Cheap talk – Game Theory's insights on communication with Navin Kartik

Talk is cheap – literally. But if words cost nothing, why do we ever trust them? In this episode, Yale Professor Navin Kartik breaks down the game theory of communication. We kick things off with the basics: what is the academic definition of "cheap talk", and why does cheap talk sometimes work but other times break down? From there, we transition to Navin's own research, which explores deeper facets of communication. We learn about lying costs and " inflated language" : why does a reference letter need to say "excellent" to just mean "competent"? Finally, we dive into topics like pandering (why experts lie to agree with you) and muddled information (why test scores tell you more about gaming skills than natural ability).

You can listen to Cheap talk – Game Theory's insights on communication with Navin Kartik online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Cheap talk – Game Theory's insights on communication with Navin Kartik is an episode from Game Changer - the game theory podcast by TWS Partners.

This episode is 26:40 long.

This episode was published on Jan 20, 2026.

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