Episode · People I (Mostly) Admire · 2025-04-26
Books mentioned on 156. A Solution to America’s Gun Problem
Jens Ludwig has an idea for how to fix America’s gun violence problem — and it starts by rejecting conventional wisdom from both sides of the political aisle. SOURCES:Jens Ludwig, professor of economics at the University of Chicago and director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab.
Steve Levitt discussed Unforgiving Places by Jens Ludwig and Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. Jens Ludwig discussed The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Unforgiving Places
Unforgiving Places by Jens Ludwig is a book that investigates the root causes of American gun violence and explores innovative, evidence-based solutions from the perspective of crime lab research.
Discussed“So, you've written a book. It's called Unforgiving Places. And one piece of your book that I really love is how you capture the assumptions that people on the right and the left make about the causes of crime.”
Where to get it
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Thinking, Fast and Slow
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman is a seminal exploration of behavioral psychology that examines the two systems of the human mind—intuitive thinking and deliberate reasoning—and how cognitive biases drive systematic errors in judgment.
Discussed“It's what Danny Conorman calls system one versus system two thinking. Can you explain to someone why those two modes of thinking matter? Reading Danny Conaman's book, Thinking Fast and Slow, really was just a life-changing experience for me and so many other people”
Where to get it
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The Death and Life of Great American Cities
The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs is a seminal 1961 non-fiction work that offers a systemic look at how urban environments function, critiquing mid-century renewal policies and championing vibrant street life.
Discussed“In 1961, Jane Jacobs published a book called The Death and Life of Great American Cities, where she observed in the same way that I note in my book, like, isn't it wild that when you look around similarly poor neighborhoods, there are huge differences in violence rates across those communities?”
Where to get it
