Physician and careful reader Richard Gunderman of Indiana University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about how Adam Smith and Leo Tolstoy looked at greed. Drawing on Tolstoy’s short story, “Master and Man,” and adding some Thomas Hobbes along the way, Gunderman argues that a life well-lived requires us to rise above our lower desires. […] The post Richard Gunderman on Greed, Adam Smith, and Leo Tolstoy appeared first on Econlib.

What is real education? What can colleges provide their students? Pano Kanelos, president of the new college-to-be in Austin, UATX, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the nature of education, what the Great Books can teach us, and how we should rethink college education in today’s world. The post Pano Kanelos on Education and UATX appeared first on Econlib.

Economist Robert Pindyck of MIT talks about his book, Climate Future, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Pindyck lays out what we know and do not know about climate change. He argues that because of the nature of greenhouse gases, adaptation must be part of the policy response to climate change. The post Robert Pindyck on Averting and Adapting to Climate Change appeared first on Econlib.

Stuff it, fluff it, stitch it, dress it: Build-a-Bear Founder and former CEO Maxine Clark built a retail-entertainment empire by letting people make their own furry friends. Two hundred million of them. What’s the secret to her success? Listen as she tells EconTalk’s Russ Roberts how she developed a customer-focused culture, why she sought to […] The post Maxine Clark on Building the Build-a-Bear Workshop appeared first on Econlib.

Many people think schools are no place for teaching character. Psychologist Angela Duckworth of the University of Pennsylvania and founder of Character Lab, disagrees. She talks with EconTalk’s Russ Roberts about the implicit curriculum for character, the critical role early education plays in shaping our adult values, and why the Marshmallow Test doesn’t determine our destiny. […] The post Angela Duckworth on Character appeared first on Econlib.

What did author and Washington Post columnist Tamar Haspel learn from her quest to eat at least one thing she’d grown, caught, or killed every day? For starters, that just-caught fish always tastes better (unless you’ve caught a false albacore). That all it takes to build a coop is the will and the right power […] The post Tamar Haspel on First-Hand Food appeared first on Econlib.

Why do people eat too much even when they don’t want to? Why are there so many bad managers? And why might anti-vaxxers be useful? Luca Dellanna, author of The Control Heuristic, thinks the answers to all of these questions are in our heads, or rather in our basal ganglia. Dellanna talks to EconTalk’s Russ […] The post Luca Dellanna on Compulsion, Self-deception, and the Brain appeared first on Econlib.

[ANNUAL LISTENER SURVEY ends midnight EST, Feb. 14: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CQX28T6. Vote for your 2021 favorites!] Michael Eisenberg, venture capitalist and the author of The Tree of Life and Prosperity talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the secret of the Start-Up Nation, the role of principles in investing, and why he’s optimistic about technology’s contribution to humanity. The post Michael Eisenberg on the Start-Up Nation, Storytelling, and the Power of Technology appeared first on Econlib.

[ANNUAL LISTENER SURVEY: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CQX28T6. Vote for your 2021 favorites!] What’s so bad about rising inflation? Why should we aim for a rate of 2 percent? Why is it a problem if interest rates are too low–and what do we mean by inflation, anyway? Stanford University’s John Taylor talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about these questions, […] The post John Taylor on Inflation, the Fed, and the Taylor Rule appeared first on Econlib.

[ANNUAL LISTENER SURVEY: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CQX28T6. Vote for your 2021 favorites!] Traditions and norms can seem at best out-of-touch and at worst offensive to many a modern mind. But Israeli computer scientist and Talmud scholar Moshe Koppel argues that traditions and norms–if they evolve slowly–create trust, develop our capacity for deferred gratification, and even, in the case […] The post Moshe Koppel on Norms, Tradition, and Resilient Societies appeared first on Econlib.