Immigration to the United States, say Ran Abramitzky and Leah Boustan, is more novel than short story: It takes decades for new immigrants to catch up economically. But their kids on average thrive economically and have higher rates of upward mobility than American-born kids. Abramitzky and Boustan talk about their book Streets of Gold with […] The post Ran Abramitzky and Leah Boustan on Immigration Then and Now appeared first on Econlib.

How much of life can be solved by algorithms, and how much just can’t be solved? Listen as A.J. Jacobs, author of The Puzzler, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the lessons he learned from solving every kind of puzzle imaginable, including the biggest stumper of all: what it really means to be a human […] The post A.J. Jacobs on Solving Life’s Puzzles appeared first on Econlib.

How do books change our lives? Educator and author Roosevelt Montás of Columbia University talks about his book Rescuing Socrates with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Drawing on his own educational and life journey, Montás shows how great books don’t just teach us stuff–they get inside us and make us who we are. The post Roosevelt Montás on Rescuing Socrates appeared first on Econlib.

Former Google ads boss Sridhar Ramaswamy says that we live in a world that seems to give out free content when we use a search engine. But that world comes with a hidden cost–search results that distort what we find and serve advertisers rather than searchers. Ramaswamy talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about how Google […] The post Sridhar Ramaswamy on Google, Search, and Neeva appeared first on Econlib.

In October 1973, an unhappy Leonard Cohen was listening to the radio on his Greek island home when he heard that Israel was at war. He headed to Tel Aviv, exchanging a personal and creative crisis for a national one. Absent a plan and even a guitar, Cohen wound up serenading Israeli soldiers at the […] The post Matti Friedman on Leonard Cohen and the Yom Kippur War appeared first on Econlib.

Why are some people incurious? Is curiosity a teachable thing? And why, if all knowledge can be googled, is curiosity now the domain of a small elite? Listen as Ian Leslie, author of Curious, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts why curiosity is a critical virtue, why it’s now in dangerous decline, and why, when it comes to […] The post Ian Leslie on Curiosity appeared first on Econlib.

Mainstream economics, says author Diane Coyle, keeps treating people like cogs: self-interested, rational agents. But in the digital economy, we’re less sophisticated consumer and more monster under the influence of social media. Listen as the economist and former UK Treasury advisor tells EconTalk host Russ Roberts how, for economics to remain relevant, it needs both […] The post Diane Coyle on Cogs, Monsters, and Better Economics appeared first on Econlib.

What’s the single best thing happening in technology right now? According to entrepreneur and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, it’s the ability to live in rural Wisconsin but still earn a Silicon Valley salary. Andreessen also explains to EconTalk host Russ Roberts why software is still eating the world, why he’s an optimist, and why he’s […] The post Marc Andreessen on Software, Immortality, and Bitcoin appeared first on Econlib.

It’s tempting to explain Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with Putin’s megalomania. Economist Chris Blattman of the University of Chicago talks about his book Why We Fight with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Blattman explains why only a fraction of rivalries ever erupt into violence, the five main reasons adversaries can’t arrive at compromise, and the problem with trying to […] The post Chris Blattman on Why We Fight appeared first on Econlib.

In his memoir of his time in Auschwitz, Primo Levi describes Jewish prisoners bathing in freezing water without soap–not because they thought it would make them cleaner, but because it helped them hold on to their dignity. For poet and author Dwayne Betts, Levi’s description of his fellow inmates’ suffering, much like the novelist Ralph […] The post Dwayne Betts on Ellison, Levi, and Human Suffering appeared first on Econlib.