The Jolly Swagman Podcast

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-155See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 in store for 2024. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Harvard University. I think of him as providing the strongest empirical defence of the Enlightenment (as seen in his book Enlightenment Now). David Deutsch is a British physicist at the University of Oxford, and the father of quantum computing. I think of him as having produced the most compelling first principles defence of the Enlightenment (as seen in his book The Beginning of Infinity). Full transcript available at: https://josephnoelwalker.com/153-deutsch-pinker-dialogue.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 with Indian economist and Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Raghuram Rajan. Raghuram Rajan was chief economist at the IMF from 2003 to 2006, and from 2013 to 2016 he was Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. As RBI Governor, he notably introduced India's inflation-targeting scheme, among many other achievements. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/151-raghuram-rajanSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

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.

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 for privacy information.

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.

Richard Rhodes is an American historian and the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Full transcript available at: thejspod.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 to do so. Full transcript available at: thejspod.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 transcript available at: www.thejspod.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 is the author of the bestselling books Thinking, Fast and Slow and Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment (written with Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein). Full transcript available at: thejspod.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 unsolved problems of our times.  Joe catches up with return guest Tyler Cowen to discuss the art of identifying talent. Tyler is a professor of economics at George Mason University and host of the podcast Conversations with Tyler. He is also the co-author of a new book, Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World. Full transcript available at: thejspod.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 at Apple, founded and led Khan Academy's R&D lab, and now works as an independent researcher investigating 'tools for thought' — that is, technologies that can transform human cognition and creativity. Full episode transcript available at: thejspod.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Pinker is the Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, an elected to the National Academy of Sciences and one of Time‘s 100 Most Influential People. Full episode transcript available at: thejspod.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 as scientific theories or the future? And what separates empty prophecy from legitimate prediction? David Deutsch is a British physicist at the University of Oxford, and is widely regarded as the father of quantum computing. He is the author of The Fabric of Reality (1997) and The Beginning of Infinity (2011). Full episode transcript available at:  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

William Dalrymple is an acclaimed historian and writer. Show notes available at: josephnoelwalker.com/138-afghanistan See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

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.

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 has been viewed by tens of millions of people around the world. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/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 has been viewed by tens of millions of people around the world. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/michael-sandel See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

Graham Allison is an American political scientist and the Douglas Dillon Professor of Government Harvard University. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/graham-allison

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 is the author of sixteen books, including most recently Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/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 is the author of sixteen books, including most recently Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/niall-ferguson See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

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

John Kay is one of Britain's leading economists. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Kay is one of Britain's leading economists.

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 The End of Science. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/horgan See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 The End of Science. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/horgan

Graeme Davison is Australia's most eminent urban historian. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/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.

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.

Cheryl Misak is a Canadian philosopher and the author of Frank Ramsey: A Sheer Excess of Powers. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/misak

Malcolm Turnbull was the 29th Prime Minister of Australia. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/malcolm-turnbull See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malcolm Turnbull was the 29th Prime Minister of Australia. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/malcolm-turnbull

Andy Lee is one half of iconic Australian comedy duo Hamish & Andy. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/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.

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.

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

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 at: josephnoelwalker.com/chomsky See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 at: josephnoelwalker.com/chomsky

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 numerous books, including The Bottom Billion, The Plundered Planet, and The Future of Capitalism. His latest book, co-authored with John Kay, is Greed is Dead: Politics After Individualism. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 numerous books, including The Bottom Billion, The Plundered Planet, and The Future of Capitalism. His latest book, co-authored with John Kay, is Greed is Dead: Politics After Individualism.

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

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 privacy information.

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.

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.

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.