Theory of Moral Sentiments on EconTalk

I've mentioned EconTalk in the past as being a really good podcast available for free discussing various topics in economics and beyond. I listen to several a week, and always hear things that are very interesting. The guests and the host are smart, insightful, and I feel like I learn a lot listening to these folks. And they are typically proponents of a realfree market, to boot.
Right now, the host and a common guest are doing a reading of Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, a lesser known work by the author of Wealth of Nations. (The book itself is available on the linked site, too, if you want to read along.)

I listened to this first installment, linked to above, more than 2 times. There is a lot to get, and I found this concept of the different sources or dimensions of moral approval to be worth consideration. It's interesting to think about the different people or groups that tend to focus more on one source than another, and how these things tie into larger economic/political ideas. They actually give a disclaimer in the beginning, saying that they're going to be giving this mostly unpolitical book a political reading, which you should bear in mind when listening. I think it's a very legitimate lens to look at the concepts with, though. I am about to turn on part II right now and clean my apartment. You guys should check it out. I know, not everyone wants to sit around and listen to economics lectures when they have free time, haha
I'd like to continue dialog here about this if anyone else finds those discussions interesting.

Nassim Taleb: His website links to a lot of his writings, speeches, etc. Check it out

Keep it real.

Economic podcast series: EconTalk

If you have iTunes, you should check out the podcast series called EconTalk.
They are available at EconTalk. Put your mouse over the Recent Archives selections, whichever one you want. I would suggest going under the "By Featured Guest" and finding Mike Munger from Duke, to start with. "Giving Away Money: An Economist's Guide to Political Life" is a good'un Munger tempered the interviewer's cynicism and some irrational statements, and they had good balanced discussions on certain topics.
The one I put up there is related to government's nature of giving away "free money". In reality, there is fierce competition, otherwise called lobbying, that occurs over who receives government assistance and how much of what type they receive. The comparatively large amounts of wasted money spent in this process of lobbying for the subsidies, tax considerations, land availability, and legislative favors adds to the inherent inefficiency of government planning. In addition, this configuration often crowds out those who have little initial funding to lobby for causes or plan and coordinate public works projects.
A basic conclusion is come to which is essentially that whenever government is made to plan an economy by its selective doling out of capital, there is inherent wastefulness and misdirection created in the game itself (read: don't hate the lobbyist playas, hate the big government game), and that a viable solution might be scaling back on governments role in these regards.
Surely those aren't ideas that baffle you folks, but these guys have some other interesting insights.
"Grab Bag: Munger and Roberts on Recycling, Peak Oil and Steroids" is a good one, too.

EDIT:
Something Russ from EconTalk is involved in and that he mentions a lot is Library of Economics and Liberty
You should check it out...
Fill your braaaaaiiiiins!