The Most Important Question

No Country for Poor Men (or Women)


Listen Later

What can we do about land power?

It's the most important question and my guest today is Mike Albertus.

Mike is a professor of political science at the University of Chicago. He's the author of the new book, Land Power. Who has it? Who doesn't? And how that determines the fate of societies. 

In the book, Mike examines how land became power, how it shapes power today still, and how who holds that power determines the fundamental social problems that societies grapple with.

Mike studies how countries allocate opportunity and well-being among their citizens and the consequences this has for society, why some countries are democratic and others are not, and why some societies fall into civil conflict.

-----------

Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to [email protected]

New here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at podcast.importantnotimportant.com.

-----------

INI Book Club:

  • Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan
  • Caste and The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
  • Get our booklist for essential Civil War and Reconstruction books
  • Find all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-club

Links:

  • Read Mike's book Land Power
  • Subscribe to The Good Society
  • Follow Mike on Twitter and Bluesky
  • Get more of Mike's work on his website
  • Read about Bruce's Beach reparations in LA
  • Donate to the World Wildlife Fund, Tompkins Conservation and the Stand For Her Land Campaign

Follow us:

  • Subscribe to our newsletter at importantnotimportant.com
  • Support our work and become a Member at importantnotimportant.com/upgrade
  • Get our merch
  • Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp
  • Follow us on Threads: www.threads.net/@importantnotimportant
  • Subscribe to our YouTube channel
  • Follow Quinn: on Twitter - twitter.com/quinnemmett; Bluesky - bsky.app/profile/quinnemmett.bsky.social; Threads - www.threads.net/@quinnemmett
  • Produced by Willow Beck
  • Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors

Mentioned in this episode:

What Can I Do?

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Most Important QuestionBy Important, Not Important

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

118 ratings


More shows like The Most Important Question

View all
The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker Radio Hour

6,949 Listeners

On the Media by WNYC Studios

On the Media

9,223 Listeners

The Gray Area with Sean Illing by Vox

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

10,721 Listeners

Reveal by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX

Reveal

8,466 Listeners

Living on Earth by World Media Foundation

Living on Earth

466 Listeners

Pivot by New York Magazine

Pivot

9,752 Listeners

This Week in Virology by Vincent Racaniello

This Week in Virology

2,059 Listeners

Pod Save America by Pod Save America

Pod Save America

87,984 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

113,129 Listeners

Lovett or Leave It by Lovett or Leave It

Lovett or Leave It

25,144 Listeners

Today, Explained by Vox

Today, Explained

10,335 Listeners

Consider This from NPR by NPR

Consider This from NPR

6,441 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

16,487 Listeners

On with Kara Swisher by Vox Media

On with Kara Swisher

3,518 Listeners

Better Offline by Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts

Better Offline

596 Listeners

Not Right Now by Important, Not Important

Not Right Now

51 Listeners