The Curious Task

Alex Aragona speaks with Trevor Burrus as he explores the many ways the drug war has failed drug addicts and society. References from Episode 27 with Trevor Burrus: You can read the article ‘Locked Up and Loaded’ that Alex refers to in this episode that was written by Trevor here

Alex Aragona speaks with Kevin Vallier about conflicts in politics and how ideology aggravates them, and whether liberal institutions can help us trust each other more. References from Episode 26 with Kevin Vallier: You can purchase Kevin Vallier’s book Must Politics be War here You can purchase the book Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know here You can purchase From Politics to the Pews here

Alex Aragona speaks with Glenn fox as he explores whether environmentalism from a free market perspective creates a contradiction. References from Episode 25 with Glenn Fox: If you have Sage journal subscription, you can read Glenn Fox’s research on this subject in an article here You can read more about Carl Menger on The Library of Economics and Liberty here

Alex Aragona talks with Sandy Ikeda as he explores why a city can't be thought of, and specifically designed as, a work of art. References from Episode 24 with Sandy Ikeda You can read an article from Sandy Ikeda entitled What is a city? on the Market Urbanism website here Alain Bertaud’s book Order without Design that Sandy mentioned on the podcast can be purchased on Amazon Canada here Sandy appears in the documentary Citizen Jane: Battle for the City, you can find it on all online rental platforms, but Canadian who subscribe to Crave can find it here You can purchase a copy of Jane Jacob’s popular book Death and Life of Great American Cities on Amazon Canada here 

Alex Aragona talks with Mike Munger as he explores his views on the sustainability of capitalism and the factors that contribute to it. References from Episode 23 with Michael Munger You can order Michael Munger’s book Is Capitalism Sustainable on Amazon Canada here You can order his book Tomorrow 3.0 on Amazon Canada here

Alex Aragona talks with Matt Bufton about the future of liberalism (and why it's not as bad as you might think!). References from Episode 22 with Matt Bufton Fear the Boom and the Bust: Keynes vs. Hayek Rap Battle Fight of the Century: Keynes vs. Hayek Rap Battle Round Two You can purchase a copy of F.A. Hayek’s The Fatal Conceit at Amazon Canada here You can read F.A. Hayek’s essay The Intellectuals and Socialism here

Alex Aragona chats with Alex Tabarrok on this very special Christmas episode of The Curious Task as he explores whether gift giving is inefficient, and if there are better ways to give to others. References from Episode 21 with Alex Tabbarok You can watch a video of Alex Tabbarok and Tyler Cowen discuss gift giving here Giving to my Wild Self article can be found here

Alex Aragona speaks with James Stacey Taylor as he makes the case for a market for organs. References from Episode 20 with James Stacey Taylor You can purchase James Stacey Taylor’s book Stakes and Kidneys in Amazon Canada here

Alex Aragona talks with Lauren Hall as she explores the problems with modern healthcare systems and some of the possible remedies. References from Episode 19 with Lauren Hall: You can read more from Lauren Hall on the subject of rights violations in delivery rooms here

Alex Aragona speaks with the Cato Institute's Alex Nowrasteh about why immigration is important to a free society, and the common misconceptions some people have that keep them from being more open to immigration.  References from Episode 18 with Alex Nowrasteh: You can read Alex Nowrasteh’s studies and commentaries on his page at the Cato Institute’s website Check out Jens Hainmueller’s paper on cultural anxiety and immigration here Read Alex’s thoughts on the paper on perceptions of chaos by Allison Harell, Stuart Soroka, and Shanto Iyengar here