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EconTalk

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

Lives Wasted and Well-Lived: David Wolpe on The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Oct 2026 · 7 books
0:00 / 69:11
Cover of The Death of Ivan Ilyich
The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Leo Tolstoy
today is september sixteenth twenty twenty six and my guest is author and rabbi david wolpe he is the max webb emeritus rabbi at sinai temple in los angeles and he's currently scholar in residence ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Denial of Death
The Denial of Death
Ernest Becker
it reminds me of a great passage from a book that will i think i'll mention once or twice in in this ernish becker's denial of death ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina
Leo Tolstoy
he writes anna karenina which is one of the great masterpieces of world literature and then says i i he repudiates it and says i shouldn't have written it ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death
Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death
Irvin Yalom
erwin yallam has a book called i think it's called staring at the sun ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Legend of Saint Julian the Hospitaler
The Legend of Saint Julian the Hospitaler
Gustave Flaubert
you can read uh the christian version of this as a flaubert short story which is a m it's a wonderful story called saint julian the hospital or ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Lives and Deaths: Essential Stories
Lives and Deaths: Essential Stories
Leo Tolstoy
i by the way read the translations is a lovely little book called lives and deaths essential stories ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Master and Man
Master and Man
Leo Tolstoy
i should refr uh reference the other episode we did on a pulsto short story which was master and man ▶ tap to play from here
The Great Fertility Collapse (with Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde)
Oct 2026 · 1 book
0:00 / 71:27
Cover of The Ultimate Resource
The Ultimate Resource
Julian Simon
i'm gonna close with a tribute to uh julian simon yeah uh julian simon's book the ultimate resource which uh i recommend to listeners ▶ tap to play from here
Addiction, Faith, and the Limits of Willpower (with Meghan O'Gieblyn)
Oct 2026 · 6 books
0:00 / 69:03
Cover of Will and Attention: A Memoir
Will and Attention: A Memoir
Megan O'Giblin
her latest book the subject of today's conversation is will and attention a memoir ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Gravity and Grace
Gravity and Grace
Peter Sterios
one of her most famous books is gravity and grace ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Varieties of Religious Experience
The Varieties of Religious Experience
William James
i'd read the varieties of religious experience before um but i went back and read it again ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Brothers Karamazov
The Brothers Karamazov
Fyodor Dostoevsky
any reference yeah the brothers karmotsov which as an extraordinary immortal scene of the dilemma or distinction between organized religion and true faith right ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Sovereignty of Good
The Sovereignty of Good
Iris Murdoch
the quote comes from her book the sovereignty of good um which was just a a long essay that she wrote uh in the late sixties ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Theory of Moral Sentiments
The Theory of Moral Sentiments
Adam Smith
adam smith actually writes about this very profoundly in the theory of moral sentiments the the sort of slippery slope of small um indiscretions ▶ tap to play from here
Public Choice and Politics Without Romance (with Mike Munger)
Sep 2026 · 4 books
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Cover of The Failure of Liberalism
The Failure of Liberalism
Patrick Deneen
and patrick denin in his book a professor at notre dame in his 2018 a princeton university press book the failure of liberalism said that he thinks liberalism is failing because it has come to the view that anything that is not illegal is is moral ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Fatal Conceit
The Fatal Conceit
Friedrich Hayek
so now going back to and this is from the fatal conceit part of our present difficulty is that we must constantly adjust our lives our thoughts and our emotions in order to live simultaneously within different kinds of orders ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Elements of the Philosophy of Right
Elements of the Philosophy of Right
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
in eighteen twenty one friedrich hegel published a book uh the philosophy of right and he advanced a uh we don't have time to say much about it but he advanced a doctrine that in german is sit licht geit ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Theory of Moral Sentiments
The Theory of Moral Sentiments
Adam Smith
adam smith talks about the fact that uh in theory of moral sentiments adam smith talks about the fact that the soldier when he imagines his death and funeral thinks about the applause that he will receive ▶ tap to play from here
The Death of Reading (with James Marriott)
Sep 2026 · 17 books
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Cover of The New Dark Ages: The Death of Reading and the Dawn of the Post-Literate Society
The New Dark Ages: The Death of Reading and the Dawn of the Post-Literate Society
James Marriott
today we're going to talk about his new book the new dark ages the death of reading and the dawn of the postliterate society ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The New Dark Ages: The Death of Reading and the Dawn of the Post-Literate Society
The New Dark Ages: The Death of Reading and the Dawn of the Post-Literate Society
James Marriott
today we're going to talk about his new book the new dark ages the death of reading and the dawn of the postliterate society ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Social Contract
The Social Contract
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
philosophers like rousseau publishing their antimonarchical and you know sort of protorepublican ideas in books like the social contract ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe
we could think of many many books uh uncle tom's cabin that that electrified uh the public and led to important movements ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf
Adolf Hitler
one is mein kampf the book that hitler wrote the sort of semiautobiographical mad illogical rambling deranged book that he wrote ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined
The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined
Steven Pinker
stephen pinker talks about it very compellingly in his book uh the better angels of our nature ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Wealth of Nations
The Wealth of Nations
Adam Smith
adam smith's a good example you can read adam smith with with profit either his the wealth of nations or the theory of moral sentiments ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Theory of Moral Sentiments
The Theory of Moral Sentiments
Adam Smith
either his the wealth of nations or the theory of moral sentiments ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Radetzky March
The Radetzky March
Joseph Roth
i just finished uh the rodetzky march last night which is a pretty obscure novel i it's by joseph roth ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Radetzky March
The Radetzky March
Joseph Roth
i just finished uh the rodetzky march last night which is a pretty obscure novel i it's by joseph roth ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Master and Man
Master and Man
Leo Tolstoy
and we talked about this when we talked about tolstoy's master and man ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word
Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word
Walter J. Ong
this great walter ong book ourality and literacy is the similarities that he that jump out at you as a as a modern reader ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Orality and Literacy
Orality and Literacy
Walter Ong
this great walter ong book ourality and literacy is the similarities that he that jump out at you as a as a modern reader ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Master and Margarita
The Master and Margarita
Mikhail Bulgakov
mick jagger was reading this book called the master and margarita by bulgakov ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Master and Margarita
The Master and Margarita
Mikhail Bulgakov
mick jagger was reading this book called the master and margarita by bulgakov ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Middlemarch
Middlemarch
George Eliot
the people who can read say henry james or or middlemarch by george eliot ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Middlemarch
Middlemarch
George Eliot
the people who can read say henry james or or middlemarch by george eliot or who choose to ▶ tap to play from here
Incentives Are for Losers (with Adam Mastroianni)
Sep 2026 · 3 books
0:00 / 64:49
Cover of The Brothers Karamazov
The Brothers Karamazov
Fyodor Dostoevsky
it's an example that comes from the brothers karmatov some people suggest she took it from there ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Dagon
Dagon
H. P. Lovecraft
one of the earliest stories was about it's called dagon ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Fear of a Setting Sun: The Disenchantment of America's Founders
Fear of a Setting Sun: The Disenchantment of America's Founders
Dennis C. Rasmussen
i read a a really uh interesting book recently you might be familiar with called fear of a setting sun ▶ tap to play from here
Meritocracy, Exams, and the Knowledge That Matters (with Daisy Christodoulou)
Sep 2026 · 1 book
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Cover of No Trades Men and No Women
No Trades Men and No Women
Michael Coolikan
and the book that i draw on to make the the that i think makes a revisionist argument really well is a book by a guy called michael coolikan called no trades men and no women ▶ tap to play from here
Hamas and the Future of Gaza (with Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib)
Aug 2026 · 1 book
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Cover of Hamas and its two million hostages
Hamas and its two million hostages
Ahmed Fwad Al Katib
our topic for today is his recent book hamas and its two million hostages ▶ tap to play from here
Are We Alone? Cosmic Loneliness and the Longing to Believe (with Adam Kirsch)
Aug 2026 · 3 books
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Cover of The Revolt Against Humanity: Imagining a Future Without Us
The Revolt Against Humanity: Imagining a Future Without Us
Adam Kirsch
our topic for today is his latest book we want when mainstream and why it matters adam welcome back to econ talk ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of New Testament
New Testament
Various (Traditional)
faith is the evidence of things not seen is is what the new testament says ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds
H.G. Wells
thought of it even more as as sort of like the way we think about germs ▶ tap to play from here
The Hidden Cause of the Industrial Revolution (with Ben Southwood)
Aug 2026
0:00 / 73:36
Ben Sasse on Faith, Family, and Facing Death
Aug 2026 · 3 books
0:00 / 81:11
Cover of 80,000 Hours: Find a fulfilling career that does good
80,000 Hours: Find a fulfilling career that does good
Benjamin Todd
i think i uh on amazon a couple days ago just ordered uh benjamin todd's eighty thousand hours or whatever it is making eighty thousand hours count again ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism
Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism
Zacharias Ursinus
i've you know recently been rereading zachariah erzinus's fifteen sixty three commentary on the heidelberg catechism ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Old Jules
Old Jules
Mari Sandoz
i just started reading marie sandoz's old jewels uh which is a biography of her father as a swiss dude who became a frontier pioneer farmer in nebraska in the eighteen eighties ▶ tap to play from here
The Political Economy of Palestine (with Hussein Aboubakr Mansour)
Aug 2026
0:00 / 87:41
Savage Landscapes (with Cal Flyn)
Jul 2026 · 4 books
0:00 / 62:25
Cover of Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape
Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape
Cal Flynn
her latest book and the topic for today's conversation is the savage landscape how we made the wilderness ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Epic of Gilgamesh
Epic of Gilgamesh
Unknown
about going into the wilderness in search of transcendents of a kind you know gilgamesh is looking for the ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Ramayana
Ramayana
Valmiki
in the story of the buddha we see this in the story of prince rama ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Thicker Than Water
Thicker Than Water
Cal Flynn
and really what that landscape is is the result of forest stick farming it's the result of the planting of fruit trees it's the the results of tending i'm not sure i'd call it farming exactly or or forest farming has become a term but it is an interaction with the landscape and it's a purposeful interaction with the landscape and through understanding that you can see how the people of the place and the place are are all sewn up together and that turns out to be true all over the ▶ tap to play from here
Dwayne Betts on the Iliad
Jul 2026 · 8 books
0:00 / 88:50
Cover of The Iliad
The Iliad
Homer
this is the second installment of the econ talk book club on the iliad by homer ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Odyssey
Odyssey
Homer
of course the odyssey the the next book is is all about that and and the attempt to return home ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Don Quixote
Don Quixote
Miguel de Cervantes
um don quixote as as being the birthplace the the birth of the novel ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Errata
Errata
George Steiner
insight i got from george steiner when he writes about this book yeah this passage in his book errata ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life
How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life
Russ Roberts
a sophisticated self help book but i would agree that it's a a book that's giving you real practical ways of how to live ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of A Gentleman in Moscow
A Gentleman in Moscow
Amor Towles
another book he talked about was um a gentleman in moscow ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Truce
The Truce
Primo Levi
the second book in that what's the other book yeah the the truth ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of If This Is a Man
If This Is a Man
Primo Levi
if this is a man i mean uh the connection you know where i've literally every time i perform my solo show so at this point probably you know dozens of times i've opened it up with a passage ▶ tap to play from here
From Sawdust to Paw Patrol: The Spin Master Story (with Ronnen Harary)
Jul 2026 · 3 books
0:00 / 69:20
Cover of The Iliad
The Iliad
Homer
around the iliad by homer ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of No Experience Necessary: Why Betting on Yourself in Your Twenties is the Best Decision You'll Ever Make
No Experience Necessary: Why Betting on Yourself in Your Twenties is the Best Decision You'll Ever Make
Ronan Harari
and he's the author of no experience necessary why betting on yourself in your twenties is the best decision it'll ever make which is our topic for today ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Harry Potter
Harry Potter
J.K. Rowling
jk rowling has sold about six hundred million copies of of harry potter books which is an extraordinary achievement ▶ tap to play from here
EconTalk Book Club on the Iliad (with Ido Hevroni)
Jul 2026 · 7 books
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Cover of Iliad
Iliad
Homer
every year since the college opened thirteen years ago edo has been teaching the iliad by homer ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Odyssey
Odyssey
Homer
and the odyssey by armour ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of War and Peace
War and Peace
Leo Tolstoy
everything from war and peace uh norman maylor's the naked and the dead ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Naked and the Dead
The Naked and the Dead
Norman Mailer
norman maylor's the naked and the dead ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Catch-22
Catch-22
Joseph Heller
catch twenty two by joseph heller ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Something from Nothing
Something from Nothing
Phoebe Gilman
it's one of our one of my favorite children's books is called something for noth something from nothing and it's about a family that the father's a tailor and he's constantly uh salvaging and repurposing clothing ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character
Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character
Jonathan Shay
jonathan shay he wrote a book called a killis in vietnam ▶ tap to play from here
Do Less, Heal More: The Case for Medical Conservatism (with John Mandrola)
Jun 2026 · 2 books
0:00 / 59:44
Cover of The Iliad
The Iliad
Homer
we'll be doing an e talk book club around the iliad by homer ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Vision of the Anointed
The Vision of the Anointed
Thomas Sowell
his book which um which i recommend a vision of the anointed ▶ tap to play from here
Can a Phone Be a Cow? (with Philip Auerswald)
Jun 2026 · 8 books
0:00 / 79:35
Cover of The Iliad
The Iliad
Homer
they won't be doing an econ talk book club around the iliad by homer ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of A phone is a cow: how pioneers of the mobile revolution help millions lift themselves out of poverty
A phone is a cow: how pioneers of the mobile revolution help millions lift themselves out of poverty
Philip Arswald
our topic for today is his latest book with the delightful title a phone is a cow how pioneers of the mobile revolution help millions lift themselves out of poverty ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Passions and the Interests
The Passions and the Interests
Albert Hirschman
my favorite book about smith is actually ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of War and Peace
War and Peace
Leo Tolstoy
is um is talking about tolstoy's um uh second epilogue to war and peace ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Wealth of Nations
The Wealth of Nations
Adam Smith
magnificent and court of nations book four ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Innovator's Dilemma
The Innovator's Dilemma
Clayton Christensen
it relates to clayton christensen in the innovator's dilemma which you've talked about recently on the program ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Wolves of K Street
The Wolves of K Street
Brooke A. Masters
and i just r uh just just read a great book um about uh lobbying called the wolves of k street ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty
Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty
Daron Acemoglu
i mostly find about the uh uh some oglou and robinson b ▶ tap to play from here
The Case for Sunshine (with Rowan Jacobsen)
Jun 2026 · 2 books
0:00 / 65:58
Cover of Truffle Hound
Truffle Hound
Rowan Jacobson
it was last here in octor of tony twenty one talking about his book truffle hound ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of In Defense of Sunlight: The Surprising Science and What It Means for Us
In Defense of Sunlight: The Surprising Science and What It Means for Us
Rowan Jacobson
his latest book is in defense of sunlight the surprising science of sun exposure ▶ tap to play from here
The Self, the Crowd, and Social Contagion (with Luke Burgis)
Jun 2026 · 4 books
0:00 / 71:06
Cover of The One and the Ninety Nine: Forging Identity in the Age of Social Contagion
The One and the Ninety Nine: Forging Identity in the Age of Social Contagion
Luke Burgess
his latest book is the one and the ninety nine forging identity in the age of social contagion ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of Hamlet
Hamlet
William Shakespeare
he's got a high school writing assignment i think it was hamlet ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Odyssey
The Odyssey
Homer
such as um such as um such as the odyssey which came up earlier in the call right um homer ▶ tap to play from here
Cover of The Rule of Saint Benedict
The Rule of Saint Benedict
Saint Benedict of Nursia
so i went back and i read the rule of benedict from front to back ▶ tap to play from here
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