ROCKING OUR PRIORS

Mar 21 2025 197 ep. 29 mins 2k
ROCKING OUR PRIORS Podcast artwork

Dr Alice Evans and leading experts discuss growth, governance, & gender inequalities. Alice is a Senior Lecturer at King's College London, and Faculty Associate at the Harvard Kennedy School.

  Education
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The Making of the Modern Muslim State: Professor Malika Zeghal

Mar 21 2025 61 mins  
The Making of the Modern Muslim State: Professor Malika Zeghal by Dr Alice Evans

What caused the Islamic Revival? Professor Jared Rubin

Mar 19 2025 104 mins  
Professor Jared Rubin has authored two superb books, “Rulers, Religion and Riches” and “How the World Became Rich”. He joined my podcast, to discuss: - Why did the Middle East Fall Behind? - What caused the shift to Scriptural Literalism? - What explains the Rise and Decline of Sufism? - How important was Wahhabism and Saudi Petrodollars? - Why were Liberalising Reforms Sh

"Raised to Obey": Agustina Paglayan

Nov 18 2024 76 mins  
Professor Agustina Paglayan has a fascinating new book: “Raised to Obey”! She contends that mass primary education systems were primarily established to consolidate state authority and maintain social order. But what about industrialisation, democratisation or the Protestant Reformation? And why should education experts consider Political Economy? Book: https://www.amazon

How does Low Fertility Affect Economic Growth, Worldwide? Jesús Fernández-Villaverde

Oct 02 2024 107 mins  
How exactly does low fertility affect economic growth, are UN population predictions accurate, what’s driving the decline in fertility, and what can be done? To answer these questions, I’m joined by the brilliant macro-economist, Jesús Fernández-Villaverde Read his recent paper: The Wealth of Working Nations https://www.nber.org/papers/w31914

Daron Acemoglu, V4.0: Rebooting Culture & Economics!

Sep 01 2024 67 mins  
Professor Daron Acemoglu is famous for his careful empirical research, demonstrating the economic importance of institutions. But actually, he’s done a 180 to embrace culture! In this podcast we discuss his new theory of culture, what drives liberty and prosperity, the limits of democracy, and the importance of geography!

How did East Asia Get Rich?

Aug 30 2024 77 mins  
Dr Oliver Kim has completed his PhD at Berkeley, recently appointed at Open Philanthropy. He does awesome research, carefully examining the drivers of structural transformation. We discussed: Why do you think East Asia is the only world region to have converged with the West? How have big data and computational tools changed our understanding of structural transformation? Oliver

Netflix and Change: Tracking Cultural Flux in Autocracies

Jul 26 2024 36 mins  
“Vikings is no. 1 from all the Saudi men 😂”. Leila chuckled as we browsed top hits on Netflix. For only 30 Riyals (8 USD) a month, Saudis can tune into stories about uncovered pagans. A global feast of delights are now on offer - from Western films to women’s football. Rapid cultural change is afoot in Saudi Arabia, a unique experiment in top-down secularisation. But how

Culture isn't a fossil, it's a fist-fight!

Jul 22 2024 33 mins  
Culture is not a static inheritance, but a dynamic arena of ongoing struggle. From the mosques of Jakarta to the classrooms of Louisiana, from TikTok feeds to university lecture halls, ideological warfare rages. This podcast explores the complex interplay of several crucial factors shaping our cultural landscape: Contestation: Culture is a battlefield where competing ideologies cl

PRESTIGE BIAS

Jul 18 2024 28 mins  
Imagine: Elon Musk's tweet causes a cryptocurrency frenzy. Kim Kardashian’s outfit becomes an overnight fashion sensation. Daron Acemoglu and colleagues’ paper on settler mortality reshapes economic thinking. The Pope’s words influence millions globally. What links these diverse events? They’re all powerful manifestations of prestige bias. Psychologically, we seek guidance

Why Is Management So Male?

Jul 11 2024 22 mins  
Senior management remains heavily male, and honestly I’m not entirely sure why. Economist Ingrid Haegele finds that junior men are more likely to apply for promotions, primarily due to a greater desire for team leadership. Paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2404.07750.pdf Haegele: https://www.ingridhaegele.com/