Are your genes your destiny? Despite famous studies of identical twins that seem to answer in the affirmative, mathematician David Bessis says: Not so fast. He and EconTalk’s Russ Roberts take a deep dive into the “twins reared apart” literature, showing how multiple flaws in those studies undercut their claims about heritability. Bessis demonstrates why […] The post Nature, Nurture, and Identical Twins (with David Bessis) appeared first on Econlib.

Philosopher and author Rebecca Newberger Goldstein discusses her new book, The Mattering Instinct, which argues that our lives are a quest to validate our inherent self-centeredness. Tracing this essential longing from physics and biology through to ethics and politics, she explains to EconTalk’s Russ Roberts why material success alone can never satisfy our deep-seated need […] The post The Mattering Instinct (with Rebecca Newberger Goldstein) appeared first on Econlib.

If technology is ruining the art of conversation, maybe it can save it, too. Anna Gat–poet, screenwriter, playwright, and founder of Interintellect–talks with EconTalk’s Russ Roberts on how she’s reviving the French salon in the digital age. They discuss why authority, moderation, and clear formats make conversation freer, not more constrained. They also explore why one of […] The post Conversation, Interintellect, and Arcadia (with Anna Gát) appeared first on Econlib.

Psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer explains the power of intuition, how intuition became gendered, what he thinks Kahneman and Tversky’s research agenda got wrong, and why it’s a mistake to place intuition and conscious thinking on opposing ends of the cognition spectrum. Topics he discusses in this wide-ranging conversation with EconTalk’s Russ Roberts include what Gigerenzer calls […] The post In Defense of Intuition (with Gerd Gigerenzer) appeared first on Econlib.

A world-class physicist makes a shocking claim: across 2,500 years and every kind of society, there has been a recurring moral exception carved out just for Jews–the idea that hurting Jews is, in some sense, legitimate. Most of the time, this doesn’t erupt into pogroms. Instead, it lives as a background permission: a readiness to excuse, […] The post David Deutsch on the Pattern appeared first on Econlib.

Are we truly characters with agency, or are we just playing out our programming in the great video game of life? Contrary to those in his field who claim that free will is an illusion, neuroscientist Kevin Mitchell insists that we’re agents who wield our decision-making mechanism for our own purposes. Listen as the author […] The post Free Will Is Real (with Kevin Mitchell) appeared first on Econlib.

Can the promise of economic progress ever justify conquest, coercion, and control over other people’s lives? Economist William Easterly joins EconTalk’s Russ Roberts to argue no–and to rethink what “development” really means in theory, in history, and in our politics today. Drawing on his new book, Violent Saviors: The West’s Conquest of the Rest, Easterly […] The post Colonialism, Slavery, and Foreign Aid (with William Easterly) appeared first on Econlib.

Journalist and author Sam Quinones talks about his newest book, The Perfect Tuba: Forging Fulfillment from the Brass Horn, Band, and Hard Work with EconTalk’s Russ Roberts. Known for his reporting on the opioid crisis, Quinones turns to a more uplifting subject–the world of tuba players and high school marching bands. What begins as curiosity about an […] The post The Perfect Tuba: How Band, Grit, and Community Build a Better Life (with Sam Quinones) appeared first on Econlib.

Will Storr talks about his book The Status Game with EconTalk host Russ Roberts, exploring how our deep need for respect and recognition shapes our behavior. The conversation delves into how we constantly judge others and compare ourselves to them, the pain of losing status, and the freedom of escaping judgment. Storr and Roberts discuss how […] The post The Status Game (with Will Storr) appeared first on Econlib.

How is your brain like an ant colony? They both use simple parts following simple rules which allows the whole to be so much more than the sum of the parts. Listen as neuroscientist and author Gaurav Suri explains how the mind emerges from the neural network of the brain, why habits form, why intuition […] The post The Wonder of the Emergent Mind (with Gaurav Suri) appeared first on Econlib.