The Genius of Thomas Sowell

When you study Thomas Sowell, you are inevitably introduced to other intellectuals Sowell cites in his books. These are the thinkers Sowell looks up to and draws inspiration from. One such thinker is the British Psychiatrist Theodore Dalrymple.
In this episode we explore Dalrymple's book "Life At The Bottom" and what it has to teach us about the ideas which perpetuate poverty and other social pathologies in the British underclass and what lessons we can draw for a deeper understanding of the American underclasses.
We interview "Britain's Strictest Headmistress" Katharine Birbalsingh about Sowell and Dalrymple and how these two thinkers have influenced her educational philosophy.
Here are some useful links to deepen your appreciation of the episode:
• Here's a LINK to Ice T's "That's How I'm Livin'"
• Here's a LINK to Theodore Dalrymple's book "Life At The Bottom"
• Link to "We Don't Want No Education" chapter of Dalrymple's book HERE.
• Here's a LINK to the film documentary "Britain's Strictest Headmistress". This is a MUST watch!
THERE ARE 3 WAYS TO SUPPORT THE SHOW:

1) Rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts. This helps a lot by nudging the show to the top of Google searches.
2) Purchase our Thomas Sowell Post It Note pads: You can find all 100 digital images of the post it notes HERE, feel free to download them and use them however you like.
To purchase pads of printed post it notes, please Paypal $4/pad to wolanalan@gmail.com or Venmo to @Alan-Wolan. Please put your mailing address as well as your email address in the notes of the payment. International orders will cost more, please ask.
NEW: We have two editions of the quotes available:
Edition #2: Quotes 1 - 50.
Edition #3: Quotes 51 - 100
When you order, if you don't specify, we will send you half your order Edition #2 and the other half Edition #3.
3) Support the show financially by subscribing with a monthly contribution on Patreon, link HERE.
You can email Alan at: WolanAlan@gmail.com
There are only so many hours in the day and that fact that you spend some of your precious time listening to my podcast is something I will never take for granted and will always appreciate.
THANK YOU!

NEW NEWS THAT'S NEWSWORTHY:
Basic Books (Sowell's publisher) is teaming up with The Genius of Thomas Sowell Podcast to offer listeners a chance to win 4 Sowell books. Enter at SowellBooks.com for a chance to win!
New: Support us on PATREON at: Patreon.com/SowellGenius LINK
In this episode, we turn our attention to Chapter 6 of Thomas Sowell’s 1993 book “Inside American Education.” Sowell named the chapter “New Racism and Old Dogmatism” and his focus there was to analyze the real world effects of affirmative action policies which began in America in the 1960’s.
Sowell makes a very surprising and counter-intuitive argument in this chapter; namely, that affirmative action policies, also called preferential admissions policies, don’t actually benefit the people they are intended to help. Sowell makes the claim that these policies not only harm their intended beneficiaries but that they also set in motion a series of incentives and constraints which harm the university system as well as society in general.
This episode includes:
• A summary of Chapter 6;
• Interviews with students on campus of an elite Los Angeles University;
• Clips from other Sowell books, Sowell interviews and other podcasters.
Notes:
• Here's a LINK to the full Chapter 6 of the book so you can read it for yourself;
• Here's a LINK to the MIT announcement referred to in the podcast;
• Here's a LINK to the Rush song played in the episode, and HERE are the full lyrics.
• Our updated listener statistics to the podcast can be found HERE.
There are 3 ways to support the show:
1) Rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts
2) Purchase our Thomas Sowell Post It Note pads: You can find all 50 digital images of the post it notes HERE, feel free to download them and use them however you like. To purchase pads of printed post it notes, please Paypal $3/pad to wolanalan@gmail.com or Venmo to @Alan-Wolan. Please put your mailing address as well as your email address in the notes of the payment. International orders will cost more, please ask.
3) Support the show financially by subscribing with a monthly contribution on Patreon, link HERE.
You can email Alan at: TheGeniusOfThomasSowell@gmail.com

NEW NEWS THAT'S NEWSWORTHY:
Basic Books (Sowell's publisher) is teaming up with The Genius of Thomas Sowell Podcast to offer listeners a chance to win 4 Sowell books. Enter at SowellBooks.com for a chance to win!
In this episode, we continue to explore the subject of Affirmative Action which was inspired by reading Chapter 6 of Thomas Sowell's 1993 classic "Inside American Education."
You can read Chapter 6 HERE.
We touch on the following subjects:
• A case now before the US Supreme Court about affirmative action
• MIT bringing back the SAT exam
• Elite high schools turning away from academic admissions exams
• Will law schools no longer require that applicants take the LSAT?
• Why students can now get 100 extra points on their SAT for living in a rough neighborhood
• Affirmative action in TV commercials?
• Should casting TV commercials be the same as casting university students?
• Social Engineering
Today's episode features two separate interviews with scholars who study Affirmative Action:
1) Peter Arcidiacono: Professor of Economics at Duke University.
You can find Peter's CV and articles HERE.
2) Zachary Bleemer: Soon to be Assistant Professor of Economics at Yale University.
You can find Zach's CV and articles HERE.
Notes:
• Our updated listener statistics to the podcast can be found HERE.
There are 3 ways to support the show:

1) Rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts
2) Purchase our Thomas Sowell Post It Note pads: You can find all 50 digital images of the post it notes HERE, feel free to download them and use them however you like. To purchase pads of printed post it notes, please Paypal $3/pad to wolanalan@gmail.com or Venmo to @Alan-Wolan. Please put your mailing address as well as your email address in the notes of the payment. International orders will cost more, please ask.
3) Support the show financially by subscribing with a monthly contribution on Patreon, link HERE.
You can email Alan at: TheGeniusOfThomasSowell@gmail.com

NEW NEWS THAT'S NEWSWORTHY:
Basic Books (Sowell's publisher) is teaming up with The Genius of Thomas Sowell Podcast to offer listeners a chance to win 4 Sowell books. Enter at SowellBooks.com for a chance to win!
In the previous episode, we listened to a 1993 interview with Thomas Sowell about his book “Inside American Education,” and we let Sowell himself introduce us to the main themes of that book.

In this episode, I’d like to present a more structured summary of “Inside American Education” and discuss my thoughts on some of the key arguments of the first half of the book. Later in the show I interview an elementary school teacher named Ramona Bessinger about her take on the arguments in Sowell’s book and whether or not the trends identified by Sowell are still happening today, 30 years later.
Here's a LINK to the original book on Amazon.
Here's a LINK to my favorite quotes from the book.
You can find Ramona Bessinger on Twitter: @RamonaBessinger
Special thanks to Priyanka Wolan for reading the Sowell quotes used in this episode.
Finally, if you recognized the background music which fades in at the end of this episode, you got a special treat. This is a guitar version of Pink Floyd's "We Don't Need No Education" masterfully played by Gabriella Quevedo. Look her up on YouTube, you'll be glad you did.
Here are some useful resources to help enjoy the show:
1) TomSowell.com is the show website, chock full of useful information.
2) Thomas Sowell quotes sticky post it notes are still in stock! Up until now we have been offering the pads for free, but beginning April 1, 2022 we will be charging $3 per pad, which includes postage. Each pad has 50 different Sowell quotes to stick around the house as a daily inspiration or as a way to introduce your friends and family to Sowell's ideas. You can find all 50 digital images of the post it notes HERE, feel free to download them and use them however you like. To get your free pad of printed post it notes, just email your mailing address to WolanAlan@gmail.com, and please put the word "Sowell" in the subject line. Remember, this free offer is only valid until the end of March 2022. Thereafter there will be a charge!
3) If you’d like to actively participate in this podcast, make a comment or ask a question, just record your comment or question using the Voice Memos app on your smartphone, then email the recording to me at WolanAlan@gmail.com. On a future episode I’ll play your comment and respond to it.
4) Please rate and comment about the show on your podcast platform; it helps new listeners find the show.
Thanks for listening, and see you for Episode 16 where we will be analyzing the second half of Sowell's "Inside American Education."
PS: In an upcoing episode we will be hosting a debate between two terrific scholars about Sowell's views on Affirmative Action, as presented in chapter 6 of "Inside American Education." If you would like to maximize your enjoyment of this debate, I encourage you to read chapter 6 in advance, you can find the full chapter HERE. Consider this your homework assignment

NEW NEWS THAT'S NEWSWORTHY:
1) Basic Books (Sowell's publisher) is teaming up with The Genius of Thomas Sowell Podcast to offer listeners a chance to win 4 Sowell books. Enter at SowellBooks.com for a chance to win!
2) We are having our first, live, in person Book Club meeting on Saturday, July 9, 2022 in Los Angeles. This is a free event. We will be discussing Sowell's 2020 book "Charter Schools and Their Enemies." If you'd like to attend, please email me at WolanAlan@gmail.com and I'll give you the details.
3) During the month of June we are running a truck advertising campaign in Los Angeles to promote the pod. Here's the VIDEO from the first day.
You can find Alan's video interview on the "Cut The Bull" Podcast HERE.
You can find Alan's appearance on the "Calmversations" Podcast with Benjamin Boyce HERE.
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In this episode, we continue to explore the subject of Affirmative Action which was inspired by reading Chapter 6 of Thomas Sowell's 1993 classic "Inside American Education."
You can read Chapter 6 HERE.
Today's episode features a long form interview with Richard Sander, law professor at UCLA Law School.
You can find more information about Richard Sander HERE.
I also interviewed Gustav Kuhn, Professor of Psychology at Goldsmith's University in London and Founder of The Magic Lab, about two ways politicians use the techniques of magicians to manipulate the public.
His website is HERE.
If you would like to see the magic trick which baffled Professor Kuhn, you can watch it HERE.
Notes:
• Our updated listener statistics to the podcast can be found HERE.
There are 3 ways to support the show:

1) Rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts
2) Purchase our Thomas Sowell Post It Note pads: You can find all 50 digital images of the post it notes HERE, feel free to download them and use them however you like. To purchase pads of printed post it notes, please Paypal $3/pad to wolanalan@gmail.com or Venmo to @Alan-Wolan. Please put your mailing address as well as your email address in the notes of the payment. International orders will cost more, please ask.
3) Support the show financially by subscribing with a monthly contribution on Patreon, link HERE.
You email Alan at: WolanAlan@gmail.com