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Arts & Culture

Thomas Sowell: Common Sense In A Senseless World

Thomas Sowell, author, economist, theorist
Courtesy of Rod Searcey
Thomas Sowell, author, economist, theorist

Now available to stream on demand

"Thomas Sowell: Common Sense In A Senseless World" explores the life and work of one of our era’s greatest authors on race, history and economics. The one-hour documentary hosted by The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Riley comes to public television in February 2021!

“You’re about to meet one of the greatest minds of the past half-century,” said Riley. “His story is both fascinating and illuminating.”

In "Thomas Sowell: Common Sense In A Senseless World," The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Riley visits Thomas Sowell’s childhood home in Harlem, N.Y.
Courtesy of 1895 Films
In "Thomas Sowell: Common Sense In A Senseless World," The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Riley visits Thomas Sowell’s childhood home in Harlem, N.Y.

Sowell began his life’s journey in rural North Carolina. As a boy, his family migrated to Harlem, New York, where his intellectual hunger and lifelong love of learning was kick-started with an introduction to the Harlem Library and culminated at the esteemed Hoover Institution.

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Between Harlem and Hoover, Sowell’s intellectual honesty and quest for facts took him into the Marine’s Combat Camera Corps during the Korean War, then onto Harvard, Columbia University and the University of Chicago for his Ph.D. in economics.

Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University
Courtesy of 1895 Films
Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University

He has earned positions at top universities as a professor of economics, was a popular syndicated columnist for 30 years, and has written and published 37 books – so far – on a variety of subjects. A true Renaissance man, Dr. Sowell also continues to pursue his love of nature photography.

Walter Williams, Author and Professor of Economics, George Mason University
Courtesy of 1895 Films
Walter Williams, Author and Professor of Economics, George Mason University

The one-hour program features insights from Sowell, interviews with colleagues, associates and with those he has inspired, revealing why the intensely private Thomas Sowell is considered by many to be “one of the greatest minds of the past half-century” and “the smartest person in the room.”

Thomas Sowell: Common Sense in a Senseless World - Full Video

Credits:

A production of Free To Choose® Media. Tom Jennings is the producer. Thomas Skinner and Rob Chatfield are executive producers.