It’s Paul and Goldy’s summer reading list! In this week’s special episode, Civic Ventures Senior Fellow David “Goldy” Goldstein and Civic Ventures Writer Paul Constant recommend some of the hottest new economic and political books for your beach reading pleasure.
We want to know what you’re reading, too. Leave us a comment on Instagram, Twitter, Threads or ... Show More
Yesterday
Myths That Built Trickle-Down Economics: Shareholder Value (with William Lazonick and Lenore Palladino)
This week, we’re continuing our archive miniseries, Myths That Built Trickle-Down Economics, with the myth that corporations exist to maximize shareholder value. For decades, Americans were sold the idea that if corporations focused on boosting stock prices and rewarding sharehol ... Show More
47m 53s
Jun 23
Myths That Built Trickle-Down Economics: Regulations Kill Growth (with Robert Reich)
This week, we’re kicking off our archive miniseries, Myths That Built Trickle-Down Economics, with one of the most persistent myths in American politics: that regulation kills growth. Corporate lobbyists and trickle-down evangelists have spent decades branding any rule that limit ... Show More
39m 29s
Aug 2025
Escape the EU Bubble: Expert Summer Book Picks
This week, we’re taking a breath. EU Confidential is stepping away from summits, trade battles, and late-night trilogues — and turning to something more refreshing: books. Host Sarah Wheaton is joined by audio producer (and self-confessed book nerd) Dionisios Sturis for this spec ... Show More
35m 28s
Dec 2022
New Books By the End of the Year
This week Alice and Kim talk about new nonfiction out in November and December, including memoirs, cold cases, orchid obsession, and more. Gift Tailored Book Recommendations this holiday season! Follow For Real using RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. For more nonfiction ... Show More
50m 17s
Dec 2023
Milton Friedman and the Making of Our Times (w/ Jennifer Burns)
<p>In this episode, Matt and Sam are joined by Stanford historian Jennifer Burns to discuss her new biography of Milton Friedman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist whose influence would reach far beyond the academy when, during his last decades, he became one of the most effectiv ... Show More
1h 37m
Mar 2025
Ep105. Neoliberalism: The Ultimate Disorderer? With George Monbiot
Forget Christianity, Judaism, New Age Spirituality, and Buddhism, a new type of religion drives 21st century Western thought. It goes by the shadowy name of Neoliberalism: the commodification of everything; Markets and the private sector ascendent; The deliberate attempt to reduc ... Show More
53m 40s
Jul 2025
Best Of: Barbara Kingsolver on ‘Urban-Rural Antipathy’
<p>“It’s so insidious, people don’t realize it,” Barbara Kingsolver told me, describing the prejudice against “country people.” Kingsolver is one of those “country people,” as well as a literary legend in her own time, who set out to write the “great Appalachian novel.” And I thi ... Show More
1h 1m
<p>Plus, what's so hard about building trains? </p><p><strong>On Today’s Episode:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/business/trump-tariffs-global-stock-markets.html" target="_blank"><strong>Trade War Sets Off ‘Max Pessimism’ in Global Markets as Stocks Pl ... Show More