A soldier goes off to war. Damaged in combat, he returns home, forever changed. Master sculptor Sabin Howard captures this tragic and powerful journey in bronze, for the new World War I Memorial that will be unveiled in Washington, D.C. on September 13, 2024. Howard talks about his craft with EconTalk’s Russ Roberts as they discuss […] The post How Do You Capture the Tragedy of War? (with Sabin Howard) appeared first on Econlib.

The universe, points out economist Noah Smith, is always trying to kill us, whether through asteroids hurtling through space or our every-few-hours hunger pains. Why, then, should we expect anything but a gravitational pull toward poverty? Listen as Smith explains to EconTalk’s Russ Roberts why he believes that poverty will always be our “elemental foe,” […] The post The Ever-Present Challenge of Escaping Poverty (with Noah Smith) appeared first on Econlib.

Neuroscientist and author Sam Harris of the podcast Making Sense talks with EconTalk’s Russ Roberts about rising Jew-hatred in the West and what Harris sees as the dangers of radical Islam and Jihadism. The post Sam Harris on Jew-Hatred, Radical Islam, and the West appeared first on Econlib.

Does parenting make you a better person? Can it improve your life? Neuroscientist Erik Hoel makes the self-interested case for parenting arguing that it makes you less jaded and more heartbroken (in a good way) for how you experience the world. Listen as new father Hoel speaks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the universal […] The post Does Parenting Make You a Better Person? (with Erik Hoel) appeared first on Econlib.

What lessons can we take from the speeches of Abraham Lincoln for today’s turbulent times? How did those speeches move the nation in Lincoln’s day? Listen as political scientist Diana Schaub of Loyola University, Maryland talks with EconTalk’s Russ Roberts about three of Lincoln’s most important speeches and what they can tell us about the […] The post Lessons from Lincoln, Then and Now (with Diana Schaub) appeared first on Econlib.

For many men, surviving the test of battle intensifies the joy of being alive. A provocative claim, perhaps, but to novelist Mark Helprin, simply a fact, and one that drives his new book about men who commit themselves fully both to service during wartime and to the women they love. Listen as Helprin tells EconTalk’s […] The post Reading, Writing, and Fighting (with Mark Helprin) appeared first on Econlib.

To international law expert Eugene Kontorovich of George Mason University, all the arguments that make Israel out to be an occupying force collapse under the weight of a single, simple fact: A country cannot occupy territory to which it has a legal claim. Listen as Kontorovich speaks with EconTalk’s Russ Roberts about the legal issues […] The post Is Israel Occupying the West Bank? (with Eugene Kontorovich) appeared first on Econlib.

If you’re always imitating others or aspiring to be something else, what’s left of the “authentic” you? According to the French philosopher René Girard, not much: Nothing can be truly authentic, he argued–everything comes from somewhere else. This is just one of the many original and counterintuitive claims put forth in Girard’s sweeping approach to […] The post René Girard, Mimesis, and Conflict (with Cynthia Haven) appeared first on Econlib.

Economics students are often taught that government should intervene when there is market failure. But what about government failure? Should we expect government intervention to outperform market outcomes? Listen as Duke University economist Michael Munger explores the history of how economists have thought about this dilemma and possible ways to find a third or even […] The post Does Market Failure Justify Government Intervention? (with Michael Munger) appeared first on Econlib.

Can a document unify a nation? Yuval Levin of the American Enterprise Institute and author of American Covenant argues that the Constitution unified the United States at the founding of the country and that understanding the Constitution can help bring the country together today. Listen as Levin speaks with EconTalk’s Russ Roberts about how the Constitution not […] The post How the Constitution Can Bring Us Together (with Yuval Levin) appeared first on Econlib.