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Russ Roberts books: every book Russ Roberts wrote and recommended
Across 5 podcasts. Every show Russ Roberts appears on, in one place — not just one.
Russ Roberts’s book club picks
Russ Roberts has picked 3 books for the book club on EconTalk. The latest is For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, first picked in August 2025. Every pick, newest first:
Books by Russ Roberts
Russ Roberts’s most recommended books
- The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith
- The Odyssey by Homer
- The Iliad by Homer
- Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman
- The Three Languages of Politics by Arnold Kling
- Master and Man and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy
- The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
- A Time to Build by Yuval Levin
- How Much Land Does a Man Need? by Leo Tolstoy
- Transformative Experience by L. A. Paul
Russ Roberts is the host of the EconTalk podcast. On his show, he frequently discusses ideas, history, and human behavior, often prompting his guests and listeners with book recommendations. During various episodes, Roberts discussed and recommended several notable titles. He suggested Leo Tolstoy’s novel Anna Karenina and his novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich as ways to meditate, explore religion, and reflect on living well. While discussing population growth and human creativity, Roberts recommended Julian Lincoln Simon's book The Ultimate Resource as a tribute to the author. When talking about different kinds of attention with Daniel Coyle, Roberts mentioned Iain McGilchrist's dense book The Master and His Emissary, encouraging listeners to explore it. Additionally, Roberts recommended Stefan Zweig's memoir The World of Yesterday, calling it an extraordinary account of life in Vienna and Europe between the wars and the rise of the Nazis. He also recommended Rebecca Newberger Goldstein's book The Mattering Instinct, noting that it features a happier ending, and he mentioned Gerd Gigerenzer's book The Intelligence of Intuition during an episode outro.
Books recommended by Russ Roberts
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The Theory of Moral Sentiments
The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith is a seminal 1759 work of moral philosophy that examines the psychological foundations of human judgment, empathy, and social order.
Discussed“And Smith in the theory of moral sentiments when he wrote that meant us by loved, he didn't mean just romantic love.”
Where to get it
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The Odyssey
The Odyssey by Homer is an epic ancient Greek poem that follows the arduous ten-year journey of Odysseus as he attempts to return home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, encountering mythical creatures, divine wrath, and numerous trials along the way.
Discussed“And yet I think when our students deal with, say, the Iliad or the Odyssey or Plato or Aristotle, they don't read them in the original languages. They usually read them in translation, but they learn some, actually, some of the Greek.”
Where to get it
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The Iliad
Homer's ancient epic poem The Iliad chronicles the final weeks of the Trojan War and the devastating wrath of the Greek warrior Achilles.
Discussed“And yet I think when our students deal with, say, the Iliad or the Odyssey or Plato or Aristotle, they don't read them in the original languages. They usually read them in translation, but they learn some, actually, some of the Greek.”
Where to get it
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Life and Fate
Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman is a sweeping masterpiece depicting the brutality and human ramifications of the Eastern Front, the Holocaust, and totalitarianism during World War II.
Book club“You know, we we did a a book club here at Econ Talk on Life and Fate silly Grossman's Masterpiece.”
Where to get it
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The Three Languages of Politics
The Three Languages of Politics by Arnold Kling is a thought-provoking nonfiction book that examines how progressives, conservatives, and libertarians rely on fundamentally different moral frameworks and linguistic lenses to interpret political events.
Recommended“uh the three languages of politics by Arnold Kling which we've had at least three two or three episodes about it on this program is a book that changed the way I think about politics”
Where to get it
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Master and Man and Other Stories
Master and Man and Other Stories is a collection of short fiction by Leo Tolstoy that features moral explorations of human nature, greed, and the spiritual redemption found in simplicity.
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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The Wealth of Nations
The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith is a foundational 1776 text by the Scottish thinker often regarded as the father of modern economics, exploring free markets, capitalism, and the mechanics of national wealth.
Discussed“Variations on the noun choice or verb choose occur 48 times in the wealth of nations usually referring to individual choice. Smith mentions consent 24 times.”
Where to get it
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A Time to Build
A Time to Build by Yuval Levin is a political science book that examines the decline of institutional duty and how modern citizens increasingly use public platforms for self-aggrandizement rather than upholding communal norms.
Discussed“we had we had you've all live in on the program and his book a time to build that's what this book that's what his book's about”
Where to get it
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How Much Land Does a Man Need?
How Much Land Does a Man Need? is a renowned short story by Leo Tolstoy that explores human greed, ethics, and moral choices.
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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Transformative Experience
Transformative Experience by L.
Recommended“I should have mentioned the names of their books that I read and that inspired me along with the interviews. Agnes Callard's book is Aspiration, and L.A. Paul's is Transformative Experience. Great books.”
Where to get it
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Capitalism and freedom
Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman is a foundational economic text arguing for the preeminence of competitive capitalism and limited government intervention as prerequisites for individual liberty.
Recommended“they would profit from Reading uh cism and freedom it's still a great book in my view”
Where to get it
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Aspiration
Aspiration by Agnes Callard is a philosophical work examining how individuals strive to acquire values and transform their desires through deliberate self-creation.
Recommended“I should have mentioned the names of their books that I read and that inspired me along with the interviews. Agnes Callard's book is Aspiration, and L.A. Paul's is Transformative Experience. Great books.”
Where to get it
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Mathematica
Mathematica by David Bessis is a thought-provoking book that explores how our minds work, championing intuition and challenging formal, intimidating approaches to mathematics.
Discussed“He was last here in October of 2025 discussing his marvelous book Mathematica.”
Where to get it
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After Babel
After Babel by George Steiner is a profound critical study of language, meaning, and translation that argues all human communication and acts of interpretation fundamentally function as acts of translation.
Discussed“And there's a wonderful book by George Steiner called After Babel where he talks he gives he opens the book with a bunch of he opens with Shakespeare I think and he says um can you understand this?”
Where to get it
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Arcadia
Arcadia by Tom Stoppard is a complex modern play that explores the intersections of time, mathematics, literature, and the persistent human tension between extrinsic and intrinsic perspectives.
Discussed“Uh but along the way, we're going to pay homage to Tom Stppard who died last month and his play Arcadia. Arcadia is my favorite modern play, maybe my favorite play, period.”
Where to get it
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Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy
Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy by Joseph Schumpeter is an influential economic text that examines the evolution of economic systems and introduces the foundational concept of creative destruction.
Discussed“I would just I would think about schumpeter and I think about capitalism socialism and democracy”
Where to get it
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Fooled by Randomness
Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb is a popular exploration of the massive role that chance, luck, and probability play in human success, finance, and everyday life.
Recommended“his first book was called fooled by randomness great book”
Where to get it
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The Brothers Karamazov
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a profound philosophical novel that explores deep spiritual questions surrounding faith, free will, morality, and the human condition.
Discussed“it's not a traditional novel akin to war in peace or akin to other Russian novels such as the brothers katof were in the first Circle which we talked about here on the program uh previously”
Where to get it
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Dignity
Dignity by Chris Arnade is a photographic and journalistic portrait of ordinary Americans, non-voters, and working-class communities that explores how people find meaning outside of traditional political structures.
Discussed“I think what's what's clear and what the cause of this we can we can talk about in a minute cuz I think we disagree about the the underlying cause, but you know, this is an issue that Chris Arnade has has written about in his book Dignity and on the on the program that that that just disruption the”
Where to get it
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The Comfort Crisis
The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter is a nonfiction exploration of how modern human life has become dangerously comfortable and how embracing physical adversity can improve health and well-being.
Discussed“reminds you of the episode we had with Michael Michael Easter on the comfort zone. We we become accustomed to comfort in the modern world and we don't appreciate it and when it's taken away we are very unhappy to lose those comforts.”
Where to get it
- Tribe by Sebastian Junger
- The road by Василий Семёнович Гроссман
- Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor by Yossi Klein Halevi
- Orbiting the Giant Hairball by Gordon MacKenzie
- Errata by George Steiner
- The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig
- Evil by Roy F. Baumeister
- For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
- If this is a Man by Primo Levi
- Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
- Lost in Thought by Zena Hitz
- Waiting For "SUPERMAN" by Participant Media
- Anarchy, State, and Utopia by Robert Nozick
- Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom
- Thanks A Thousand by A. J. Jacobs
- The economics of discrimination by Gary Stanley Becker
- The Social Contract by Robert Ardrey
- The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
- The Truce by Primo Levi
- Where We Are by Roger Scruton
- The Puzzler by A.J. Jacobs
- The Hidden Half by Michael Blastland
- Everything Flows by Vasily Grossman
- A soldier of the great war by Mark Helprin
- Midlife by Kieran Setiya
- The life you can save by Peter Singer
- Beowulf by Seamus Heaney
- Determined by Robert M. Sapolsky
- Lost Connections by Johann Hari
- Primal Intelligence by Angus Fletcher
Russ Roberts’s latest episodes with books
Russ Roberts’s book recommendations by year
All 359 books Russ Roberts recommended or discussed across 253 episodes, filed by the year each episode came out. Each year goes episode by episode, with the minute every book came up.