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EconTalk

Russ Roberts
Artificial Intelligence
Israel
Hamas
Economics
Education
Gaza
Happiness
Parenting
Psychology
Decision-Making
United States
Industrial Policy
Intuition
Opera
VAR
Football
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Public Health
Birds
Mohammed Bin Salman

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, ... more

PublishesWeeklyEpisodes1047Founded20 years ago
Number of ListenersCategories
Social SciencesCoursesScienceEducation

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Artwork for EconTalk

Latest Episodes

The Department of War wanted to deploy Anthropic's Claude for "all lawful use." What begins as a policy dispute between a tech company and the Department of War quietly unfolds into something far more unsettling. Listen as Dean Ball and EconTalk's Ru... more

What can Adam Smith teach us today? In this conversation between Ross Levine of Stanford's Hoover Institution and EconTalk's Russ Roberts, Smith emerges as a penetrating psychologist who understood that our deepest hunger isn't for wealth but for res... more

He arrived in America as a child with no English. He was mistakenly sent to a school for juvenile delinquents. He faced rampant prejudice--yet Jensen Huang, the under-the-radar CEO of NVIDIA, became a catalyzing figure behind the AI revolution and bu... more

What does a lone sailor circling the globe have to do with the fall of empires, the Model T, and the rise of AI? Everything--because maintenance, the quiet act of keeping things going, turns out to be the hidden force behind success and failure in ne... more

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Recent Guests

Ross Levine
Economist, Booth-Durbus Family Edward Lazare Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, co-director of Hoover's Financial Regulation Working Group
Hoover Institution
Episode: Adam Smith's Warning About Wealth, Fame, and Status (with Ross Levine)
Stephen Witt
Author of The Thinking Machine
Author, The Thinking Machine
Episode: The Man Who Built NVIDIA (with Stephen Witt)
Stewart Brand
Co-founder and editor of the Whole Earth Catalog; founder of The Well, the Global Business Network, and the Long Now Foundation
Whole Earth Catalog; Long Now Foundation
Episode: The Unseen Work: Stewart Brand on Maintenance and Civilization
Tyler Cowen
Economist, GMU Professor, Marginal Revolution blogger/podcaster
George Mason University; Marginal Revolution
Episode: AI, Employment, and Education (with Tyler Cowen)
Hanno Sauer
Philosopher and author of The Invention of Good and Evil
Author, Philosopher
Episode: How We Tamed Ourselves and Invented Good and Evil (with Hanno Sauer)
Susan Cain
Author of Quiet, The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
Author, Speaker
Episode: The Power of Introverts (with Susan Cain)
Karen Elliott House
Journalist and author, focusing on Saudi Arabia and Mohammed bin Salman.
Episode: The Man Who Would Be King of Saudi Arabia (with Karen Elliott House)
Aled Maclean-Jones
Writer and author of the essay 'The Survival of Swiss Watches'
Works in Progress
Episode: Seiko, Swatch, and the Swiss Watch Industry (with Aled Maclean-Jones)
Andrew Fox
Former British Army officer and conflict researcher
Henry Jackson Society
Episode: A Military Analysis of Israel's War in Gaza (with Andrew Fox)

Host

Russ Roberts
Economist and author known for hosting in-depth conversations across economics, psychology, philosophy, and current affairs.

Reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars from 6.4k ratings
  • Always interesting

    Always interesting

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    C_L3K
    United Statesa month ago
  • Used to be

    This used to be a great podcast. Now just pro Israel propaganda media. So sad.

    Apple Podcasts
    1
    R3hauer
    United Statesa month ago
  • I was too harsh in my last review

    It’s like Conversations with Tyler but the host is dumber.

    Apple Podcasts
    4
    Bellinater
    United Statesa month ago
  • Infinity

    Russ, Datsun/Nissan have a luxury brand in Infinity. Just saying.

    Apple Podcasts
    3
    #puppypundit
    United States2 months ago
  • No

    Nononono

    Apple Podcasts
    1
    Rachelnallen_
    United Kingdom2 months ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

High-quality, intellectually rigorous conversations that challenge guests and listeners alike.
Some episodes spark strong opinions on current events; audiences appreciate nuance but may crave more explicit stances on hot-button issues.
Thoughtful and wide ranging discussions with strong guests and a calm, open-minded host.

Chart Rankings

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Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Adam Smith's Warning About Wealth, Fame, and Status (with Ross Levine)
Q: Samantha asks through your voice, are you admiring the right people?
The guest argues that admiring the right people is crucial because it shapes prosperity, justice, and societal well-being; admiring the wrong figures can corrupt moral sentiments, undermine justice, and threaten freedom, hence the importance of aligning admiration with virtue and integrity.
Adam Smith's Warning About Wealth, Fame, and Status (with Ross Levine)
Q: Describe that, what is the parable of the poor man's son, and why is it relevant for this conversation?
It's Smith's story about a young man who seeks wealth and external esteem, focusing on how the pursuit of riches can lead to a hollow life and later regret, highlighting Smith's warning against letting external status define happiness and neglect inner virtue.
Adam Smith's Warning About Wealth, Fame, and Status (with Ross Levine)
Q: Describe the project which you call from the hand of Adam Smith.
The guest explains that he is writing a monthly series of letters from Adam Smith to America in 2026, aiming to stay true to Smith while making his ideas readable for a modern audience, and to challenge the caricatures often applied to Smith by linking his moral philosophy to today's economic and social issues.
The Economics of Scarcity and the UNC-Duke Basketball Game (with Michael Munger)
Q: What broader lessons about markets and institutions can we draw from this rivalry and its ticketing system?
Rivalries concentrated in a single venue create rents in scarcity that communities often internalize through emergent rules and rituals; well-designed, voluntary institutions can harness devotion and social capital to enhance cohesion and financial support, even when formal markets would potentially extract more revenue.
The Economics of Scarcity and the UNC-Duke Basketball Game (with Michael Munger)
Q: What are the main mechanisms economists use to handle scarcity, and what are the trade-offs of each in this context?
The four mechanisms are price, queuing, lottery, and authority. Price signals allocate resources efficiently but may exclude the most devoted; queuing rewards persistence but can be wasteful; lotteries offer fairness in access but may sacrifice some predictable access; authority can lead to biased outcomes but can be used to reflect preferences or social goals. In the Duke case, price is avoided, so the other methods each have distinct deadweight and equity implications.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

Listeners per Episode
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Frequently Asked Questions About EconTalk

What is EconTalk about and what kind of topics does it cover?

A thoughtful, wide-ranging interview show that consistently brings together economists, scientists, philosophers, journalists, and authors to unpack big ideas in economics, behavior, policy, and culture. Episodes frequently explore how systems work—from healthcare and development to technology, education, and international affairs—while inviting guests to share rigorous reasoning, empirical insights, and compelling storytelling. The conversation style tends to be calm, curiosity-driven, and open to challenging assumptions, with a strength in connecting abstract theory to real-world implications. Notable strengths include deep dives with highly credentialed guests and a willingness to tackle controversial topics with nuance, making it a stro... more

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Which podcasts are similar to EconTalk?

These podcasts share a similar audience with EconTalk:

1. Conversations with Tyler
2. The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg
3. GoodFellows: Conversations on Economics, History & Geopolitics
4. Uncommon Knowledge
5. Conversations with Coleman

How many episodes of EconTalk are there?

EconTalk launched 20 years ago and published 1047 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on EconTalk?

Recent guests on EconTalk include:

1. Ross Levine
2. Stephen Witt
3. Stewart Brand
4. Tyler Cowen
5. Hanno Sauer
6. Susan Cain
7. Karen Elliott House
8. Aled Maclean-Jones

To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.

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