Pirates can teach us quite a lot about democracy and economics. What can Blackbeard teach us about signaling theory? Why were pirates racially progressive for their era? And is it possible that pirate ships were laboratories for experiments with constitutional democracy?    In this episode, we speak to Professor Peter Leeson of George Mason University, and Dr. Rebecca Simon, an expert on pirate history.   You can support our work here: Patreon.com/powercorrupts   And you can pre-order Brian’s new book, Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us, here (or wherever you buy books):  https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Corruptible/Brian-Klaas/9781982154097   Follow us on social media:  Twitter - twitter.com/powrcorrupts Instagram - instagram.com/powercorruptspodcast