Category: Interviews

Mike talks to Lane Kenworthy, a Professor of Sociology at the University of California, San Diego. His research focuses on social policy, including poverty, inequality, mobility, and economic growth in the United States and other rich countries.

Professor Kenworthy is the author of many academic articles and six books, including Social Democratic America and, most recently How Big Should Our Government Be?, co-authored with John Bakija, Peter Lindert, and Jeff Madrick.

Show Links
Professor Kenworthy’s Website
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Luxembourg Income Study

Mike talks to Jason Brennan, an Associate Professor of Strategy, Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy at Georgetown University. He’s the author of a number of books, including The Ethics of Voting, Libertarianism: What Everyone Needs to Know, *Why Not Capitalism?, and, most recently Against Democracy. 

Professor Brennan’s Recommended Reading
Philosophy, Politics, and Economics: An Anthology. Jonathan Anomaly, Geoffrey Brennan, Michael C. Munger, and Geoffrey Sayre-McCord

Political Philosophy: An Introduction by Jason Brennan

Introduction to Political Philosophy YouTube video lecture series.

Madison’s Metronome: The Constitution, Majority Rule, and the Tempo of American Politics. Greg Weiner

Mike talks to Marc Levinson, an economist, historian, and journalist specializing in economic and business issues. He’s a former finance and economics editor for The Economist, and has written for publications including the Harvard Business Review, Foreign Affairs, and The Wall Street Journal. He’s the author of six books, including The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger and, most recently, An Extraordinary Time: The End of the Postwar Boom and the Return of the Ordinary Economy.

Mike talks with Professor Marion Nestle, one of most respected and sought-after academic commentators on food politics, health, and nutrition. She’s the Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University as well as a Professor of Sociology at NYU, and a Visiting Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell. Professor Nestle has authored countless articles in academic journals and is the author of nine books, including Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health and, most recently, Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning)

They discuss how food policy is made, who it’s made for (Big Agriculture or the American people), and what she thinks of nutrition labels, USDA dietary guidelines, GMOs, and soda taxes, and more.

Recommended Links
Aside from following foodpolitics.com, Professor Nestle suggests that people interested in keeping up with matters related to nutrition and public health check out the Center for Science in the Public Interest

Mike interviews Pat Rosenstiel, from National Popular Vote, an organization working to ensure that the winner of the national popular vote for the presidency actually becomes president, something that hasn’t happened in two of the last five presidential elections. Mike and Pat discuss:

– how the system can be changed without a Constitutional amendment
– if this is a case of liberal sour-grapes
– how a national popular vote would affect campaigning
– whether NPV would make presidential election winners more legitimate
– the prospects for reform

Mike talks with futurist and author Martin Ford. His most recent book is Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future, a New York Times bestseller and winner of the 2015 Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award. They discuss the Seven Deadly Economic Trends, what jobs are likely to be automated (and when), whether white collar jobs are at risk from automation, the jobs least likely to be automated in the near future, and more.

Links
– Martin Ford’s Website
– Martin Ford on twitter
– RealClear Future

Mike interviews political scientist Brendan Nyhan, a professor in the Department of Government at Dartmouth College. His research on political misperceptions has been published in many of the top journals in the field. He’s also a contributor to ‘The Upshot‘ at the New York Times – one of Mike’s ‘must read’ sites.

Show Links
– Brendan Nyhan’s personal website
– Brendan Nyhan on twitter
– Nuzzel – an incredibly useful twitter aggregator & organizer

Mike talks to one of his favorite economists: Bryan Caplan, a Professor of Economics at George Mason University. Professor Caplan is the author of multiple books, including The Myth of the Rational Voter, named “the best political book of the year” by the New York Times, Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids, and The Case Against Education, forthcoming in 2017 from Princeton University Press. He’s also a blogger at Econlog.

INTERVIEW LINKS

YouTube videos explaining the four biases:
     1. Anti-Market Bias
     2. Make-Work Bias
     3. Anti-Foreign Bias
     4. Pessimistic Bias

The Problem of Political Authority – Michael Huemer

Powered by RedCircle

Mike talks to a Trump supporter – not a know-nothing or ‘lesser of two evils’ Trump supporter, but an intelligent, well-read, politically astute guy who makes a positive case for Donald Trump. (He also has a few website recommendations: Ace of Spades HQ and Instapundit.)

Mike interviews the amazing Dan Carlin, professional journalist and long time podcaster who hosts two of the best and most popular podcasts in the world: Hardcore History and Common Sense. They talk about the importance of history in understanding current politics, political dynasties, Donald Trump (of course), whether Edwards Snowden should be pardoned, if the United States is like the Roman Republic, and lots more.