Harvard professor Claudia Goldin tackles difficult questions in economics. Topics discussed include the rise of female billionaires in China, the gender earnings gap in the US, falling marriage rates for those without a college degree, the wage gap for Black women versus Black men, modeling intersectionality, problems with for-profit education, the value of an Ivy League degree, preventing the Civil War, anti-immigration sentiment in the 1920s, and her upcoming book on women's journey towards equity.

Ada Palmer, Renaissance historian and author of Terra Ignota series, discusses living in the Renaissance vs. Middle Ages, the underrated importance of clutter as historical records, analysis of the Spanish Inquisition, the Renaissance's emphasis on luxury fashion, and the Renaissance world's encounter with the ideas of Epicureanism.

Lazarus Lake, renowned ultramarathon runner and designer, discusses the significance of running 100 miles, the skills that hold people back in endurance activities, the history of the Barkley race, walking across America, the differences between East and West Tennessee, and favorite books and sports preferences.

Jerusalem Demsas, staff writer at The Atlantic, discusses three thought-provoking books: The Dispossessed, Gulliver's Travels, and Of Boys and Men. Topics include human nature, gender dynamics, purpose of travel, moral progress, and the link between feminism and gender equality. They debate whether anarchy is preferable, dissect Swift's views on science and slavery, explore the psychological aspects of travel novels, and reflect on moral progress and the unity of the human condition.

Vishy Anand, a five-time World Chess Champion, discusses his breakthrough tournament win in 1991, defeating Kasparov in rapid play, playing against Vassily Ivanchuk, his brilliant game against Levon Aronian, dealing with distractions during a match, getting out of a slump, and the influence of AlphaZero on the game. He also talks about his preferences for Monty Python sketches, chess opening preparation, the future of chess variants, and his journey in chess.

The podcast celebrates Marginal Revolution's 20th Anniversary by discussing topics such as the rise of the blog and its influence in the past 20 years, the challenges faced by bloggers and the impact of social media, the consistent design and distribution of the podcast, the importance of small steps towards a better world, the influence of Marginal Revolution in facilitating connections and even leading to a marriage, their role during the pandemic as an information clearinghouse, Tyler's reading habits and book club experiences, the age of small ideas versus big ideas, and the origin story of Marginal Revolution and its future outlook.

Tyler and Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham sat down at his home in the English countryside to discuss what areas of talent judgment his co-founder and wife Jessica Livingston is better at, whether young founders have gotten rarer, whether he still takes a dim view of solo founders, how to 2x ambition in the developed world, on the minute past which a Y Combinator interviewer is unlikely to change their mind, what YC learned after rejecting companies, how he got over his fear of flying, Florentine history, why almost all good artists are underrated, what's gone wrong in art, why new homes and neighborhoods are ugly, why he wants to visit the Dark Ages, why he's optimistic about Britain and San Fransisco, the challenges of regulating AI, whether we're underinvesting in high-cost interruption activities, walking, soundproofing, fame, and more. Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links. Recorded July 15th, 2023. Other ways to connect Follow us on Twitter and Instagram Follow Tyler on Twitter Follow Paul on Twitter Join our Discord Email us: cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu Learn more about Conversations with Tyler and other Mercatus Center podcasts here. Photo credit: Dave Thomas

Tyler sat down at Comedy Cellar with owner Noam Dworman to talk about the ever-changing stand-up comedy scene, including the perfect room temperature for stand-up, whether comedy can still shock us, the effect on YouTube and TikTok, the transformation of jokes into bits, the importance of tight seating, why he doesn’t charge higher prices for his shows, the differences between the LA and NYC scenes, whether good looks are an obstacle to success, the oldest comic act he still finds funny, how comedians have changed since he started running the Comedy Cellar in 2003, and what government regulations drive him crazy. They also talk about how 9/11 got Noam into trouble, his early career in music, the most underrated guitarist, why live music is dead in NYC, and what his plans are for expansion. Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video.  Recorded March 15th, 2023. Other ways to connect Follow us on Twitter and Instagram Follow Tyler on Twitter Join our Discord Email us: cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu Learn more about Conversations with Tyler and other Mercatus Center podcasts here.

David Bentley Hart is an American writer, philosopher, religious scholar, critic, and theologian who has authored over 1,000 essays and 19 books, including a very well-known translation of the New Testament and several volumes of fiction. In this conversation, Tyler and David discuss ways in which Orthodox Christianity is not so millenarian, how theological patience shapes the polities of Orthodox Christian nations, how Heidegger deepened his understanding of Christian Orthodoxy, who played left field for the Baltimore Orioles in 1970, the simplest way to explain how Orthodoxy diverges from Catholicism, the future of the American Orthodox Church, what he thinks of the Book of Mormon, whether theological arguments are ultimately based on reason or faith, what he makes of reincarnation and near-death experiences, gnosticism in movies and TV, why he dislikes Sarah Ruden’s translation of the New Testament, the most difficult word to translate, a tally of the 15+ languages he knows, what he’ll work on next, and more. Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video.  Recorded March 23rd, 2023. Other ways to connect Follow us on Twitter and Instagram Follow Tyler on Twitter Join our Discord Email us: cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu Learn more about Conversations with Tyler and other Mercatus Center podcasts here.

In his second appearance, Reid Hoffman joined Tyler to talk everything AI: the optimal liability regime for LLMs, whether there’ll be autonomous money-making bots, which agency should regulate AI, how AI will affect the media ecosystem and the communication of ideas, what percentage of the American population will eschew it, how gaming will evolve, whether AI’s future will be open-source or proprietary, the binding constraint preventing the next big step in AI, which philosopher has risen in importance thanks to AI, what he’d ask a dolphin, what LLMs have taught him about friendship, how higher education will change, and more. They also discuss Sam Altman’s overlooked skill, the biggest cultural problem in America, the most underrated tech scene, and what he’ll do next. Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video.  Reid's podcast Possible is back this summer with a three-part miniseries called “AI and The Personal,” which launched on June 21st. Featured guests use AI, hardware, software and their own creativity to better people's daily lives. Subscribe to get the series. Recorded May 9th, 2023. Other ways to connect Follow us on Twitter and Instagram Follow Tyler on Twitter Follow Reid on Twitter Join our Discord Email us: cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu Learn more about Conversations with Tyler and other Mercatus Center podcasts here. Photo credit: David Yellen