CSPI Podcast

CSPI Podcast episodes:

• 04.01.2024

  Debt Commission to the Rescue? | Romina Boccia & Richard Hanania

  Romina Boccia is the director of budget and entitlement policy at the Cato Institute, where she writes about government spending, the debt problem, and entitlement reform. She also has a Substack called the Debt Dispatch that you can subscribe to...

  
• 03.18.2024

  The Threat of AI Regulation with Brian Chau

  Brian Chau writes and hosts a podcast at the From the New World Substack, and recently established a new think tank, the Alliance for the Future. He joins the podcast to discuss why he’s not worried about the alignment problem,...

  
• 01.22.2024

  Ideology, Trade, and War | Andrew Roberts & Richard Hanania on Napoleon

  Andrew Roberts (website, follow on X) is a historian, Visiting Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and a member of the House of Lords. He joins the podcast to talk about his Napoleon: A Life. The...

  
• 11.20.2023

  Heading Towards the Fiscal Cliff | Brian Riedl & Richard Hanania

  Brian Riedl is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, focusing on budget, tax, and economic policy. His previous jobs include chief economist to Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), and positions on the Marco Rubio and Mitt Romney presidential campaigns. ...

  
• 10.30.2023

  No Need to Argue. Just Build | Niklas Anzinger & Richard Hanania

  Niklas Anzinger is the founder and General Partner of Infinita, the first Próspera-based VC fund, which invests in founders overcoming regulatory capture in crypto, biotech and hardware through network states and startup cities. He’s also one of the 100 or so residents...

  
• 07.24.2023

  Propaganda and Power | Chris Rufo & Richard Hanania

  Chris Rufo joins the podcast to talk about his new book, America's Cultural Revolution: How the Radical Left Conquered Everything. Rufo begins by talking about his background and his theory of political change. The conversation then shifts to his new...

  
• 05.15.2023

  AI Alignment as a Solvable Problem | Leopold Aschenbrenner & Richard Hanania

  In the popular imagination, the AI alignment debate is between those who say everything is hopeless, and others who tell us there is nothing to worry about. Leopold Aschenbrenner graduated valedictorian from Columbia in 2021 when he was 19 years...

  
• 05.01.2023

  Understanding Right and Left | Bryan Caplan & Richard Hanania

  Bryan Caplan joins the podcast to talk about his new book, Voters as Mad Scientists: Essays on Political Irrationality. Bryan begins by explaining why he hates politics. Much of the conversation then centers around Caplan’s simplistic theory of the right...

  
• 03.27.2023

  Marc Andreessen On Venture Capital, Science, Tech, Progress, and More (Rerelease)

  This week we’re rereleasing a previous episode with Marc Andreessen, originally released on August 16, 2021. He is co-founder and general partner of Andreessen Horowitz. Earlier in life, he was the co-founder of Opsware, Ning, and Netscape. Marc...

  
• 03.13.2023

  Waiting for the Betterness Explosion | Robin Hanson & Richard Hanania

  Robin Hanson joins the podcast to talk about the AI debate. He explains his reasons for being skeptical about “foom,” or the idea that there will emerge a sudden superintelligence that will be able to improve itself quickly and potentially...

  
• 02.27.2023

  Administrative Procedure and the Common Good | Nicholas Bagley & Richard Hanania

  Nicholas Bagley is a professor of law at the University of Michigan, former Chief Legal Counsel to Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and a former attorney in the US Department of Justice. He joins the podcast to talk about his article, “The...

  
• 02.13.2023

  Right-Wing Populism and Moral Corrosion | Tim Miller & Richard Hanania

  Tim Miller is a former political operative who has worked for Jeb Bush and John Huntsman, and is currently a writer for The Bulwark and an MSNBC analyst. He joins the podcast to talk about his political memoir, Why We...

  
• 01.30.2023

  Why the Singularity Might Never Come | Jobst Landgrebe, Barry Smith, and Richard Hanania

  Jobst Landgrebe is a German scientist and entrepreneur. He began his career as a Fellow at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, then moved on to become a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Göttingen, working in cell biology and...

  
• 01.16.2023

  Why is the West Special? | Joe Henrich & Richard Hanania

  Joe Henrich is the Ruth Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology and Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. He is the author of Why Humans Cooperate, The Secret of Our Success, and The WEIRDest People in the World. He...

  
• 01.02.2023

  Understanding the Flows of History | Garett Jones & Richard Hanania

  Garett Jones is a Professor of Economics at George Mason University. He joins the podcast to talk about his new book, The Culture Transplant. Richard asks whether IQ is superior to other measures used to predict prosperity, and the relationship...

  
• 12.19.2022

  Getting at True Heritability | Alexander Young & Richard Hanania

  Alexander Young is a researcher at the UCLA Anderson School of Management Genomics Department and School of Medicine’s Human Genetics Department, working with the Social Science Genetic Association Consortium (SSGAC). He studies the genetics of cognitive ability and educational attainment,...

  
• 12.05.2022

  The Right-Wing Echo Chamber | Aaron Sibarium & Richard Hanania

  Aaron Sibarium is a recent graduate of Yale University (2018) and journalist who writes for the Washington Free Beacon. He joins the podcast to discuss his work covering identity politics issues from a conservative perspective, along with his dream...

  
• 11.21.2022

  Building Better People | Jonathan Anomaly & Richard Hanania

  Jonathan Anomaly is the academic director of a new philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE) program at La Universidad de las Americas in Ecuador, co-hosts the Ideas Sleep Furiously Podcast, and works in the startup world. He has taught in PPE...

  
• 11.07.2022

  Blame Elites...or the Masses? | Rob Henderson, Zach Goldberg, & Richard Hanania

  Rob Henderson recently received his PhD in psychology at St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge. Zach Goldberg is a former research fellow at CSPI and currently affiliated with the Manhattan Institute. They both join the podcast to talk about Rob’s idea of...

  
• 10.24.2022

  Identity and Elite Polarization | Eric Kaufmann & Richard Hanania

  Eric Kaufmann is a distinguished researcher and a fellow at CSPI. He joins the podcast to talk about his latest CSPI report, “Diverse and Divided: A Political Demography of American Elite Students.” The data indicates that we can expect a...

  
• 10.10.2022

  Operation Warp Speed and the Triumph of Governance | Alex Tabarrok & Richard Hanania

  Alex Tabarrok is a professor of economics at George Mason University. He joins the podcast to talk about his involvement in Operation Warp Speed, a uniquely successful federal government project. Richard asks how broadly applicable its lessons are, whether or...

  
• 09.26.2022

  Thinking about "Social Justice" Like an Economist | Bryan Caplan & Richard Hanania

  Bryan Caplan joins the podcast to talk about his new book Don’t Be a Feminist: Essays on Genuine Justice. The lead essay is written as a letter to his daughter in the hopes that she will reject an ideology that...

  
• 09.12.2022

  "How Ambitious Are You?" | Tyler Cowen & Richard Hanania

  Tyler Cowen needs no introduction. He joins the podcast to talk about his new book, co-authored with Daniel Gross, called Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World. Richard asks him about whether intelligence is overrated or...

  
• 08.29.2022

  Diversity, Debate, Decline | Amy Wax & Richard Hanania

  Amy Wax is the Robert Mundheim Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She joins the podcast to talk about the ongoing attempt to cancel and possibly fire her for making politically incorrect remarks. Usually there is...

  
• 08.15.2022

  Mana from Heaven | Stephen Grugett, James Grugett, & Richard Hanania

  Stephen and James Grugett are programmers, entrepreneurs, and cofounders of the website Manifold Markets, which hosts user-created prediction markets. They join the podcast to discuss the CSPI/Salem Tournament on Manifold Markets, which launched last week. The Grugetts and Richard...

  
• 08.01.2022

  Policy Reform for Progress | Andrew Kenneson, Maxwell Tabarrok, Brent Skorup & Richard Hanania

  On this week’s CSPI Podcast, Richard interviews the top three winners of the CSPI Essay Contest: Policy Reform For Progress. The first interview is with contest winner Andrew Kenneson, a program navigator at a public housing authority in Kodiak,...

  
• 07.18.2022

  Lessons from the Frontlines of the University Wars | Richard Lowery & Richard Hanania

  Richard Lowery is an Associate Professor of Finance at The University of Texas at Austin and a senior scholar at the Salem Center for Public Policy. He joins the podcast to talk about his recent article “How UT-Austin Administrators Destroyed...

  
• 07.04.2022

  The American Race Regime | David Bernstein & Richard Hanania

  David Bernstein is a Law Professor and Executive Director of the Liberty and Law Center at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. He joins the podcast to talk about his new book Classified: The Untold Story of Racial...

  
• 06.20.2022

  Does Big Data Know Best? | Seth Stephens-Davidowitz & Richard Hanania

  Seth Stephens-Davidowitz is a data scientist, author, and keynote speaker. He holds a PhD in economics from Harvard and is a contributing op-ed writer for the New York Times. He joins the podcast to talk about his two books, Everybody...

  
• 06.06.2022

  How LGBT Are the Kids? | Eric Kaufmann & Richard Hanania

  Eric Kaufmann is Professor of Politics at Birkbeck College, University of London, a CSPI research fellow, and the author of several books, including Whiteshift: Populism, Immigration and the Future of White Majorities. He returns to the podcast to discuss his...

  
• 05.23.2022

  Social Desirability as the Enemy of Truth | Bryan Caplan & Richard Hanania

  Bryan Caplan is a professor of economics at George Mason University, a visiting senior scholar at the University of Texas at Austin, and the author of several books, including The Myth of the Rational Voter and The Case Against Education....

  
• 05.18.2022

  The Future of Tech (Bonus Episode) | Eron Wolf & Richard Hanania

  Eron Wolf is the founder of Yahoo! Games, a WhatsApp seed investor, and the founder and CEO of FUTO, an Austin-based organization dedicated to developing technologies to fight the centralization and consolidation of the tech industry. He and Richard talk...

  
• 05.09.2022

  Baby Brainwaves and Broken Science | Jordan Lasker & Richard Hanania

  Jordan Lasker is a PhD student at Texas Tech University and a bioinformatician. He joins the podcast to discuss his recent report for CSPI, “About Those Baby Brainwaves: Why ‘Policy Relevant’ Social Science is Mostly a Fraud.” The report critically...

  
• 04.25.2022

  The Le Pen Curse | Philippe Lemoine & Richard Hanania

  Philippe Lemoine returns to the CSPI Podcast to discuss his prediction for the 2022 French Presidential election. This episode was recorded on April 22nd, two days before Macron’s victory on April 24th, because Philippe was so confident in his forecast...

  
• 04.11.2022

  Towards an Anti-Woke Political Program | Gail Heriot & Richard Hanania

  Gail Heriot is a Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law and a member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. She joins the podcast to explain the connections between civil rights law and...

  
• 03.28.2022

  Is the West to Blame for Ukraine? | Noah Carl & Richard Hanania

  Noah Carl is an independent researcher, writer, and free speech advocate. He invited Richard on his new podcast (which you can find at Noah’s Substack) to discuss whether the West is to blame for the conflict in Ukraine. We’re re-releasing...

  
• 03.14.2022

  "The Pressure to Conform is Enormous": Steve Hsu on Affirmative Action, Assimilation, and IQ Outliers | Steve Hsu & Richard Hanania

  Steve Hsu is a Professor of Theoretical Physics and Professor of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. He returns to the CSPI Podcast for a wide-ranging discussion of various personal, political, and technical topics, including his attempted...

  
• 02.28.2022

  Vision, Beauty, and Creative Destruction in Silicon Valley | Jimmy Soni & Richard Hanania

  Jimmy Soni is a biographer and speechwriter. He joins the podcast to talk about his new book, “The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley,” which explores the early days, history, and legacy of PayPal....

  
• 02.14.2022

  The Future of Humanity Is IVF Babies and Chinese Domination | Steve Hsu & Richard Hanania

  Stephen Hsu is a Professor of Theoretical Physics and Professor of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. He is also a serial entrepreneur and has published on genomics, in addition to blogging on a wide range of...

  
• 01.31.2022

  Practical Progress in DC | Alec Stapp & Richard Hanania

  Alec Stapp is co-CEO of the Institute for Progress, a new think tank that focuses on accelerating scientific, technological, and industrial progress. He joins Richard to talk about why he started his think tank and what policymaking looks like in...

  
• 01.17.2022

  Darwin and Marx: Friends or Foes? | Freddie deBoer & Richard Hanania

  Freddie deBoer joins the podcast to talk about his book “The Cult of Smart,” which argues that many problems in the education system and American society are due to the failure to grapple with the fixed nature of individual differences...

  
• 01.03.2022

  Underwhelmed by Academia (Year in Review) | Jonah Davids & Richard Hanania

  Jonah Davids is CSPI’s director of communications. He joins Richard to talk about his essay on leaving academia, how social science is mostly storytelling, and what CSPI accomplished in 2021. They also discuss why reaching out to people is underrated,...

  
• 12.20.2021

  Wokeness and Civil Rights Law | Charles Fain Lehman, Gabriel Rossman & Richard Hanania

  Charles Fain Lehman is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and contributing editor of City Journal. Gabriel Rossman is a sociologist at UCLA. They join Richard to debate the relationship between woke institutions, civil rights law, and corporate culture. Each...

  
• 12.06.2021

  Population Structure: What Epidemiology Has Gotten Wrong | Philippe Lemoine & Richard Hanania

  Philippe Lemoine is a Research Fellow at CSPI and a PhD candidate in philosophy at Cornell University. He returns to the podcast to discuss his new paper, “Have we been thinking about the pandemic wrong? The effect of population structure...

  
• 11.22.2021

  Is DEI Conquering Science? | Leif Rasmussen & Richard Hanania

  This week’s guest is Leif Rasmussen, a PhD candidate in computer science at Northwestern University, and the author of the new CSPI report, “Increasing Politicization and Homogeneity in Scientific Funding: An Analysis of NSF Grants, 1990-2020.” He discusses the report...

  
• 11.08.2021

  The Queen of the Human Sciences | Robert Plomin & Richard Hanania

  Robert Plomin is a Professor of Behavioural Genetics at King’s College London and author of Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are. The conversation includes sections on the history of the field of behavioral genetics, and why we should...

  
• 10.25.2021

  What's Wrong with the West Coast? | Michael Shellenberger & Richard Hanania

  Michael Shellenberger is an activist and author. He joins the podcast to talk about his book San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities. He discusses debates around homelessness in San Francisco, the ideology driving the homelessness advocacy community, how the West...

  
• 10.11.2021

  History as Told Through Our Genes | Razib Khan & Richard Hanania

  Razib Khan is a geneticist and Substacker. He joins the podcast to talk about what genetics can tell us about the human past and the progress made in his field over the last few decades. The conversation touches on population...

  
• 09.27.2021

  Why Rationality Requires Incentives | Steven Pinker & Richard Hanania

  Steven Pinker is a professor of psychology at Harvard University. The author of several books, his latest is Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters. He joins the podcast to talk about this work, and the...

  
• 09.13.2021

  How to Get Better Elites? | Robin Hanson & Richard Hanania

  Robin Hanson is a professor of economics at George Mason University. He joins the podcast to talk about futarchy, a system in which people would vote on values, but bet on beliefs. The conversation touches on the nature of rationality,...