Historian and author Janet Golden talks about her book, Babies Made Us Modern, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Golden chronicles the transformation of parenting in first half of the 20th century. It's a fascinating story of how our knowledge of infant health and behavior grew dramatically but remains imperfect. At the same time, government, business, and private organizations responded to that imperfect knowledge.

Psychiatrist and author Iain McGilchrist talks about his book, The Master and His Emissary, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. McGilchrist argues we have misunderstand the purpose and effect of the divided brain. The left side is focused, concrete, and confident while the right side is about integration of ourselves with the complexity of the world around us. McGilchrist uses this distinction to analyze the history of western civilization. This is a wide-ranging conversation that includes discussions of poetry, philosophy, and economics.

Have you heard of Henry George? In this week's EconTalk, host Russ Roberts welcomes Glen Weyl to discuss his new book, co-authored with Eric Posner, Radical Markets. One of Weyl's objectives is to bring back one of George's main proposals, a form of land tax.

As always, now we'd like to hear what you think. There's already been great conversation in the comment section for the episode...Let's keep it going!

1. Weyl asserts that his broad purpose in the book is to "create a different sort of political coalition." Who is he trying to align, and how successful do you think his various proposals could be in accomplishing this?

Economist Glen Weyl of Microsoft Research New England and Visiting Senior Research Scholar at Yale University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his book (co-authored with Eric Posner) Radical Markets. Weyl urges a radical transformation of land and housing markets using a new federal real estate tax based on self-assessment. Owners would be required to sell their houses at the self-assessed price. Weyl argues this would eliminate the market power home owners have in the re-sale market and the revenue tax would could be used to reduce inequality. In the last part of the conversation, Weyl proposes an overhaul of U.S. immigration policy by having residents sponsor immigrants for a fee.

Host Russ Roberts and his guest, Pete Boettke, invited us to dive into the "meat and potatoes" of governance in this week's EconTalk. Their wide-ranging conversation on political conversation covered a lot of ground... So much so I find it really hard to narrow down to just a few questions for your further consideration...

So let's try this...

1. What question(s) would you like to ask Boettke on the general topic of public administration? Are there any particular points on which you disagree with Boettke? What are they, and what's the nature of your disagreement?

2. What does Boettke mean by "public administration," and how does he think our understanding of it affects the way economics is practiced?

3. What does it mean to "sustain the mythology" of the US Constitution? To what extent do you think that's an effective practice, and why? (Related, whose job is it- or should it be- to sustain this mythology?)

4. What are some of the problems with decentralizing government functions? What things might be better handled at the local versus the federal level? (Note: Even Russ admits that not everything benefits from bottom-up solutions...)

5. For me at least, this was perhaps the most significant question raised in this week's conversation, and it's a question I do not know how to answer. How about you? How do we market freedom and economic liberty to people who don't see it helping them very much? (You might read this question as Boettke suggests; how do we get back to the "soul of classical liberalism?"

Peter Boettke of George Mason University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the proper role of the state in the economy. This is a wide-ranging conversation on political economy. Topics include Adam Smith's view of the state, the tension between the state as enabler of real vs. crony capitalism, the potential for the poor to flourish in a market economy, and the challenges of democracy.

How can a good manager learn to trust his subordinates? What about his kids? In this week's episode, EconTalk host Russ Roberts sat down with Joel Peterson, who teaches at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and serves as the Chairman of the Board of JetBlue Airways. The two discuss Peterson's "strange career" as well as his new book, The 10 Laws of Trust.

Let's hear what you took away from this week's episode... As always, we love to hear from you!

1. As a traveler, what would you consider to be the most significant innovation in the airline industry? How about as an investor in an airline? To what extent are these two answers the same for you, and why?

How did the CEO of a real estate development company become chairman of an airline? How can a competent manager learn to trust his subordinates? Joel Peterson, Chairman of the Board at JetBlue Airways and author of The 10 Laws of Trust, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his career at Trammell Crow and JetBlue and how the concept of trust, outlined in his book, has helped his career. He closes the conversation with a discussion of how he overcame his personal weaknesses that would have handicapped his career--or as he puts it, how he "rewrote his operating system."

This week's PG-13 episode has scandal, celebrities, and sex tapes. But according to EconTalk host Russ Roberts, Ryan Holiday's newest book, Conspiracy, is "an extended meditation on power, strategy, patience, [and] revenge..." Holiday tells the story of the demise of the celebrity expose website Gawker after a trial brought by pro wrestler Hulk Hogan, and secretly funded by PayPal founder Peter Thiel. Was it a shoot or a kayfabe? Do all secrets have expiration dates, as Roberts suggests? It's hard to keep track of this complex plot...

What lessons did you draw from this week's conversation? (And did you go out and get the book? Did you read it in a day, like Russ?) As every week, we'd like to hear more from you. Use our prompts and leave your response in the Comments, start your own conversation offline, or drop us a line. Let's keep the conversation flowing.

1. In talking of Gawker's model, Holiday says, "...if you pay people by the page view, you unlock a very powerful mechanism." What does he mean by this, and what does it illustrate about news in the digital age? Is this change an unadulterated good or bad? Why?

Author Ryan Holiday discusses his book, Conspiracy, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. This is a crazy episode about a crazy book about a crazy set of events--the Hulk Hogan lawsuit against the website Gawker, a lawsuit that was secretly funded by Peter Thiel. Holiday explains how this happened and the lessons for all of us related to conspiracies, patience, strategy, and revenge. Along the way, Holiday discusses his techniques for reading and lessons for how to grab someone's attention when looking for a job or opportunity.