EconTalk, a weekly talk show and podcast about economics in daily life, hosted by Hoover Institution research fellow Russell Roberts, has been awarded the 2008 Weblog Award for the best podcast.
The podcast, which was entered in the arts and letters category, is carried on the Library of Economics and Liberty’s (www.econlib.org) website, an online resource for economics research and education.
In early January 2009, during seven days of voting, more than 933,000 votes were cast in 48 categories for the Weblog Awards.
Roberts’ EconTalk show features one-on-one discussions with an eclectic mix of authors, professors, Nobel laureates, entrepreneurs, leaders of charities and businesses, and people on the street. The emphases are on using topical books and the news to illustrate economic principles. Exploring how economic phenomena emerge rather than being the result of top-down planning is a common theme.
Listeners are able to comment online on recent podcasts. All podcasts are archived and available free of charge. Podcast Listening Guides for classroom use are offered on selected podcasts.
EconTalk debuted in March 2006, with podcasts every two weeks, and went weekly in the summer of 2006. New podcasts are released on Monday mornings. They are available for listening on any computer and are also available through iTunes and other intermediary services.
EconTalk took second place for best podcast two years in a row in the 2006 Weblog Awards and 2007 Weblog Awards.
In addition to his work on economics and international trade as a Hoover research fellow, Russell Roberts is a professor of economics and the J. Fish and Lillian F. Smith Distinguished Scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
His latest book is The Price of Everything: A Parable of Possibility and Prosperity (Princeton University Press, 2008). Written in the form of a novel, it tells the story of wealth creation and the unseen forces that are all around us creating and sustaining economic. He is a frequent commentator on National Public Radio's All Things Considered.
