Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg discuss the resignation of Harvard's President Claudine Gay as well as the issues surrounding academic research, such as plagiarism, peer review, academic incentives, and more. Match a donation up to $100 for your favorite charity with GiveWell by going to https://givewell.org and pick “Podcast” and enter Econ 102 at checkout.

Check out Erik's new show Request for Startups featuring a rotating cast of founders and investors (including Dan) sharing their requests for startups they want to exist in the world, and also their stories of navigating the idea maze in different sectors so founders don’t have to reinvent the wheel anymore. The first episode is out now - we over better dating apps, references as a service, and WeWork for productivity

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RECOMMENDED PODCAST: History 102 with WhatifAltHist

Every week, creator of WhatifAltHist Rudyard Lynch and Erik Torenberg cover a major topic in history in depth -- in under an hour. This season will cover classical Greece, early America, the Vikings, medieval Islam, ancient China, the fall of the Roman Empire, and more.

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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@History102-qg5oj

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We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com.

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Sponsors: GIVEWELL | NETSUITE

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Econ 102 is a part of the Turpentine podcast network. To learn more: www.turpentine.co

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LINKS:

- Noahpinion on Substack: https://www.noahpinion.blog/

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X / TWITTER:

@eriktorenberg (Erik)

@noahpinion (Noah)

@Econ102_Podcast (Econ 102)

@TurpentineMedia (Turpentine)

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TIMESTAMPS

(00:25) Episode Preview

(03:00) The Claudine Gay Controversy

(06:24) Bill Ackman's Role

(08:00) Plagiarism's Prevalence in Academia

(11:24) Need for External Scrutiny

(12:51) Universities in the Private Sector

(18:04) The Need for External Scrutiny in Universities

(18:30) SPONSOR: GIVEWELL

(20:09) The Impact of Incentives

(23:33) Issues with Peer Review

(25:44) The Importance of Relevant Research

(26:35) SPONSOR: NETSUITE

(29:13) Research Across Different Fields

(30:07) Theory Papers in Economics

(32:23) Defining 'Waste' in Academic Research

(34:57) Value of Seemingly-Useless Research

(36:39) Incentive in Academia

(36:44) Fields That Refuse to Die

(46:26) Aging Population's Impact on Research

(53:10) Future of Academia