The Joe Walker Podcast

By Joe Walker

What's The Joe Walker Podcast about?

Joe Walker hosts refreshingly in-depth conversations with founders, scientists, scholars, economists, and public intellectuals.

(Formerly 'The Jolly Swagman Podcast'.)

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The Joe Walker Podcast episodes:

05.30.2024
Lucy Turnbull — Urbanism, YIMBYism, and How to Solve Australia's Housing Crisis (Bonus Live Episode)
Lucy Turnbull is an urbanist, businesswoman and philanthropist. She was the first female Lord Mayor of Sydney, from 2003-4. From 2015-20, she was the inaugural Chief Commissioner of the Greater Sydney Commission, tasked with delivering strategic planning for the whole of metropolitan...
05.13.2024
Bryan Caplan — The Economics of Housing Abundance
Bryan Caplan is Professor of Economics at George Mason University. A bestselling author, his books include The Case Against Education, Open Borders, and Build, Baby, Build: The Science and Ethics of Housing Deregulation. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/bryan-caplan-155 See omnystudio.com/listener for...
12.29.2023
2023 Retrospective — A Listener Interviews Me
In this special episode, the tables are turned as I'm interviewed by a listener of the show, DJ Thornton from Sydney. We reflect on the progress of the show in 2023, what I learned from this year's guests, and what's...
12.19.2023
David Deutsch & Steven Pinker (First Ever Public Dialogue) — AGI, P(Doom), & The Enemies of Progress
At a time when the Enlightenment is under attack from without and within, I bring together two of the most thoughtful defenders of progress and reason, for their first ever public dialogue. Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Professor of Psychology at...
11.28.2023
Shruti Rajagopalan — On Spotting Talent, And Making Sense of Rising India
Shruti Rajagopalan is an Indian-American economist. She leads the Indian political economy research program and Emergent Ventures India at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She also hosts the Ideas of India podcast. Full transcript available at: jnwpod.com See omnystudio.com/listener for...
11.01.2023
Raghuram Rajan — Debt, Monetary Policy, and Unintended Consequences
What were the deep causes of the global financial crisis and great recession? Has unconventional monetary policy in the wake of the crisis done more harm than good? And should monetary policy target financial stability? I discuss these questions and more...
09.19.2023
Peter Singer — Moral Truths and Moral Secrets
Peter Singer is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. He is widely regarded as the world's most influential living philosopher. Full transcript available at: jnwpod.com Episode recorded on 26 April 2023. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
08.30.2023
Peter Turchin — Why Societies Fall Apart (And Why the US May Be Next)
Peter Turchin is a complexity scientist and one of the founders of cliodynamics — a new, cross-disciplinary field that applies mathematics and big data to test historical theories. Full transcript available at: jnwpod.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
08.16.2023
Stephen Wolfram — Constructing the Computational Paradigm
Stephen Wolfram is a physicist, computer scientist and businessman. He is the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research, the creator of Mathematica and Wolfram Alpha, and the author of A New Kind of Science. Full transcript available at: jnwpod.com. See omnystudio.com/listener...
08.01.2023
Katalin Karikó — Forging the mRNA Revolution
Katalin Karikó is a Hungarian-American biochemist. She is one of the inventors of mRNA technology. Full transcript available at: thejspod.com. Episode recorded on 15 February 2023. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
07.25.2023
Richard Rhodes — The Making of the Atomic Bomb
Richard Rhodes is an American historian and the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Full transcript available at: thejspod.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
05.09.2023
Ken Henry — An Economic Odyssey
Dr Ken Henry is an Australian economist who served as Secretary of Australia's Treasury from 2001 to 2011. He was instrumental in helping Australia avoid recession during the 2008 Global Financial Crisis — Australia was the only major advanced economy...
04.25.2023
Palmer Luckey — Science (Non)fiction
Palmer Luckey is an American tech entrepreneur and billionaire. He has founded two companies: Oculus VR (acquired by Facebook for $2 billion in 2014), and Anduril (recently valued at $8.5 billion). He has been described as the real-life Tony Stark. Full...
04.13.2023
Daniel Kahneman — Dyads, And Other Mysteries
Daniel Kahneman is widely regarded as the most influential psychologist alive. He won the Nobel Prize in Economics (2002) for his work on judgment and decision-making under uncertainty, much of it done jointly with his late collaborator Amos Tversky. He...
12.31.2022
Talent Is That Which Is Scarce — Tyler Cowen
In the long run, talent allocation is almost everything. But as a society, we're not actually very good at it. The question of how to reliably match people with jobs they are well suited for is one of the big...
12.23.2022
Intellectual Exoskeletons — Andy Matuschak
From language and writing to the Hindu-Arabic numeral system, computers and Adobe Photoshop, our species has a history of inventing tools for augmenting our own intelligence. But what comes next? Andy Matuschak is a developer and designer. He helped build iOS...
12.14.2022
Rationality And Its Opposite — Steven Pinker
How rational are we? How can a species smart enough to set foot on the moon also be prone to conspiracy theories that the moon landing was fake? Joe speaks with Steven Pinker to discuss rationality — and its opposite. Steven...
04.24.2022
Against Bayesianism — David Deutsch
Bayesianism, the doctrine that it's always rational to represent our beliefs in terms of probabilities, dominates the intellectual world, from decision theory to the philosophy of science. But does it make sense to quantify our beliefs about such ineffable things...
09.05.2021
The Lessons Of Afghanistan — William Dalrymple
William Dalrymple is an acclaimed historian and writer. Show notes available at: josephnoelwalker.com/138-afghanistan See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
08.30.2021
The Race That Stopped The Nation — Richard Holden & Steven Hamilton
Richard Holden is Professor of Economics at UNSW. Steven Hamilton is an Assistant Professor of Economics at The George Washington University. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/holden-hamilton See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
08.23.2021
Ergodicity — Ole Peters
Ole Peters is a physicist and a Fellow at the London Mathematical Laboratory. Show notes available at: josephnoelwalker.com/136-ergodicity See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
06.22.2021
The Tyranny Of Merit — Michael Sandel
Michael Sandel teaches political philosophy at Harvard University, where he is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government Theory. His course “Justice” is the first Harvard course to be made freely available online and on television and...
06.14.2021
The Spectre Of Havoc — Graham Allison
Graham Allison is an American political scientist and the Douglas Dillon Professor of Government Harvard University. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/graham-allison See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
06.06.2021
A General Theory Of Catastrophe — Niall Ferguson
Niall Ferguson is one of the world's most renowned historians. He is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a senior faculty fellow of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard. He...
05.24.2021
Policy In An Age Of Politics — John Hewson
John Hewson is a former Australian politician and was leader of the Liberal Party from 1990 to 1994. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/john-hewson See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
05.17.2021
A Practical Guide To Coping With Uncertainty — John Kay
John Kay is one of Britain's leading economists. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
05.10.2021
Is Science Reaching Its Limits? — John Horgan
John Horgan is a science journalist and Director of the Center for Science Writings at the Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey. He was senior writer at Scientific American from 1986-1997 and is the author of the bestselling book...
05.04.2021
Marvellous Melbourne And Australia's Darkest Depression — Graeme Davison
Graeme Davison is Australia's most eminent urban historian. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/graeme-davison See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
04.28.2021
A Forgotten Genius — Cheryl Misak
Cheryl Misak is a Canadian philosopher and the author of Frank Ramsey: A Sheer Excess of Powers. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/misak See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
04.12.2021
Progress And Planet — Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Turnbull was the 29th Prime Minister of Australia. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/malcolm-turnbull See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
03.28.2021
The Craft Of Comedy And The Art Of A Lasting Partnership — Andy Lee
Andy Lee is one half of iconic Australian comedy duo Hamish & Andy. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/andy-lee See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
03.22.2021
The Reign Of Keynes, Part II — Lord Robert Skidelsky
Robert Skidelsky, FBA is a British economic historian. He is the author of a three-volume award-winning biography of British economist John Maynard Keynes. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/skidelsky See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
03.17.2021
Recollections Of A Wild Man In The Wings — Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky is the father of modern linguistics and one of the most cited scholars in modern history. He is also one of the most influential public intellectuals in the world, having written more than 150 books. Full transcript available...
03.08.2021
There Is Such A Thing As Society — Sir Paul Collier
Sir Paul Collier is a British development economist. He is currently a professor of economics at the University of Oxford and was the Director of the Development Research Group at the World Bank between 1998 and 2003. Paul has authored...
02.28.2021
The Reign Of Keynes, Part I — Zach Carter
Zach Carter is a senior reporter at The Huffington Post and the author of the New York Times bestseller The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy and the Life of John Maynard Keynes. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/zach-carter See omnystudio.com/listener for...
02.22.2021
The Doyen Of Behavioural Genetics On Untangling Nature And Nurture — Robert Plomin
Robert Plomin is one of the world's leading behavioural geneticists. He is currently MRC Research Professor in Behavioural Genetics at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
02.16.2021
The Republic Is In Peril — Jack A. Goldstone
Jack A. Goldstone is an American sociologist and is widely regarded as one of the world's leading experts on the subject of revolutions. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/jack-goldstone See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
02.08.2021
Hard-Earned Lessons From A Maverick Who Made It — Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban is an American billionaire investor, entrepreneur and TV personality. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/mark-cuban See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
01.31.2021
The Wisdom Of Frank Wilczek
Frank Wilczek won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004 and is considered one of the world’s most eminent theoretical physicists. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/frank-wilczek See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
01.24.2021
The Moral Causes And Consequences Of Economic Growth — Benjamin M. Friedman
Benjamin M. Friedman is widely recognised as one of the world's leading macroeconomists. He is currently the William Joseph Maier Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University. Read the full transcript at: josephnoelwalker.com/ben-friedman See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
01.18.2021
The Indiana Jones Of Anthropology On The Origins Of Western Psychology — Joe Henrich
Joe Henrich is Professor and Chair of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. He is the author of The Secret of Our Success and The Weirdest People in the World. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
01.11.2021
Deaths Of Despair And The Future Of Capitalism — Angus Deaton
Sir Angus Deaton is a Nobel Prize-winning economist and coauthor of Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism. Read the full transcript at: josephnoelwalker.com/deaton See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12.31.2020
On Ayn Rand, Cooperation, And Successful Societies - David Sloan Wilson
David Sloan Wilson is an evolutionary biologist. Read the full transcript at: https://josephnoelwalker.com/atlashugged See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12.21.2020
What I Learned In 2020 - John Hempton
John Hempton is co-founder and Chief Investment Officer at Bronte Capital.Show notesSelected links Follow John: Blog | Twitter 'Approaches to Studying Policy Representation', paper by David Broockman 'Indebted Demand', paper by Atif Mian, Ludwig Straub and Amir Sufi Topics discussed Lessons from past market...
12.21.2020
Rational Minds Part 5: Heuristics Make Us Smart - Gerd Gigerenzer
Gerd Gigerenzer is a German psychologist and director emeritus of the Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12.20.2020
Rational Minds Part 4: The Blind Leading The Blind - David Hirshleifer
David Hirshleifer is a professor of finance and currently holds the Merage chair in Business Growth at the University of California. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12.19.2020
Rational Minds Part 3: Rethinking Bubbles - Vernon Smith
Vernon Smith won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2002. This is his second appearance on the show. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12.17.2020
Rational Minds Part 2: The Myth Of Tulip Mania - Anne Goldgar
Anne Goldgar is an historian and holds the Van Hunnick Chair in European History at the University of Southern California Dornsife. Show notesSelected links Follow Anne: Website | Twitter Tulipmania: Money, Honor, and Knowledge in the Dutch Golden, by Anne Goldgar See omnystudio.com/listener...
12.15.2020
Rational Minds Part 1: A Nation Of Gamblers - Ed Glaeser
Ed Glaeser is the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Show notesSelected links Follow Ed: Website 'A Nation Of Gamblers: Real Estate Speculation And American History', 2013 Ely Lecture by Ed Glaeser One Hundred Years Of Land Values In...
12.07.2020
The Roaring Twenties And The Birth Of Consumer Credit - Martha Olney
Martha Olney is an economist and Teaching Professor in Berkeley's Economics Department. Show notesSelected links Follow Martha: Website | Twitter Buy Now, Pay Later: Advertising, Credit, and Consumer Durables in the 1920s, by Martha Olney Did Monetary Forces Cause the Great Depression, by Peter...

What's The Joe Walker Podcast about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The Joe Walker Podcast episodes:

Lucy Turnbull — Urbanism, YIMBYism, and How to Solve Australia's Housing Crisis (Bonus Live Episode)

Bryan Caplan — The Economics of Housing Abundance

2023 Retrospective — A Listener Interviews Me

David Deutsch & Steven Pinker (First Ever Public Dialogue) — AGI, P(Doom), & The Enemies of Progress

Shruti Rajagopalan — On Spotting Talent, And Making Sense of Rising India

Raghuram Rajan — Debt, Monetary Policy, and Unintended Consequences

Peter Singer — Moral Truths and Moral Secrets

Peter Turchin — Why Societies Fall Apart (And Why the US May Be Next)

Stephen Wolfram — Constructing the Computational Paradigm

Katalin Karikó — Forging the mRNA Revolution

Richard Rhodes — The Making of the Atomic Bomb

Ken Henry — An Economic Odyssey

Palmer Luckey — Science (Non)fiction

Daniel Kahneman — Dyads, And Other Mysteries

Talent Is That Which Is Scarce — Tyler Cowen

Intellectual Exoskeletons — Andy Matuschak

Rationality And Its Opposite — Steven Pinker

Against Bayesianism — David Deutsch

The Lessons Of Afghanistan — William Dalrymple

The Race That Stopped The Nation — Richard Holden & Steven Hamilton

Ergodicity — Ole Peters

The Tyranny Of Merit — Michael Sandel

The Spectre Of Havoc — Graham Allison

A General Theory Of Catastrophe — Niall Ferguson

Policy In An Age Of Politics — John Hewson

A Practical Guide To Coping With Uncertainty — John Kay

Is Science Reaching Its Limits? — John Horgan

Marvellous Melbourne And Australia's Darkest Depression — Graeme Davison

A Forgotten Genius — Cheryl Misak

Progress And Planet — Malcolm Turnbull

The Craft Of Comedy And The Art Of A Lasting Partnership — Andy Lee

The Reign Of Keynes, Part II — Lord Robert Skidelsky

Recollections Of A Wild Man In The Wings — Noam Chomsky

There Is Such A Thing As Society — Sir Paul Collier

The Reign Of Keynes, Part I — Zach Carter

The Doyen Of Behavioural Genetics On Untangling Nature And Nurture — Robert Plomin

The Republic Is In Peril — Jack A. Goldstone

Hard-Earned Lessons From A Maverick Who Made It — Mark Cuban

The Wisdom Of Frank Wilczek

The Moral Causes And Consequences Of Economic Growth — Benjamin M. Friedman

The Indiana Jones Of Anthropology On The Origins Of Western Psychology — Joe Henrich

Deaths Of Despair And The Future Of Capitalism — Angus Deaton

On Ayn Rand, Cooperation, And Successful Societies - David Sloan Wilson

What I Learned In 2020 - John Hempton

Rational Minds Part 5: Heuristics Make Us Smart - Gerd Gigerenzer

Rational Minds Part 4: The Blind Leading The Blind - David Hirshleifer

Rational Minds Part 3: Rethinking Bubbles - Vernon Smith

Rational Minds Part 2: The Myth Of Tulip Mania - Anne Goldgar

Rational Minds Part 1: A Nation Of Gamblers - Ed Glaeser

The Roaring Twenties And The Birth Of Consumer Credit - Martha Olney