2025 Year In Review

Tyler Cowen's Most Enthusiastic Endorsements

A scannable field guide to the 2025 Conversations with Tyler retrospective: the episodes Tyler singled out as favorites, the books he praised with clear reasons, and a short set of other standout cultural picks.

Source: Conversations with Tyler 2025 Retrospective Focus: explicit praise + reasons stated on-air Layout: episodes - books - other endorsements

Podcast Episodes Tyler Praised Most

These are the conversations Tyler explicitly called favorites, excellent, or peak-form. Quotes are trimmed for clarity.

Favorite Excellent Very Good
Favorite Episode

Jonny Steinberg - South Africa

Deep, thoughtful answers and a rare focus on South Africa.
"One of my favorite episodes... answers were deep and thoughtful... good to focus on South Africa."
Top 3-4

Any Austin - YouTube & Video Games

Smart, candid, and surprisingly magical moments.
"One of my three or four favorite episodes... excellent and magical at times."
Favorite Episode

Donald Lopez - Buddhism

Direct, no-BS answers delivered immediately.
"One of my favorites of the year... excellent answers to all questions... No BS."
Excellent

Gaurav Kapadia - Investing

Underrated guest with crisp, high-signal answers.
"Another very good one... excellent."
Peak Form

Cass Sunstein - Liberalism

Challenged, fully engaged, and at his best.
"Cass at his very peak... a great episode."
Very Good

David Robertson - Classical Music

A less-popular guest that Tyler "quite liked."
"He was very good, and I quite liked the episode."
Very Good

Ian Leslie - John & Paul (The Beatles)

A strong popular-culture episode that held up.
"That was very good."

Books (and a Few Essential Reads) He Endorsed

Endorsements only: clear praise plus a stated reason. This list covers the books he singled out as best, seminal, or enduring.

Best Book

Robert Tombs - The English and Their History

Clear winner; compelling enough that readers asked for more like it.
"Clear winner... everyone should read it... Utterly compelling."
Best Of Year

Ashlee Vance - Elon Musk

Flagged as one of the best books of the year and more important with time.
"All the more important, right?"
Top Biography

Charles Moore - Margaret Thatcher: At Her Zenith

One of the best biographies of the last decade.
"One of the best biographies of the last 10 years... unbelievable."
Seminal

Garett Jones - The Hive Mind

Enduring impact; widely cited and still influential.
"Held up very well... seminal work."
Deep Research

Scott Sumner - The Midas Paradox

A thorough, long-gestation argument about deflation in the Great Depression.
"A very thorough book... worked on for something like 20 years."
Strong Pick

Richard Thaler - Misbehaving

A needed, solid book about economists and economic ideas.
"There should be more books about economics... that was a good one."
Modern Classic

Michel Houellebecq - Submission

Called the most classic fiction of the last 20 years; reread-worthy and philosophical.
"Rewards rereads... incredible."
Classic Status

Kamel Daoud - The Meursault Investigation

A retelling of Camus that has already become a classic.
"The retelling of Camus has become a classic book."
Standout Fiction

The Widower - Singapore novel

Stuck with him as a genuinely great book.
"The Widower is a great book."
No individual articles were singled out with explicit endorsements in the retrospective; the book list captures the strongest "read this" signals Tyler provided.

Other Endorsements Worth Noting

These are non-book cultural picks Tyler praised with clear reasons: music releases and recordings that stood out in his 2015 lookback.

Jazz Highlight

Kamasi Washington - The Epic

His favorite jazz album of the year, still strong on repeat.
"The jazz album I've enjoyed the most... held up very well."
Box Set Pick

Hula Land: Golden Age of Hawaiian Music

Fun, accessible, and sonically distinct.
"It's super accessible, and it also feels and sounds different."
Global Sounds

Dabke: Sounds of the Syrian Houran & Omar Souleyman

Two high-confidence recommendations from his list.
"Highly worthwhile."
Classical Peak

Matthew Bengtson - Scriabin Piano Sonatas

Best versions of the sonatas; one of his best live musical experiences.
"The best versions... one of my better musical experiences."