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Econtalk. Russ Roberts is a fantastic interviewer, with only a few weak performances in his decade of weekly podcasts. He probably skews a bit libertarian for

by tbihl 10y ago

Econtalk. Russ Roberts is a fantastic interviewer, with only a few weak performances in his decade of weekly podcasts. He probably skews a bit libertarian for the typical HN'er to agree with, but he gives voice to a lot of points of view, and he brings on good guests. At least half of the podcasts have sufficiently interesting titles that they could be easily voted to HN front page, and the depth of discussion is good for the hour each guests receives.

eldavido 10y ago
Unequivocal +1. It's notable that he's getting better over time. I started listening to the more recent ones, then went back and listened to the old ones, and they were quite a lot worse. Off the top of my head, my favorites have included the episode about how the budget gets passed in the US, the one about justice and the prison system, the food bank market where food gets priced for exchange, and the one about medical ethics and the question of "too much information". I'd love to have an "EconTalk meetup" in the bay area.
e1g 10y ago
+1 for Econtalk. Despite the name, the podcast is not about the (relatively boring) econ theory, or even the direct application of it. Econtalk uses economics in the same way as "Freakonomics" - as a framing device to talk about incentives, complex systems, and far reaching effects that are not obvious on the first pass. I find Econtalk discussions meaningful and rigorous, in contrast to carefree series like "99% Invisible" / Invisibilia / Startup. The latter are great as a chewing gum for the brain, but they are mostly trivia and I do not recall learning anything useful from them over the years.
tebuevd 10y ago
It's pretty good, but sometimes boring. Do you have a few "must-listen" episodes to recommend?
- branchless 10y ago
  http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2011/08/odonohoe_on_pot.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2011/08/odonohoe_on_pot.htm...
amha 10y ago
+1, too. EconTalk is amazing. It sounds like I'm listening to a really fascinating conversation between two really smart and really knowledgable people.

by tbihl 10y ago

eldavido 10y ago

Unequivocal +1. It's notable that he's getting better over time. I started listening to the more recent ones, then went back and listened to the old ones, and they were quite a lot worse. Off the top of my head, my favorites have included the episode about how the budget gets passed in the US, the one about justice and the prison system, the food bank market where food gets priced for exchange, and the one about medical ethics and the question of "too much information". I'd love to have an "EconTalk meetup" in the bay area.

e1g 10y ago

+1 for Econtalk. Despite the name, the podcast is not about the (relatively boring) econ theory, or even the direct application of it. Econtalk uses economics in the same way as "Freakonomics" - as a framing device to talk about incentives, complex systems, and far reaching effects that are not obvious on the first pass. I find Econtalk discussions meaningful and rigorous, in contrast to carefree series like "99% Invisible" / Invisibilia / Startup. The latter are great as a chewing gum for the brain, but they are mostly trivia and I do not recall learning anything useful from them over the years.

tebuevd 10y ago

It's pretty good, but sometimes boring. Do you have a few "must-listen" episodes to recommend?

branchless 10y ago
http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2011/08/odonohoe_on_pot.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2011/08/odonohoe_on_pot.htm...

amha 10y ago

+1, too. EconTalk is amazing. It sounds like I'm listening to a really fascinating conversation between two really smart and really knowledgable people.