Policy@McCombs

In the late 1980s, philosopher George Walsh gave this six-hour course on Judaism and Christianity. With his characteristic erudition and humor, he covers the history and ideas of these two uber-influential religions.  How did the most influential religion of all time spring out of the faith of a weak people on the periphery of the civilized world?  What do the two religions still have in common?  How – and when – did they diverge?  Whatever your views, Walsh knows much that you do not.

In the late 1980s, philosopher George Walsh gave this six-hour course on Judaism and Christianity. With his characteristic erudition and humor, he covers the history and ideas of these two uber-influential religions.  How did the most influential religion of all time spring out of the faith of a weak people on the periphery of the civilized world?  What do the two religions still have in common?  How – and when – did they diverge?  Whatever your views, Walsh knows much that you do not.  

In the late 1980s, philosopher George Walsh gave this six-hour course on Judaism and Christianity. With his characteristic erudition and humor, he covers the history and ideas of these two uber-influential religions.  How did the most influential religion of all time spring out of the faith of a weak people on the periphery of the civilized world?  What do the two religions still have in common?  How – and when – did they diverge?  Whatever your views, Walsh knows much that you do not.  

In the late 1980s, philosopher George Walsh gave this six-hour course on Judaism and Christianity. With his characteristic erudition and humor, he covers the history and ideas of these two uber-influential religions.  How did the most influential religion of all time spring out of the faith of a weak people on the periphery of the civilized world?  What do the two religions still have in common?  How – and when – did they diverge?  Whatever your views, Walsh knows much that you do not. 

Circa 1990, the late great Milton Friedman gave this eloquent half-hour introduction to his views on economic policy. David Boaz, Cato's executive vice-president, then moderates a free-wheeling policy conversation between Friedman, David Henderson of the Naval Post-Graduate School, Sally Pipes of the Pacific Research Institute, and Hannes Gissurarson of the University of Iceland.

In the late 1980s, philosopher George Walsh gave this six-hour course on history's most influential religions. With his characteristic erudition and humor, he covers so-called “primitive religion,” followed by Indian religion (Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism), Judaism and Christianity, and finally Islam.

In the late 1980s, philosopher George Walsh gave this six-hour course on history's most influential religions. With his characteristic erudition and humor, he covers so-called “primitive religion,” followed by Indian religion (Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism), Judaism and Christianity, and finally Islam.

In the late 1980s, philosopher George Walsh gave this six-hour course on history's most influential religions. With his characteristic erudition and humor, he covers so-called “primitive religion,” followed by Indian religion (Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism), Judaism and Christianity, and finally Islam. Disclaimer: Please be aware the audio quality in this episode may not meet our usual standard due to damage to the age of source material before digitization.

In the late 1980s, philosopher George Walsh gave this six-hour course on history's most influential religions. With his characteristic erudition and humor, he covers so-called “primitive religion,” followed by Indian religion (Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism), Judaism and Christianity, and finally Islam.

The John V. Roach Honors College at Texas Christian University sponsored this 2023 debate between Prof. Bryan Caplan of George Mason University and Prof. Scott Sehon of Bowdoin College.

In 2017, 8th graders Aidan and Tristan Caplan talked to their dad, Bryan Caplan, about their homeschooling experience in middle school. Spoiler: After three weeks of regular high school, they resumed homeschooling and are now at Vanderbilt University.

Brothers Hyrum Lewis (BYU – Idaho) and Verlan Lewis (Utah Valley University)'s new *The Myth of Left and Right* attacks the “essentialist” view that “left” and “right” are coherent political philosophies in favor of a “social” view that “left” and “right” are incoherent bundles of issue positions. In this interview, Bryan Caplan and Robin Hanson find much common ground with the Lewis brothers, but still find some residual merit in the essentialist view. Hanson analogizes ideology to gender identity: Some features of gender are social, but are all of them?! Caplan maintains that the social theory is 85% true, but the authors stick with 100%. Also: Should there be affirmative action for right-wing academics?

Bryan Caplan interviews Chris Rufo on his best-selling *America's Cultural Revolution*. In this wide-ranging interview, Rufo tackles some tough questions, including: How bad were the founders of critical theory, really? How fake is Continental philosophy? What would Rufo had done if he'd had Freire's job in Guinea-Bissau? Are fanatics evil? And, does he really hate libertarians? And many more.

George Walsh (c.1923-2001) was one of those old-school professors who wrote little but read everything. This two-lecture series on Rousseau, delivered in the late 1980s, shines a spotlight on the great intellectual outlier of the Enlightenment. While Voltaire, the Physiocrats, Locke, Smith, and Hume promoted rationalism and individual freedom, Rousseau was a harsh, if sometimes veiled, critic of both. Walsh paints Rousseau as an early adopter of the Orwellian idea that “Freedom Is Slavery” – and the proto-totalitarian inspiration of not only the French Revolution, but the socialist and nationalist revolutions of the 19th and 20th centuries. The Salem Center's Bryan Caplan, who heard Walsh live in 1989, has plans to make all of Walsh's “lost” lectures on the history of ideas once again available to the curious public.

George Walsh (c.1923-2001) was one of those old-school professors who wrote little but read everything. This two-lecture series on Rousseau, delivered in the late 1980s, shines a spotlight on the great intellectual outlier of the Enlightenment. While Voltaire, the Physiocrats, Locke, Smith, and Hume promoted rationalism and individual freedom, Rousseau was a harsh, if sometimes veiled, critic of both. Walsh paints Rousseau as an early adopter of the Orwellian idea that “Freedom Is Slavery” – and the proto-totalitarian inspiration of not only the French Revolution, but the socialist and nationalist revolutions of the 19th and 20th centuries. The Salem Center's Bryan Caplan, who heard Walsh live in 1989, has plans to make all of Walsh's “lost” lectures on the history of ideas once again available to the curious public.

Historian and polymath Ralph Raico explores the classic criticisms and seminal critics of classical liberal thought.

Historian and polymath Ralph Raico explores the basic ideas and seminal thinkers of classical liberal thought.

 George Walsh (c.1923-2001) was one of those old-school professors who wrote little but read everything. This lecture on the Enlightenment, delivered c.1992, gives a typically insightful and humorous intellectual tour of the Enlightenment. The Salem Center's Bryan Caplan, who heard Walsh live in 1989, has plans to make all of Walsh's “lost” lectures on the history of ideas once again available to the curious public.

George Walsh (c.1923-2001) was one of those old-school professors who wrote little but read everything. These two lectures on Protestant Fundamentalism, delivered in the late-80s, distill decades of study of Protestant Fundamentalism with great insight and humor, handling the ideas with the same seriousness that intellectual historians normally reserve for the Great Thinkers of Western Philosophy.  Lecture 1 covers fundamentalist theology and epistemology; lecture 2 delves into fundamentalist ethics and politics.  The Salem Center's Bryan Caplan, who heard Walsh live in 1989, has plans to make all of Walsh's “lost” lectures on the history of ideas once again available to the curious public. 

Lecture 1: Theology and Epistemology George Walsh (c.1923-2001) was one of those old-school professors who wrote little but read everything. These two lectures on Protestant Fundamentalism, delivered in the late-80s, distill decades of study of Protestant Fundamentalism with great insight and humor, handling the ideas with the same seriousness that intellectual historians normally reserve for the Great Thinkers of Western Philosophy.  Lecture 1 covers fundamentalist theology and epistemology; lecture 2 delves into fundamentalist ethics and politics.  The Salem Center's Bryan Caplan, who heard Walsh live in 1989, has plans to make all of Walsh's “lost” lectures on the history of ideas once again available to the curious public.  Warning: The first few minutes of Lecture 1 are sadly missing.

George Smith (1949-2022) was a learned and extraordinarily charismatic autodidact. A wunderkind, or close to it, Smith published his most famous book, *Atheism: The Case Against God* when he was only 25.  He once bragged that he dropped out of high school to start college, dropped out of college to start a Ph.D., and then dropped out his Ph.D. program to become one of the most beloved Liberty and Society speakers for the Institute for Humane Studies.  This lecture, delivered around 1990, promotes *Atheism, Ayn Rand, and Other Heresies*, a book of essays. The intro is R-rated, but the body of the talk is a deep – and deeply-entertaining - intellectual history of the ethics and psychology of puritanism.

Bryan Caplan and Robin Hanson interview – and challenge - Alex Epstein about his controversial new book, *Fossil Future*. How many “climate denialists” really exist – and what should they take away from Epstein's book? How widespread is the view that “nature is sacred” – and what's the best way to deal with it? Why should we trust Epstein instead of most of the leading experts? Why did he write *Fossil Future* instead of *Nuclear Future*? And much more.

George Walsh (c.1923-2001) was one of those old-school professors who wrote little but read everything. These four lectures on Marxism, delivered in the mid-80s a few years before the collapse of the Soviet bloc, distill decades of study of Marxist ideas with great insight and humor. Lecture 1 covers the Marxism's intellectual precursors; lecture 2 delves into Marxist philosophy; lecture 3 goes into Marxist economics; and lecture 4 finishes with Marxist politics. The Salem Center's Bryan Caplan, who heard Walsh live in 1989, has plans to make all of Walsh's “lost” lectures on the history of ideas once again available to the curious public.

George Walsh (c.1923-2001) was one of those old-school professors who wrote little but read everything. These four lectures on Marxism, delivered in the mid-80s a few years before the collapse of the Soviet bloc, distill decades of study of Marxist ideas with great insight and humor. Lecture 1 covers the Marxism's intellectual precursors; lecture 2 delves into Marxist philosophy; lecture 3 goes into Marxist economics; and lecture 4 finishes with Marxist politics. The Salem Center's Bryan Caplan, who heard Walsh live in 1989, has plans to make all of Walsh's “lost” lectures on the history of ideas once again available to the curious public.

George Walsh (c.1923-2001) was one of those old-school professors who wrote little but read everything. These four lectures on Marxism, delivered in the mid-80s a few years before the collapse of the Soviet bloc, distill decades of study of Marxist ideas with great insight and humor. Lecture 1 covers the Marxism's intellectual precursors; lecture 2 delves into Marxist philosophy; lecture 3 goes into Marxist economics; and lecture 4 finishes with Marxist politics. The Salem Center's Bryan Caplan, who heard Walsh live in 1989, has plans to make all of Walsh's “lost” lectures on the history of ideas once again available to the curious public.

George Walsh (c.1923-2001) was one of those old-school professors who wrote little but read everything. These four lectures on Marxism, delivered in the mid-80s a few years before the collapse of the Soviet bloc, distill decades of study of Marxist ideas with great insight and humor. Lecture 1 covers the Marxism's intellectual precursors; lecture 2 delves into Marxist philosophy; lecture 3 goes into Marxist economics; and lecture 4 finishes with Marxist politics. The Salem Center's Bryan Caplan, who heard Walsh live in 1989, has plans to make all of Walsh's “lost” lectures on the history of ideas once again available to the curious public.

Sergiu Klainerman is Princeton University's most vocal and articulate dissident professor. Find out what this famed mathematician, a refugee from Communist Romania, thinks about (a) how the Marxist-Leninism education of his youth compares to the woke education of today, (b) the decline of academic freedom and intellectual meritocracy at Princeton and higher ed generally, and (c) the best way to reverse this decline.

Alex Tabarrok is a professor of economics at George Mason University. He joins the podcast to talk to Richard Hanania about his involvement in Operation Warp Speed, a uniquely successful federal government project. Richard asks how broadly applicable its lessons are, whether or not we could do something similar for cancer, and why economists and public health officials had such divergent opinions on the need to speed up the process of approving and distributing a vaccine. Alex also discusses the Baumol effect, which he argues can explain much about rising costs in healthcare and education. Richard pushes back on the theory as a sufficient explanation, and asks whether a simple libertarian story better fits the facts, arguing that government support for these industries also plays a role. The conversation then goes on to talk about the rise of crypto, why America is severely under-policed, and how recent years have seen the collapse of challenges to liberal democracy.

Part one of the conversation with Luigi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKwZqNOeGg4 Luigi Achilli's CV: https://me.eui.eu/luigi-achilli/publications-other/

Human Smuggling is Underrated substack Luigi Achilli

Philippe Lemoine joins Salem Center visiting scholar Richard Hanania to discuss epidemiology in the US and across the globe.

Matt Ridley's books have sold over a million copies, been translated into 31 languages and won several awards. His books include The Red Queen, The Origins of Virtue, Genome, Nature via Nurture, Francis Crick, The Rational Optimist, The Evolution of Everything, and How Innovation Works. His TED talk "When Ideas Have Sex" has been viewed more than two million times. He writes a weekly column in The Times (London) and writes regularly for the Wall Street Journal. As Viscount Ridley, he was elected to the House of Lords in February 2013. He served on the science and technology select committee 2014-2017. With BA and DPhil degrees from Oxford University, Matt Ridley worked for the Economist for nine years as science editor, Washington correspondent and American editor, before becoming a self-employed writer and businessman. He was founding chairman of the International Centre for Life in Newcastle. He was non-executive chairman of Northern Rock plc and Northern 2 VCT plc. He also commissioned the Northumberlandia landform sculpture and country park. He founded the Mind and Matter column in the Wall Street Journal in 2010. He won the Hayek Prize in 2011, the Julian Simon award in 2012 and the Free Enterprise Award from the Institute of Economic Affairs in 2014. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is honorary president of the International Centre for Life in Newcastle. He has honorary doctorates from Buckingham University, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and University Francisco Marroquin, Guatemala. He is married to the neuroscientist Professor Anya Hurlbert. They have two children and live in Northumberland in the north of England.

Bryan Caplan interviews Richard Hanania, head of the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology, on international relations, war, peace, sanctions, grand strategy (and the lack thereof), partisanship, ideology, wokeness, academia, discrimination, civil rights, legal reform, and Hanania's unique career path

Jay Battacharya is a Professor of Economics and Professor of Medicine at Stanford University.

Dr. Tyler Goodspeed is the Kleinheinz Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. From 2020-21 he was Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Executive Office of the President, having previously served as Member, Chief Economist for Macroeconomic Policy, and Senior Economist for public finance and macroeconomics. Before joining the Council, he was a Junior Fellow in Economics at the University of Oxford, and Lecturer in Economics at King's College London. His primary research and teaching fields are economic history and monetary economics, with secondary interests in macroeconomics and political economy. Prior to earning his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2014, he received his A.B. from Harvard, summa cum laude, in 2008, and from 2008-2009 was a Gates Scholar at the University of Cambridge. Goodspeed's second book, Legislating Instability, examines the effects of unlimited liability and regulatory capture on financial stability in “free banking” Scotland. He also has a recent book, Famine and Finance, on the market for small loans during the Great Famine of Ireland, as well as companion articles in the Journal of Development Economics and World Bank Economic Review. Tyler's current research focuses on British and North American economic history, with particular attention to informal banking and the political economy of financial regulation, as well as long-run economic development. Previously, in his first book, Rethinking the Keynesian Revolution, he analyzed the debates between John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich Hayek, considering the relevance of those debates to contemporary monetary economics. He is also an avid distance runner.

Valentin Bolotnyy is an economist at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. He works on topics across public and labor economics, often partnering with government agencies to improve public services and gain insight into social behavior.

Casey B. Mulligan is an American economist and author. He is a Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago. From 2018 to 2019 he served as the chief economist of the Council of Economic Advisors at The White House.

Tom Gilligan is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is a scholar in economics and political science

Glenn Loury joined the Salem Center for Policy for this discussion during Free Speech Week.

Jennifer Doleac is an Economist at Texas A&M University. She is also the Director of the Justice Texas Tech Lab.

Dr. Jay Battacharya discusses how his research points to a new hypothesis on the severity and spread of COVID-19.

Professional Profile Dr. Adalja is a Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. His work is focused on emerging infectious disease, pandemic preparedness, and biosecurity. Dr. Adalja has served on US government panels tasked with developing guidelines for the treatment of plague, botulism, and anthrax in mass casualty settings and the […]

Bryan Caplan is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center and a professor of economics at George Mason University. He specializes in public economics, public choice, psychology and economics, public opinion, economics of the family and education, genoeconomics, and Austrian economics.

Emily Oster is a Professor of Economics at Brown University. She holds a PhD in Economics from Harvard. Prior to being at Brown she was on the faculty at the University of Chicago Booth School.

Scott W. Atlas, M.D.is the Robert Wesson Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University and a Member of Hoover Institution’s Working Group on Health Care Policy. Dr. Atlas investigates the impact of government and the private sector on access, quality, pricing, and innovation in health care and is a frequent policy advisor to […]

Richard Hahn is an associate professor of Statistics at ASU. He develops probability models and computational techniques for applied data analysis, with a focus on the behavioral, social, and health sciences. His specific research interests include regression tree methods, causal inference from observational data, and foundations of statistics.

Phil Magness is a Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. He is the author of numerous works on economic history, taxation, economic inequality, the history of slavery, and education policy in the United States.

Professor of Political Science, and Director of the PPE Certificate Program. His primary research focus is on the functioning of markets, regulation, and government institutions. He has taught at Dartmouth College, University of Texas, and University of North Carolina (where he was Director of the Master of Public Administration Program), as well as working as […]