[ANNUAL LISTENER SURVEY: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KYV5XPG. Vote for your 2024 favorites!] How can opera, with words we rarely understand, make us cry? Why does opera, filled with...
Many Americans are increasingly disillusioned with the ability of the free market to bring down skyrocketing housing prices. More Americans believe housing prices to be inflated by the greed of landlords and lobbyists, combined with the inability of policymakers to...
Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes at a Broadway show? This week's EconTalk lifts the curtain on the magical world of Broadway: Mitch Weiss, co-author of The Business of Broadway, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his...
[ANNUAL LISTENER SURVEY: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KYV5XPG. Vote for your 2024 favorites!] How can opera, with words we rarely understand, make us cry? Why does opera, filled with melodrama, move us? Listen as poet and librettist Dana Gioia explains to EconTalk's Russ Roberts why words matter more than we think, i...
[ANNUAL LISTENER SURVEY: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KYV5XPG. Vote for your 2024 favorites!] Can Musk use DOGE to reduce the size and power of the bureaucracy and big government? Michael Munger of Duke University thinks not, but EconTalk's Russ Roberts isn't so sure. Listen as they discuss the risks of empowering...
Many Americans are increasingly disillusioned with the ability of the free market to bring down skyrocketing housing prices. More Americans believe housing prices to be inflated by the greed of landlords and lobbyists, combined with the inability of policymakers to effectively regulate housing costs. Proof of this is t...
[ANNUAL LISTENER SURVEY: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KYV5XPG. Vote for your 2024 favorites!] Under settler colonialism, you're either a settler or indigenous and the sin of the founding of America, Australia, and Israel, for example, is not just a past injustice but a perpetuating mistake that explains the present....
Public health officials should tell the truth, even when it's complicated. Even when some people might misunderstand. Otherwise, says economist Emily Oster of Brown University, the public will come to distrust the people we need to trust if we are to make good decisions both personally and publicly. Listen as Oster tal...
Why are European cities charming and American cities often so charmless? Simple, says urbanist Alain Bertaud: most American cities are zoned for single-family housing. The result is not enough customers within walking distance of a business, and not enough parking for the customers who drive. Why American cities are zo...
Is Israel's war with Lebanon going to end differently from past attempts to secure Israel's northern border? Journalist Matti Friedman, who recounted his experience as a soldier in Lebanon in his book Pumpkinflowers, reflects on that experience in light of current events and looks to the future in this conversation wit...
We've heard a lot about misinformation in the news of late...but how do we know when we encounter it? What's the difference between misinformation and disinformation, and is there any space for truth anymore? If too many people believe things that aren't true, shouldn't we try to fix that??? Not necessarily, says th...
Tariffs are in the air. Will they help or hurt Americans? Listen as economist Scott Sumner makes the case against tariffs and various other forms of government intervention that go by the name of industrial policy. Along the way he looks at some of the history of worrying about the economic and military dangers posed b...
What does it take to translate a 900-page Russian novel written before the fall of the Soviet Union? For Robert Chandler it meant living in a seaside cottage for four months to immerse himself completely in the characters' lives and to meet his publisher's deadline. Listen as Chandler, the translator of Vasily Grossman...
As we've become more vigilant in our attempt to revive price theory, we've been looking back through the archives for supporting material, and this early EconTalk episode with Richard McKenzie was at the top of our list! (We recommend McKenzie's book Why Popcorn Costs So Much at the Movies, too!) We invite you ...
Life and Fate might be the greatest novel of the 20th century or maybe ever. Tyler Cowen talks about this sprawling masterpiece and its author, Vasily Grossman, with EconTalk's Russ Roberts.
Over the last 30 years, the Israeli public has moved to the right on the question of how to deal with the Palestinians. Why did this happen? How has this changed Israeli politics and the strategy of the Palestinians? Listen, as journalist Haviv Rettig Gur explores the political and military history of the last three de...
How can we cultivate a sense of awe in our lives? Easy, says physicist and author Alan Lightman: Pay more attention. When we take the time to examine the world around us, from shooting stars to soap bubbles to everything in between, we can feel a sense of wonder and appreciation akin to spirituality. And the best part ...
After filmmaker Penny Lane decided to donate a kidney to a stranger, it took three years and a complex, often infuriating, sometimes terrifying process to make it happen. Along the way, being a filmmaker, she eventually decided to chronicle her experience and explore the question: How can a choice that seems so obvious...
Not everyone values 2500+ year old epic poems. If that’s you, give an expert the chance to convince you. In this episode of EconTalk, Russ Roberts interviews Claudia Hauer about war, education, and strategic humanism. Hauer is an expert at making the case for the importance of reading classical texts and often had to...