Today my guest is Christopher J Coyne, who is a Professor of Economics at George Mason University, the Associate Director of the F.A. Hayek Program at the Mercatus Center. We talked about the economics of conflict and peace, history of the US security state, the US intervention in Afghanistan, domestic consequences of militarism abroad, and much more.

Recorded January 15th, 2025.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video.

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Today my guest Katherine Butler Schofield who is a professor of South Asian Music and History at King’s College London. She is the author of the recent book Music and Musicians in Late Mughal India: Histories of the Ephemeral, 1748–1858. She also hosted a podcast series called The Histories of the Ephemeral on the same theme.

We talked about the history of classical music in India - from Natyasastra to Dhrupad and to khayals and qawallis. about Aurangzeb’s relationship with music, the sacking of Delhiand it’s influence on hindustani classical music, the powerful tawaifs of that time, and much more.

Recorded January 24th, 2025.

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Timestamps

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:02:17) - The Nāṭyaśāstra and Tasting Music

(00:09:29) - Raga Style and Persian Influences

(00:18:35) - The Influence of Intoxicants

(00:19:42) - Aurangzeb and Other Courtly Characters

(00:33:37) - Aurangzeb’s Demise and Its Effect on Music

(00:43:15) - Traveling Musicians and the Spread and Rise of Different Forms

(00:49:49) - Development of Tomri

(00:55:37) - What Makes Punjab So Different

(00:59:17) - The Tawaif

(01:02:06) - The Stories of Sophia Plowden and Khanam Jan

(01:18:07) - Outro

Today my guest is Anton Howes head of innovation research at The Entrepreneurs Network, and the historian-in-residence at the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. He is the author of Arts and Minds: How the Royal Society of Arts Changed a Nation and the excellent Substack Age of Invention. We talked about salt trade in India, the Dutch culture of innovation, the Royal Society of Arts, endogenous versus O-ring theories of growth, why the Industrial Revolution took place in Britain, and much more.

Recorded November 11th, 2024.

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Timestamps

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:29) - History of the Salt Trade and Salt Tax in India

(00:11:12) - Harvesting Salt in Bengal

(00:17:140 - The Great Hedge of India

(00:23:58) - The Rationale for Taxing Salt

(00:25:49) - The Western European Salt Trade and Land Control

(00:34:22) - The Dutch Golden Age

(00:39:44) - Baltic Salt and New Forms of Sleeching

(00:45:51) - Maritime Trade

(00:48:24) - Why Did the Industrial Revolution Take Place in Britain and Not Elsewhere?

(01:03:14) - Solving the Problem of Debasement in Britain

(01:08:33) - The Path to the Royal Society of Arts

(01:16:39) - A Culture of Tinkerers and Improvers

(01:20:49) - The Society of Arts’ Aims and Legacy

(01:31:15) - Theories of Progress

(01:40:20) - The Society of Arts and the Tool of Status

(01:47:43) - Outro