The Inequality Podcast

Presented by the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Center for Research on Wealth Inequality and Mobility at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy, The Inequality Podcast brings together scholars across disciplines to discuss the causes and consequences of inequality and strategies to promote economic mobility. This podcast is hosted by sociologist Geoff Wodtke and economists Steven Durlauf and Damon Jones.

The Inequality Podcast is a education podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 64 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Unknown Host hosts The Inequality Podcast, a education show with 64 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #64

  Zachary Bleemer on the Stratification of American Higher Education

  Sep 21, 202657 min

  In the United States, the most well-resourced universities largely admit the highest-scoring students, while the least-resourced serve students with the lowest scores. But if individual achievement is shaped not only by ability, but also by family resources, school quality, parental education, and other circumstances, what are the inequality implications of a higher education system that concentrates resources among students who may already be well-equipped to succeed? What if universities instead broadened their support to include students for whom that support generates the greatest gains? Our guest today is among the foremost scholars examining the inner workings of American higher education, offering new insights into educational access, affirmative action, and the consequences of these choices for the labor market—and challenging us to rethink what we believe higher education is supposed to do. Zachary Bleemer is an economist at Princeton and the author of several studies on American higher education and its consequences for inequality. In this conversation with hosts Steven Durlauf and Damon Jones, he discusses university policies that limit access to certain majors; the successes of affirmative action, both in creating a more integrated student body and improving the economic well-being of its beneficiaries; and the effects of the Vietnam War on Black veterans.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #63

  Daniel Markovits on ‘The Meritocracy Trap’ (Live)

  Sep 7, 20261h 15m

  Meritocracy was meant to dislodge the old aristocratic elite: In its most idealized version, a society’s richest would earn their riches, as opposed to merely inheriting them. But what happens when these new meritocratic elites begin using their wealth to give their children unfair advantages? If meritocracy can be corrupted like that, then what does that say about it as an ideal societies are striving for? Daniel Markovits is a professor at Yale Law School. He is the author of The Meritocracy Trap, which is among the strongest critiques of meritocracy ever written. On this episode, we present a 2024 book talk hosted by the Stone Center about The Meritocracy Trap. The speakers included Markovits, host Steven Durlauf, and Dean of the Harris School Ethan Bueno de Mesquita, who moderated the discussion. This episode was recorded in October 2024.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #62

  Beatrice Cherrier on the Evolution of Economic Thought

  Aug 24, 202652 min

  It is easy to regard economic ideas as something akin to laws of nature. In reality, every economic idea has a human history, a process through which it was devised, debated, and refined by economists — a group as subject to human nature as any other. Our guest today has spent a career studying how economic thought has evolved, including whether inequality within the field has affected economic thinking about inequality itself. Beatrice Cherrier is a historian at École Polytechnique in Paris. She is one of the world’s leading historians of economic thought. In this conversation with host Steven Durlauf, she discusses the history of economic thinking about inequality, how economics has moved away from qualitative thinking, and her research on what shapes monetary policy.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #60

  David Brady on the Politics of Poverty

  Jul 27, 202658 min

  Americans have long been susceptible to certain myths about poverty, including that individuals become poor because of choices, as opposed to larger societal forces. This way of thinking has consequences, particularly at the level of policymaking. Our guest today has done foundational work challenging these persistent myths, as well as diagnosing what it takes for our political institutions to meaningfully address poverty. David Brady is a professor of public policy at USC. His work is essential for understanding poverty, its causes, and how societies might address both through the political process. In this conversation with host Geoff Wodtke, he discusses interviewing state legislators about their handling of poverty, what it would take for the American political system to make more progress on the issue, and debating which is the more effective means for creating social change: institutions or protest.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #58

  Thomas Mulligan on Acting Meritocratically

  Jun 29, 202655 min

  It is a simple but persuasive idea: In a world of scarcity, rewards like jobs and pay should be distributed based on ability and effort, not birthright, connections, ways of living, wealth, and so on. Meritocracy, framed this way, may sound utterly uncontroversial. Yet the idea has its fair share of critics, who argue that “merit” tends to accrue to those lucky enough to have well-heeled, well-connected parents. In response to such criticisms, our guest today offers a just conception of meritocracy, having written some of the essential texts on the subject. Thomas Mulligan is a visiting scholar at Georgetown’s Institute for the Study of Markets and Ethics and a researcher at the RAND Corporation. He is also the author of Justice and the Meritocratic State , a modern classic within the meritocracy literature. In this conversation with host Steven Durlauf, he discusses common critiques of meritocracy, how the idea relates to debates over affirmative action and reparations, and what policy solutions could make societies more meritocratic.

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on The Inequality Podcast. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.