Best Benjamin Ferguson Podcasts (2024)

1
Housing for All with Chris Martin 1:35:18

12d ago1:35:18

1:35:18

Money on the Left is joined by Dr. Chris Martin to discuss Modern Monetary Theory’s vital importance for the struggle to provide adequate housing for all. A Senior Research Fellow at the City Futures Research Centre at the University of New South Wales, Martin is a long-time tenant’s rights advocate in Australia with scholarly training in law and h…

1
The Black University Concept with Andrew J. Douglas 1:13:54

1M ago1:13:54

1:13:54

Andrew J. Douglas, political theorist and professor of political science at Morehouse College, joins Money on the Left to discuss his latest article, “Modern Money and the Black University Concept,” published April 19, 2024, in Money on the Left: History, Theory, Practice. In the article as in the interview, Andrew stages critical encounters betwee…

1
Lucy Turnbull — Urbanism, YIMBYism, and Solutions to Australia's Housing Crisis (Bonus Live Episode) 46:43

1M ago46:43

46:43

Lucy Turnbull is an urbanist, businesswoman and philanthropist. She was the first female Lord Mayor of Sydney, from 2003-4. From 2015-20, she was the inaugural Chief Commissioner of the Greater Sydney Commission, tasked with delivering strategic planning for the whole of metropolitan Sydney. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

1
Bryan Caplan — The Economics of Housing Abundance 1:50:14

2M ago1:50:14

1:50:14

Bryan Caplan is Professor of Economics at George Mason University. A bestselling author, his books include The Case Against Education, Open Borders, and Build, Baby, Build: The Science and Ethics of Housing Deregulation. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/bryan-caplan-155 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

1
Aesthetics after Autonomy with Grant Kester 1:42:34

2M ago1:42:34

1:42:34

Money on the Left is joined by Grant Kester, professor of Art History at University of California, San Diego. We speak with Kester about his multi-decade career, researching and teaching the history of socially engaged art. Kester’s scholarship underscores the limits and contradictions of the dominant modern Western tradition of aesthetics. Such ae…

1
Economic Democracy with Pavlina Tcherneva 1:11:00

3M ago1:11:00

1:11:00

Money on the Left speaks with Pavlina Tcherneva, Professor of Economics at Bard College and leading scholar of–-and advocate for—Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). Many of our listeners will be familiar with Dr. Tcherneva's contributions to MMT, especially her book, The Case for a Job Guarantee (Polity Press, 2020). She is also Director of Open Society …

1
The Alternative with Nick Romeo 1:24:14

4M ago1:24:14

1:24:14

Scott Ferguson and Billy Saas speak with New Yorker writer Nick Romeo about his exciting new book, The Alternative: How to Build a Just Economy, released in January 2024 with Public Affairs. Romeo’s The Alternative rebukes Margaret Thatcher’s infamous axiom that “there is no alternative” to neoliberal capitalism. In doing so, the book inventories t…

1
How can novels help us think about money ... and maybe even save the planet? (Guest Lecture) 32:31

5M ago32:31

32:31

Can novels and, by extension, other works of art help us to think about money and trust in new ways? Could embracing alternative perspectives on trust and money help us to avoid climate catastrophe? Rob Hawkes shares a new version of a talk previously presented at the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art as part of the One Fifteen at MIMA series o…

1
Resisting Predatory Finance w/ Raúl Carrillo (Recovered Audio!) 1:22:57

5M ago1:22:57

1:22:57

Money on the Left is proud to present recovered and remastered audio from our interview with Raúl Carrillo, published previously solely as a written transcript. The recording also includes a new audio introduction in which Billy Saas reflects on the significance of our dialog with Carrillo for contemporary politics. In our discussion, we explore th…

1
Modern Movie Theory: What We Do in the Shadows 1:46:07

6M ago1:46:07

1:46:07

Will Beaman (@agoingaccount) is joined by Robyn Ollett (@robynollett) and Rob Hawkes (@robbhawkes) to discuss What We Do in the Shadows. Citing Robyn’s interpretations of vampirism in The New Queer Gothic: Reading Queer Girls and Women in Contemporary Fiction and Film, the cohosts situate What We Do in the Shadows within the vampire's long history …

1
Criticism LTD w/ Matt Seybold 1:46:23

6M ago1:46:23

1:46:23

Matt Seybold joins Rob Hawkes and Scott Ferguson to discuss the political economy of literary criticism from past to present, amateur to professional. Seybold is Associate Professor of American Literature at Elmira College and Resident Scholar at the Center for Mark Twain Studies. In addition to writing and teaching in the field of literature & eco…

1
2023 Retrospective — A Listener Interviews Me 1:47:48

7M ago1:47:48

1:47:48

In this special episode, the tables are turned as I'm interviewed by a listener of the show, DJ Thornton from Sydney. We reflect on the progress of the show in 2023, what I learned from this year's guests, and what's in store for 2024. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

1
David Deutsch & Steven Pinker (First Ever Public Dialogue) — AGI, P(Doom), & The Enemies of Progress 1:55:40

7M ago1:55:40

1:55:40

At a time when the Enlightenment is under attack from without and within, I bring together two of the most thoughtful defenders of progress and reason, for their first ever public dialogue. Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. I think of him as providing the strongest empirical defence of the Enlightenment (…

1
Teaching Economics w/ Benjamin Wilson 1:29:00

8M ago1:29:00

1:29:00

We are joined again by Benjamin Wilson to discuss what it is like to teach Economics from a heterodox Modern Monetary Theory perspective in 2023. Wilson is associate professor and recently-minted chair of the department of Economics at SUNY, Cortland. In previous episodes, we have chatted with Wilson about his research, the Uni Currency project, an…

1
Shruti Rajagopalan — On Spotting Talent, And Making Sense of Rising India 2:45:00

8M ago2:45:00

2:45:00

Shruti Rajagopalan is an Indian-American economist. She leads the Indian political economy research program and Emergent Ventures India at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She also hosts the Ideas of India podcast. Full transcript available at: jnwpod.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

1
Monetary Foundations of Education w/ Larry Johnson 1:28:12

9M ago1:28:12

1:28:12

This month, we speak with Larry Johnson, associate professor in the Social Foundations of Education Program at the University of South Florida, Saint Petersburg. In his pedagogy, Johnson focuses on the complex relationship between education, culture, and society with the goal of exploring policies and practices from historical and contemporary pers…

1
Raghuram Rajan — Debt, Monetary Policy, and Unintended Consequences 1:51:50

9M ago1:51:50

1:51:50

What were the deep causes of the global financial crisis and great recession? Has unconventional monetary policy in the wake of the crisis done more harm than good? And should monetary policy target financial stability? I discuss these questions and more with Indian economist and Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Raghuram Rajan. Rag…

1
Power to the People w/ Sandeep Vaheesan 1:14:48

9M ago1:14:48

1:14:48

Sandeep Vaheesan (@sandeepvaheesan) joins Scott Ferguson on the Superstructure podcast to discuss the still-undecided political significance of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Their conversation focuses on Vaheesan’s article, “The IRA is Still Being Formed: An Episode in America’s Past Contains Important Lessons for How We Move Forward in Greeni…

1
Reparations for Black Americans w/ William A. Darity 59:02

10M ago59:02

59:02

We’re joined this month by William A.( “Sandy”) Darity to discuss reparations for Black Americans. Sandy Darity is Samuel DuBois Cook Professor of Public Policy, African and African American Studies, and Economics and the director of the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University. A founding theorist of stratification economics a…

1
Peter Singer — Moral Truths and Moral Secrets 1:54:39

10M ago1:54:39

1:54:39

Peter Singer is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. He is widely regarded as the world's most influential living philosopher. Full transcript available at: jnwpod.com Episode recorded on 26 April 2023. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.By Joe Walker

1
Money's Place (Journal Announcement!) 13:55

10M ago13:55

13:55

In this brief podcast message, Scott Ferguson announces the publication of Maxximilian Seijo's peer-reviewed journal essay, "Money’s Place: Science Fiction, Realism & Modern Monetary Theory in Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future," in Money on the Left: History, Theory, Practice. Abstract Kim Stanley Robinson’s speculative near-future…

1
The People’s Ledger w/ Saule Omarova 1:39:44

11M ago1:39:44

1:39:44

This month, we discuss democratic possibilities for public finance with Saule Omarova, the Beth and Marc Goldberg Professor of Law at Cornell University and President Biden’s original nominee for Comptroller of the Currency. Omarova’s work on financial regulation and banking law has long informed how we at Money on the Left understand the modern mo…

1
Peter Turchin — Why Societies Fall Apart (And Why the US May Be Next) 1:41:45

11M ago1:41:45

1:41:45

Peter Turchin is a complexity scientist and one of the founders of cliodynamics — a new, cross-disciplinary field that applies mathematics and big data to test historical theories. Full transcript available at: jnwpod.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.By Joe Walker

1
Stephen Wolfram — Constructing the Computational Paradigm 4:24:06

11M ago4:24:06

4:24:06

Stephen Wolfram is a physicist, computer scientist and businessman. He is the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research, the creator of Mathematica and Wolfram Alpha, and the author of A New Kind of Science. Full transcript available at: jnwpod.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.By Joe Walker

1
Adventures in Quantumland w/ Ruth E. Kastner 1:18:20

11M ago1:18:20

1:18:20

Scott Ferguson is joined on the Superstructure podcast by Ruth E. Kastner, philosopher of physics and research associate at the University of Maryland. In their conversation, Ferguson and Kastner explore metaphysical resonances between Modern Monetary Theory’s approach to money and Kastner’s “Transactional Interpretation” of quantum physics. Settin…

1
Job Guarantee as Historical Struggle w/ David Stein (NEW TRANSCRIPT!) 1:06:48

12M ago1:06:48

1:06:48

We are excited to rerelease our inaugural episode of Money on the Left alongside a brand new transcript. Conversation originally published on May 27, 2018 Money on the Left is the official podcast of Modern Money Network: Humanities Division (@moneyontheleft). In our inaugural episode, we consider the recent resurgence of full employment politics i…

1
Katalin Karikó — Forging the mRNA Revolution 2:03:50

12M ago2:03:50

2:03:50

Katalin Karikó is a Hungarian-American biochemist. She is one of the inventors of mRNA technology. Full transcript available at: thejspod.com. Episode recorded on 15 February 2023. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.By Joe Walker

1
Richard Rhodes — The Making of the Atomic Bomb 3:42:20

12M ago3:42:20

3:42:20

Richard Rhodes is an American historian and the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Full transcript available at: thejspod.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.By Joe Walker

1
The Ends of Freedom w/ Mark Paul 1:05:47

1y ago1:05:47

1:05:47

Mark Paul joins Money on the Left to discuss his new book, The Ends of Freedom: Reclaiming America’s Lost Promise of Economic Rights (University of Chicago Press, 2023). Paul is assistant professor in the Bloustein school of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. In his book, Paul scours U.S. political and economic history to recover, re…

1
New Deal for Higher Ed w/ Jennifer Mittelstadt 1:40:13

1y ago1:40:13

1:40:13

We’re joined by Jennifer Mittelstadt (@MittelstadtJen), professor of history at Rutgers University, to discuss her involvement with Scholars for a New Deal for Higher Education. We speak with Mittelstadt about how Scholars for a New Deal for Higher Education is organizing to address the most pressing threats to US public higher education today, as …

1
Postmodern Money Theory! (Part 3) 1:41:04

1y ago1:41:04

1:41:04

In the third installment of Superstructure’s “Postmodern Money Theory!” series, Rob Hawkes and Scott Ferguson wrap up their discussion of B.S. Johnson’s novella, Christie Malry’s Own Double-Entry, which self-consciously weaves money and accounting into the very fabric of literary form. Rob and Scott tease out the text’s lingering potentials and bli…

1
Ken Henry — An Economic Odyssey 4:35:09

1y ago4:35:09

4:35:09

Dr Ken Henry is an Australian economist who served as Secretary of Australia's Treasury from 2001 to 2011. He was instrumental in helping Australia avoid recession during the 2008 Global Financial Crisis — Australia was the only major advanced economy to do so. Full transcript available at: thejspod.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor…

1
Bank of the People with Dan Rohde 1:58:44

1y ago1:58:44

1:58:44

Dan Rohde (@DanEricRohde) joins Scott Ferguson to discuss his Superstructure Vertical piece, “Bank of the People: History for Money’s Future.” The piece is based on a longer scholarly article titled, “The Bank of the People, 1835-1840: Law and Money in Upper Canada,” which is forthcoming from Osgoode Journal of Law. Visit our Patreon page here: htt…

1
On Paradox with Elizabeth S. Anker 1:57:48

1y ago1:57:48

1:57:48

Elizabeth S. Anker joins Money on the Left to discuss her provocative new book, On Paradox: The Claims of Theory (Duke University Press, 2022). Anker is Associate Professor of English at Cornell University and Professor of Law in the Cornell Law School. In On Paradox, Anker contends that faith in the logic of paradox has been the cornerstone of lef…

1
Palmer Luckey — Science (Non)fiction 1:39:19

1y ago1:39:19

1:39:19

Palmer Luckey is an American tech entrepreneur and billionaire. He has founded two companies: Oculus VR (acquired by Facebook for $2 billion in 2014), and Anduril (recently valued at $8.5 billion). He has been described as the real-life Tony Stark. Full transcript available at: www.thejspod.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

1
Daniel Kahneman — Dyads, And Other Mysteries 1:13:07

1y ago1:13:07

1:13:07

Daniel Kahneman is widely regarded as the most influential psychologist alive. He won the Nobel Prize in Economics (2002) for his work on judgment and decision-making under uncertainty, much of it done jointly with his late collaborator Amos Tversky. He is the author of the bestselling books Thinking, Fast and Slow and Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgme…

1
Stayed on Freedom w/ Dan Berger 1:27:48

1+ y ago1:27:48

1:27:48

Money on the Left presents a public conversation with Dan Berger about his important new book, Stayed on Freedom: The Long History of Black Power through One Family’s Journey (Basic Books, 2023). Berger’s Stayed on Freedom tells a new history of Black Liberation through the intertwined narratives of two grassroots organizers. The Black Power moveme…

1
Postmodern Money Theory! (Part 2) 1:29:10

1+ y ago1:29:10

1:29:10

In Part 2 of Superstructure’s “Postmodern Money Theory!” series, Rob Hawkes and Scott Ferguson explore B.S. Johnson’s postmodern novella, Christie Malry’s Own Double-Entry (1973), which self-consciously weaves money and accounting into the very fabric of literary form. Regarded as brokering a broader transition between modernism and postmodernism, …

1
Mikhail Bakhtin Pt. 1 - Carnival Laughter & Grotesque Realism 1:49:12

1+ y ago1:49:12

1:49:12

Will Beaman (@agoingaccount) inaugurates the first of a lecture series on the work and ideas of Mikhail Bakhtin. Drawing parallels with right wing attacks on contemporary drag performance and ballroom traditions, Will discusses Bakhtin’s analysis of the Medieval carnival humor, its manifestation in Renaissance literature, and its unique aesthetics …

1
Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste w/Rohan Grey (Bonus Episode) 1:29:50

1+ y ago1:29:50

1:29:50

In this bonus episode of Money on the Left, Rohan Grey joins co-hosts Scott Ferguson and Billy Saas to assess the epistemological and political implications of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) failure. While orthodox economics and law tell us that economic crises are essentially matters of private risk and market discipline, Rohan, Scott and Billy arg…

1
Postmodern Money Theory! (Part 1) 1:15:57

1+ y ago1:15:57

1:15:57

Launching a new Superstructure series, Rob Hawkes joins Scott Ferguson to explore the ins and outs of “postmodernism.” Postmodernism is a heterogenous and disputed regime of aesthetics and theory that arose in the second half of the 20th century. Dated to midcentury, but promulgated as a discourse from the 1970’s to 1990’s, postmodernism is known p…

1
Gramatneusiedl's Job Guarantee w/ Thomas Schwab 1:21:31

1+ y ago1:21:31

1:21:31

This month, Money on the Left is joined by Thomas Schwab who, as mayor of Gramatneusiedl in Lower Austria, oversees a promising Job Guarantee pilot program. Seeking to eliminate long-term unemployment, the program guarantees public jobs to anyone in the community who seeks them. In our conversation, we explore the philosophy and structure of Gramat…

1
Money & Solidarity in Latin America w/ Andrés Arauz 1:27:51

1+ y ago1:27:51

1:27:51

Money on the Left is joined by Andrés Arauz, recent candidate for the Ecuadorian presidency, heterodox economist, and outspoken advocate for the creation of the “Sur.” The Sur is a complementary currency for use in intra-Latin American trade and cooperation. Dismissed by New York Times blogger, Paul Krugman, as a “terrible idea,” Brazilian Presiden…

1
Superstructure 34 - Italy and International Fascism 2:00:09

1+ y ago2:00:09

2:00:09

Co-hosts Naty T Smith (@orangeasm), Will Beaman (@agoingaccount), and Charlotte Tavan (@moltopopulare) discuss the rise to power of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni near the 100th anniversary of Mussolini's March on Rome to frame the international moment and the ascendance of red-brown tendencies, the urgencies of anti- fascism, and the shape …

1
Can The Little Mermaid Speak? 1:54:19

1+ y ago1:54:19

1:54:19

Will Beaman and Scott Ferguson tease out the multiplicity of voices that shape The Little Mermaid (1989) in order to problematize racist outcries against Disney’s forthcoming 2023 live-action version of the film starring singer Halle Bailey. The co-hosts answer and invert an imperative promulgated by a reactionary meme circulated on social media: “…

1
Making Digital Public Spaces w/ MUSICat 1:37:07

1+ y ago1:37:07

1:37:07

This month Money on the Left is joined by the folks behind the MUSICat project, an online music streaming service for public libraries designed to share heterogenous local music with local community members. We speak with Preston Austin and Kelly Hiser from Rabble, the company behind MUSICat, as well as with Racquel (“Rocky”) Mann, who coordinates …

1
Talent Is That Which Is Scarce — Tyler Cowen 48:21

1+ y ago48:21

48:21

In the long run, talent allocation is almost everything. But as a society, we're not actually very good at it. The question of how to reliably match people with jobs they are well suited for is one of the big unsolved problems of our times. Joe catches up with return guest Tyler Cowen to discuss the art of identifying talent. Tyler is a professor o…

1
Intellectual Exoskeletons — Andy Matuschak 2:08:54

1+ y ago2:08:54

2:08:54

From language and writing to the Hindu-Arabic numeral system, computers and Adobe Photoshop, our species has a history of inventing tools for augmenting our own intelligence. But what comes next? Andy Matuschak is a developer and designer. He helped build iOS at Apple, founded and led Khan Academy's R&D lab, and now works as an independent research…

1
Rationality And Its Opposite — Steven Pinker 52:32

1+ y ago52:32

52:32

How rational are we? How can a species smart enough to set foot on the moon also be prone to conspiracy theories that the moon landing was fake? Joe speaks with Steven Pinker to discuss rationality — and its opposite. Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, an elected t…

1
The Descent of Money 42:40

1+ y ago42:40

42:40

‘The Descent of Money: Literature, Inheritance, and Trust in Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth (1905) and John Galsworthy’s The Man of Property (1906)’ Rob Hawkes' paper argues that Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth (1905) and John Galsworthy’s The Man of Property (1906) foreground, interrogate and enact questions of trust, both in their engageme…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Benjamin Ferguson Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Quick Reference Guide