My new book, WILD PROBLEMS comes out August 9--how to face the big life decisions that define us, decisions where so-called rationality either misleads or is irrelevant. Pre-order now:
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Russ Roberts
@EconTalker
Podcaster, author, President, Shalem College, Jerusalem (shalem.ac.il/en/) Research Fellow EconTalk.org RussRoberts.info
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A lot discussion here on Twitter about whether people are doing better than in 1973, say. Here is my five part animated series on this question. These are in reverse order. Start at the bottom.
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This is the greatest mathematician story ever told
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If you want to understand what is going on in Israel, 's substance is a very good place to start.
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Oklahoma plans to kill Richard Glossip on May 18. The state's own attorney general has said that this would be a "grave injustice," but other people in Oklahoma are determined to go ahead and kill him. Sound crazy? Keep reading; it gets crazier.
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center of what makes us human and we struggle to understand what it is. 7/7
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babble. If she could talk, could she explain why she laughs when I laugh? I don't think so. So what is laughter? Why do we laugh. Roger Scruton in his book On Human Nature explores the role of laughter in our lives. I need to read it again. In many ways, laughter is at the 6/
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shows her "because it's funny!" She says it as if it is the most obvious thing in the world. You might laugh at a scene in a movie that I find tragic. The episode is here: econtalk.org/patrick-house-. But how different is Anna from my granddaughter? My granddaughter can only 5/
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beginning of a meditation on these questions. Consider Anna--the young woman with seizures who undergoes surgery and who laughs in response to electrical stimulation of her brain and who then tells the surgeon that she is laughing at the picture of the fork the surgeon 4/
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that happened that was not tragic. Slapstick can make us laugh. Mere words can make us laugh. Wit can make us laugh. The unexpected can make us laugh. And something laughter shows unease, discomfort as in "nervous laughter." What is that about? This week's EconTalk is the 3/
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delights her? Amuses her? Tickles her funny bone (a tautology)? Her laughter seems disconnected from what you and I as adults find amusing, comic, or sometimes painful. Laughter is complex. It can burst out of us. It can be a form of empathy when you tell me about a misfortune 2/
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Why does my granddaughter smile at me? Is it because I amuse her? Is it because she finds me to be a comic figure? I don't think so. She smiles because I smile and mimicry seems to be deeply built into growing up. And why does she laugh? Is it because something 1/
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Replying to
Boarding a plane with a screamer. Had to look this poem up and read it again. I love it
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For all you aspiring writers and readers of Russian lit:
I really enjoyed this book: it made me notice more about these stories and human nature than I had before.
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To life.
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Simply beyond words.
Lucy Dee, who was recently murdered by a Palestinian terrorist, was also an organ donor.
Today, her remaining 2 daughters heard their mother’s heart beating in the chest of the woman their mother has just saved.
No matter how dark the situation, no matter… Show more
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Electric cars, fake meat, AI. All three have been around since I was a kid. They were never good enough, so we learned to ignore them. But all three have now crossed the line where you can't. What's next?
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This episode from twisted my brain (no pun intended). Fascinating, comforting, and anxiety inducing.
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Neuroscientist recounts a visit to a vacuum repair shop that changed how he thought about his work understanding the brain.
Enjoy this clip, and catch the FULL episode here: ow.ly/OeFn50O6khs
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All the people in my family are book people, as are all my role models ( ).
I wrote this as an homage to book people, and I’m so grateful that Substack saw fit to promote it last weekend—the response has been incredible.
open.substack.com/pub/charliebec
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Welcome to another edition of Substack Reads.
This week we’re reading @bobbyhundreds, @theguyliner, @PerzenPatel, @charlesdbecker, @livamoah, and more.
read.substack.com/p/substack-rea
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Love 's columns, so when she comes to , you know it's gonna be good. And as so often, I have questions...
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There has been some ambivalence about the minimum wage, as a policy debate, for the past decade. And fair enough, because it's complicated.
But things are becoming clearer now. Here is the approach I take in class:
aier.org/article/job-ge…
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Giannis didn’t like this reporter's question on if he thinks this season was a failure.
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If you're interested PREORDERS really help btw!
As to what I'll do after, in my ideal world I write The Intrinsic Perspective for 15 more years (publishing the other 3 books along the way) and then stop writing altogether and, like, help my son start a cool business
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#AdamSmith was VERY interested in the experiences of workers around his home & around the world.
For a window into the lives of modern workers quite different from you, take a look at the category Industry Interviews: Individuals at Work.
ow.ly/PQmE50NYxQy
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My favorite Adam Smith quote now on an EconTalk bubble sticker! Spread the word.
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In which and I get to discuss the time when Ayn Rand called Milton Friedman and George Stigler "reds."
Really, she did.
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I'm inspired by the recent episode with on the morality of free markets.
Here is a clear example. There is a moral argument to be made for physicians owning hospitals.
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It’s just fundamentally wrong.
A hospital can own a doctor, but a doctor can’t own a hospital.
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Lastly, here's the Oedipus Trap episode: econtalk.org/megan-mcardle-. I recommend all episodes of this podcast, but this is one of the best ever and will definitely be at or near the top of my end-of-year top ten!
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About 100K Americans soldiers have died in US wars since 1948. The number in Israel since 1948 is about 24K+3K from terrorism. A crude correction for population puts Israeli deaths at over 1 MILLION. Unsurprisingly, Israel takes Memorial Day more seriously than the US.
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Not yet.
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A very important discussion about how to achieve strategic achievement of goals of freedom and free markets.
Any podcast that references Monty Python’s Life or Brian should be a required listen. Thanks
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One of the most Jewish things about this country is that Memorial Day is the day before Independence Day. So bittersweet and so powerful.
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If you know an Israeli looking for college and who loves books, ideas, and the deepest questions, tell them, please, about Shalem College. Our next Open House for students is May 11:
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In 2014, I interviewed for EconTalk when he was the head of . At the 59:48 mark, he talks about artificial intelligence. He was clearly looking ahead...
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First off, this is a great conversation and an important one for all libertarians to listen to.
Second, is on EconTalk so often, should list him as a co-host :).
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Which kinds of arguments are more persuasive, moralistic or consequentialist?
econtalk.org/michael-munger
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Welcome to the party, ! (got a little wrinkly, a few seconds with a heat gun will fix it right up. It's complicated)
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