Listening ideas for 1 August 2011 (2)

EconTalk
Admati on Financial Regulation
Anat Admati of Stanford University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about ways to make the financial system more stable. In particular, Admati explores the implications of higher capital requirements. She argues that current policies subsidize leverage--high levels of debt relative to equity--and that current levels of leverage increase the vulnerability of the system to swings in asset prices. She then gives her response to criticisms of higher equity levels. The conversation concludes with a discussion of the role of academic economists and finance professors as advocates for various policies.
(review, feed)


The Tolkien Professor
Silmarillion Seminar 8: Subcreators Gone Wild
After a brief message to Stephen Colbert, we move on to the eighth session of the Silmarillion Seminar, discussing Chapter 7 of the Quenta Silmarillion, "Of the Silmarils and the Unrest of the Noldor."
(review, feed)

Listening ideas for 1 August 2011 (1)

The History of Rome
Julian the Apostate
Julian came to power in late 361 and immediately set about trying to turn back the clock on both Church and State.
(review, feed)

Russian Rulers History Podcast
Kill the Reformer
Alexander II tries to reform Russia only to have multiple assassinations come his way. Eventually one was to succeed bringing his reign to an abrupt end.
(review, feed)

Ideas
Say No To Happiness
Life is about being happy, right? Just ask the Dalai Lama...or any of the best-selling authors on the subject...or the scientists who study the benefits of being happy. But are we losing something else along the way: the need for meaning in our lives? IDEAS producer Frank Faulk examines the tension between our desire for happiness and our need for meaning.
(review, feed)

New Podcasts since May 2011

The last time I summarized the newly reviewed podcasts was on May 1st. Since then a couple of more podcasts have been reviewed for the first time:

Myoclonic Jerk
The Myoclonic Jerk is a very entertaining podcast that would be best characterized as a piece of investigative journalism with a personal touch and a hint of comedy podcast. The maker Daniel Kaufman takes up a subject to discuss and you can count on being informed, entertained and allowed a peek into his soul.
(review, feed)

A Quiet Mind
Robert Jackson shares his thoughts on a range of topics related to mindfulness, awareness, meditation and positive thinking with practical advice from a largely Eastern viewpoint on how anyone, regardless of occupation or location, can better achieve a quiet mind.
(review, feed)

International Political Economy
James Morrison of Middlebury College covers the political economy of the international system.
(review, feed)

Reith Lectures 2011 (BBC)
The speakers will be Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and former MI5 director-general Baroness Manningham-Buller. There will be five lectures in total and the subject will be "Securing Freedom".
(review, feed)

Introduction to Biofuels (UCSD)
Stephen Mayfield covers the topics of global warming, peak oil, peak coal, peak gas, peak phosporus and food and their interrelationships systematically and comprehensively, occasionally with the help of other lecturers.
(review, feed)

Early Modern England (Yale)
Keith Wrightson's introduction to the development of English society between the late fifteenth and the early eighteenth centuries.
(review, feed)

The Moral Foundations of Politics (Yale)
Ian Shapiro unpacks the approaches on legitamcy of political power with a strong economics perspective.
(review, feed)

I have also made a quick introduction to the 80 something podcasts coming from the New Books Network. Podcasts containing interviews with authors, ordered in as many subjects. I advise to pick one of the many specific feeds, but you can also subscribe to the compound feed. (review)