Why Christianity Needs to Help Save Democracy (with Jonathan Rauch)
How does a nice Jewish boy who is also a gay atheist have the chutzpah to lecture Christianity on its obligations to democracy? Listen to author Jonathan Rauch talk about his book Cross Purposes with EconTalk's Russ Roberts as Rauch makes the case for what he calls a thicker Christianity.
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1:20:08
Rational and Religious (with Ross Douthat)
How can we explain the world's underlying order? How does consciousness emerge? And why do people from such different cultures have such similar near-death experiences? Listen as Ross Douthat,Ā New York TimesĀ columnist and author of the new bookĀ Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious, argues that these and other unanswerable questions underscore his argument for the rationality of religious belief. He andĀ EconTalk'sĀ Russ Roberts discuss Douthat's reasons for embracing faith with confidence, why science only bolsters his belief, and why he thinks that more religion would be a good thing for society.
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1:17:31
The Music and Magic of John and Paul (with Ian Leslie)
At the heart of the success of the Beatles was the creative chemistry and volatile friendship between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Listen as author Ian Leslie discusses his book, John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs with EconTalk's Russ Roberts. It'sĀ a deep dive into music and friendship as well as a revisionist history about how John and Paul created musical magic.
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1:17:48
Do All Creatures, Great and Small, and Made From Silicon, Have Rights? (with Jeff Sebo)
Should monkeys have the same rights as humans? What about elephants,Ā ants, orĀ invertebrates? NYU philosopher Jeff Sebo makes the case for expanding your moral circle toĀ manyĀ more beings than you might expect,Ā including those based on silicon chips. Listen as Sebo and EconTalk's Russ RobertsĀ discussĀ to whom and what we owe moral consideration,Ā how we determine a being's intrinsic moral significance, andĀ why we haveĀ ethical obligations to others, anyway.Ā They also discuss human exceptionalism--the idea that humans should be prioritized over other beings.
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1:16:13
Bird Brains, Bird Sex, and All Kinds of Beauty (with Matt Ridley)
Bright colors, long tails, and dances of seduction: they may hurt a bird's chances of survival in the wild, but they seem to increase the chances of reproduction. Is this all part of natural selection or is sexualĀ selection its ownĀ force in the bird world? Is thereĀ such a thing as beauty forĀ beauty's sake? What can we learn from birds about theĀ humanĀ experience ofĀ beauty? Listen as author and naturalist Matt Ridley speaks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about a puzzle that kept Darwin up at night and that still troubles modern evolutionary biologists.
EconTalk: Conversations for the Curious is an award-winning weekly podcast hosted by Russ Roberts of Shalem College in Jerusalem and Stanford's Hoover Institution. The eclectic guest list includes authors, doctors, psychologists, historians, philosophers, economists, and more. Learn how the health care system really works, the serenity that comes from humility, the challenge of interpreting data, how potato chips are made, what it's like to run an upscale Manhattan restaurant, what caused the 2008 financial crisis, the nature of consciousness, and more. EconTalk has been taking the Monday out of Mondays since 2006. All 900+ episodes are available in the archive. Go to EconTalk.org for transcripts, related resources, and comments.
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