Conversations with Tyler

By Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Society & Culture Education

What's Conversations with Tyler about?

Tyler Cowen hosts thought leaders from across the spectrum?—?economists, entrepreneurs, authors and innovators. All have one thing in common?—?they are making an impact on the world because of their ideas.

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Masha Gessen on the Ins and...

08.14.2019

What sort of country would compel you to flee it, draw you back ten years later, then force you away yet again after two decades? Masha Gessen knows the answer all too well, having dedicated her career to writing and ...

Conversations with Tyler episodes:

08.14.2019 Masha Gessen on the Ins and Outs of Russia What sort of country would compel you to flee it, draw you back ten years later, then force you away yet again after two decades? Masha Gessen knows the answer all too well, having dedicated her career to writing and ...
07.31.2019 Kwame Anthony Appiah on Pictures of the World Born to a Ghanaian father and British mother, Kwame Anthony Appiah grew up splitting time between both countries — and lecturing in many more — before eventually settling in America, where he now teaches philosophy at New York University. This, ...
07.17.2019 Neal Stephenson on Depictions of Reality If you want to speculate on the development of tech, no one has a better brain to pick than Neal Stephenson. Across more than a dozen books, he’s created vast story worlds driven by futuristic technologies that have both prophesied ...
07.03.2019 Eric Kaufmann on Immigration, Identity, and the Limits of Individualism Going back and forth between Canada and Japan during his childhood sparked Eric Kaufmann’s interest in the question of identity. As a foreigner in an international school, he encountered young individuals from at least 60 other countries, and this made ...
06.19.2019 Hal Varian on Taking the Academic Approach to Business 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 that are still taught today. So how has his nearly twenty ...
06.05.2019 Russ Roberts on Life as an Economics Educator 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 for war? These are just some of ...
05.22.2019 Ezekiel Emanuel on the Practice of Medicine, Policy, and Life 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 with growing up closely with two brothers. ...
05.08.2019 Karl Ove Knausgård on Literary Freedom 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 want to. And for ...
04.24.2019 Margaret Atwood on Canada, Writing, and Invention 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 thoughts about Canada — it’s big after ...
04.10.2019 Ed Boyden on Minding your Brain 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, form emotions, and exhibit consciousness, there is ...
03.20.2019 Emily Wilson on Translations and Language 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 list), “It’s very hard to come up with ...
03.13.2019 Raghuram Rajan on Understanding Community 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 down how the three pillars of society ...
02.27.2019 Sam Altman on Loving Community, Hating Coworking, and the Hunt for Talent Founders aren’t superheroes, says Sam Altman.They may play extreme sports, respond to emails within seconds, and start billion-dollar companies, but they are rarely the product of extraordinary circumstance. In fact, they tend to be solidly upper-middle class, reasonably smart, and ...
02.13.2019 Jordan Peterson on Mythology, Fame, and Reading People Jordan Peterson joins Tyler to discuss collecting Soviet propaganda, why he’s so drawn to Jung, what the Exodus story can teach us about current events, his marriage and fame, what the Intellectual Dark Web gets wrong, immigration in America and ...
01.30.2019 Noel Johnson and Mark Koyama on Persecution and Toleration How did religious freedom emerge — and why did it arrive so late? In their forthcoming book, fellow Mason economists Noel Johnson and Mark Koyama argue that while most focus on the role of liberal ideas in establishing religious freedom, ...
01.16.2019 Larissa MacFarquhar on Getting Inside Someone's Head As a writer of profiles, Larissa MacFarquhar is granted the privilege of listening to, learning from, and sharing the stories of extraordinary thinkers like Derik Parfit, Noam Chomsky, Hilary Mantel, and Paul Krugman. And she’s often drawn to write about ...
01.02.2019 Rebecca Kukla on Moving through and Responding to the World Before she ever studied them as an academic, Rebecca Kukla was fascinated by cities. Growing up in the middle of Toronto, she spent her days walking the city and noticing the way people and place interact. That fascination stayed with ...
12.19.2018 Daniel Kahneman on Cutting Through the Noise If you enjoy Conversation with Tyler, consider making a year-end donation at ConversationsWithTyler.com/donate. All gifts will support the show’s production, including future live podcast recordings like this one. You might be surprised by what occupies Daniel Kahneman’s thoughts. “You seem ...
12.05.2018 Paul Romer on the Unrivaled Joy of Scholarship Throughout his career, Paul Romer has enjoyed sampling and sifting through an ever-growing body of knowledge. He sometimes jokingly refers to himself as a random idea generator, relying on others to filter out the bad ones so his contributions are ...
11.21.2018 John Nye on Revisionist Economic History and Having Too Many Hobbies Is John Nye the finest polymath in the George Mason economics department? Raised in the Philippines and taught to be a well-rounded Catholic gentleman, John Nye learned the importance of a rigorous education from a young age. Indeed, according to ...
11.07.2018 Eric Schmidt on the Life-Changing Magic of Systematizing, Scaling, and Saying "Thanks" (Live) The son of an economist, Eric Schmidt eschewed his father’s profession, first studying architecture before settling on computer science and eventually earning a PhD. Now one of the most influential technology executives in the world, he still however credits his ...
11.07.2018 53 - Eric Schmidt on the Life-Changing Magic of Systematizing, Scaling, and Saying Thanks (Live) The son of an economist, Eric Schmidt eschewed his father’s profession, first studying architecture before settling on computer science and eventually earning a PhD. Now one of the most influential technology executives in the world, he still however credits his ...
11.07.2018 53 - Eric Schmidt on the Life-Changing Magic of Systematizing, Scaling, and Saying Thanks The son of an economist, Eric Schmidt eschewed his father’s profession, first studying architecture before settling on computer science and eventually earning a PhD. Now one of the most influential technology executives in the world, he still however credits his ...
10.24.2018 Ben Thompson on Business and Tech Not only is Ben Thompson's Stratechery frequently mentioned on MR, but such is Tyler's fandom that the newsletter even made its way onto the reading list for one of his PhD courses. Ben's based in Taiwan, so when he recently ...
10.24.2018 52 - Ben Thompson on Business and Tech Not only is Ben Thompson's Stratechery frequently mentioned on MR, but such is Tyler's fandom that the newsletter even made its way onto the reading list for one of his PhD courses. Ben's based in Taiwan, so when he recently ...
10.16.2018 Rob Wiblin interviews Tyler on Stubborn Attachments In this special episode, Rob Wiblin of 80,000 Hours has the super-sized conversation he wants to have with Tyler about Stubborn Attachments. In addition to a deep examination of the ideas in the book, the conversation ranges far and wide ...
10.16.2018 BONUS - Rob Wiblin interviews Tyler on Stubborn Attachments In this special episode, Rob Wiblin of 80,000 Hours has the super-sized conversation he wants to have with Tyler about Stubborn Attachments. In addition to a deep examination of the ideas in the book, the conversation ranges far and wide ...
10.10.2018 Paul Krugman on Politics, Inequality, and Following Your Curiosity After winning the Nobel, Paul Krugman found himself at the "end of ambition," with no more achievements left to unlock. That could be a depressing place, but Krugman avoids complacency by doing what he's always done: following his curiosity and ...
10.10.2018 51 - Paul Krugman on Politics, Inequality, and Following Your Curiosity After winning the Nobel, Paul Krugman found himself at the "end of ambition," with no more achievements left to unlock. That could be a depressing place, but Krugman avoids complacency by doing what he's always done: following his curiosity and ...
09.26.2018 Bruno Maçães on the Spirit of Adventure Political scientist Bruno Maçães has built a career out of crossing the globe teaching, advising, writing, and talking to people. His recent book, born out of a six-month journey across Eurasia, is one of Tyler's favorites. So how does it ...
09.26.2018 50 - Bruno Maçães on the Spirit of Adventure Political scientist Bruno Maçães has built a career out of crossing the globe teaching, advising, writing, and talking to people. His recent book, borne out of a six-month journey across Eurasia, is one of Tyler's favorites. So how does it ...
09.12.2018 Michele Gelfand on Tight and Loose Cultures Michele Gelfand is professor of psychology at the University of Maryland and author of the just-released Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire Our World. In her conversation with Tyler, Michele unpacks the concept of tight and ...
09.12.2018 49 - Michele Gelfand on Tight and Loose Cultures Michele Gelfand is professor of psychology at the University of Maryland and author of the just-released Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire Our World. In her conversation with Tyler, Michele unpacks the concept of tight and ...
08.29.2018 Claire Lehmann on Speaking Freely Claire Lehmann is the founding editor of Quillette, an online magazine dedicated to free thought and open inquiry. Founded in 2015, the magazine has already developed a large and growing readership that values Quillette's promise to treat all ideas with ...
08.29.2018 48 - Claire Lehmann on Speaking Freely Claire Lehmann is the founding editor of Quillette, an online magazine dedicated to free thought and open inquiry. Founded in 2015, the magazine has already developed a large and growing readership that values Quillette's promise to treat all ideas with ...
08.15.2018 Michael Pollan on the Science and Sublimity of Psychedelics Michael Pollan has long been fascinated by nature and the ways we connect and clash with it, with decades of writing covering food, farming, cooking, and architecture. Pollan's latest fascination? Our widespread and ancient desire to use nature to change ...
08.15.2018 47 - Michael Pollan on the Science and Sublimity of Psychedelics Michael Pollan has long been fascinated by nature and the ways we connect and clash with it, with decades of writing covering food, farming, cooking, and architecture. Pollan's latest fascination? Our widespread and ancient desire to use nature to change ...
08.01.2018 Michelle Dawson on Autism and Atypicality Perhaps no one else in the world more appreciates the challenges facing a better understanding of autism than Michelle Dawson. An autistic herself, she began researching her condition after experiencing discrimination at her job. "Because I had to address these ...
08.01.2018 46 - Michelle Dawson on Autism and Atypicality Perhaps no one else in the world more appreciates the challenges facing a better understanding of autism than Michelle Dawson. An autistic herself, she began researching her condition after experiencing discrimination at her job. "Because I had to address these ...
07.18.2018 Vitalik Buterin on Cryptoeconomics and Markets in Everything At the intersection of programming, economics, cryptography, distributed systems, information theory, and math, you will find Vitalik Buterin, who has managed to synthesize insights across those fields into successful, real-world applications like Ethereum, which aims to decentralize the Internet. Tyler ...
07.18.2018 45 - Vitalik Buterin on Cryptoeconomics and Markets in Everything At the intersection of programming, economics, cryptography, distributed systems, information theory, and math, you will find Vitalik Buterin, who has managed to synthesize insights across those fields into successful, real-world applications like Ethereum, which aims to decentralize the Internet. Tyler ...
07.03.2018 Juan Pablo Villarino on Travel and Trust Travel writer Juan Pablo Villarino had visited 90 countries before making the trek to exotic Arlington, Virginia for this chat with Tyler. Amazingly enough, this recording marked his first trip to the mainland United States, which is now the 91st ...
07.03.2018 44 - Juan Pablo Villarino on Travel and Trust Travel writer Juan Pablo Villarino had visited 90 countries before making the trek to exotic Arlington, Virginia for this chat with Tyler. Amazingly enough, this recording marked his first trip to the mainland United States, which is now the 91st ...
06.20.2018 Elisa New on Poetry in America and Beyond Elisa New believes anyone can have fun reading a poem. And that if you really want to have a blast, you shouldn't limit poetry to silent, solitary reading - why not sing, recite, or perform it as has been the ...
06.20.2018 43 - Elisa New on Poetry in America and Beyond Elisa New believes anyone can have fun reading a poem. And that if you really want to have a blast, you shouldn't limit poetry to silent, solitary reading - why not sing, recite, or perform it as been the case ...
06.06.2018 David Brooks on Youth, Morality, and Loneliness (Live at Mason) For two hours every morning, David Brooks crawls around his living room floor, organizing piles of research. Then, the piles become paragraphs, the paragraphs become columns or chapters, and the process - which he calls "writing" - is complete. After ...
06.06.2018 42 - David Brooks on Youth, Morality, and Loneliness (Live at Mason) For two hours every morning, David Brooks crawls around his living room floor, organizing piles of research. Then, the piles become paragraphs, the paragraphs become columns or chapters, and the process - which he calls "writing" - is complete. After ...
05.23.2018 Nassim Nicholas Taleb on Self-Education and Doing the Math (Plus special guest Bryan Caplan) Though what Taleb was really after was a discussion with Bryan Caplan (which starts at 51:50), the philosopher, mathematician, and author most recently of Skin in the Game also generously agreed to a conversation with Tyler. They discuss the ancient ...
05.23.2018 41 - Nassim Nicholas Taleb on Self-Education and Doing the Math (Plus special guest Bryan Caplan) Though what Taleb was really after was a discussion with Bryan Caplan (which starts at 51:50), the philosopher, mathematician, and author most recently of Skin in the Game also generously agreed to a conversation with Tyler. They discuss the ancient ...
05.09.2018 Bryan Caplan on Learning across Disciplines (Live at Mason Econ) "No single paper is that good", says Bryan Caplan. To really understand a topic, you need to read the entire literature in the field. And to do the kind of scholarship Bryan's work requires, you need to cover multiple fields. ...

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