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.

When poet, lawyer, and MacArthur Fellow Dwayne Betts was imprisoned for nine years at the age of 16 for carjacking, he only wept twice. One of those times was when he read Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In this powerful conversation with EconTalk’s Russ Roberts, Betts explains why he cried, what he […] The post Injustice and the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (with Dwayne Betts) appeared first on Econlib.

The Covid vaccine saved many lives but so many mistakes were made in how public health officials discussed it, implemented it, and assessed its effectiveness. Epidemiologist Vinay Prasad of the University of California, San Francisco talks with EconTalk’s Russ Roberts about what went wrong, the costs of the mistakes that were made, and what we […] The post The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the Covid Vaccine (with Vinay Prasad) appeared first on Econlib.

If you didn’t have to work to enjoy material abundance, would you do it anyway? If an algorithm or a pill could achieve better results, would you bother shopping or going to the gym? These are the kinds of questions we’ll need to ask ourselves if AI makes all human labor and other traditional ways […] The post Purpose, Pleasure, and Meaning in a World Without Work (with Nicholas Bostrom) appeared first on Econlib.

Economist and social critic Glenn Loury talks about his memoir, Late Admissions, with EconTalk’s Russ Roberts. In a wide-ranging and blunt conversation, Loury discusses his childhood, his at-times brilliant academic work, his roller-coaster ideological journey, and his personal flaws as a drug addict and imperfect husband. This is a rich conversation about academic life, race […] The post Glenn Loury Tells All appeared first on Econlib.

What does it mean to live Constitutionally in the year 2024? For a start, it means getting off social media. It also means swapping a quill pen for your keyboard, and candlelight for electricity. And don’t forget the tricorn hat and musket–though maybe skip the boiled mutton. Join author A.J. Jacobs as he deep-dives with […] The post Living with the Constitution (with A.J. Jacobs) appeared first on Econlib.