Russ Roberts, EconTalk Host The favorite EconTalk episodes for host Russ Roberts are when he and his guest have an unusually powerful connection such as his recent episode with Charles Duhigg, and the ones where he learns something mind-blowing, like Adam Mastroianni’s insight that you can’t reach the brain through the ears. Listen as Russ […] The post The Top EconTalk Conversations of 2023 (with Russ Roberts) appeared first on Econlib.

Would an AI simulation of your dead loved one be a blessing or an abomination? And if you knew that after your own death, your loved ones would create a simulation of you, how would that knowledge change the way you choose to live today? These are some of the questions psychologist Paul Bloom discusses with EconTalk’s Russ Roberts as we stand on the threshold […] The post Seeking Immortality (with Paul Bloom) appeared first on Econlib.

If the Wright Brothers could have used AI to guide their decision making, it’s almost certain they would never have gotten off the ground. That’s because, points out Teppo Felin of Utah State University and Oxford, all the evidence said human flight was impossible. So how and why did the Wrights persevere? Felin explains that the human ability to […] The post When Prediction Is Not Enough (with Teppo Felin) appeared first on Econlib.

While religion may play less of a role in many people’s lives, rituals–the lifeblood of religion–remain central to the human experience. Listen as Michael Norton of the Harvard Business School explains how and why rituals remain at the center of our lives–they give meaning to life-cycle events and secular holidays, calm our fears, and give […] The post Rituals Without Religion (with Michael Norton) appeared first on Econlib.

Can you be too happy? Psychologist Adam Mastroianni talks with EconTalk’s Russ Roberts about our emotional control systems, which seem to work at bringing both sadness and happiness back to a steady baseline. Too much happiness is–perhaps surprisingly–not necessarily a good thing. They also explore whether our general level of happiness is really related to […] The post A User’s Guide to Our Emotional Thermostat (with Adam Mastroianni) appeared first on Econlib.

Listen as Megan McArdle and EconTalk’s Russ Roberts use Google’s new AI entrant Gemini as the starting point for a discussion about the future of our culture in the shadow of AI bias. They also discuss the tension between rules and discretion in Western society and why the ultimate answer to AI bias can’t be […] The post What Does “Unbiased” Mean in the Digital World? (with Megan McArdle) appeared first on Econlib.

Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib spent much of his childhood in Gaza before becoming an American citizen. He has lost dozens of family members and both his childhood homes in Israel’s war in Gaza. But he hasn’t lost hope for peace and the future of the Palestinian people. Listen as he describes the reality of life in Gaza […] The post Voices from Gaza (with Ahmed Alkhatib) appeared first on Econlib.

The world of today would seem alien to someone living 30 years ago: people seduced by their screens in private and public and now AI blurring the lines between humans and the machine. Author and technologist Azeem Azhar chronicles the pace of change and asks whether the human experience can cope with that pace while […] The post Living with Exponential Change (with Azeem Azhar) appeared first on Econlib.

There’s often a gap between the textbook treatment of statistics and the cookbook treatment–how to cook up the numbers when you’re in the kitchen of the real world. Jeremy Weber of the University of Pittsburgh and the author of Statistics for Public Policy hopes his book can close that gap. He talks to EconTalk host […] The post How to Avoid Lying With Statistics (with Jeremy Weber) appeared first on Econlib.

When EconTalk’s Russ Roberts sat down with Charles Duhigg to talk about his new book on the art of conversation, Supercommunicators, Roberts tried to apply some of its lessons to his conversation with the author. The result is this special conversation between two people eager to connect and communicate. Enjoy. The post The Secrets of Great Conversation (with Charles Duhigg) appeared first on Econlib.