The Freakonomics Radio Book Club

John J. Sullivan, a former State Department official and U.S. ambassador, says yes: “Our politicians aren’t leading — Republicans or Democrats.” He gives a firsthand account of a fateful Biden-Putin encounter, talks about his new book Midnight in Moscow, and predicts what a second Trump term means for Russia, Ukraine, China — and the U.S. SOURCES:John Sullivan, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State and former U.S. Ambassador to Russia. RESOURCES:Midnight in Moscow: A Memoir from the Front Lines of Russia's War Against the West, by John Sullivan (2024)."The ‘Deathonomics’ Powering Russia’s War Machine," by Georgi Kantchev and Matthew Luxmoore (The Wall Street Journal, 2024).War, by Bob Woodward (2024)."On the Record: The U.S. Administration’s Actions on Russia," by Alina Polyakova and Filippos Letsas (Brookings, 2019)."Why Economic Sanctions Still Do Not Work," by Robert A. Pape (International Security, 1998). EXTRAS:"The Suddenly Diplomatic Rahm Emanuel," by Freakonomics Radio (2023).

The economist and social critic Glenn Loury has led a remarkably turbulent life, both professionally and personally. In a new memoir, he has chosen to reveal just about everything. Why? SOURCE:Glenn Loury, professor of economics at Brown University and host of The Glenn Show. RESOURCES:Late Admissions: Confessions of a Black Conservative, by Glenn Loury (2024)."Amy Wax – The DEI Witch Hunt at Penn Law," by Glenn Loury (The Glenn Show, 2024)."The Conservative Line on Race," by Glenn Loury (The Atlantic, 1997)."Will Affirmative-Action Policies Eliminate Negative Stereotypes?" by Stephen Coate and Glenn Loury (The American Economic Review, 1993). EXTRAS:"Roland Fryer Refuses to Lie to Black America," by Freakonomics Radio (2022)."How Much Does Discrimination Hurt the Economy?" by Freakonomics Radio (2021)."The Pros and Cons of Reparations," by Freakonomics Radio (2020).

From politics and economics to psychology and the arts, many of the modern ideas we take for granted emerged a century ago from a single European capital. In this episode of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, the historian Richard Cockett explores all those ideas — and how the arrival of fascism can ruin in a few years what took generations to build. SOURCE:Richard Cockett, author and senior editor at The Economist. RESOURCES:Vienna: How the City of Ideas Created the Modern World, by Richard Cockett (2023)."Birth, Death and Shopping," (The Economist, 2007).The Hidden Persuaders, by Vance Packard (1957)."An Economist's View of 'Planning,'" by Henry Hazlitt (The New York Times, 1944).The World of Yesterday: Memoires of a European, by Stefan Zweig (1942). EXTRA:"Arnold Schwarzenegger Has Some Advice for You," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2024).

Nobel laureate, bestselling author, and groundbreaking psychologist Daniel Kahneman died in March. In 2021 he talked with Steve Levitt — his friend and former business partner — about his book Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment (cowritten with Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein) and much more. SOURCES:Daniel Kahneman, professor emeritus of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University. RESOURCES:Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment, by Olivier Sibony, Daniel Kahneman, and Cass R. Sunstein (2021).Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman (2011). EXTRAS:"What’s the Secret to Making a Great Prediction?" by No Stupid Questions (2021)."The Men Who Started a Thinking Revolution," by Freakonomics Radio (2017)."How to Be Less Terrible at Predicting the Future," by Freakonomics Radio (2016).