Conversations with Tyler

Before he became the Adam Smith of Googlenomics, Hal Varian spent decades as an academic economist, writing influential papers, a popular book about the information economy, and several textbooks tha...

19 Jun 201956min

What are the virtues of forgiveness? Are we subject to being manipulated by data? Why do people struggle with prayer? What really motivates us? How has the volunteer army system changed the incentives...

5 Jun 20191h 1min

Ezekiel Emanuel is a reflection of his upbringing: a doctor for a father who loved to travel, a mother interested in policy and community activism, and all the competition and friendship that comes wi...

22 Mai 20191h 2min

What is Karl Ove Knausgård's struggle, exactly? The answer is simple: achieving total freedom in his writing. "It's a space where I can be free in every sense, where I can say whatever, go wherever I ...

8 Mai 20191h

Margaret Atwood defines the Canadian sense of humor as "a bit Scottish," and in this live conversation with Tyler, she loves to let her own comedic sensibilities shine. In addition to many other thoug...

24 Apr 20191h 14min

Ed Boyden builds the tools and technologies that help researchers think about and treat the brain, an organ we still know surprisingly little about. When it comes to how our brains make decisions, for...

10 Apr 20191h 1min

In a recent Twitter thread, Emily Wilson listed some of the difficulties of translating Homer into English. Among them: "There aren't enough onomatopoeic words for very loud chaotic noises" (#2 on the...

27 Mar 201956min

Raghuram Rajan thinks a lot about how to empower individuals, both at the community and international level. In his new book, Rajan draws upon experience both as an academic and policymaker to break d...

13 Mar 201956min