In his 2025 retrospective episode, Tyler Cowen reflected on a year of 36 episodes, praising most as good to excellent. He particularly highlighted single-subject deep dives and several standout conversations for their depth, insight, and quality.
Most Praised Episodes
Tyler singled out these episodes for special endorsement, often noting their depth, guest performance, or personal impact.
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Any Austin (YouTuber/gamer)
One of Tyler's top 3-4 favorites of the year.
"Excellent and magical at times."
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Donald Lopez Jr. (on Buddhism)
One of Tyler's favorites; a standout single-subject episode.
"Excellent answers, no BS; learned more from prep. Single-topic focus enables deeper learning."
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Gaurav Kapadia (investor)
Described as highly underrated.
"Most underrated unknown or most unknown underrated person — maybe both. Excellent."
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Cass Sunstein
Very strong performance.
"Very good at peak form; consistently excellent."
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Jonny Steinberg (on South Africa)
Deep and thoughtful throughout.
"All answers deep and thoughtful."
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Ian Leslie (on John Lennon and Paul McCartney/The Beatles)
Praised for topic and quality.
"Truly popular culture topic and very good episode."
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Dan Wang
Engaging and extended discussion.
"Consistently interesting; sparring and pushback appreciated."
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John Amaechi (NBA/psychology)
Underrated despite initial skepticism.
"Enjoyed stories on NBA life; good on his feet."
Notable Single-Subject Deep Dives
Tyler emphasized that focused, single-topic episodes produced some of the year's best conversations.
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Theodore Schwartz (neurosurgery)
Strong single-subject episode enabling depth.
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Helen Castor (Richard II and Henry IV)
Strong single-subject episode.
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Sheilagh Ogilvie (pandemic response)
Strong single-subject episode.
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George Selgin (the Great Depression)
Strong single-subject episode.
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David Robertson (classical music conducting)
"Very good" despite lower popularity.
Books & Other Endorsements
Note: The retrospective focused primarily on 2025 episodes and revisited Tyler's 2015 pop culture picks (movies, books from 2015, music). No strong endorsements of new (2025) books or articles emerged in the discussion. The 2015 reflections highlighted enduring favorites like Robert Tombs' The English and Their History (non-fiction winner) and Michel Houellebecq's Submission (fiction classic), but these are historical picks, not 2025 endorsements.