Curious Worldview

Opus Dei are a predatory catholic cult that started in Spain in the early 20th century and grew and grew over the years into a global organisation that set out with the singular vision to re-christianise the entire world. 

Gareth Gore stumbled into this story when researching and writing the collapse of one of Spains largest financial institutions, Banco Popular, which turns out was the bottomless kitty financing Opus Dei’s international ambitions. It’s a story of money laundering, fraud and financial opacity that made possible the scale of one of if not the most influential and pernicious and influential catholic organisations int he world. But it’s not just a benign organisation that creates a welcoming community for catholics the world over, it is an organisation which has been accused of 100’s if not thousands of incidents of human trafficking, sexual abuse and drug abuse and are attempting to influence their worldview through the rewriting of legal systems. A worldview that reflects the most conservative and man made fundamentalist interpretations of the bible. 

This book by Gareth Gore is an immense achievement that proves an otherwise held conspiracy, of financial fraud at the scale of hundreds of millions of dollars, political corruption and a secret society exerting their influence on the halls of power that you and I are subject to. 

Youtube - https://youtu.be/C5DBS-vr3OU

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Gareth Gore - OPUS (Amazon)

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00:00 - What Is Opus Dei?
02:30 - How Did This Story Get On Gareth's Radar?
09:30 - What Is Opus Dei In Gareth's Words
24:47 - Josemaria Escriva... The Founder Of Opus Dei
33:40 - 1000's Of Victims Of Human Trafficking, Sexual Abuse & Drug Abuse.
46:15 - The Structure Of Opus
59:05 - Banco Popular
1:16:10 - Secret Societies
1:18:10 - Peter Thiel & Michael Sugrue
1:22:35 - Counter Messaging Campaign From Opus Dei
1:27:00 - How Co-Operative Were Opus Dei?
1:31:10 - Physical Threats?
1:32:30 - Have We Seen The Height Of Opus?
1:37:25 - Changing Media Landscape Over Next 25 Years?
1:42:12 - Serendipity In Gareth's Life

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Youtube - https://youtu.be/iCNiZfMASNs

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Johan Norberg is a prolific author and academic, he’s one of the most notable members of the Cato Institute and as well someone who has recently bronzed in the blinding spotlight of both Javier Milei and Elon Musk. 

Johan is a staunch defender of globalisation and author of‘ The Capitalist Manifesto’ which was boosted into the stratosphere earlier this year with an overwhelming endorsement by Elon Musk when he wrote that the book is an excellent explanation of why capitalism is not just successful, but morally right. 

00:00 - Johan Norberg
01:35 - Johan's Worldview Influences
09:07 - Johan's Rand-ian Fictional Tale
10:35 - Johan Know Being A Role Model To Others
14:35 - The Elon Musk Effect
19:05 - Serendipity
24:05 - Will AI Destroy The Labour Market?
41:50 - Capitalism Failure To Price In Negative Externality
1:02:45 - Globalisation Homogenising Culture
1:15:40 - Anxious Generation
1:23:55 - Nassim Taleb Influence

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Curious Things Mentioned During The Episode

• Offshore Finance Starter Pack 'Curious Worldview Podcast' Episodes

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Just how cancerous and pernicious to culture, politics and a globalised world is offshore finance and financial opacity?

Few if any people in the world are better suited to answer this question than John Christensen, who co-founded the Tax Justice Network and is a prolific author, journalist and documentary producer, probably best known for producing ‘the spiders web’ which millions and millions of views later looks into the weird and devastating influence of the City Of London (of which we expand deeply in the podcast)

I recorded this in person with John earlier this year and props to Jim Henry, who was an early guest on this pod who introduced us. This is by far the most in depth podcast interview John Christensen has ever participated in.

This is an extensive interview which flows up the sides, but never spills out of the river which is the downstream and disastrous effects of offshore finance. There is lots of attention paid to the UK, the lawyers, tax havens, culture, real estate, kleptocrats, foreign aid and a hell of a lot more as well.

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Curious Things Mentioned During The Episode

• Matthew Freidman -Human Trafficking
• Lisa Kristine - Photographing Modern Slavery
• Lisa Kristine Ted Talk

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Out Of The Slave Fields - Bruce Ladebu (Book)

The Children's Rescue Initiative (Donate)

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At this very moment there are over 40,000,000 people around the world trapped in slavery. This is a number larger than at any point before in history… and perniciously, a figure that grows everyday. 

Millions among them are children. And then millions of those are living in the most devastating conditions imaginable. 

Bruce Ladebu runs an initiative called Children's Rescue where he and his team identify and then extract those very children living in the most destitute environments.

To date, the Children's Rescue initiative have rescued over 2,400 children.

Share this podcast with someone. The better informed we are about this reality, at the very least, the more discerning we can be in our consumption that feeds this industry. 

• 00:00 – The Problem Of Modern Slavery
• 04:09 - How Bruce Got Into This Line Of Work
• 06:12 - 40,000,000 Slaves
• 12:40 - Slavery Growing As An Industry
• 23:43 - How Someone Ends Up A Slave
• 30:55 - Bruce's Team & Children's Rescue Initiative
• 34:22 - The Extraction Process
• 38:50 - Bruce's Trauma From Exposure To This
• 42:35 - De-Escelate Communication With Slave Owners
• 46:21 - Poisoned 
• 48:25 - Camera More Powerful Than The Gun
• 50:30 - Work At The Institutional Level
• 53:47 - Amsterdam
• 55:20 - How Trauma Effects Different Children
• 1:02:15 - Slavery In The Everyday Things We Consume
• 1:06:07 - How Well Known Is Modern Slavery?
• 1:18:15 - The Sound Of Freedom
• 1:10:21 - Country Bruce Wants To Add To His Operations
• 1:11:05 - Final Words From Bruce (Affecting Starfish Metaphor)

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Never Split The Difference Book Review (Things To Know If You Do Sales)

Curious Things Mentioned During The Episode

• Christopher Turner – 25 Year CIA Veteran, Lessons In Espionage
• Sam Leith – It’s Rhetoric All The Way Down
• Never Split The Difference Book Review (Things To Know If You Do Sales)

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* Chris Voss 'The Edge' Newsletter *

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Never Split The Difference deserves its place as one of the best selling negotiation books of all time.

It’s co-authored by the brilliant writer Tahl Raz, who turned Chris Voss’s life and lessons into the most readable and actionable prescription for good communication.

I’m stoked today to get to feature Chris Voss on this podcast, the force behind ‘Never Split The Difference’ which is a series of highest stakes negotiations broken down into their parts for examination. Chris was the FBI’s lead negotiator.

Hostage negotiation in Haiti? Terrorism in the Philippines? Egos, money and conflicting interests in a boardroom? Even walking a bank robber from the ledge. What are the phrases and psychology Chris uses in his communication to get the outcome he wants? And where could it be relevant to you?

The podcast here touches on Nassim Taleb and Khaneman’s influence on Chris’s worldview. The line between manipulation and persuasion, serendipity, traits of good communicators and a hell of a lot more.

• 00:00 – Who Is Chris Voss
• 03:05 - When Chris First Paid Attention To How People Communicate
• 12:05 - Nassim Taleb & Communication Over Time
• 22:20 - Serendipity In Chris's Life
• 29:39 - Never Split The Difference & How Chris Unlocked A New Style Of Negotiation
• 36:05 - Khaneman & Tvesky's Influence On Chris
• 43:20 - Gut Instinct
• 48:20 - Line Between Manipulation & Persuasion 
• 50:05 - Consistent Traits In Good Communicators
• 56:05 - Oprah Is The GOAT
• 58:21 - Traits Of The Best Interviewers

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✍︎: The Curious Worldview Newsletter - the ultimate compliment to the podcast...

I am stoked to welcome back one of the most out there and interesting writers, thinkers and speakers, Rory Sutherland.

He founded the behavioural science team at the Ogilvy group, he is one of Europe’s most powerful advertising executives and author many many books and articles, his most recent book, Alchemy, coming highly recommended and is a treatise on how great marketing ideas are built around the profoundly irrational… Rory appeared once before on this podcast in episode 115.

And today, for his second appearance I was lucky enough to do this with Rory in person, I got the train out of London to Rory’s hometown and we settled up in the courtyard of a beautiful little cafe in the sun. And so, you get the ambience of birds and wind to frame the conversation.

There are no timestamps on this podcast today, because with Rory’s erudition there is unseen flow from one thought to another that makes a narrow subject timestamp non suitable, rather, consume this one in full, we open with Salman Rushdie and his days as a copywriter to Rory reflecting on his recent notoriety, a powerful insight that the best marketing is in fact fat tailed, behind the scenes of his Rick Rubin interview all the way to me asking Rory whether he’s ever done a floaty.

Other episode of the podcast that suit this episode...

• Rory Sutherland – First Appearance #115
• Scott Patterson – Chaos Kings
• Nassim Taleb & Incerto Podcast

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✍︎: The Curious Worldview Newsletter - the ultimate compliment to the podcast...

Other episode of the podcast that suit this episode...

• Brian Klaas – Fluke & Randomness
• Russ Roberts – EconTalk
• Luca Dellanna – Ergodicity All The Way Down
• Scott Patterson – Chaos Kings
• Nassim Taleb & Incerto Podcast

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Everything Is Predictable – Tom Chivers

Tom Chivers is a prolific science writer whose written for Buzzfeed, The Telegraph, Unherd, published books, written for loads of other publications as well and now writes for Semafor’s daily flagship email (something I read everyday)… but here Tom is today to discuss his book about Bayes called… EVERYTHING IS PREDICTABLE: How Bayes’ Remarkable Theorem Explains the World and, the lead is not buried in this case, it is a book about Bayes Throerom which to put it simply… is an equation to calculate probability.

Now, my Talebian listeners will recognise a contradiction to our worldview in the title here… everything is predictable? how often has Taleb’s quotes, how can we predict a future of infinite possibilities based off a finite experience of the past appeared on this podcast? We get into Chivers differences with that Talebian worldview, but as well, there is top to bottom what is Bayes theorem, why does it matter, the role of this theorem at the foundation of all of these LLM’s and therefore much of AI. a neat little anecdote of Chivers family member, Sir John Maynard Keynes and plenty more as well!

• 00:00 – Who Is Tom Chivers
• 01:34 – Great Great Uncle John Maynard Keynes
• 08:44 – What’s The Point Of Bayes?
• 19:14 – What Is Bayes Theorem?
• 39:34 – Disagreeing With Nassim Taleb 
• 52:24 – Counterintuitive Aspects Of Bayes
• 56:28 – Bayes & LLM’s & AI
• 1:15:12 – Serendipity In Tom’s Life

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✍︎: The Curious Worldview Newsletter - the ultimate compliment to the podcast...

• Jon Lee Anderson
• Charlie Walker

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Why We Travel - Ash Bhardwaj

Ash Bhardwaj is an author, journalist, film-maker and former british army who amongst his many expeditions has ventured the likes of journeying 8500km along the Russian European border. Retraced secret missions of WW2 through Albania. Walked 800km through India and The Himalayas, meeting the Dalai Lama on the way. Walked 1100km through Uganda and Sudan with Levison Wood which included the first summer crossing of the Bayuda Desert. Trekked the Mt Everest Base Camp with wounded soldiers. Worked on earthquake recovery in the Philippines. Trekked through the Jebel of Dhofar in the footsteps of the SAS, and really he’s done a hell of a lot more as well. 

He recently published his first book titled Why We Travel, and in discussion of his life and worldview I was privileged to have gotten to sit down with him in his home in London to record this very episode - there is a video available on youtube if you are keen.

Ash really is my dream style of guest. He is a wonderful speaker, incredibly open and curious and has achieved many of the types of things, I wish to one day emulate. I am very grateful to have gotten to spend this time with him.

00:00 - Who Is Ash Bhardwaj
03:55 - Great Explorers From History
15:13 - Differences Between Australian & New Zealand Culture 
35:57 - Adventure & Travel
43:44 - Ash's Most Consequential Journalism & Ukraine
54:08 - Why We Travel
59:53 - What Makes Great Travel Writing?
1:13:43 - Publishing Market For Travel Books & Why We Travel
1:29:36 - What Eat Pray Love & Cultural Phenomenon Did For Travel + (New Unexplored Paradise?)
1:39:43 - Is The World Becoming More Dangerous?
1:42:43 - Changing Demographics Of Travel & Getting Deep Into Why We Travel
1:59:50 - Country Ash Is Bullish On

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✍︎: The Curious Worldview Newsletter - the ultimate compliment to the podcast...

• Bill Browder
• Nassim Taleb

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This is an interview with Victor Haghani who is among many other things… the Co-Founder of LTCM (long term capital management), the Founder of Elm Wealth and the author of Missing Billionaires.

In this interview we focused on Victor himself... his experiences at Solomon in the 80s and a brush with Bill Browder (who by the way was recently knighted), comments on Jim Simons and Nassim Taleb, an incredible moment of serendipity that would have changed his life forever and ultimately an exploration of Victor's worldview...

• 00:00 – Who Is Victor Haghani
• 01:40 - 1997 Nobel Prize & Stockholm
• 07:47 - Solomon Brothers & Bill Browder Anecdote
• 16:15 - 10 Year Sabbatical
• 24:42 - Jim Simons
• 30:49 - Missing Billionaires & Ergodicity
• 52:40 - Baggage We Are Carrying Around From Our Evolutionary Past
• 1:00:40 - Nassim Taleb
• 1:04:40 - Potentially A Confrontational Question
• 1:11:40 - Michael Burry Index Bubble Theory
• 1:18:26 - An Incredible Moment Of Serendipity & Why Victor's Bullish On UK

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✍︎: The Curious Worldview Newsletter - the ultimate compliment to the podcast...

• Russ Roberts – Taleb & Hitchens
• Scott Patterson – Taleb & Chaos Kings
• Magnus Ranstorp – Terrorism & Political Violence
• James Robinson – Why Nations Fail

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Samo Burja founded Bismarck Analysis, of which Bismarck Brief has spun off, which is a consulting and research firm that investigates the political and institutional landscape of society. 

I’ve listened to and read hundreds of hours of Samo Burja. He’s prolific both in writing and talking, and applies an academic analysis to express his interests. His interests are those which overlap with mine, and as such, should as well overlap with yours since you have selected this podcast. 

He’s been on my list of dream guests ever since this podcast began, and so it was a huge thrill to get a chance to finally record something with him. 

• 00:00 – Who Is Samo Burja
• 01:47 – Central Thread Of Samo’s Work – Why Groups Thrive & Fail
• 16:57 – 80/20 Principle In Organisations & New York Times Family Ownership
• 22:17 – Solving For Nepotism
• 25:53 – The Wallenberg Family of Sweden
• 47:13 – Nassim Taleb Informed Your Worldview & Others
• 51:17 – The Role Of Serendipity & Country You’re Bullish On

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