How did a husband-and-wife vacation end up saving a city from the atomic bomb while destroying another? And how did a century-old murder of one family bring another into existence? Easily, explains political scientist Brian Klaas of University College London, who points out that history is replete with chance events that profoundly shaped both society and individual lives. Listen as Klaas discusses his book Fluke with EconTalk's Russ Roberts. Klaas argues that recognizing the randomness of everyday life and history can lead to a newfound appreciation for the meaning of every decision, and to a focus on joyful experimentation instead of relentless optimization.
The Top EconTalk Conversations of 2023 (with Russ Roberts)
Seeking Immortality (with Paul Bloom)
When Prediction Is Not Enough (with Teppo Felin)
Rituals Without Religion (with Michael Norton)
A User's Guide to Our Emotional Thermostat (with Adam Mastroianni)
What Does "Unbiased" Mean in the Digital World? (with Megan McArdle)
Voices from Gaza (with Ahmed Alkhatib)
Living with Exponential Change (with Azeem Azhar)
How to Avoid Lying With Statistics (with Jeremy Weber)
The Secrets of Great Conversation (with Charles Duhigg)
A Lively Debate on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (with Robert Wright)
Year Zero of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (with Hillel Cohen)
Should Israel Depend on the US? (with Michael Oren)
What Palestinians Are Thinking (with Dahlia Scheindlin)
Can a Nation Plunder Its Way to Wealth (with Noah Smith)
The Challenge of Covering the Most Important Story on Earth (with Matti Friedman)
From the Second Intifada to October 7th (with Daniel Gordis)
Can Artificial Intelligence Be Moral? (with Paul Bloom)
An Extraordinary Introduction to the Birth of Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (with Haviv Rettig Gur)
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
We Study Billionaires - The Investor’s Podcast Network
Money Girl
So Money with Farnoosh Torabi
The YNAB Podcast
Money Tree Investing