The Curious Task

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

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

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

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/@samb

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

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