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I rate Tyler Cowen's (the author of the linked post) podcast highly because his questions are so incredibly well crafted. (Incidentally, I just found this arti

I rate Tyler Cowen's (the author of the linked post) podcast highly because his questions are so incredibly well crafted. (Incidentally, I just found this article on the blog which suggests a set of guidelines for asking high quality questions. [1]) However, the issue I take with his interviews is that, because the questions are often pre-meditated, the conversation oftentimes fails to flow smoothly as tangential questions follow an interviewee's answer. It sometimes feels more of a Q&A than a conversation. [1] https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2021/06/how-do-you-ask-good-questions.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2021/06/ho...

snakeboy 5y ago
I agree, and find it ironic that he explicitly calls his podcast a "conversation", when indeed it's the least conversational podcast around (except when he clearly really likes the person or has a strong opinion on the topic)
thinkharderdev 5y ago
I actually really appreciate that aspect of Conversations with Tyler. So many podcast are "bring on someone who just wrote a book and let them pontificate for an hour" which can be interesting if the topic is interesting but it often ends up sounding like a set piece as the guest just "reads their script." Cowen's style of asking really oblique questions and skipping around to topics really allows guests to demonstrate a dynamic range of intellect and often say things that are interesting and "off script." It doesn't always work but when it does it is brilliant.
syspec 5y ago
Where can i find Tyler crowns podcast?
- wheelinsupial 5y ago
  Wherever you listen to podcasts? https://conversationswithtyler.com/ https://conversationswithtyler.com/
wenc 5y ago
Conversations with Tyler are interviews rather than organic conversations per se. The lack of flow is actually part of Tyler's personality -- I've followed him for years and watched interviews with him. He has a very "economical" style of communication. One of his greatest gifts is that he can answer questions extemporaneously without pausing, with no umms or ahs, and definitely no pleasantries though that doesn't make him unpleasant, merely efficient. Despite that he does still comes across as kind of avuncular and soft. I actually like that his main questions are pre-meditated and that he isn't afraid to switch topics abruptly. This way he manages to cover a huge span of topics rather than letting the interviewee go down rabbit holes. He packs a lot of insightful content into his podcasts with a minimal of pleasantries. He doesn't waste time dwelling on things. He often says of his conversations that they are the conversations that "he wants to have, not the one you want to have". And I have to hand it to him, his questions are often way more insightful and high quality than the ones us mortals would ever come up with. He does put in a lot of work though -- in a behind-the-scenes episode, he mentions that he preps for 2 weeks before each interview, and actually reads the interviewee's works and other works related to the topic. He's so thorough that he's even impressed Nassim Taleb. I've learned so much over the years from the Conversations with Tyler podcast.
savanaly 5y ago
One thing to note is that Tyler takes a special pleasure in asking questions in a sequence such that there's no discernible reason to it at first, but when you sit back and think you realize that one informed the next in a non-obvious way. Even the guests occasionally notice in real time and comment on it ("Oh you want to ask my about this movie? But of course you do because its also a weird sort of commentary on that same thing from the economics paper you just asked me about..." etc)

snakeboy 5y ago

I agree, and find it ironic that he explicitly calls his podcast a "conversation", when indeed it's the least conversational podcast around (except when he clearly really likes the person or has a strong opinion on the topic)

thinkharderdev 5y ago

I actually really appreciate that aspect of Conversations with Tyler. So many podcast are "bring on someone who just wrote a book and let them pontificate for an hour" which can be interesting if the topic is interesting but it often ends up sounding like a set piece as the guest just "reads their script." Cowen's style of asking really oblique questions and skipping around to topics really allows guests to demonstrate a dynamic range of intellect and often say things that are interesting and "off script." It doesn't always work but when it does it is brilliant.

syspec 5y ago

Where can i find Tyler crowns podcast?

wheelinsupial 5y ago
Wherever you listen to podcasts? https://conversationswithtyler.com/ https://conversationswithtyler.com/

wenc 5y ago

Conversations with Tyler are interviews rather than organic conversations per se. The lack of flow is actually part of Tyler's personality -- I've followed him for years and watched interviews with him. He has a very "economical" style of communication. One of his greatest gifts is that he can answer questions extemporaneously without pausing, with no umms or ahs, and definitely no pleasantries though that doesn't make him unpleasant, merely efficient. Despite that he does still comes across as kind of avuncular and soft. I actually like that his main questions are pre-meditated and that he isn't afraid to switch topics abruptly. This way he manages to cover a huge span of topics rather than letting the interviewee go down rabbit holes. He packs a lot of insightful content into his podcasts with a minimal of pleasantries. He doesn't waste time dwelling on things. He often says of his conversations that they are the conversations that "he wants to have, not the one you want to have". And I have to hand it to him, his questions are often way more insightful and high quality than the ones us mortals would ever come up with. He does put in a lot of work though -- in a behind-the-scenes episode, he mentions that he preps for 2 weeks before each interview, and actually reads the interviewee's works and other works related to the topic. He's so thorough that he's even impressed Nassim Taleb. I've learned so much over the years from the Conversations with Tyler podcast.

savanaly 5y ago

One thing to note is that Tyler takes a special pleasure in asking questions in a sequence such that there's no discernible reason to it at first, but when you sit back and think you realize that one informed the next in a non-obvious way. Even the guests occasionally notice in real time and comment on it ("Oh you want to ask my about this movie? But of course you do because its also a weird sort of commentary on that same thing from the economics paper you just asked me about..." etc)