Charles C. Mann on Shaping Tomorrow’s World and the Limits to Growth

Conversations with Tyler

Society & Culture, Education

4.8 • 2.4K Ratings

🗓️ 31 January 2018

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

At the beginning of their conversation, Tyler dubs Charles C. Mann a tlamatini, or ‘he who knows things.’ And oh, the things he knows, effortlessly weaving together, history, anthropology, economics, and a half-dozen other disciplines into enthralling writing. And the latest book, *The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow’s World*, is no exception, which Tyler calls one of the best overall frameworks for thinking about environmentalism and the limits to growth.

In the course of their chat, Tyler and Charles cover pollution, why the environmental impact of beef might be overstated, what fixed factor might ultimately constrain growth (and if there is one), Jared Diamond and Bjorn Lomberg, the underrated political genius of Cortes, his top tip for appreciating Robert Frost, and why Andrew Jackson didn’t have to be such a jerk.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

Recorded January 18th, 2018

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Conversations with Tyler is produced by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University,
0:08.4	bridging the gap between academic ideas and real-world problems.
0:12.6	Learn more at mercatis.org.
0:15.2	And for more conversations, including videos, transcripts, and upcoming dates, visit
0:20.4	ConversationsWithT Tyler.com.
0:27.5	We are here today with Charles C. Mann.
0:30.0	Charles is renowned for many things.
0:32.1	He has one writing awards.
0:34.3	He's written for just about every magazine I've ever heard of.
0:37.8	His books 1491 and 1493 are both best sellers and personal favorites of mine.
0:44.1	He is a chlamatini, which in Awatil means he who knows things.
0:48.7	You could say he is a thinker teacher who is writing wisdom.
0:52.1	And just about now he has a new book out called The Wizard and the Prophet.
0:56.7	Two remarkable scientists and their dueling visions to shape tomorrow's world.
1:01.2	And this is a book about how to think about the environment.
1:04.2	It's a book about American history.
1:05.8	It's a book about biodiversity.
1:07.6	It's a history of the environmental movement.
1:09.7	A book about pollution.
1:11.3	Like all of Charles's works, it's anthropology and history and economics and all social
1:15.6	science rolled into one and fun and exciting and dynamic.
1:19.2	And now we have today Charles with us.
	...

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