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EconTalk

The Case for Sunshine (with Rowan Jacobsen)

6/15/20261 hr 6 min

Skin cancer comes from the sun. But so do many good things, according to author Rowan Jacobsen. Jacobsen talks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about the health benefits of sunshine and makes the case for prudent sun exposure. Topics discussed include the "heliotherapy" movement that peaked in the early 1900s in response to rickets and tuberculosis, why diagnosing skin cancer is on the rise, and why yesterday's sunscreens may have done more harm than good.

Clips

Sunlight’s 75-to-1 Benefit Trade-Off
Sunscreen Paradox Exposed
Dermatologist Density Predicts Cancer
Vitamin D Pill Let-Down
Knees, Sunburns & Common Sense

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Russ Roberts· Host0:00

    [upbeat music] Welcome to EconTalk, conversations for the curious, part of the Library of Economics and Liberty. I'm your host, Russ Roberts of Shalem College in Jerusalem and Stanford University's Hoover Institution. Go to econtalk.org where you can subscribe, comment on this episode, and find links to other information related to today's conversation. You'll also find our archives with every episode we've done going back to two thousand and six. Our email address is mail@econtalk.org. We'd love to hear from you. [upbeat music] Today is May eighteenth, twenty twenty-six, and my guest is author Rohan Jacobson. He was last here in October of twenty twenty-one talking about his book Truffle Hound. That episode tied for first place in our annual poll of favorite episodes of the year. His latest book is In Defense of Sunlight: The Surprising Science of Sun Exposure. Rohan, welcome back to EconTalk.

  2. Rowan Jacobsen· Guest1:00

    Thanks, Russ. Great to be back. I hope I get another first place this year.

  3. Russ Roberts· Host1:03

    Well, we'll see. You know, we'll see. You might have to rig the voting like you did the last time.

  4. Rowan Jacobsen· Guest1:07

    [laughs] It worked last time.

  5. Russ Roberts· Host1:08

    Vote multiple times. Yeah. Um, we're gonna be talking about a number of, uh, issues related to health. I wanna remind listeners we do not dispense medical advice on this show. Even though I am a doctor, I'm not the kind that helps people, as we all know. I'm a doctor of, of philosophy and economics. Uh, you should take everything you hear with a grain or more of

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