Meritocracy, Exams, and the Knowledge That Matters (with Daisy Christodoulou)

2026-09-07 · 66 min · episode 1066 · 18 entities

episode page audio

Asserted relationships

→ appeared on EconTalk podcast

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evidence rules-v4
Meritocracy, Exams, and the Knowledge That Matters (with Daisy Christodoulou)
→ hosted by Russ Roberts person

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evidence rules-v4
Feed author/publisher: Russ Roberts
→ hosted by Library of Economics and Liberty person

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evidence rules-v4
Feed author/publisher: Library of Economics and Liberty
→ discusses Society & Culture concept

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evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Society & Culture
→ discusses Science concept

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evidence rules-v4
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→ discusses Philosophy concept

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evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Philosophy
→ discusses Education concept

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evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Education
→ discusses Courses concept

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evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Courses
→ discusses Social Sciences concept

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evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Social Sciences

Entities found in this episode

concepts 12

mentioned Society & Culture concept

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evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Society & Culture
mentioned Science concept

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evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Science
mentioned Philosophy concept

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evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Philosophy
mentioned Education concept

0.50

evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Education
mentioned Courses concept

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evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Courses
mentioned Social Sciences concept

0.50

evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Social Sciences
discusses Society & Culture concept

0.40

evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Society & Culture
discusses Science concept

0.40

evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Science
discusses Philosophy concept

0.40

evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Philosophy
discusses Education concept

0.40

evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Education
discusses Courses concept

0.40

evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Courses
discusses Social Sciences concept

0.40

evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Social Sciences

persons 5

mentioned Daisy Christodoulou person

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evidence rules-v4
Meritocracy, Exams, and the Knowledge That Matters (with Daisy Christodoulou)
mentioned Russ Roberts person

0.70

evidence rules-v4
Feed author/publisher: Russ Roberts
mentioned Library of Economics and Liberty person

0.70

evidence rules-v4
Feed author/publisher: Library of Economics and Liberty
hosted by Russ Roberts person

0.55

evidence rules-v4
Feed author/publisher: Russ Roberts
hosted by Library of Economics and Liberty person

0.55

evidence rules-v4
Feed author/publisher: Library of Economics and Liberty

podcasts 1

appeared on EconTalk podcast

0.68

evidence rules-v4
Meritocracy, Exams, and the Knowledge That Matters (with Daisy Christodoulou)

Episode description as stored

What does a failed 19th-century Chinese civil exam and one of the deadliest wars in history have to do with how we hire, educate, and test people today? In this EconTalk conversation, Russ Roberts and education expert Daisy Christodoulou trace a surprising thread from the Taiping Rebellion through Britain's Northcote-Trevelyan reforms, Samuel Pepys's naval exams, and Macaulay's belief that a hard exam on anything--even alchemy or the Cherokee language--reveals the best minds. Christodoulou dismantles that idea with evidence that skills are stubbornly domain-specific: chess masters, surgeons, even Steven Spielberg couldn't simply transfer their brilliance elsewhere. Along the way they wrestle with meritocracy, why bureaucracies fail without feedback, and whether great teachers must resist irony. A rich, wide-ranging discussion that will change how you think about testing and expertise.