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
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
<...Matt speaks with Tyler Cowen about his recent book "GOAT: Who is the Greatest Economist of all Time and Why Does it Matter?", as they discuss the case for and against each of the top finalists, and the interactive AI features that Tyler has integrated into the book's online release.
Episode Notes:
The full book plus all interactive AI features can be found for free here: https://goatgreatesteconomistofalltime.ai/en
Alex speaks with Peter Boettke and Matthew Mitchell about their recent book co-authored with Konstantin Zhukov about the unusual rise of Estonia from the ashes of Stalinism to their current status as one of the freest nations on earth.
Episode Notes:
The conversation focusses on the book "Road To Freedom" which can be read in its entirety here: https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/road-to-freedom-estonias-rise-from-...
Alex speaks with Nick Cowen about democracy, markets, and his forthcoming article "Include The Ignorant"
Episode Notes:
- Jason Brennan "Against Democracy" https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691178493/against-democracy
- On the Compatibility of Epistocracy and Public Reason by Thomas Mulligan https://www.jstor.org/stable/24575740
- Hayek on Limited Democracy, Dictatorships, and the ‘Free’ Market: An Interview in Arge...
Alex speaks with Mike Munger about the state of classical liberalism in an era in which conservatism seems intent on wielding the tools of central planning and the left prefers the term "progressive" to "liberal".
Episode Notes:
The Classical Liberal Diaspora by Mike Munger: https://t.co/xoRnPIUXXi
The Articles of Confederation: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Articles-of-Confederation
Sabine speaks with Lauren K Hall, who defends the notion that feminism is an emergent order, and speaks about her recent special edition of Cosmos+Taxis.
Episode Notes:
All articles in the most recent edition of Cosmos+Taxis are linked here:
https://cosmosandtaxis.org/current-issue/
Sarah Blaffer Hrdy "The Woman That Never Evolved":
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1khdr6b
Kimberle Crenshaw "Demarginalizing the Intersection of Ra...
Matt speaks with Clara Piano about the relationship between economic freedom, fertility, and the roles that modernization and increasing well-being for women have on the number of babies that are born in countries around the world.
Episode Notes:
"The Fertility Gap and Economic Freedom" by Clara Piano & Lyman Stone https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4564080
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