EconTalk

Weekly conversations on economics, philosophy, science and culture AI summary

Russ Roberts Visit website › Education · EN · 1075 episodes · latest 2026-11-09

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What it is about

EconTalk: Conversations for the Curious is an award-winning weekly podcast hosted by Russ Roberts of Shalem College in Jerusalem and Stanford's Hoover Institution. The eclectic guest list includes authors, doctors, psychologists, historians, philosophers, economists, and more. Learn how the health care system really works, the serenity that comes from humility, the challenge of interpreting data, how potato chips are made, what it's like to run an upscale Manhattan restaurant, what caused the 2008 financial crisis, the nature of consciousness, the conflicts and history of the Middle East, and more. EconTalk has been taking the Monday out of Mondays since 2006. All 1000+ episodes are available in the archive. Go to EconTalk.org for transcripts, related resources, and comments.

Publisher’s own description, taken unchanged from the podcast feed.
Copyright 2006-2026

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Latest episodes

Hubris, Humility, and the AI Revolution (with Walter Isaacson)

2026-11-09 · 53 min · Episode 1075

The people building artificial intelligence worry there’s a real chance it could doom us all. So why do they keep building anyway? Walter Isaacson, biographer extraordinaire, talks with EconTalk’s Russ Roberts about why…
Revisiting the China Shock (with Joseph Francis)

2026-11-02 · 1 hr 4 min · Episode 1074

What if the results of one of the most influential economics papers of the past 25 years are unreliable? The "China shock" narrative--that a surge of Chinese imports destroyed American manufacturing jobs and the…
How Your Situation Shapes You (with Angela Duckworth)

2026-10-26 · 1 hr 10 min · Episode 1073

Sure, you can use willpower or grit to break bad habits and build new ones. But maybe the key to success is simpler: change your situation. Psychologist Angela Duckworth explains to EconTalk's Russ Roberts why the…
Lives Wasted and Well-Lived: David Wolpe on The Death of Ivan Ilyich

2026-10-19 · 1 hr 9 min · Episode 1072

What if you did everything right and discovered on your deathbed that you've wasted your life? Rabbi and author David Wolpe talks about Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" with EconTalk's Russ Roberts. Weaving Rabbi…
The Great Fertility Collapse (with Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde)

2026-10-12 · 1 hr 11 min · Episode 1071

For the first time in human history, we're not having enough children to keep the world's population from falling. And fertility is collapsing fastest not in rich nations but in places like Colombia, Thailand, and…
Addiction, Faith, and the Limits of Willpower (with Meghan O'Gieblyn)

2026-10-05 · 1 hr 9 min · Episode 1070

Why do we keep doing things we know we shouldn't? And is that really a failure of will? Author Meghan O'Gieblyn spent years trying to answer that question, first in response to her struggle with alcoholism and her loss…
Public Choice and Politics Without Romance (with Mike Munger)

2026-09-28 · 1 hr 20 min · Episode 1069

Before you give the government new powers, try the Munger Test: cross out "government" and insert the name of the politician you trust least. Then see if you still like the idea. In his 52nd EconTalk appearance, Mike…
The Death of Reading (with James Marriott)

2026-09-21 · 1 hr 5 min · Episode 1068

Are we living in the new Dark Ages? Despite vast technological advances, our societies are increasingly looking like those that preceded the advent of literacy. So argues journalist James Marriott, who sees in our…
Incentives Are for Losers (with Adam Mastroianni)

2026-09-14 · 1 hr 5 min · Episode 1067

Incentives matter, sure. But what should you do when following the incentives means quietly participating in something wrong? Psychologist Adam Mastroianni argues that obeying bad incentives--shading a headline for…
Meritocracy, Exams, and the Knowledge That Matters (with Daisy Christodoulou)

2026-09-07 · 1 hr 6 min · Episode 1066

What does a failed 19th-century Chinese civil exam and one of the deadliest wars in history have to do with how we hire, educate, and test people today? In this EconTalk conversation, Russ Roberts and education expert…

Episode details from the publisher’s feed. Playback happens at the publisher.

Publisher details

Owner: Library of Economics and Liberty
Oldest episode in feed: 03/2006 · over 20 years
Typical length: 1 hr 9 min
Format: Episodic Newest first, episodes stand alone
Keywords: economics, business, books, interviews, history, ethics

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