Curious Worldview

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Number Go Up - Zeke Faux

#155 - The general consensus for Zeke’s book is that is that it’s the better half of Michael Lewis’s ‘Going Infinite’. 

‘Number Go Up’ documents, first hand, from the Bahamas to Cambodia to El Salvador to the halls of power of US, the wild mania of crypto and the insanely eclectic, deranged and interesting characters that colour in those lines. 

Zeke opens up unlike he has for a podcast before. 

His answer to the role of serendipity in his life at the end is beautiful, his reflections of what is required for good journalism is amazing, and his documentation of crypto’s wild ride and its consequences is perfect.

There is plenty for everyone is this.

• 00:00 – Introduction
• 01:47 – Has ‘Number Go Up’ Been Overshadowed? & Why Zeke Always Dreamed Of Doing An Adventurous Non-Fiction Book
• 09:17 – Why Crypto Is A Goldmine Of Content
• 23:28 – Tether
• 31:12 – Listing Crypto’s Damages
• 41:48 – Pig Butchering (Horrible Stuff Also Mentioned In Matthew Freidman Episiode)
• 53:37 – SBF Exclusive + How Crypto Enables The Scale Of These Scams
• 1:02:55 – Offshore Finance & Crypto
• 1:14:33 – How Collapsed Is Crypto?
• 1:19:47 – a16z Rug Pulling Everyone?
• 1:27:47 – Zeke’s Relationship With Michael Lewis
• 1:35:10 – Comparing Bubble Mania’s Over History
• 1:37:17 – Trying To Extract Every Possible Thing From The Interview With SBF
• 1:47:59 – How Journalists Get The Best Stories + How The Book Has Changed Zeke’s Career
• 1:53:41 – Hindenburg Research
• 1:57:57 – Serendipity In Zeke’s Life & Discussing David Grann
• 2:11:57 – County Zeke Is Bullish On & Conversation Between Any Two People Of History

Curious Things Mentioned During The Episode

• Scott Patterson
• Bradley Hope
• Matthew Friedman (Pig Butchering)
• David Grann

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#154 - The following is with David De Jong who is the Middle East Correspondent for the Dutch Newspaper, FD. He lives in Israel, and has been reporting from the ground since the early hours of October 7th.

Some of you may recognise him from an earlier appearance he made on this podcast, talking about his book Nazi Billionaires, but for this episode we exclusively talk about David’s first hand experience over the last 2 and a half weeks, which includes the horror of being among the first reporters on the ground to some of the sites hit worst from October 7th through to disinformation and how to think about the media coverage of this conflict so far. 

00:00 – Introduction
01:09 – Recalling The First Few Days First Hand Experience
18:24 – Sentiment Changes Among Israelis
28:38 – ‘It’s Getting Harder For Jewish & Arab Israeli’s To Live Together’
34:00 – How Do You Get Reliable Reporting From Gaza?
36:48 – Social Stigma Among Israelis
40:54 – Dissecting The Media Coverage

Curious Things Mentioned During The Episode

• David De Jong Twitter
• Curious Worldview Newsletter
• David De Jong Nazi Billionaires

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#153 - Lex Greensill's Pyramid Of Lies by Duncan Mavin.

What if I told that you that Credit Suisse, one of finances most foundational banks was helped brought to it’s knees by a charismatic bogan playing posh from Bundaberg…

This podcast is about a fella called Lex Greensill… who, among many other things, roped the likes of (Brexit instigator) David Cameron, current prime minister Rishi Sunak to even Vision Fund, Uber and WeWork investor, Masoyoshi Son into his sprawling supply chain finance scandal.

The full story of how Lex talked and awkwarded his way into the central halls of power is immense, and the guest on todays podcast, the incredible investigative journalist, Duncan Mavin, wrote a book documenting all of this called, pyramid of lies

• 00:00 - Introduction
• 02:02 - Lex As A Bloke & How He Became Who He Is
• 15:20 - Could The End Have Justified The Means?
• 22:02 - Separating The Legitimacy From The Fraud
• 32:12 - Similarities & Differences Between Lex & Adam Nueman Of WeWork
• 36:32 - My Soft Spot For Lex & The Role In David Cameron In All Of This
• 46:32 - People Risking Their Reputations + Where Is The Due Diligence?
• 52:47 - Cancer Of Offshore Finance
• 1:06:27 - Greensill's Role In The Collapse Of Credit Suisse
• 1:10:43 - Who Were The Victims Of Greensill Capital?
• 1:12:08 - Duncan's Direct Message To Lex
• 1:14:22 - How Often Does An Anonomys Tip Get The Ball Rollling?
• 1:17:20 - Do We Live In An Age Of Unprecedented Fraud?
• 1:19:54 - Serendipity, Bullish Country & Conversation Between Any Two People Of History

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Curious Things Mentioned During The Episode

• Investigative Journalism Starter Pack
• Offshore Finance Starter Pack

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#152 - This is a podcast about human trafficking and modern slavery.

The guest is Matthew Friedman, and he is the CEO of the Mekong Club, which is an organisation that mobilises the private sector to take action against human trafficking and modern slavery.

In this conversation, Matthew reveals unsettling story after unsettling story of human trafficking, modern slavery and scams. And in and among it all, he explains how it could be possible that today there are more slaves than has ever been before.

Time Stamps For Matthew Friedman

• 00:00 - Introduction
• 01:32 - Horrific Story From Nepal/India
• 05:25 - UN Versus NGO's Versus Private Sector
• 11:19 - There Is More Slavery Today Than There Ever Has Been
• 15:40 - What Does Matthew Do To Stop Resentment?
• 20:25 - How Are Slavery Statistics Collected?
• 22:30 - How Does Rising Middle Class In Developing Economies Affect These Numbers?
• 28:50 - Pig Butchering & Harmcore
• 38:56 - Coming Face To Face With The Criminals
• 46:50 - The Role Of Offshore Finance & Money Laundering
• 52:40 - The Geography Of All Of This
• 1:00:10 - Red Light District In Amsterdam & 'Taken' & Jeffrey Epstein
• 1:11:30 - Africa
• 1:14:20 - China & Specific Example Of Manufacturers Exploiting Slavery & Greenwashing
• 1:29:30 - Role Of Serendipity In Matthew Friedman's Life & Bullish Country & Conversation Between 2 People

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Curious Things Mentioned During The Episode

• Investigative Journalism Starter Pack
• Martin Schibbye - Cards Of Qatar

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#151 - The following is with the debut Italian on this podcast, the one and only Luca Dellanna.

Luca is the extremely successful author of 9 books, and he writes these alongside his day job, as an independent consultant advising businesses across the world at the intersection of risk and behavioural psychology 

This makes him the best communicator of the subject of todays conversation, which funnily enough is the very same title of most recent book... Ergodicity.

Time Stamps For Luca Dellanna

• 00:00 – Introduction
• 01:23 – What Is Ergodicity?
• 05:53 - Why Does Ergodicity Matter?
• 15:23 - Fat Tails & Power Laws
• 22:43 - Consultants & Skin In The Game
• 29:50 - Ole Peters & Ergodicity In Insurance
• 39:58 - The Perfect Example To Explain Ergodicity + My Attempt At Applying Ergodicity To Cricket
• 48:31 - Behavioural Change Is Non Ergodic
• 51:35 - Kelly Criterion In Nature + Survivorship Bias & Lindy
• 1:07:58 - The Influence Of Nassim Taleb
• 1:16:03 - Serendipity & Ergodicity

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Curious Things Mentioned During The Episode

• Russ Roberts #150
• Scott Patterson – Chaos Kings
• Nassim Taleb & Incerto Podcast

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#150 - Russ Roberts ladies and gentlemen.

One of the true OG’s of podcasting and in fact so OG, that Russ is one of the mediums earliest adopters, Russ has been at this racket for nearly 20 years now since he debuted EconTalk in 2006. 

And although economics is literally in the title, the show expands well beyond the narrow domain of theoretical economics – it is much broader and has transformed over the years into one of the most authentic reflections of a hosts shifting curiosities.

And with guests the likes of Milton Friedman, Thomas Pikety, Christopher Hitchens, Michael Lewis and even the great and elusive Nassim Taleb, you can see why EconTalk is one of the most appraised shows out there.

Time Stamps For Russ Roberts

• 00:00 – Introduction
• 02:23 – Christopher Hitchens
• 07:32 – Good Communication Versus Good Talking… (Podcasting?)
• 29:53 – Do Certain Cultures Create More Good Communicators Than Others?
• 35:46 – Nassim Taleb All The Way Down
• 59:08 – I Run A Theory By Russ + Russ Reflecting On EconTalk
• 1:12:03 – The Role That Serendipity Has Played In Russ’s Life
• 1:17:23 – Country Russ Is Particularly Bullish On
• 1:22:51 – Conversation Between Any Two People Of History

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Curious Things Mentioned During The Episode

• Christopher Hitchens Mortality
• Ben Burgis – Life Of Christopher Hitchens
• Scott Patterson – Chaos Kings
• Nassim Taleb & Incerto Podcast

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#149 - After climbing the peak of China's Elite, Desmond Shum had to flee his country of birth out of fear of being disappeared.
 
He was on the inside of the political apparatus along with his former wife, a multi billionaire who would later go on to be disappeared, and together, but in the years before they built their empire of the backs of being cosy with the most powerful elites right up the tippy top of the CCP mountains-cape. 

These relationships coupled with an incredible ambition and nouse for business led Desmond to multiple business deals that were not only extremely lucrative, but also interesting as a case study into the tide lifting all boats phenomenon that was a booming china ins the early 2000’s.

• 00:00 – Introduction
• 05:13 - Dealing With Abuse & The Chinese Caste System
• 16:39 - Status, Vanity, Social Awareness & How Desmond Used It To His Advantage
• 31:13 - Navigating China's Politics & Attention To Detail
• 37:19 - Corruption & Guanxi
• 49:13 - Desmond's Lifestyle When He Was At The Top
• 53:48 - Dynastic Wealth & Desmond's Relationship With Whitney & His Son
• 58:58 - Whitney's Disappearance
• 1:04:13 - Whitney's Elite Guanxi
• 1:12:18 - Desmonds Biggest Deals & The Tide That Lifts All Boats
• 1:26:13 - Whitney's Disappearance
• 1:29:28 - How Rich Chinese Hide Their Money  
• 1:38:03 - Does Desmond Still Feared Being Disappeared?
• 1:39:23 - Fallout After Publishing Book & Discussing Jack Ma
• 1:45:43 - China's Future
• 1:47:23 - 'I Signed My Life Away When I Decided To Publish The Book'

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Curious Things Mentioned During The Episode

• Geoff Raby

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#148 - Scott Patterson writes for the WSJ and is author of The Quants, DarkPools and Chaos Kings. 

Anyone who has listened to this podcast for a while will be familiar with my affinity for Nassim Taleb and know just how influential he has been on shaping my worldview…

Just a few of the characters profiled in this book include Bill Ackman, who runs the famous Pershing Square hedge fund, and made one of the greatest trades in recorded history at the beginning of Covid, Nassim Taleb and Mark Spitznagel who together have made billions via their unusual hedge fund, Universa and as well, Didier Sornet, a fascinatingly interesting french mathematician and academic who believes opposite to Taleb, that Black Swans can be predicted.

In this podcast with Scott Patterson, you can expect to hear about the core of the chaos kings worldview, a lot about Nassim Taleb, serendipity and as well anecdotes for days that give you a deep insight into Scott as both a journalist and author.

• 00:00 – Introduction
• 02:30 – How The Chaos Kings Have Effected Scott’s Worldview
• 10:10 – Taleb’s Hedge Fund Antifragile Trading Strategy
• 12:40 – Scott’s Introduction To Taleb & Spitznagel
• 21:50 – What Principles Enabled Taleb & Spitznagel To Endure Loss Day After Day
• 28:55 – Why Do These Masters Of Risk Expose Themselves To Such Physical Risk
• 34:15 – The Core Of The Chaos Kings Worldview
• 47:47 – Taleb Or Sornet?
• 48:06 – Nassim Taleb Biography?
• 48:23 – Chamath Palihapatya
• 49:36 – How Does A Journalist Optimise For Tail Risk + Extremistan Explained For Authors
• 54:29 – How Will Scott Teach His Son To Optimise For Serendipity
• 55:55 – What Country Is Scott Bullish On

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Curious Things Mentioned During The Episode

• Nassim Taleb & Incerto Podcast

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#147 - Tim Butcher returns to the podcast with another incredible journey through an African nation.

The first time Tim appeared he spoke about his adventures through the Congo, weaving a story of an incredibly rich and beautiful country that is nonetheless un-developing. 

It remains easily one of my favourite episodes I’ve ever had the privilege to record. 

Tim, this time around takes us through his month long journey through Liberia and Sierre Leone. He wrote a book about it called Chasing The Devil, and as the title alludes, a big part of the journey was trying to come to terms with the voodoo, black magic and devil worship that he encounters along the way. 

Much like his Congo trip, Tim again is journeying in the footsteps of a great writer who had gone before him. In the case of Liberia it is the famous author and journalists, Graham Greene.

• 00:00 – Introduction
• 02:10 – What Is Good Writing & What Is Good Speaking?
• 34:13 – Graham Greene & Liberia
• 54:10 – Charles Taylor & The Devil Worship Of West Africa
• 1:16:58 – The Journey Through Liberia
• 1:37:45 – Geographical Determinism
• 1:51:27 – The Kleptocracy Of Liberia & Africa More Broadly
• 2:11:54 – Country You Are Most Bullish On
• 2:17:31 – Cricket Chat

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Curious Things Mentioned During The Episode

• Tim Marshall
• Tim Butcher – Blood River Through The Congo
• James Robinson – Why Nations Fail

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The fella who features here has been working with different divisions of Swedish law enforcement for over 20 years and this includes over 10 years with Piketen - Sweden’s equivalent of SWAT.

Piketen says their work is ‘particularly dangerous and complex situations’ and  this includes hostage situations, high risk search warrants, etc. Only 8% of people manage to complete the various psychological and physical tests that are required to make it into Piketen and it was on one of his first jobs with this division that the guest on this episode was involved in an incident that will remain with him for the rest of his life.

This is a deeply personal podcast going from his beginning to now, the full journey of a fella from northern Sweden who wanted to be policeman ever since he he could understand what it meant.

Now, I would love to give a bit of a broader context on the current issues around law enforcement that are being discussed in Sweden, but I am afraid I would not do it justice at all, so let’s leave it at if you are Swedish, I am sure you’re already informed, and if you aren't, than many of the issues are likely mirrored in your own country.

Lower trust in police, more scepticism, lower wages, less applicants, lower standards, more mistakes, harsher critics, negative media attention, and more and more and more context which paints policing overall in a negative light… which in my opinion is a losing strategy because even though everyone of us might have our own example of bad police, imagine if they weren't around, or on average, just as unskilled and as undisciplined as the rest of us.

That's a grim picture. Everything is as nice as it is, because there are people who enforce the law.

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