Conversations with Tyler
Tyler Cowen engages today’s deepest thinkers in wide-ranging explorations of their work, the world, and everything in between. New conversations every other Wednesday. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Joe Studwell on Africa, Asia, and What Development Actually Requires
18 Feb 2026
When Tyler called Joe Studwell's How Asia Works "perhaps my favorite economics book of the year" back in 2013, he wasn't alone: it became one of the most influential treatments of industrial policy
Andrew Ross Sorkin on Market Bubbles, Banking Rules, and the Real Lessons of 1929
4 Feb 2026
Andrew Ross Sorkin sees the crash of 1929 as a tale of excessive leverage and irrational speculation, but Tyler wonders: maybe those sky-high 1929 prices were actually justified given America's
Diarmaid MacCulloch on Christianity, Sex, and Unsettling Settled Facts
21 Jan 2026
Tyler considers Diarmaid MacCulloch one of those rare historians whose entire body of work rewards reading. This work includes his award-winning Cranmer biography, his sweeping histories of
Brendan Foody on Teaching AI and the Future of Knowledge Work
7 Jan 2026
At 22, Brendan Foody is both the youngest Conversations with Tyler guest ever and the youngest unicorn founder on record. His company Mercor hires the experts who train frontier AI models—from
Conversations with Tyler 2025 Retrospective
23 Dec 2025
Help us keep the conversations going in 2026. Donate to Conversations with Tyler today. On this special year-in-review episode, Tyler and producer Jeff Holmes look back on the past year on CWT and
Alison Gopnik on Childhood Learning, AI as a Cultural Technology, and Rethinking Nature vs. Nurture
17 Dec 2025
Help us keep the conversations going in 2026. Donate to Conversations with Tyler today. Alison Gopnik is both a psychologist and philosopher at Berkeley, studying how children construct theories of
Gaurav Kapadia on New York City, Investing, and Contemporary Art
10 Dec 2025
Help us keep the conversations going in 2026. Donate to Conversations with Tyler today. Gaurav Kapadia has deliberately avoided publicity throughout his career in investing, which makes this
Dan Wang on What China and America Can Learn from Each Other
3 Dec 2025
Help us keep the conversations going in 2026. Donate to Conversations with Tyler today. Dan Wang argues that China is a nation of engineers while America is a nation of lawyers, and this
Cass Sunstein on Liberalism and Rights in the Age of AI
26 Nov 2025
Cass Sunstein is one of the most widely cited legal scholars of all time and among the most prolific writers working today. This year alone he has five books out, including Imperfect Oracle on the
Blake Scholl on Supersonic Flight and Fixing Broken Infrastructure - Live at the Progress Conference
19 Nov 2025
Blake Scholl is one of the leading figures working to bring back civilian supersonic flight. As the founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic, he's building a new generation of supersonic aircraft and
Donald S. Lopez Jr. on Buddhism
12 Nov 2025
Register for the Austin listener meetup Donald S. Lopez Jr. is among the foremost scholars of Buddhism, whose work consistently distinguishes Buddhist reality from Western fantasy. A professor at
Sam Altman on Trust, Persuasion, and the Future of Intelligence - Live at the Progress Conference
5 Nov 2025
Register for the Austin listener meetup Sam Altman makes his second appearance on the show to discuss how he's managing OpenAI's explosive growth, what he's learned about hiring hardware people,
Jonny Steinberg on South African Crime and Punishment, the Mandelas' Marriage, and the Post-Apartheid Era
28 Oct 2025
Tyler considers Winnie and Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage one of the best books of the last decade, and its author Jonny Steinberg one of the most underrated writers and thinkers—in North America,
George Selgin on the New Deal, Regime Uncertainty, and What Really Ended the Great Depression
15 Oct 2025
George Selgin has spent over four decades thinking about money, banking, and economic history, and Tyler has known him for nearly all of it. Selgin's new book False Dawn: The New Deal and the Promise
Jacob Mikanowski on Eastern Europe
18 Oct 2023
Jacob Mikanowski is the author of one of Tyler’s favorite books this year called Goodbye, Eastern Europe: An Intimate History of a Divided Land. Tyler and Jacob sat down to discuss all things
Re-release: Claudia Goldin on the Economics of Inequality
9 Oct 2023
Harvard professor Claudia Goldin has made a name for herself tackling difficult questions. What was the full economic cost of the American Civil War? Does education increase or lessen income
Ada Palmer on Viking Metaphysics, Contingent Moments, and Censorship
4 Oct 2023
Ada Palmer is a Renaissance historian at the University of Chicago who studies radical free thought and censorship, composes music, consults on anime and manga, and is the author of the acclaimed
Lazarus Lake on Endurance, Uncertainty, and Reaching One’s Potential
20 Sep 2023
Lazarus Lake is a renowned ultramarathon runner and designer. His most famous creation (along with his friend Raw Dog) is the Barkley Marathons, an absurdly difficult 100-mile race through the
Jerusalem Demsas on The Dispossessed, Gulliver's Travels, and Of Boys and Men
6 Sep 2023
In this special episode, Tyler sat down with Jerusalem Demsas, staff writer at The Atlantic, to discuss three books: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin, Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, and
Vishy Anand on Staying in the Game
30 Aug 2023
A five-time World Chess Champion, Vishy became India's first grandmaster at age 18, spurring a chess revolution in the country. Now 53, he is still a world top ten player and has been India's number
Celebrating Marginal Revolution's 20th Anniversary
23 Aug 2023
When Alex Tabarrok and Tyler Cowen launched Marginal Revolution (https://marginalrevolution.com/) in August of 2003, they saw attracting a few thousand academic-minded readers as a runaway success.
Paul Graham on Ambition, Art, and Evaluating Talent
9 Aug 2023
Tyler and Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham sat down at his home in the English countryside to discuss what areas of talent judgment his co-founder and wife Jessica Livingston is better at, whether
Noam Dworman on Stand-Up Comedy and Staying Open-Minded
26 Jul 2023
Tyler sat down at Comedy Cellar with owner Noam Dworman to talk about the ever-changing stand-up comedy scene, including the perfect room temperature for stand-up, whether comedy can still shock us,
David Bentley Hart on Reason, Faith, and Diversity in Religious Thought
12 Jul 2023
David Bentley Hart is an American writer, philosopher, religious scholar, critic, and theologian who has authored over 1,000 essays and 19 books, including a very well-known translation of the New
Reid Hoffman on the Possibilities of AI
28 Jun 2023
In his second appearance, Reid Hoffman joined Tyler to talk everything AI: the optimal liability regime for LLMs, whether there’ll be autonomous money-making bots, which agency should regulate AI,
Noam Chomsky on Language, Left Libertarianism, and Progress
14 Jun 2023
Noam Chomsky joins Tyler to discuss why Noam and Wilhelm von Humboldt have similar views on language and liberty, good and bad evolutionary approaches to language, what he thinks Stephen Wolfram gets
Peter Singer on Utilitarianism, Influence, and Controversial Ideas
7 Jun 2023
Peter Singer is one of the world’s most influential living philosophers, whose ideas have motivated millions of people to change how they eat, how they give, and how they interact with each other
Seth Godin on Marketing, Meaning, and the Bibs We Wear
31 May 2023
On good days, Seth Godin thinks about all the progress we’re making on climate change. On bad days, he thinks about the problem of racing bibs. Though pieces of paper safety-pinned to runners’
Simon Johnson on Banking, Technology, and Prosperity
17 May 2023
What’s more intense than leading the IMF during a financial crisis? For Simon Johnson, it was co-authoring a book with fellow economist (and past guest) Daron Acemoglu. Written in six months, their
Kevin Kelly on Advice, Travel, and Tech
3 May 2023
As the founding executive editor of Wired magazine and the author of several acclaimed books on technology and culture, Kevin Kelly has long been known for his visionary ideas and insights. But his
Anna Keay on Historic Architecture, Monarchy, and 17th Century Britain
19 Apr 2023
Anna Keay is a historian who specializes in the cultural heritage of Great Britain. As the director of the Landmark Trust, she has overseen the restoration of numerous historical buildings and
Jessica Wade on Chiral Materials, Open Knowledge, and Representation in STEM
5 Apr 2023
Jessica Wade is a physicist at Imperial College London who, while spending her day working on special carbon-based materials that can be used as semiconductors, has spent her nights writing nearly
Jonathan GPT Swift on Jonathan Swift
29 Mar 2023
In this conversation, Tyler uses ChatGPT to interview Jonathan Swift about his views on religion, politics, economics, and literature. GPT Swift discusses his support for the Church of Ireland, his
Tom Holland on History, Christianity, and the Value of the Countryside
22 Mar 2023
Historian Tom Holland joined Tyler to discuss in what ways his Christianity is influenced by Lord Byron, how the Book of Revelation precipitated a revolutionary tradition, which book of the Bible is
Yasheng Huang on the Development of the Chinese State
8 Mar 2023
Yasheng Huang has written two of Tyler’s favorite books on China: Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics, which contrasts an entrepreneurial rural China and a state-controlled urban China, and
Brad DeLong on Intellectual and Technical Progress
22 Feb 2023
Brad DeLong, professor of economics at UC Berkley, OG econ blogger (https://braddelong.substack.com/), and Tyler’s Harvard classmate, joins the show to discuss Slouching Towards Utopia, an
Glenn Loury on the Cover Story and the Real Story
8 Feb 2023
Economist and public intellectual Glenn Loury joined Tyler to discuss the soundtrack of Glenn’s life, Glenn's early career in theoretical economics, his favorite Thomas Schelling story, the best
Paul Salopek on Walking the World
25 Jan 2023
Paul Salopek is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and National Geographic fellow who, at the age of 50, set out on foot to retrace the steps of the first human migrations out of Africa. The
Rick Rubin on Listening, Taste, and the Act of Noticing
18 Jan 2023
Rick Rubin has been behind some of the most iconic and successful albums in music history, and his unique approach to production and artist development has made him one of the most respected figures
Katherine Rundell on the Art of Words
11 Jan 2023
Katherine Rundell is, in a word, enthusiastic. She’s enthusiastic about John Donne. She’s enthusiastic about walking along rooftops. She’s enthusiastic about words, and stories, and food. She
Conversations with Tyler 2022 Retrospective
28 Dec 2022
On this special year-in-review episode, Tyler and producer Jeff Holmes talk about the past year on the show, including which guests he’d like to have on in 2023, what stands out to him now about
John Adams on Composing and Creative Freedom
14 Dec 2022
Is classical music dying? For John Adams the answer is an emphatic no. Considered by Tyler to be America’s greatest living composer, he may well be one of the people responsible for keeping it
Jeremy Grantham on Investing in Green Tech
30 Nov 2022
When it comes to fighting climate change Jeremy Grantham is optimistic about technology – but worried about timing. Known widely for his acuity in identifying bubbles, the British investor contends
Ken Burns on the Complications of History
16 Nov 2022
When it comes to history—particularly American history—nothing is ever definitive, says documentarian Ken Burns. Much of his work has focused on capturing that history in film, but in his new
Mary Gaitskill on Subjects That Are Vexing Everybody
2 Nov 2022
Mary Gaitskill’s knack for writing about the social and physical world with unapologetic clarity has led to her style being described both as "cold and brutal” and “tender and compassionate.”
Reza Aslan on Martyrdom, Islam, and Revolution
19 Oct 2022
Reza Aslan doesn’t mind being called a pantheist. In his own “roundabout spiritual journey” and study of the world’s religions, which has led him to write books on Islam, the life of Jesus
Walter Russell Mead on the Past and Future of American Foreign Policy
5 Oct 2022
A leading expert in foreign policy, Walter Russell Mead believes his lack of a PhD—and interest in actually going places—has helped him avoid academic silos and institutional groupthink that’s
Byron Auguste On Rewiring the U.S. Labor Market
21 Sep 2022
When looking at the U.S. labor market, Byron Auguste sees too many job seekers screened out based on shallow signals like a bachelor’s degree, and too few ‘screened in’ by directly
Vaughn Smith on Life as a Hyperpolyglot
7 Sep 2022
Vaughn Smith is fluent in eight languages but with a beginner’s grasp of at least thirty-six (and counting). His talents are so remarkable that the Washington Post did a feature story on him and
Shruti Rajagopalan talks to Daniel Gross and Tyler about Identifying and Predicting Talent
1 Sep 2022
How can one identify and predict talent? On a search to answer this question and others like it, Tyler Cowen joined venture capitalist and entrepreneur Daniel Gross to explore the art and science of
