Episode · EconTalk · 2026-10-19
Books mentioned on Lives Wasted and Well-Lived: David Wolpe on The Death of Ivan Ilyich
What if you did everything right and discovered on your deathbed that you've wasted your life? Rabbi and author David Wolpe talks about Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" with EconTalk's Russ Roberts.
Russ Roberts discussed The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy, The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker, Staring at the Sun by Irvin D. Yalom, How Much Land Does a Man Need? by Leo Tolstoy, and Master and Man and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy. David Wolpe discussed Anna Karenina by Лев Толстой and others.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories
The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy is a profound novella exploring mortality, self-deception, and the existential reckoning of a dying man.
Discussed“Our topic for today is Tolstoy's short story. You could call it a novella. The death of even Illyitch. David, welcome to Econ Talk.”
Where to get it
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The Denial of Death
The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker is a Pulitzer Prize-winning psychological and philosophical study exploring how human behavior is driven by the fear of mortality.
Discussed“And it reminds me of a great passage from a book that will, I think, I'll mention once or twice in this Ernest Becker's Denial of Death, he has a section where the French writer Alfonso Daudet when he was young, went to a funeral”
Where to get it
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Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy is a sweeping nineteenth-century masterpiece that examines themes of love, infidelity, social class, and the pursuit of meaning within Imperial Russian society.
Discussed“I mean, he writes Anna Karenina, which is one of the great masterpieces of world literature, and then says, he repudiates it and says, I shouldn't have written it”
Where to get it
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Staring at the Sun
Discussed“Erwin Yallum has a book called, I think it's called Staring at the Sun. The sun is death. You can't look at the sun, you'd have to turn away.”
Where to get it
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How Much Land Does a Man Need?
Leo Tolstoy's classic short story examines human greed, desire, and the ultimate measure of mortality through the journey of a peasant who pushes himself to acquire more and more land.
Discussed“And I should reference the other episode we did on a Tolstoy short story, which was "Master and Man," which also romanticizes the peasant as the real hero, but it's an incredible masterpiece.”
Where to get it
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Master and Man and Other Stories
This collection of powerful short fiction by Leo Tolstoy explores morality, human nature, and the spiritual cost of greed.
Discussed“And I should reference the other episode we did on a Tolstoy short story, which was "Master and Man," which also romanticizes the peasant as the real hero, but it's an incredible masterpiece.”
Where to get it
