[ANNUAL LISTENER SURVEY: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZGY3G9W. Vote for your 2023 favorites!] Did nations get rich on the backs of other nations? Did the West get rich from imperialism? Noah Smith says no. But why not? If you can steal stuff, isn’t that better than having to make it yourself? Listen as Noah Smith and EconTalk’s Russ Roberts discuss […] The post Can a Nation Plunder Its Way to Wealth (with Noah Smith) appeared first on Econlib.

Journalist Matti Friedman worked for the Jerusalem Bureau of the Associated Press from 2006 to 2011. Looking back at that experience, Friedman argues that little has changed in the journalism landscape. Listen as Friedman discusses with EconTalk host Russ Roberts the media’s obsession with Israel and how and why the media often sidelines facts in service of ideology, […] The post The Challenge of Covering the Most Important Story on Earth (with Matti Friedman) appeared first on Econlib.

Over the 25 years he’s lived in Israel, author Daniel Gordis of Shalem College has seen many chapters of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, beginning with the Second Intifada that followed the Oslo Accords. Listen as he and EconTalk’s Russ Roberts discuss why Hamas’s massacre of October 7th is different and is an existential threat to Israel. […] The post From the Second Intifada to October 7th (with Daniel Gordis) appeared first on Econlib.

Do psychologists know anything? Psychologist Paul Bloom says yes–but not the things that you might think. Bloom discusses his book Psych with EconTalk’s Russ Roberts and what the field of psychology can teach us about human intelligence, consciousness, and unhelpful instincts. They also discuss just how far psychology is from a true understanding of the human […] The post Can Artificial Intelligence Be Moral? (with Paul Bloom) appeared first on Econlib.

Israeli journalist Haviv Rettig Gur takes us on a deep dive into the origins of Israel–how European Jew-hatred gave birth to Zionism and the founding of the Jewish state in 1948. He then turns to the rise of Palestinian terrorism and explains why the Palestinian experience and the Israeli experience are so incompatible. Along the way, […] The post An Extraordinary Introduction to the Birth of Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (with Haviv Rettig Gur) appeared first on Econlib.

How can we create a radically different atmosphere at American universities? Easy, says historian Niall Ferguson of Stanford University’s Hoover Institution–have meaningful rules about free speech, and ensure that they’re upheld. As with humans, as with institutions: It’s all about incentives. Ferguson discusses the current state of free speech on American campuses and how the […] The post Niall Ferguson on Free Speech and Kissinger’s Role in the Middle East appeared first on Econlib.

In 2018, author Yossi Klein Halevi wanted Palestinians to understand his story of how Israel came into existence. At the same time, he wanted Palestinians to tell him their personal and national stories, too, about the same land. The result was Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor, a candid, heartfelt book that engaged Jews and Arabs around […] The post Yossi Klein Halevi on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict appeared first on Econlib.

Who is the greatest economist of all time? In Tyler Cowen‘s eclectic view, you need both breadth and depth, macro and micro. You can’t have been too wrong–and you need to be mostly right. You have to have had a lasting impact, and done both theory and empirical work. If you meet all these criteria, […] The post Tyler Cowen on the GOAT of Economics appeared first on Econlib.

What’s different about companies that accomplish amazing things? Perhaps surprisingly, says Andrew McAfee of MIT, it has nothing to do with being agile or with better technology. Instead, they’ve developed what he calls “geek” cultures, which emphasize intense cooperation, rapid learning curves, and a lack of hierarchy. Listen as McAfee talks about his book The […] The post Andrew McAfee on the Geek Way appeared first on Econlib.

Who was Milton Friedman? Jennifer Burns of Stanford University finds in her biography of Friedman that the answer to that question is more complicated than she thought. Listen as she and EconTalk’s Russ Roberts discuss how the now-forgotten Henry Simons shaped Friedman’s thought, the degree to which Friedman had a deep understanding and belief in […] The post Jennifer Burns on Milton Friedman appeared first on Econlib.