalk has been taking the Monday out of Mondays since 2006. All 900+ episodes are available in the archive. Go to EconTalk.org for transcripts, related resources, and comments.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jul 31, 2017 • 1h 4min
Alex Guarnaschelli on Food
Alex Guarnaschelli, Food Channel star and chef at Butter in midtown Manhattan, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about what it's like to run a restaurant, the challenges of a career in cooking, her favorite dishes, her least favorite dishes, and what she cooked to beat Bobby Flay.
Jul 24, 2017 • 1h
Sally Satel on Organ Donation
Sally Satel, psychiatrist and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the challenges of increasing the supply of donated organs for transplantation and ways that public policy might increase the supply. Satel, who has received two kidney donations, suggests a federal tax credit as a way to increase the supply of organs while saving the federal government money. She also discusses the ethical issues surrounding various forms of compensation for organ donors.
Jul 17, 2017 • 1h 2min
Tamar Haspel on Food Costs, Animal Welfare, and the Honey Bee
Tamar Haspel, who writes "Unearthed," a column on food and agriculture at the Washington Post, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about a wide variety of issues related to the cost of food and how it's produced. Topics discussed include why technology helps make some foods inexpensive, how animals are treated, the health of the honey bee, and whether eggs from your backyard taste any better than eggs at the grocery.
Jul 10, 2017 • 1h 2min
Martha Nussbaum on Alexander Hamilton
Martha Nussbaum, philosophy professor at the University of Chicago, talks about the tension between acquiring power and living a life of virtue. Topics include Hamilton's relationship with Aaron Burr, the role of the humanities in our lives, and the impact of envy on society.
Jul 3, 2017 • 1h 4min
Chris Blattman on Chickens, Cash, and Development Economics
Chris Blattman of the University of Chicago talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about whether it's better to give poor Africans cash or chickens and the role of experiments in helping us figure out the answer. Along the way he discusses the importance of growth vs. smaller interventions and the state of development economics.
13 snips
Jun 26, 2017 • 1h 5min
Robin Feldman on Drug Patents, Generics, and Drug Wars
Robin Feldman, an expert in drug patents and generics from the University of California Hastings College of Law, discusses the tactics employed by pharmaceutical companies to reduce competition from generic drugs. Topics include the Hatch-Waxman Act, weak patents, pay for delay settlements, evasion of price controls, complexities of drug pricing, and challenges in replacing branded drugs with ineffective capsules.
Jun 19, 2017 • 1h 6min
Thomas Ricks on Churchill and Orwell
Author and historian Thomas Ricks talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his book, Churchill and Orwell. Ricks makes the case that the odd couple of Winston Churchill and George Orwell played and play an important role in preserving individual liberty. Ricks reviews the contributions of these two giants whose lives overlapped and whose legacy remains vibrant.
Jun 12, 2017 • 1h 14min
Don Boudreaux, Michael Munger, and Russ Roberts on Emergent Order
Why is it that people in large cities like Paris or New York City people sleep peacefully, unworried about whether there will be enough bread or other necessities available for purchase the next morning? No one is in charge--no bread czar. No flour czar. And yet it seems to work remarkably well. Don Boudreaux of George Mason University and Michael Munger of Duke University join EconTalk host Russ Roberts to discuss emergent order and markets. The conversation includes a reading of Roberts's poem, "It's a Wonderful Loaf."
Jun 5, 2017 • 1h 6min
Christy Ford Chapin on the Evolution of the American Health Care System
Historian Christy Ford Chapin of University of Maryland Baltimore County and Johns Hopkins and author of Ensuring America's Health talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about her book--a history of how America's health care system came to be dominated by insurance companies or government agencies paying doctors per procedure. Chapin explains how this system emerged from efforts by the American Medical Association to stop various reform efforts over the decades. Chapin argues that different models might have emerged that would lead to a more effective health care system.
May 29, 2017 • 1h 5min
David Boaz, P.J. O'Rourke, and George Will on the State of Liberty
What is the state of liberty in America? Is liberty increasing or decreasing? Should we be optimistic or pessimistic about the future? This week EconTalk features David Boaz, P.J. O'Rourke, and George Will discussing these questions and more with EconTalk host Russ Roberts in front of a live audience at the Cato Institute.
