Cynthia L. Haven on René Girard, Czeslaw Milosz, and Joseph Brodsky

A prolific translator, author, and former professor of creative writing, Lydia Davis's motivation for her life's work is jarringly simple: she just loves language. She loves short, sparkling sentences...

23 Mar 202240min

Whether it's scaling an arbitrage opportunity or launching an ambitious philanthropic project, Sam Bankman-Fried has set himself apart. In just a few years, he's not only made billions trading crypto,...

9 Mar 202250min

How do you go about writing a book on an era that is, for many, recent history? When Chuck Klosterman set out to write his new book, The Nineties, he wasn't interested in representing it as a misreme...

23 Feb 20221h 15min

Venture capital powered the tech revolution, but what powers venture capital? With his in-depth knowledge and coverage of the sector you'd be forgiven for thinking Sebastian Mallaby is a veteran of th...

9 Feb 202256min

From psychedelics to cyberculture, hippie communes to commercial startups, and the Whole Earth Catalog to the Long Now Foundation, Stewart Brand has not only been a part of many movements—he was there...

26 Jan 202257min

In this special crossover special with EconTalk, Tyler interviews Russ Roberts about his new life in Israel as president of Shalem College. They discuss why there are so few new universities, managing...

19 Jan 202259min

Is genius born or made? For Croatian-born classical guitarist Ana Vidović the answer is both. Born into a musical family, she began playing guitar at five and was quickly considered a prodigy. But she...

12 Jan 202244min

Want to support the show? Visit donate.mercatus.org/podcasts. On this special year-in-review episode, Tyler and producer Jeff Holmes talk about the past year on the show, including one episode's appe...

29 Des 202155min