Kurt Andersen and Daron Acemoglu

Writer Kurt Andersen discusses his latest book “Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America: A Recent History,” with professor and author Daron Acemoglu.

Kurt Andersen is the bestselling author of the novels “Heyday, “Turn of the Century,” and “True Believers.” He is also a contributor to Vanity Fair and The New York Times and was the host and co-creator of Studio 360, the Peabody Award-winning public radio show and podcast. Andersen writes for television, film, and the stage. He regularly appears as a commentator on MSNBC. Andersen co-founded Spy magazine, served as editor in chief of New York Magazine, and was a cultural columnist and critic for Time Magazine and The New Yorker.

Daron Acemoglu is an Institute Professor at MIT and an elected fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, American Philosophical Society, the British Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Econometric Society, the European Economic Association, and the Society of Labor Economists. Acemoglu is the author of five books. His academic work covers a wide range of areas, including political economy, economic development, economic growth, technological change, inequality, labor economics, and economics of networks. Daron Acemoglu has received numerous awards including the inaugural T. W. Schultz Prize from the University of Chicago, the Carnegie Fellowship in 2017, the Global Economy Prize in 2019, and the 'CME Group-Mathematical and Statistical Research Institute Prize in 2021.