Philosopher Jerry Green joins us to talk about how hard it is to define conspiracy theories, what attracts people to conspiracy theories, and whether James and Guy should start producing children's programming.

Dylan Pahman is the Executive Editor of the Journal of Markets & Morality and a research fellow at the Acton Institute. He joins us to discuss the the work of the Acton Institute in exploring and promoting the relationship between religion and liberty. Along the way we learn why he thinks St. John of Damascus is the greatest theologian and why Adam Smith gets misunderstood. He and Guy also have a discussion about what ethical lessons we can learn from the television series Parks & Recreation.

To learn more about Dylan Pahman, go here: https://www.acton.org/about/staff/dylan-pahman

To learn more about the Acton Institute, go here: https://www.acton.org/about/mission

To review the Journal of Markets & Morality, go here: https://www.marketsandmorality.com/index.php/mandm

To learn more about Dr. Guy Crain, go here: https://www.rose.edu/staff/humanities-department/crain-guy/

To learn more about Prof. James Davenport, go here: https://www.rose.edu/staff/social-sciences-department/davenport-james/

Contact us at curprn@gmail.com with suggestions for guests, comments on this episode, or questions you'd like us to ask.

You can follow Curiosity Porn on X (Twitter) at @curprn_podcast and on Facebook.

Although Guy and James are both professors at Rose State College, the views expressed on this podcast are the views of Guy and James and their guests and do not reflect the views of Rose State College, its administration, faculty, or students.

Part 2 of our discussion with Jerry Muller. Dr. Muller tells us a variety of ways that obsessing over measuring things leads to very bad outcomes - for schools, for healthcare, for policing, and more! Dr. Muller also tells us how metrics ruined Jordan Peterson (kind of).

This is the first of a two-part episode in which Guy and James visit with Dr. Jerry Muller, professor emeritus of history at the Catholic University of America, regarding two of his books. In this episode, Dr. Muller explores some of the themes and ideas in his book "The Mind and the Market" - an intellectual history of capitalism. We discuss the criticisms leveled at capitalism by thinkers on both the left and the right as well as the defenses of capitalism. Dr. Muller also puts some of the modern criticisms of capitalism in a historical context.

To learn more about Dr. Jerry Muller, go here: https://history.catholic.edu/faculty-and-research/faculty-profiles/muller-jerry/index.html

To find out more about Dr. Muller's books, go here: https://www.jerryzmuller.com/

To learn more about Dr. Guy Crain, go here: https://www.rose.edu/staff/humanities-department/crain-guy/

To learn more about Professor James Davenport, go here: https://www.rose.edu/staff/social-sciences-department/davenport-james/

Contact us at curprn@gmail.com with suggestions for guests, comments on this episode, or questions you'd like us to ask.

You can follow Curiosity Porn on X (Twitter) at @curprn_podcast and on Facebook

Although Guy and James are both professors at Rose State College, the views expressed on this podcast are the views of Guy and James and their guests and do not reflect the views of Rose State College, its administration, faculty or students.

Christopher Freiman, Professor of General Business at West Virginia University, joins us to discuss several political ideas people think are just obviously true, but are they? We discuss selling votes, selling citizenship rights, billionaires, paying attention to politics, and a universal basic income.

James and Guy Discuss James' article, We Hate Each Other.

Link to James' article: https://nondoc.com/2023/08/21/we-hate-each-other-growing-incivility-undermines-the-values-of-our-democracy/

Perry Bacon - Democrats are Wrong about Republicans. Republicans are Wrong about Democrats: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/democrats-are-wrong-about-republicans-republicans-are-wrong-about-democrats/

Mernyk et al - Correcting Inaccurate Metaperceptions Reduces American's Support for Partisan Violence: https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2116851119

Iyengar, Sood, & Lelkes - Affect, not ideology: https://pcl.sites.stanford.edu/sites/g/files/sbiybj22066/files/media/file/iyengar-poq-affect-not-ideology.pdf

Lynn Vavreck - Are you wedded to your party?: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/31/upshot/are-you-married-to-your-party.html

Cass Sunstein - Partyism: https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1543&context=uclf

Chris Wilson - How Liberal is Your Burger?: https://time.com/3572348/republican-democrat-stores/

Christopher Freiman - Why It's OK to Ignore Politics: https://www.amazon.com/Why-Its-OK-Ignore-Politics/dp/1138389005

The philosopher Amy Olberding joins us to discuss her book The Wrong of Rudeness and explains why some ancient Chinese philosophers had a much better handle on the importance of manners than we in the West do now.

In this episode, Guy and James visit with author Micah Leydorf about her new book, "The Unseen Battle: An Unexpected Love Story." We find out what led her to become an author, the misperceptions of authors getting rich off their books, and some of her criticisms of the American Church. We also discuss the resurgence of interest in marriage and family in the U.S.

Along the way, we discover why Micah believes in the power of story to convey important ideas, about her recent conversion to Catholicism, and why she thinks the family is the foundation of society. She also shares insights from having what she calls a "religiously and politically diverse family."

To learn more about Micah Leydorf and about her book, the "Unseen Battle," click here: https://micahleydorf.com/

For some more information on some of the academic research on marriage and family that Guy and James reference click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8cjYEbyXnA&t=34s and here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgKz6Uzq6pM

For more information about Guy Crain, you can go here: https://www.rose.edu/staff/humanities-department/crain-guy/

For more information about James Davenport, you can go here: https://www.rose.edu/staff/social-sciences-department/davenport-james/

Email us with questions, suggestions for guests or show topics, or with your compliments or complaints about this episode at curprn@gmail.com.

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The views expressed here are solely the views of the hosts and their guests and do not reflect the views of Rose State College, its administration, faculty, or staff.