Episodes
My guest today is Jens Heycke. Jens is a researcher, writer, and competitive cyclist. He studied economics and Near East Studies at U. Chicago, the London School of Economics, and Princeton. His book is called "Out of the Melting Pot, Into the Fire: Multiculturalism in the World's Past and America's Future" In this episode, we talk about the origin of the term "melting pot", as well as the origin of the concept of multiculturalism. We talk about the goal of cultural assimilation. We talk...
Published 09/01/23
My guest today is Garett Jones. Garett is an associate professor of economics at George Mason University. His interests include macroeconomics, the micro foundations of economic growth, IQ, the power of culture, and public choice economics. The books we focus on in this episode are "10% Less Democracy: Why You Should Trust Elites a Little More and the Masses a Little Less" and "The Culture Transplant: How Migrants Make the Economies They Move To a Lot Like the Ones They Left" We talk about...
Published 08/29/23
My guest today is Garett Jones. Garett is an associate professor of economics at George Mason University. His interests include macroeconomics, the micro foundations of economic growth, IQ, the power of culture, and public choice economics. The books we focus on in this episode are "10% Less Democracy: Why You Should Trust Elites a Little More and the Masses a Little Less" and "The Culture Transplant: How Migrants Make the Economies They Move To a Lot Like the Ones They Left" We talk about...
Published 08/29/23
My guests today are Hyram and Verlan Lewis. Hyram and Verlan are brothers. Hyram is an associate professor of history at Brigham Young University, Idaho, and Verlan is a political scientist at Harvard Center for American Political Studies. Together, Hyram and Verlan have written a very interesting new book called "The Myth of Left and Right: How the Political Spectrum Misleads and Harms America" ​​​​​​​In this book, they challenge the widely held belief that the political left and right...
Published 08/18/23
My guests today are Hyram and Verlan Lewis. Hyram and Verlan are brothers. Hyram is an associate professor of history at Brigham Young University, Idaho, and Verlan is a political scientist at Harvard Center for American Political Studies. Together, Hyram and Verlan have written a very interesting new book called "The Myth of Left and Right: How the Political Spectrum Misleads and Harms America" ​​​​​​​In this book, they challenge the widely held belief that the political left and right...
Published 08/18/23
Today's episode is a recording of a debate that occurred a few weeks ago between me and Jamelle Bouie, who is a columnist for the New York Times. This debate was hosted by TED as well as Open to Debate, formerly known as Intelligence Squared. The motion was, "Does Colorblindness Perpetuate Racism?" Jamelle took the affirmative and I took the negative. Now there's a long backstory to this debate surrounding my recent TED Talk on color blindness and and I go into the details of this in the...
Published 08/11/23
Today's episode is a recording of a debate that occurred a few weeks ago between me and Jamelle Bouie, who is a columnist for the New York Times. This debate was hosted by TED as well as Open to Debate, formerly known as Intelligence Squared. The motion was, "Does Colorblindness Perpetuate Racism?" Jamelle took the affirmative and I took the negative. Now there's a long backstory to this debate surrounding my recent TED Talk on color blindness and and I go into the details of this in the...
Published 08/11/23
My guest today is Philip Goff. Phillip is a philosopher known for his work on consciousness and the philosophy of mind, particularly for his defense of panpsychism, the view that consciousness is a fundamental feature of the universe. He's an associate professor at Durham University in the UK. His books include "Galileo's Error: Foundations for a New Science of Consciousness", and "Consciousness and Fundamental Reality". Phillip is an advocate of a controversial but very interesting theory of...
Published 08/04/23
My guest today is Philip Goff. Phillip is a philosopher known for his work on consciousness and the philosophy of mind, particularly for his defense of panpsychism, the view that consciousness is a fundamental feature of the universe. He's an associate professor at Durham University in the UK. His books include "Galileo's Error: Foundations for a New Science of Consciousness", and "Consciousness and Fundamental Reality". Phillip is an advocate of a controversial but very interesting theory of...
Published 08/04/23
Today's episode is a roundtable discussion about AI safety with Eliezer Yudkowsky, Gary Marcus, and Scott Aaronson. Eliezer Yudkowsky is a prominent AI researcher and writer known for co-founding the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, where he spearheaded research on AI safety. He's also widely recognized for his influential writings on the topic of rationality. Scott Aaronson is a theoretical computer scientist and author, celebrated for his pioneering work in the field of quantum...
Published 07/28/23
Today's episode is a roundtable discussion about AI safety with Eliezer Yudkowsky, Gary Marcus, and Scott Aaronson. Eliezer Yudkowsky is a prominent AI researcher and writer known for co-founding the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, where he spearheaded research on AI safety. He's also widely recognized for his influential writings on the topic of rationality. Scott Aaronson is a theoretical computer scientist and author, celebrated for his pioneering work in the field of quantum...
Published 07/28/23
My guest today is Lee Fang. Lee Fang is an investigative reporter, formerly of The Intercept and The Nation. His writing is focused on the influence of money in politics, security state overreach, and civil liberties. He was also responsible for releasing part of the Twitter files many months ago. In this episode, we talk about the wide breadth of Lee's work, including his early reporting about the Koch brothers. We talk about whether there is a deep state, we talk about the collusion between...
Published 07/21/23
My guest today is Lee Fang. Lee Fang is an investigative reporter, formerly of The Intercept and The Nation. His writing is focused on the influence of money in politics, security state overreach, and civil liberties. He was also responsible for releasing part of the Twitter files many months ago. In this episode, we talk about the wide breadth of Lee's work, including his early reporting about the Koch brothers. We talk about whether there is a deep state, we talk about the collusion between...
Published 07/21/23
My guest today is Jeannie Fontana. Jeannie is the CEO of the TREAT California Initiative. TREAT is a statewide initiative that would create a $5 billion funding agency for psychedelic research, which has proven highly effective for conditions like PTSD and Depression. Jeannie was a founding member of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, which performs stem cell research. She has also advocated on behalf of patients with Lou Gehrig's disease.  Jeannie and I talk about her...
Published 07/14/23
My guest today is Jeannie Fontana. Jeannie is the CEO of the TREAT California Initiative. TREAT is a statewide initiative that would create a $5 billion funding agency for psychedelic research, which has proven highly effective for conditions like PTSD and Depression. Jeannie was a founding member of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, which performs stem cell research. She has also advocated on behalf of patients with Lou Gehrig's disease.  Jeannie and I talk about her...
Published 07/14/23
My guest today is Jean Twenge. Jean is a psychologist, author, and professor of psychology at San Diego State University. She's best known for her research on generational differences. Her book, "Generation Me", dealt with millennials. Her book, "iGen", which is how I first encountered her, deals with Gen Z. Now she's back with a massive new book called "Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents―and What They Mean for America's Future" In this...
Published 07/07/23
My guest today is Jean Twenge. Jean is a psychologist, author, and professor of psychology at San Diego State University. She's best known for her research on generational differences. Her book, "Generation Me", dealt with millennials. Her book, "iGen", which is how I first encountered her, deals with Gen Z. Now she's back with a massive new book called "Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents―and What They Mean for America's Future" In this...
Published 07/07/23
My guest today is John Wood Jr. John is a national leader at Braver Angels, which is a grassroots organization dedicated to the work of political depolarization. He's also a writer for USA Today. He's a former vice chairman of the Republican Party of LA County and a former nominee for Congress. John is also the host of the podcast "Uniting America with John Wood Jr." John and I talk about 2020 and the legacy of BLM. We talk about the emotional and psychological pull of wokeness. We talk about...
Published 06/30/23
My guest today is Peter Singer. Peter Singer is a renowned Australian moral philosopher best known for his work in applied ethics, particularly regarding animal rights and global poverty. He's considered a leader in the development of the modern animal rights movement, which was hugely influenced by his 1975 book, "Animal Liberation". He's just released a new version of the book called "Animal Liberation Now", which we discussed today. We talk about what has changed since he wrote the...
Published 06/23/23
My guest today is Peter Singer. Peter Singer is a renowned Australian moral philosopher best known for his work in applied ethics, particularly regarding animal rights and global poverty. He's considered a leader in the development of the modern animal rights movement, which was hugely influenced by his 1975 book, "Animal Liberation". He's just released a new version of the book called "Animal Liberation Now", which we discussed today. We talk about what has changed since he wrote the...
Published 06/23/23
My guest today is Thomas Chatterton Williams. Thomas is a great writer whose books include "Losing My Cool" and "Self-Portrait in Black and White", both of which I highly recommend. Thomas and I talk about a host of subjects here, but we pay special attention to the legacy of the Black Lives Matter movement, and 2020 in particular. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.
Published 06/16/23
My guest today is Thomas Chatterton Williams. Thomas is a great writer whose books include "Losing My Cool" and "Self-Portrait in Black and White", both of which I highly recommend. Thomas and I talk about a host of subjects here, but we pay special attention to the legacy of the Black Lives Matter movement, and 2020 in particular. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Published 06/16/23
My guest today is Keyu Jin. Keyu Jin is a Chinese economist currently teaching at the London School of Economics, and she just published a book called "The New China Playbook". Keyu gave a TED Talk about a month ago, the same week that I did, and that's how I became aware of her. ​​​​​​​So Keyu has an unorthodox stance on China, at least to a Western audience. It's now a bipartisan consensus that China is our main geopolitical rival and that we ought to treat China as if not an outright enemy...
Published 06/09/23
My guest today is Keyu Jin. Keyu Jin is a Chinese economist currently teaching at the London School of Economics, and she just published a book called "The New China Playbook". Keyu gave a TED Talk about a month ago, the same week that I did, and that's how I became aware of her. ​​​​​​​So Keyu has an unorthodox stance on China, at least to a Western audience. It's now a bipartisan consensus that China is our main geopolitical rival and that we ought to treat China as if not an outright enemy...
Published 06/09/23