Richard Epstein is the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago, and the author of Overdose: How Excessive Government Regulation Stifles Pharmaceutical Innovation as well as Mortal Peril: Our Inalienable Right to Health Care?

These are topics of particular interest to us, as Helen is kept alive by Tikosyn, a somewhat unusual anti-arrhythmic drug. We talk to Epstein about the pharmaceutical industry, its critics, and what to do to promote new drugs and treatments for problems that people are dying from today. Epstein also discusses some criticism in The New Republic, something he has answered at greater length here.

You can listen directly (no downloading needed) by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player. You can download the file directly and listen at your leisure by clicking right here. And you can get a lo-fi version suitable for dialup by going here and selecting “lo-fi.” As always, you can get a free subscription via iTunes and never miss another episode. You can’t beat free.

This podcast is brought to you by Volvo USA. Music is by Mobius Dick.

UPDATE: That was fast.

Austin Bay is a novelist and nonfiction author (author of The Wrong Side of Brightness and A Quick and Dirty Guide to War), blogger and host of Pajamas Media’s Blog Week in Review. He and his daughter spent part of this summer following the route of Austin’s great-great-grandfather in the Civil War, shooting video and working on a book project tentatively entitled Eli’s War.

They passed through Knoxville, and we managed to have dinner with them. Join us for a talk about war, history, and family. You can listen directly — no downloading needed — by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player. You can also download the file and listen at your leisure by clicking right here, and you can get a lo-fi version suitable for dialup by going here and selecting “lo-fi.” And, of course, you can get a free subscription via iTunes — never miss another episode!

This podcast was brought to you by Volvo USA. Music is by Doug Weinstein’s band, XTemp.

We caught up with independent journalist Michael Yon via satellite phone this afternoon. Yon, who’s been covering Operation Arrowhead Ripper in the (former) Al Qaedah stronghold of Baqubah reports on how things are going, what he thinks will happen next, and his thoughts on the likely consequences of premature withdrawal.

You can listen directly — no downloading needed — by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player. You can download the whole file and listen at you leisure by clicking right here. And you can get a lo-fi version, suitable for dialup, by going here and selecting the lo-fi version. And, of course you can always get a free subscription via iTunes.

Music is by Mobius Dick. This podcast is sponsored by Volvo Motors.

UPDATE: Money quote: “I see progress being made here now. I see the surge working, and it’s working faster than I actually thought it could.”

He’s played with everybody from Lonnie Brooks and Albert King to Terry Hill and Balboa. We talk to legendary guitarist Hector Qirko about music and life — and his work remastering some of the late Terry Hill’s lost tapes. We also listen to some tunes by Hector, Terry, and R.B. Morris.

Links mentioned in the show include Hector’s own site, the site of R.B. Morris, and the Terry Hill memorial page. Plus, the Lonesome Coyotes and, of course, Balboa.

You can listen to the show directly — no downloads needed — by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player. Or you can download the entire file and listen at your leisure by clicking right here. You can get a lo-fi version for dialup by going here and selecting “lo fi” and — of course — you can subscribe via iTunes by clicking right here. Visit our show archives for new and old episodes at GlennandHelenShow.com. As always, my lovely and talented cohost is taking comments and suggestions for future shows.

This podcast was brought to you by Volvo USA — buy a Volvo and tell ’em we sent you!

The surge is well underway, Baqubah is under assault, Anbar is mostly pacified, and while people in iraq seem somewhat more optimistic, American politicians are getting increasingly wobbly. Meanwhile, we’re seeing assassinations and riots in Iran. What’s going on, and what should we expect in coming months?

We talk to Jim Dunnigan, publisher of StrategyPage.com and author of numerous books on war, intelligence and security, and Austin Bay, who blogs at AustinBay.net, and who is the author of both novels and nonfiction works on war and military matters. They provide their always-interesting take on what’s going on, and what’s likely to happen next in Iraq and Iran.

You can listen directly — no downloading needed — by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player. You can download the file and listen at your leisure by clicking right here, and you can get a lo-fi version suitable for dialup by going here and choosing the lo-fi version. Plus, you can always subscribe for free via iTunes, which is what all the cool kids do.

This podcast is brought to you by Volvo USA — buy a Volvo and tell ’em it’s all because of the Glenn and Helen Show!

Bill Frist isn’t Senate Majority Leader any more, and he says he gets more respect when he goes by “Doctor” than when he goes by “Senator.” But he hasn’t given up on changing the world, and he’s working — with Tom Daschle — on a bipartisan program called One Vote ’08, aimed at helping the people that Paul Collier calls the bottom billion.

Since he’s from Tennessee, we also had to ask him what he thinks about the Fred Thompson campaign, and he sounded pretty positive.

You can listen online (no downloading needed) by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player. You can download the file directly and listen to it at your leisure by clicking right here. And you can get a lo-fi version, suitable for dialup, by going here and selecting “lo-fi.” As always, a free subscription is available via iTunes.

This podcast is sponsored by Volvo Motors, and the music is by Todd Steed and the Suns of Phere, from their album Heartbreak and Duct Tape.

As always, comments and discussion over at my lovely and talented co-host’s place.

UPDATE: Some thoughts here.

Are we turning into a nation of wimps? Do boys need to be boys? Is there something parents and schools should be doing differently? We talk with British author Conn Iggulden, whose new book, The Dangerous Book for Boys, takes an old-fashioned positive look at boyhood, bravery, and the nature of risk, about those subjects and others — including the effect of modern parenting and education on military recruitment and the future of Western civilization. Is being optimistic old-fashioned? Plus, revelations about Helen’s misspent youth!

Iggulden thinks that the pendulum is swinging back, and I suspect that the strong reaction to his book is evidence that people want to help — and check out the enthusiasm in the reader reviews.

You can listen to the show directly — no downloading needed — by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player. You can get the file directly for listening via Windows Media, Realplayer, Quicktime, etc., by clicking right here. And you can get a lo-fi version suitable for dialup, cellphones, etc. by going here and selecting lo-fi. And, of course, you can always get a free subscrption via iTunes — as we say in radio podcasting, “Wow! What a deal!” And you can visit our show archives here.

Music is “Status No” and “IWDWIST” by Todd Steed and the Suns of Phere. This podcast sponsored by Volvo Motors USA. Plus, comments and discussion over at my lovely and talented cohost’s place.

UPDATE: Reader Rick Sawyer emails:

I bought this book a few weeks ago when I saw it at a bookstore. I bought it b/c of your mention, actually! It was a great read. What I’m going to do, is add some of the interesting stuff I did as a boy, give it to the older men in my family for their ideas, and then give it to my brother in law who has three boys under the age of five. I thought it would be a great male bonding exercise for my family…

I think it would. Iggulden said the book is in part a “refresher course for dads.”

Traditional media are worried, and new media are excited. In both cases, it has a lot to do with where the advertising money is going, and where it’s not going. Nobody knows more about advertising than David Verklin, CEO of Carat Americas. Carat is the world’s largest independent media buying operation, and Verklin is also the coauthor — with Bernice Kanner — of Watch This, Listen Up, Click Here: Inside the 300 Billion Dollar Business Behind the Media You Constantly Consume. We talk to him about what’s happening now, what will happen next, and how the future of advertising might actually be more pleasant for consumers, as advertisers serve up ads based on things people are actually interested in.

You can listen directly — no downloads needed — by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player. You can download the file by clicking right there, and you can get a lo-fi version, suitable for dialup, etc., by going here and selecting “lo fi.” And of course, you can get a free subscription via iTunes — and why wouldn’t you, really?

This podcast is brought to you by Volvo Motors USA. Music is “Nobody’s Full,” by the Opposable Thumbs.

Hewlett-Packard is now the biggest information technology company in the world, having surpassed both the $100 billion mark and IBM. How did it get there, over a period of time when so many promising companies fell apart? That’s the topic of Michael S. Malone’s new book, Bill and Dave: How Hewlett and Packard Built the World’s Greatest Company. We talk with Malone about the role of old-fashioned values in surviving new-era corporate challenges, and the difficulties that HP has had in sticking to its approach as times change. It’s a very interesting story, underscoring the fact that the most important part of every technology story involves the people behind the technology.

You can listen directly — no downloads needed — by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player. You can download the file yourself by clicking on this link — that’s easy too! — and you can get a lo-fi version suitable for dialup by going here and selecting “lo-fi.” Our show archives with past and future episodes are at GlennandHelenShow.com, and, of course, you can get a free subscription via iTunes. That’s right, free! As we say in radio podcasting, “Wow, what a deal!”

And Bill & Dave is an excellent book, which I highly recommend.

This podcast brought to you by Volvo USA. Music is Indistinguishable from Magic, by Mobius Dick.

Are we infantilizing teens to the point that we are raising a nation of wimps? Is adolescence extended so long that people have gray hair by the time they become adults? Robert Epstein, Director Emeritus of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies in Massachusetts and author of The Case Against Adolescence: Rediscovering the Adult in Every Teen talks about these questions and more on today’s podcast. Epstein’s new book argues that adolescence is an artificial and unnecessary part of life that people are better off without. Find out how your teen’s exposure to school and Western media may be setting him or her up for incompetence, poor judgement and social-emotional turmoil. What can you do about it? Read the book or listen to the podcast to find out. Or go take Dr. Epstein’s competency test to find out how adult your teen is (or how adult you are) at www.howadultareyou.com or visit his website at drrobertepstein.com.

You can listen directly by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player, or you can download the file by clicking right here. You can get a lo-fi version suitable for dialup by going here and selecting lo-fi. And, of course, you can get a free subscription via iTunes — and wouldn’t you want to, really?

Music is “The High School Song” by Audra and the Antidote. This podcast is brought to you by Volvo Cars — buy one and tell ’em it’s all because of the Glenn and Helen Show!

UPDATE: Interesting discussion in the comments, here.

The surge is well underway in Iraq, and by some reports it’s already making a big difference. We contacted the blogosphere’s man-on-the-spot in Baghdad, Michael Yon, by satellite phone, and got his take on how things are going. Some important bits: The dispersal of troops out of big bases and into Iraqi neighborhoods has had a big impact — somewhat like the “community policing” approach in New York and elsewhere — and is generating a lot more intelligence and assistance from ordinary Iraqis. “Just being there makes a huge difference,” says Yon. But don’t expect overnight results: “The surge itself will go on well past summer,” and it’ll be Fall before we can tell if the trends are good or bad.

Listen to the whole thing — he’s also got some interesting takes on changing tactics and changing press coverage. You can stream the file by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player, or you can download the file directly by clicking right here. There’s a lo-fi version suitable for dialup here — select the lo-fi version — and, of course, you can subscribe for free via iTunes. Is that a deal, or what?

Music is by Mobius Dick. This podcast was brought to you by Volvo Motors — buy a Volvo today and tell ’em it’s all because of the Glenn and Helen Show!

And as always, my lovely and talented cohost is taking comments and suggestions.

We talk to Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) about why he wants to be President. We caught up with Rep. Hunter as he was getting ready to go to Iraq, and talked with him about the war, gun control, stem cell research and cloning, and much more. (His core principles statement is online, but we noticed a surprising omission.) Plus, what his son learned serving in Fallujah.

You can listen directly — no download needed — by going here, or you can download the entire file by clicking right here. A lo-fi version suitable for dialup is available by going here and selecting lo-fi. And, of course, you can subscribe for free via iTunes, and you should!

As always, my lovely and talented cohost is taking comments and suggestions.

Music is by Doug Weinstein’s acid jazz band, XTemp, from the album Bugsy’s World. (Sadly, it’s not available online.) This podcast is brought to you by Volvo USA.

We talked with Col. David Enyeart, Deputy Commander of Task Force Phoenix, the command dedicated to training the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police.

Col. Enyeart talks about addressing corruption, the much-anticipated Taliban spring offensive (which he calls “make or break for the Taliban”) addressing corruption and illiteracy, and the success in recruiting efforts. His conclusion: “This is a winnable war over here.”

Also on the call are Mark Finkelstein of Newsbusters, Andrew Lubin of On Point, Scott Kesterson of the Huffington Post, and John Noonan of Op-For.

You can listen directly by clicking here — no downloads needed — or you can download the entire file by clicking right here. You can get a lo-fi version suitable for dialup, satellite phone, or whatever by going here and selecting lo-fi, and you can always subscribe for free via iTunes. Visit our show archives at www.glennandhelenshow.com for old episodes or to check for updates.

Music is by Mobius Dick. This podcast was brought to you by Volvo USA.

It’s a brother-sister novelist act, as we talk to Claire Berlinski, author of last year’s powerful nonfiction book, Menace in Europe and now of a new novel of Internet dating and espionage, Lion Eyes — and her brother, Mischa Berlinski, whose novel Fieldwork, on missionaries, anthropologists, and murder in the hills of Thailand, was published on the same day as Lion Eyes.

The conversation ranges from Internet dating and blogger romance, to the historical conflicts between missionaries and anthropologists, to the advantages of novel-writing over having to hold a real job. Plus, a year-later look at how the predictions in Menace in Europe — which is now out in paperback — have held up. (And last year’s interview with Claire Berlinski on that book can be found here.)

You can listen directly — no downloads needed — by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player. Or you can download the file and listen at your leisure by clicking right here. You can get a lo-fi version suitable for dialup by going here and selecting “lo-fi.” And you can always subscribe via iTunes. Why not?

As always, my lovely and talented cohost is taking comments and suggestions.

Music is “Black UFOs” and “Temptation” by Mobius Dick. This podcast sponsored by Volvo Motors USA. Buy a Volvo and tell them we sent you!

John Ondrasik is Five for Fighting. Unless you’ve been living in a cave in Waziristan, you’ve heard his songs like 100 Years, Superman, and The Riddle. But the title cut to his latest album, Two Lights, turns out to come from a lunch with none other than blogosphere fave Victor Davis Hanson. (There are some streamable samples at the link, too.) We talk to Ondrasik about politics in the music business, what drives his songwriting, what aspiring musicians should do to make it, and more — including his new, about-to-launch web-video-based viral charity enterprise, What Kind of World Do You Want? (Hear his music on iTunes here.)

You can listen directly — no downloads needed — by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player. You can download the file directly by clicking right here. You can get a lo-fi version suitable for download by going here and selecting lo-fi. And, of course, you can get a free subscription via iTunes — and you should! As always, of course, my lovely and talented cohost is taking comments and suggestions.

Music is by Five for Fighting. This podcast is sponsored by Volvo USA. Buy a Volvo, and tell ’em we sent you!

Michael Yon is back in Iraq, where he’s been for over a month now. We caught up to him via satellite phone this afternoon and got his views on the surge (it will be “unlike anything we’ve seen before”), the status of Iraqi security forces (they’ve made “tremendous progress” since he was there last year, but things are “still dicey”), evidence of Iranian involvement in terror attacks in Iraq, what the Iraqi public thinks, and much more. Plus a couple of “normal explosions” in the background.

You can listen directly — no downloading needed — by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player. Or you can download the file directly by clicking right here. And there’s a lo-fi version, suitable for dialup, etc., available by going here and selecting lo-fi. Or, of course, you can always subscribe via iTunes. We like that. And our show archives are online at GlennandHelenShow.com — check up on past episodes there.

Music is “Superluminal,” by Mobius Dick. This podcast is brought to you by Volvo USA — buy a Volvo and tell ’em we sent you!

Pioneering forensic anthropologist Dr. Bill Bass is the inventor of the University of Tennessee “body farm,” made famous by Patricia Cornwell’s bestselling novel of the same name. Bass is also, with Jon Jefferson, a bestselling author in his own right under the name Jefferson Bass. We talk about forensic anthropology, their new novel Flesh and Bone, what CSI gets wrong, and how to have fun in Chattanooga’s gay bars. Plus, Dr. Bass’s new effort to find out what happened to the Big Bopper in his plane crash with Buddy Holly and Richie Valens.

You can listen directly — no downloading required — by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player. Or you can download the file directly by clicking right here. You can get a lo-fi version, suitable for dialup, cellphones, etc., by going here and selecting the lo-fi version. And, of course, you can always subscribe via itunes. Please do! And, as always, my lovely and talented cohost is taking comments and suggestions.

Music: “Temptation,” by Mobius Dick. This podcast was brought to you by Volvo USA — if you buy a Volvo, tell them it’s because of The Glenn and Helen Show!

People in the newspaper business seem awfully gloomy about the future right now, and with reason. But there’s one bright spot: The Wall Street Journal‘s publisher Gordon Crovitz, who describes himself as “the last person in the country with ‘newspaper publisher’ in his title who nonetheless is an optimist.”

We’ll talk about why he’s optimistic, about how the Wall Street Journal’s online edition came to be the fourth biggest newspaper in the country — bigger than the Washington Post or the L.A. Times — and how newspapers, and newspaper publishers, should be adapting to the new era. Plus, his view of blogging as “a great journalistic art form.”

You can listen directly — no downloading needed — by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player. You can download the file directly by clicking right here, and you can get a lo-fi version suitable for dialup, cellphones, etc. by going here and selecting lo-fi. And, of course, you can always subscribe via iTunes. We like it when you do that. Check out past shows and look for new ones at GlennandHelenShow.com. As always, my lovely and talented cohost is taking comments and suggestions.

Music is “Superluminal” by Mobius Dick. This podcast sponsored by Volvo USA. If you buy a Volvo, tell ’em it’s all because of The Glenn and Helen Show.

Mitt Romney has officially declared his interest in the 2008 Presidential election. In this interview, he responds to a controversial YouTube video about his positions on abortion and other social issues, and talks about the war, gun rights, health care, research and development, and the role of the blogosphere in the 2008 election, among other things.

That’s kind of cool, using a podcast to respond to a YouTube interview. All new media, all the time! I was going to hold this until tomorrow, but it’s already getting press. [LATER: Wow. Rather a lot of press.]

You can listen to the show directly (no downloads needed) by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player. You can download the show by clicking right here, and you can get a lo-fi version suitable for dialup, iPhone, etc. by going here and selecting the lo-fi version. And, of course, you can always subscribe via iTunes. And our show archives are at GlennandHelenShow.com. Check out our interviews with Romney rival John McCain, or non-candidate Mark Warner., who explains why he decided not to run.

Music is by Mobius Dick. This podcast is brought to you by Volvo Automobiles.

As always my lovely and talented cohost is taking comments and suggestions.

Does marriage still matter? We talk to the Manhattan Institute’s Kay Hymowitz about her book, Marriage and Caste in America: Separate and Unequal Families in a Post-Marital Age. Hymowitz talks about the role of marriage in childrearing, wealth accumulation, and more — and how the unequal popularity of marriage is making the rich richer and the poor poorer. It’s interesting stuff, though I remain unpersuaded that gay marriage is any threat, and remain unclear on how that fits with the rest of her analysis.

You can listen directly — no downloads needed — by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player. You can download the file by clicking right here, or you can get a lo-fi version suitable for dialup, cellphones, etc. by going here and selecting lo-fi. A free iTunes subscription — the best way to go — is available by clicking here.

This podcast is sponsored by Volvo Motors at volvocars.us.

Music is by The Have Nots.

As always, my lovely and talented cohost is taking comments and suggestions.

It’s a Martha Stewart Christmas at the Glenn and Helen Show! Well, it’s a show about Martha Stewart at Christmastime, anyway. We interview law professor Joan Heminway about her book, Martha Stewart’s Legal Troubles, which comes out next week. We’re joined by Professor Ellen Podgor and talk not only about Martha Stewart’s legal troubles, but about the Sarbanes-Oxley bill, white-collar crime, and the criminalization of nearly everything.

You can listen directly — no downloading needed — by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player. You can download the file by clicking right here, and you can get a lo-fi version suitable for dialup, cellphones, etc. by going here and selecting the “lo-fi” version. And, of course, you can always subscribe via iTunes so that you’ll never miss an episode.

As always, my lovely and talented cohost is taking comments and observations.

This podcast is brought to you by Volvo Motors USA. Christmas music by Audra and the Antidote. They rock! Check out their new website. And here’s the promised cookie recipe. . . .

UPDATE: In connection with this podcast, it’s worth reading Michael S. Malone’s column in today’s Wall Street Journal. (Subscription only, but this link should work for a week.) And thanks for the kind words from Stephen Bainbridge: “It’s a very nice discussion of the problem of over-criminalizing agency costs, which in turn provides a really nice example of how new media can treat issues with a depth that the MSM usually won’t.” Hey, that’s what all this technology stuff is for, and that’s why it’s so cool.

You hear a lot about suicide and depression during the holiday season. We talk with Dr. Eric Caine, head of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Rochester and a consultant to the President’s Commission on Mental Health, about suicide and suicide prevention. Do antidepressant drugs raise the risks of suicide or lower them? What preventive steps work, and what should general medical practitioners, or concerned friends and family, do? Dr. Caine offers lots of answers, and interesting discussion.

You can listen to the show directly — no downloading needed — by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player. You can download the file by clicking right here, and you can subscribe via iTunes by clicking here. A lo-fi version suitable for dialup, cellphones, etc. is available by going here and selecting the lo-fi version.

You can visit the Suicide Prevention Action Network at www.spanusa.org for more information on suicide or take a look at Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide, a book recommended by Helen.

Music is by Todd Steed and the Suns of Phere.

This podcast is brought to you by Volvo at www.volvocars.us.

In this episode, we take listeners’ questions and answer them — including a few that were emailed in audio form, making it a sort of call-in show. We talk about things personal, political, and podcast-related, and about the blogosphere in general.

You can listen directly — no downloads needed — by going right here and clicking on the gray Flash player. You can also download the podcast by clicking right here, and you can subscribe via iTunes — all the cool kids do! — by clicking here. For a lo-fi version suitable for dialups, cellphones, etc., go here and select lo-fi.

In response to one question, here, as promised, is a link to a post on how the shows are put together.

Music is by Mobius Dick.

This podcast sponsored by Volvo USA. If you buy a Volvo, tell ’em we sent you!

Most people agree that political divisions have gotten worse in recent years. Orson Scott Card’s new novel Empire looks at whether and how those divisions might lead to an American civil war in the near future. It’s a thriller novel, a la Tom Clancy, but it’s also a cautionary tale. We talk with Card about the novel, about storytelling, about the political scene, and what Americans should be doing.

You can listen directly — no downloads needed — by going right here and clicking on the gray Flash player, or you can download it directly here. You can subscribe via iTunes — and, really, why not? — by clicking right here, and you can get a lo-fi version suitable for dialup by going here and selecting the lo-fi version.

This podcast is brought to you by Volvo USA. If you buy a Volvo, tell ’em we sent you!

Music is “Splitters” by Mobius Dick.

With the Democrats back in Congressional majority, there’s more talk of health care regulation, and perhaps even a Canada-style socialized-medicine approach. Dr. David Gratzer is the author of a new book, The Cure: How Capitalism Can Save American Health Care, and — as the foreword by Milton Friedman might suggest — he suggests a very different approach. Gratzer, a Canadian physician who has practiced in both the Canadian and American medical systems, looks at the flaws in both approaches, and observes: “The problem and the predicament of American health care can be stated in a single, paradoxical sentence: Everyone agrees that it’s the best in the world, but nobody really likes it.”

We discuss HMO’s, single-payor, Health Savings Accounts, and how Wilbur Mills and Fanne Fox (well, mostly Wilbur Mills) played a major role in creating today’s problems. Plus, what to do about them.

You can listen directly — no downloading needed — by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player. You can download the file directly by clicking right here. There’s a lo-fi version for dialup available here, and, of course, you can subscribe via iTunes (we like that) by clicking right here. Show archives with past episodes are here.

This podcast brought to you by Volvo USA. Music is “Submarine on Europa,” by Mobius Dick. More about Mobius Dick here and here.