Matt Ridley describes the processes and preconditions of innovation. Follow @IdeasHavingSexx on twitter.Today’s book: How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom.More books by Matt.Matt’s twitter and website.Matt’s recommendations: Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, and The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous Matt’s Ted Talk: When Ideas Have Sex.

Guest Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, a political scientist, discusses his latest book on the invention of power. Topics include the impact of the Concordat of Verms on secular rulers and the church, wealth disparities in Europe, winning coalitions and power dynamics within the Catholic Church, future research recommendations, game theory models for power dynamics, the concept of a 'cut point' for democracy, and the stability of different countries and theories of stable democracies.

Lauren Hall explains how governments cause birth and death to become over medicalized.Follow @IdeasHavingSexx on twitterToday’s book: The Medicalization of Birth and DeathAlso by Lauren Hall: Family and the Politics of Moderation: Private Life, Public Goods, and the Rebirth of Social IndividualismLearn more about Lauren HallLauren’s recommendations: The Social Transformation of American Medicine: The Rise of a Sovereign Profession and the Making of a Vast Industry, And a Time to Die: How American Hospitals Shape the End of Life, Cut It Out: The C-Section Epidemic in AmericaHow Doctors DieMedicine, healthcare, regulation, certificate of need law, American Medical Association, c-section, hospice, palliative care, over treatment

Bryan Caplan discusses feminism, social justice, colonialism, and more.Today’s book: Don't Be a Feminist: Essays on Genuine JusticeFollow @IdeasHavingSexx on twitterBryan's twitterBryan's blogOther books by BryanBryan’s recommendation: Women Can't Hear What Men Don't Say

Elizabeth Nolan Brown claims sex trafficking numbers are wildly inflated.Follow @IdeasHavingSexx and Elizabeth Nolan Brown on twitter.Today’s articles: The War on Sex Trafficking Is the New War on Drugs, Massage Parlor PanicFeminists for LibertyReason Magazine’s "Reason Roundup"The Feminist War on CrimeIndividualist Feminism: The Lost Tradition

Stephen Kinzer describes the CIA’s morally dubious search for mind control.Follow @IdeasHavingSexx on twitterToday’s book: Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind ControlOther books by Stephen KinzerFollow @StephenKinzer on twitterStephen’s websiteTopics: CIA, MKUltra, mind control, Nazis, science, Cold War, torture, assassination, medical experiments, Imperial Japan, Soviet Union

Michael Huemer tells us why justice should be the central value of the justice system.Today’s book: Justice Before the LawFollow @IdeasHavingSexx on twitterMike’s blog Fake NousMike’s websiteOther books by MikeTopics: justice system, prison, plea bargaining, jury nullification, punishment, war on drugs, immigration, courts, torture

Mark Koyama explains the historical origins of sustained economic growth.Follow @IdeasHavingSexx on twitterToday’s book: How the World Became RichMark’s website & twitterCoauthor Jared Rubin’s twitterOther Books DiscussedThe British Industrial Revolution in Global PerspectiveThe Enlightened EconomyEscape from Rome: The Failure of Empire and the Road to ProsperityThe WEIRDest People in the WorldGuns, Germs, and Steel

David Beito joins me to discuss the life of doctor, entrepreneur, and civil rights pioneer TRM Howard.Today’s book: T. R. M. Howard: Doctor, Entrepreneur, Civil Rights PioneerFollow @IdeasHavingSexx on TwitterOther books by David BeitoIndependent InstituteZora Neale Hurston ArticleFrom Mutual Aid to the Welfare StateWomen of the MovementFDR's War Against the PressTopics: abortion, poverty, civil rights, black leaders, mutual aid, hunting, Roe vs Wade, racism, FBI, Mississippi

James Otteson joins me to correct popular economic fallacies.Today’s book: Seven Deadly Economic SinsFollow @IdeasHavingSexx on TwitterProfessor Otteson’s website & twitterOther books by James OttesonOther books discussed in the episode: How Innovation Works, The Great Leveler, The Bourgeois Virtues, & Economics in One Lesson