EconTalk
EconTalk

EconTalk

Russ Roberts

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Episodes

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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.

Recent Episodes

Is This War With Lebanon Different? (with Matti Friedman)
DEC 16, 2024
Is This War With Lebanon Different? (with Matti Friedman)
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 with EconTalk's Russ Roberts.
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70 MIN
Why Industrial Policy Is (Almost) Always a Bad Idea (with Scott Sumner)
DEC 9, 2024
Why Industrial Policy Is (Almost) Always a Bad Idea (with Scott Sumner)
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 by foreign countries.
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89 MIN
Translating Life and Fate (with Robert Chandler)
DEC 2, 2024
Translating Life and Fate (with Robert Chandler)
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's masterpiece Life and Fate and many of his other works, speaks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about Grossman, the art of translation, and the challenges of bringing a sprawling Russian classic to English-speaking readers.
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78 MIN
Tyler Cowen on Life and Fate
NOV 25, 2024
Tyler Cowen on Life and Fate
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.
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67 MIN
Terrorism, Israel, and Dreams of Peace (with Haviv Rettig Gur)
NOV 18, 2024
Terrorism, Israel, and Dreams of Peace (with Haviv Rettig Gur)
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 decades in Israel with EconTalk's Russ Roberts. The conversation ends with lessons for the future and a discussion of the differences between American and Israeli Jews.
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125 MIN