The Curious Task
Host Alex Aragona and a rotating cast of guests explore philosophy, politics, economics, and other ideas from a classical liberal perspective.
Episodes
Alex speaks with Dominic Parker about his 2023 paper with Dean Lueck entitled "The Economic Origins And Extent Of America's First Environmental Agencies"
Episode Notes:
Dominic's paper: https://aae.wisc.edu/dparker/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/12/Lueck-Parker-Origins-December-2023.pdf
Some history on the conservation movement from 1850-1920 via the American Library of Congress:
Alex speaks with Ryan Bourne as he explores the misconceptions around inflation and the dangers of price controls, emphasizing how prices act as signals to coordinate economic activity and promote growth. Ryan explains the adverse effects of government intervention in setting prices, such as shortages, quality declines, black markets, and inefficient resource allocation.
Episode Notes:
Alex speaks with Donner prize nominee Kent Roach about a topic that many Canadians may overlook when thinking about issues that are recurring at home: wrongful convictions and its victims.
Episode Notes:
- Kent's award-winning book "Wrongfully Convicted: Guilty Pleas, Imagined Crimes, and What Canada Must Do to Safeguard Justice" https://a.co/d/d9mB5cN
- Canadian Registry of Wrongful Convictions: https://www.wrongfulconvictions.ca...
Matt speaks with Ethan Nadelmann about drug decriminalization, legalization, and the slow end to the drug war in Canada and the United States, and how successes and failures in both countries compare to those abroad.
Episode Notes:
The Drug Policy Alliance website: https://drugpolicy.org/
Some history on Portugal's Drug Harm Reduction Programs: https://americanaddictioncenters.org/blog/portugals-harm-reduction-policies
Matt speaks with Craig Biddle about objectivism and the legacy of Ayn Rand, and how it all ties to classical liberalism, the American ideal, and post-modernism.
Episode Notes:
Craig's work for the Objective Standard:
https://theobjectivestandard.com/author/cbiddle/
Craig on X:
https://twitter.com/CraigBiddle
Free Ayn Rand books courtesy of the Ayn Rand Institute, including almost all of those referenced throughout this episode:
Alex speaks with Bryce Tingle about corporations, how these unique legal entities are governed, how changes we have made to corporate governance has discouraged companies from joining Canada’s public markets, and how the decline in our public market is hurting Canadians.
Episode Notes:
1. Bryce’s article “Returning Markets To The Centre Of Corporate Law”
https://jcl.law.uiowa.edu/sites/jcl.law.uiowa.edu/files/2023-09/Tingle_Fina...
Matt speaks with Eric Merkley about NIMBYism, the surprising touchpoints for unity between left and right on the subject of housing, and how uncovering the true motivations of NIMBYs has altered Eric's view of the housing crisis.
Episode Notes:
"Housing for Me, but not for Thee", Eric's paper serving as the basis for most of this conversation:
https://osf.io/preprints/7vmt3
Eric on X:
https://twitter.com/EricMerkley
Eric's art...
Sabine speaks with Ben Klutsey about political polarization, commonalities between the United States and Canada, and his documentary on the subject entitled "Undivide Us"
Episode Notes:
The documentary's website with more information, a trailer and the option to request a screening: https://undivideusmovie.com/
Kevin Vallier's "Trust in a Polarized Age":
John Inazu's "Learning To Disagree":
Alex speaks with Rachael LaRose about the hidden costs of the pandemic, especially as they effected our commercial relationships, loose ties with individuals that once provided much value to our lives, and orthodox communities who rallied to prioritize faith in the face of fear.
Episode Notes:
- Rachael's webpage with past publications, etc.: https://www.rachaelbehr.com/
- "The Strength of Weak Ties" Mark S. Granovetter https://ww...
Matt speaks with Sam Bowman about the global housing crisis and why, in English-speaking countries in particular, a growing consensus across the political divide is pointing to problems with central planning, NIMBYism and a supply limit as the causes.
Episode Notes:
- Sam Bowman’s on substack: https://substack.com/@sambowman
- Sam on "Vetocracy": https://www.sambowman.co/p/democracy-is-...
Alex speaks with Akshaya Kamalnath about her work on Corporate Diversity, the social pressures and cultural trends that corporations are facing, as well as the jurisdictional realities of handling diversity, amongst other issues.
Episode Notes:
Akshaya's page at ANU: https://researchers.anu.edu.au/researchers/kamalnath-a
Akshaya's blog:
corporatelawacademic.wordpress.com
"Legal and Market Initiatives to Increase Diversity in Corpo...
In May 2022, Alex spoke with Deirdre McCloskey in a wide-ranging conversation that addresses the economic, philosophical, and political reasons why liberalism just works. We're reposting that important conversation today on The Curious Task.
Alex speaks with Alex Nowrasteh about nationalism as more of an innate tendency towards ethnic tribalism than anything resembling patriotism, and how this tendency may never disappear, but is worth resisting nonetheless.
Episode Notes:
Alex's page at the Cato Insitute:
https://www.cato.org/people/alex-nowrasteh
Alex on X:
https://twitter.com/alexnowrasteh?lang=en
Alex's book "Wretched Refuse?: The Political Economy of Immigrati...
Alex speaks with Oyebade Oyerinde about the state of federalism in Nigeria, and how western ideas of democracy, liberalism and centralization of powers have influenced the current state of politics in the African nation.
Episode Notes:
"Polycentric Interstate Federalism Among The Yoruba Of Nigeria: Lessons For Growing An International Federal Order" by Oyebade Kunle Oyerinde https://cosmosandtaxis.files.wor...
Sabine speaks with Jason Kuznicki about the present, past, and future influence of technology on gender and why he questions the uproar made about a choice made by individuals in the market about their own self-expression and identity.
Episode Notes:
Jason's article "Gender as Essence and as Economic Choice" http://tinyurl.com/2p9byb5d
The Cosmos + Taxis issue on gender: http://tinyurl.com/2p9byb5d
Alex speaks with Marian Tupy about the notion that human progress has increased quality of life worldwide for centuries, making today the greatest time to be alive in the history of human life (in spite of what you may have heard elsewhere).
Episode Notes:
- Marian's book "Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet" on Amazon Canada: https://a.co/d/boeFBP3
Sabine speaks with Aeon Skoble about the harms of limiting access to information, including book bans and why a better understanding of ideas we disagree with often strengthens rather than weakens our arguments in support of the ideas we endorse. Episode Notes:
- “Free Speech and the Function of a University” Aeon J. Skoble https://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2081&context=br_rev - A brief history of Hume’s work...
Alex speaks with Eric Schliesser about the growing declarations of the end of liberalism and what this means for the socio-political future in general.
Episode Notes:
- Eric Schliesser’s page at the University of Amsterdam https://www.uva.nl/en/profile/s/c/e.s.schliesser/e.s.schliesser.html#Publications
- Kevin Vallier’s episode of this podcast discussing reli...
Sabine speaks with Akiva Malamet and Mikayla Novak about the effects of market forces on gender as a social construct, the unlikely pairing of free markets and gender in an age of socialist feminist theory, and their recent co-authored article in Cosmos + Taxis.
Episode Notes:
"Gender as a Discovery Process: Social Construction, Markets, and Gender" Akiva Malamet and Mikayla Novak https://cosmosandtaxis.files.wordpress.com/2023/10/...
Sabine Speaks with Ryan Thorpe about the state of Journalism in Canada and about how bills C-18, C-11 and government subsidies for journalism are compromising an industry necessary for democratic participation in an age when accountability is more important than ever.
Episode Notes:
Ryan's page on the Winnipeg Free Press website: https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/biographies/ryan-thorpe
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