The Inequality Podcast

Steven talks to Xi Song, associate professor of Sociology and Demography at the University of Pennsylvania, about trends in intergenerational mobility across time and space. Dr. Song details how intergenerational mobility declined in the United States after World War II but then dives further to explore the diversity of experiences for different groups. She discusses the trends in mobility as brok...

Steven and Geoff are joined by Michael Esposito, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Minnesota, in a discussion about racial health disparities that continue to plague the United States. They explore how things like redlining, law enforcement practices, and unequal access to medical care contribute to racial gaps in both health outcomes and even mortality rates. Dr. Esposito also...

Steven sits down with Matthew Kahn, Provost Professor of Economics at the University of Southern California, to discuss the interactions between inequality and climate change. Dr. Kahn outlines how changes in the environment are altering people’s lives across the globe, from hurricane-ravaged residents of New Orleans to rice-farmers-turned-shrimp-sellers in Dhaka. The lively discussion even explor...

Steven and Geoff talk to Nathan Wilmers, the Sarofim Family Career Development Associate Professor and an Associate Professor of Work and Organization Studies at the MIT Sloan School of Management, about the role that inequality plays in the ever-evolving labor market. Nathan covers a wide gamut of topics, including the changing trends in wage inequality, declining union participation, the challen...

We talk to Shelly Lundberg, the Leonard Broom Professor of Demography and Associate Director of the Broom Center for Demography at the University of California, Santa Barbara, about the long-embedded gender gaps in many professional fields, including her own—economics. She guides us through the role that anti-discrimination legislation has played in correcting these disparities, and addresses the...

Steven sits down with Luis Bettencourt to discuss what cities can teach us about inequality. Luis Bettencourt is a Professor of Ecology and Evolution and the Inaugural Director of the Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation at the University of Chicago as well as an External Professor of Complex Systems at the Santa Fe Institute. With research interests spanning ecology, sociology, and physics, Lu...

In our first episode of The Inequality Podcast, we talk to legendary economist Sam Bowles, Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Arthur Spiegel Research Professor at the Sante Fe Institute, and Affiliated Scholar at the University of Siena in Italy. Steven and Sam cover a scholarly gamut, including Sam’s intellectual upbringing, his transformative encount...

In this bonus episode, Sam Bowles dives deep into the ancient origins of inequality, Marxian economic theory, the evolution of the economics curriculum, and  The Moral Economy . Link to our first episode with Sam Bowles: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bonus-episode-four-questions-for-sam-bowles/id1693218758?i=1000617556338 The CORE Curriculum Website:  https://www.core-econ.org/ T...