Europe Needs Central Air

Europe Needs Central Air

From Central Air by Josh Barro, Megan McArdle & Ben Dreyfuss

May 20, 2026 · 41 min

About this episode

The episode discusses Europe's economic challenges, work culture differences, and political issues in Britain, featuring guest Sam Bowman.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.centralairpodcast.com On this week's show: Why is Europe poor? Megan wrote about the issue this week , and Sam Bowman of Works in Progress magazine joins us from London to discuss our differences in work culture, leisure, and how we dry our clothes. Plus, we talk about the ignominious unpopularity of Keir Starmer’s Labour, which has not delivered on its promise to build instead of block, even though Britain’s central government has all the authority over planning and zoning that Abundance advocates here dream about. That’s for all free listeners. Yes, the paywall is here — for paying subscribers, we also chat with Sam about Christopher Nolan’s forthcoming film ‘The Odyssey,' the Long Island Rail Road strike, and we discuss central New Jersey’s missing congressman, Tom Kean Jr., who hasn’t been seen since early March. Is he in a mental institution? We discuss that possibility with Ben, who is an alumnus of America’s most prestigious mental institution. Upgrade your subscription (and find instructions for setting up your private paid podcast feed) at www.centralairpodcast.com and RSVP to our D.C. happy hour on June 2…

People in this episode

Host: Megan

Guest: Sam Bowman

Topics covered

  • Europe's economy
  • work culture
  • leisure
  • politics
  • planning and zoning
  • mental health

Keywords

  • Europe
  • work culture
  • Keir Starmer
  • Labour
  • Tom Kean Jr.
  • The Odyssey
  • mental health

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Works in Progress, Labour, America’s most prestigious mental institution

Books & works: The Odyssey

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