Episodes
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Brigadier General Joe Rank, U.S. Army (Ret.), joins Choosing Better to discuss what recent events in the Middle East reveal about deterrence, resilience, and the future of regional security. General Rank and Tim explore how missile, drone, cyber, and information threats are reshaping modern conflict; why integrated air and missile defense and interoperability matter more than ever; and how Gulf states are balancing diplomacy, deterrence, and national resilience. The conversation looks ahead to the capabilities, partnerships, and choices that will define Middle East security in the years to come.
Recording Date: July 1, 2026
Credits: Drew Elliot (music)
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Are we entering a dystopian future of grocery shopping if your personal data is being used to set hyper-specific prices just for you? And what if that price changes based upon the day of the week, time of day, how fast you drove to the grocery store, or in what order you did your shopping? Maryland recently became the first state to ban AI-enabled âsurveillance pricingâ on grocery stores. That sounds like a good thing, but what if we benefit from targeted prices? Join Enoch and Tim as they discuss the nature of price discrimination and who wins/loses when firms know what we are willing to pay.
We highly recommend you listen to our previous episode: AJust Price or Juts a Price?
Recording Date: May 27, 2026Credits: Drew Elliot (music)
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Missing episodes?
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Why does a war in Gaza dominate global headlines while equally devastating conflicts like Sudan barely register in public consciousness? Enoch and Tim explore this striking imbalance, noting that the disparity is especially pronounced in Western contexts while many Asian societies follow IsraelâGaza with far less urgency. They suggest this pattern reveals something deeper than geopolitics: the enduring civilizational influence of the Abrahamic traditions on Western moral imagination. Even in a largely post-Christian Europe and North America, historical, religious, and cultural ties to the biblical world continue to shape what the West notices, debates, and grieves.
Recording Date: April 30, 2026
Credits: Drew Elliot (music)
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What are you really paying for when you fill up your tank? Enoch and Tim unpack the true cost of a gallon of gasoline, and it is far beyond crude oil, refining, and taxes. Using the recent closure of the Strait of Hormuz as a real-time case study, they trace how a distant geopolitical chokepoint drove U.S. gas prices over 50% in just weeks, despite Americaâs âenergy independence.â Along the way, they explore the hidden prices embedded in every gallon: U.S. Navy protection of shipping lanes, environmental damage, and the global âlaw of one priceâ that ties American consumers to events half a world away. They conclude with looking at what a prolonged Hormuz disruption would mean, why it could permanently reshape global energy routes, and explore how we can choose better in a world where energy security, economics, and geopolitics are inseparable.
Recording Date: May 20, 2026
Credits: Drew Elliot (music)
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In this second episode, Enoch and Tim go deeper into the machinery of professional sports economics. How do salary caps really work, and who do they really help? What is a player actually worth to a team? And when a city spends hundreds of millions of dollars to build a new stadium, is it a good deal for taxpayers? The answers turn out to be more surprising than most sports fans may expect.
Recording Date: April 23, 2026
Credits: Drew Elliot (music)
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Economics isn't just for the classroom or the boardroom; it's baked into every corner of professional sports. In this first installment of their Sports and Economics series, Enoch and Tim explore how leagues deliberately design institutions andrules to shape competition, and how economic reasoning shows up in surprising places: from the structure of the NFL draft to the direction of a penalty kick (and why we may want to roll a dice before taking a penalty kick).
Record Date: April 14, 2026
Credits: Drew Elliot (music)
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Should we change how we raise our kids, preparing them for the future, knowing they will enter college and begin their careers with AI? Enoch and Tim reflect on how the rise of AI should shape the way we raise and prepare our children. They discuss the reality that todayâs kids will enter college and careers with AI as a constant companion, and they wrestle with how to cultivate habits, character, and critical thinking that lead to genuine flourishing amid rapid technological change. Rather than offering simple answers, the conversation models a thoughtful, values-driven approach to parenting in an uncertain AI future. And they share what majors they recommend when AI presents uncertainty.
Record Date: March 19, 2026
Credits: Drew Elliot (music)
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How we test students reveals what we truly value in education and simultaneously shapes the incentives of everyone in the classroom. Enoch and Tim discuss the economics of educational assessment, arguing that every test design sends signals to teachers and students about what is worth knowing and how it should be taught. They explore testing practices, from Finland's minimal standardized testing culture to the high-stakes approaches found in other countries, exploring the tradeoffs embedded in each model. Highlighting the remarkable story of Mississippi, which overhauled its approach to reading instruction and assessment after sitting at the bottom of national literacy rankings, Enoch and Tim unpack how a deliberate change in testing philosophy helped drive some of the most significant gains in childhood literacy seen anywhere in the country.
Record Date: February 12, 2026
Credits: Drew Elliot (music)
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In the second part of this series, Enoch and Tim talk about more ways economics can help us make better decisions and live more joyful lives. They discuss the endowment effect, how we tend to overvalue things in our possession, to understand when to let things go. And perhaps most important of all, they discuss opportunity costs and a holistic view of income to help us maximize decisions and think carefully about the use of our time and what we value. We hope these episodes help you to choose better.
Link to Economics and Life Hacks Part I
Credits: Drew Elliot (music)
Recording Date: January 8, 2026
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Jason Long returns to Choosing Better to discuss why some nations are rich and others are poor. We take another journey through time to understand how simple laws and norms shape the very bedrock of societies with some countries being wealthy and prosperous while others are underdeveloped and poor. Enoch and Tim turn the conversation to the strength of property rights in the United States before focusing on a recent case study in early 2026 of the US government threatening to destroy AI giant, Anthropic, as a means of retaliation. Is this a fleeting moment or a pivotal juncture in the US trajectory of the rule of law with respect to property rights?
Credits: Drew Elliot (music)
Recording Date: March 5, 2026
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In the first days of a rapidly escalating U.S.âIsrael conflict with Iran, strikes rippled across the region and global tensions spiked. In this bonus episode, former CIA senior executive and Iran expert Tim Buch joins the show to break down what actually happened, and just as important, why. We examine how intelligence shaped military decisions, how Iran is likely to respond, and what this conflict means for the broader Middle East. Finally, we look ahead: What could Iran look like by 2030 if this war continues?
Credits: Drew Elliot (music) with additional thanks to the â â Wheaton Center for Faith, Politics & Economicsâ â .
Recording Date: March 2, 2026
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Many Christians feel the pull toward missionary work, but how do you know if you should go, when to go, or where? Enoch and Tim apply economic thinking to one of the church's most important decisions, exploring how to discern a calling, how to best support those who go, and also discuss some of the research connecting missions to the development of democratic institutions and access to women's health.
Referenced Article: The Surprising Discovery About Those Colonialist, Proselytizing Missionaries
*While originally recorded with a live audience at Wheaton College (2/18/2026), this is a re-recorded conversation.
Credits: Drew Elliot (music) with additional thanks to the â Wheaton Center for Faith, Politics & Economicsâ .
Recording Date: February 26, 2026
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Do you know more than a Saxon born in 500AD? Hard to say, but you likely know different knowledge than your ancient Saxon counterpart. And while most Saxons shared a similar set of knowledge about food production and daily survival, you likely have a very different knowledge than even your neighbor down the street. Join Enoch and Tim as they discuss shared knowledge and overlapping knowledge compared to specific and distinct knowledge in modern society. They marvel at the gains from adding up millions of different sets of knowledge, but consider what may be lost when we have less in common with each other.
Credits: Drew Elliot (music) with additional thanks to the Wheaton Center for Faith, Politics & Economics.
Recording Date: February 5, 2026
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Our desires define us. From how we spend our money, use our time, talk with our friends, or dominate our thoughts, our passions consume our resources and form our lives. But what shapes our desires and how can we choose better passions to guide our lives? Join Enoch and Tim as they discuss the overarching loves of our lives and propose strategies to recognized disordered loves and how to be intentional with our formation.
Credits: Drew Elliot (music) with additional thanks to the â Wheaton Center for Faith, Politics & Economicsâ .
Recording Date: December 16, 2025
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Throughout his second term, President Trump has wanted the United States to own Greenland. Beginning with offers to buy the island, his demands have escalated through threatening to use military force. The crisis over Greenland reaches far beyond the Arctic and Denmark as old alliances are challenged. Join Enoch and Tim as they discuss why President Trump wants the United States to own Greenland and how the effects ripple across North America and Europe.
Credits: Drew Elliot (music) with additional thanks to the Wheaton Center for Faith, Politics & Economics.
Recording Date: January 22, 2026
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How can thinking like an economist improve your decision-making? Join Enoch and Tim as they discuss several common pitfalls people fall into in making decisions. Whether itâs buying and selling stocks, choosing to start a business, or simply deciding to keep reading an arduous novel, we often make irrational decisions. Sunk costs, loss aversion, and the endowment effect are explored in this first of a multiple episode series on using economic thinking to improve your decisions.
Credits: Drew Elliot (music) with additional thanks to the Wheaton Center for Faith, Politics & Economics.
Recording Date: November 20, 2025
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On January 3, 2026, President Donald Trump authorized the United States military and CIA to capture and extradite Venezuelan president NicolĂĄs Maduro to face federal criminal charges. The operation was completed within five hours with few casualtiesâno Americans were killed in the operation. Join Enoch and Tim in this special current events episode as they break down the operation, discuss Venezuela's devastating economic collapse over the past decade, and explore the implications for America's future role in the country.
Credits: Drew Elliot (music) with additional thanks to the Wheaton Center for Faith, Politics & Economics.
Recording Date: January 8, 2026
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How can we know if the car we want to buy is not a lemon? Or how can we sincerely communicate how much we love a romantic partner? Oftentimes in life we encounter information asymmetries. We struggle to make ideal decisions with incomplete knowledge or even to signal our own intentions when an audience may not believe us. Enoch and Tim talk about examples in or everyday lives and discuss strategies to help live in a world with uneven information.
Credits: Drew Elliot (music) with additional thanks to the Wheaton Center for Faith, Politics & Economics.
Recording Date: November 7, 2025
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In this episode, Enoch and Tim explore the fascinating and sometimes controversial economics of gift giving. They breakdown the âdeadweight loss of Christmasâ to explain the inefficiency of gift exchange. But these two grinches explain why giving gifts does so much more than retail cost valuations insofar as the process of finding and buying a gift demonstrates a unique act of love and care.
Credits: Drew Elliot (music) with additional thanks to the Wheaton Center for Faith, Politics & Economics.
Recording Date: December 16, 2025
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The saints are more than folk tales and stories for children. They are true lives of Christian men and women who lived faithfully. Professor of Art History at Wheaton College, Dr. Matthew Milliner, joins Enoch and Tim as they discuss how we can benefit from learning deeply from the saints. They compare the Catholic and Protestant traditions and share how choosing to be influenced by examples of saints may form and strengthen our faith.
Credits: Drew Elliot (music) with additional thanks to the Wheaton Center for Faith, Politics & Economics.
Recording Date: October 29, 2025
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