Dan Williams is a philosopher at the University of Sussex, an associate fellow at Cambridge's Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, and the writer behind the Substack "Conspicuous Cognition." His commentary often focuses on the nature of cognitive bias, tribalism, and how all of this manifests in contemporary political discourse.

In this episode, I got a chance to speak with him about how his politics have changed since his teenage years, the extent to which social media is responsible for political extremism, and whether or not AI will end up stifling intellectual diversity through political homogenization.

Show Notes

"On becoming less left-wing (Part 1)" by Dan Williams, Conspicuous Cognition

"Social media is populist and polarising; AI may be the opposite" by John Burn-Murdoch, The Financial Times

Gary Winslett is a political science professor at Middlebury College and the writer behind the Substack "The Neoliberal Papers." He is a center-left Democrat who strongly supports free trade, the free market, housing deregulation, and more.

In this episode, I got a chance to speak with him about the US economy, past and present: the merits of Biden's economic policies, the effect that AI seems to be having on the labor market, and whether the Abundance agenda would work best as a type of Secret Congress legislation.

Show Notes

"Cato Institute 2022 Student Debt Cancellation National Survey"

"The prospects for left-wing populism" by Joseph Heath, In Due Course

Robert Wright is the author of the Nonzero Newsletter and the host of the Nonzero Podcast. He is known for his commentary on evolutionary psychology, and how humans evolved to benefit from cooperation and coordination on larger and larger scales as history has progressed forward.

His latest book "The God Test" posits that artificial intelligence represents the next leap forward for evolutionary history and civilization. His view is that, to prevent AI from destroying the world, the US needs to make some extremely important foreign policy decisions that will massively affect its relationship with China in the near term.

In today's episode, I got a chance to speak with him about the difference between zero-sum and non-zero-sum interactions, the importance of cognitive empathy in human communication, and how those two concepts can help the world prevent AI from causing civilizational collapse.

Show Notes

The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning by Robert Wright

Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies by Nick Bostrom

Charlotte Swasey is the writer behind the Substack "Medium Data" and the Director of Analytics at the Searchlight Institute. Her work on electoral strategy often highlights how getting elected involves a juggling act: you have to factor many different variables into account at the same time, not the least of which include fundraising, coalition unity, issue taking, and more.

In this episode, I got a chance to speak with her about whether Democrats can successfully retake the Senate in November, why more funding doesn't necessarily help politicians win elections, and why the DNC is essentially 20 million organizations in a trench coat.

Show Notes

"A year of Trump, again" by Charlotte Swasey, Searchlight

"How Trump Targeted Undecided Voters Without Breaking the Bank" by Shane Goldmacher, The New York Times

"The DNC is going broke in slow motion" by Charlotte Swasey, Medium Data

The Hollow Parties: The Many Pasts and Disordered Present of American Party Politics by Daniel Schlozman and Sam Rosenfeld

"Platner, Bernie, and a hangover" by Charlotte Swasey, Medium Data

"Winning is everything. It also means nothing" by Lakshya Jain and Charlotte Swasey, The Argument

Announcement: this podcast will be publishing episodes twice as often as usual (so every single week on Thursdays) until the end of August, and possibly for even longer. Count yourself lucky in that regard 😉

Ryan Geddie is a prominent YouTuber known for his video essays on history, culture, and the current state of American politics. I brought him on my show to talk about his advice for the Democratic Party, and why he thinks it's important for liberals to co-opt populism for the near future.

In this episode, I got a chance to speak with him about why liberalism has lost its power to tell meaningful stories, why Ryan believes Jon Ossoff has tons of potential, and why it's important to raise taxes on middle-income Americans.

Show Notes

"Why are American Liberals Afraid of Populism?" by Ryan Geddie

National Conservatism Conference: Senator Eric Schmitt and Others

Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson

"What We Got Right — and Wrong — in ‘Abundance’" from The Ezra Klein Show

The US's federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Is that actually enough for someone to afford basic necessities like food and shelter? Or is it a wage that'd lead to starvation, and would be practically impossible for someone to live off of?

Jack Whitcomb is the writer behind the Substack "Jackonomics," which covers economic subjects such as the cost of living, welfare reform, and monetary policy. He's recently become invested in the discussion about whether or not the US's federal minimum wage is indeed a starvation wage, or if someone could actually live off of it.

In this episode, I got a chance to speak with him about the experiment he conducted to figure this out, and why so many people resonate with the idea that the federal minimum wage is a starvation wage.

Show Notes

"The Federal Minimum Wage Is (Technically) a Living Wage" by Jack Whitcomb, Jackonomics

"Populism fast and slow" by Joseph Heath, In Due Course

Anne-Laure Le Cunff is a neuroscientist at King's College London and the founder of Ness Labs, a learning community designed to help people experiment and harness their curiosity more productively. She is the author of the recent book Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World.

In this episode, I got a chance to speak with her about why working at Google was stressful enough to land her in the hospital, the cognitive scripts that we subconsciously adhere to in our lives, and the real problem behind New Year's Resolutions.

Show Notes

Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World by Anne-Laure Le Cunff

Darby Saxbe is a clinical psychologist and psychology professor at the University of Southern California. She writes the Substack "Natal Gazing," a blog devoted to pronatalism, gender roles, and the biological effects that parenting has on adults.

In this episode, I got a chance to speak with her about her new book Dad Brain, which explores the complex biological and societal changes that men undergo as a result of becoming parents. We discussed many of the topics in her new book: the benefits of paid paternity leave, the rise of overly intensive parenting, and many of the discussions surrounding allocation of household labor between couples.

Show Notes

Dad Brain: The New Science of Fatherhood and How It Shapes Men's Lives by Darby Saxbe

"You're not the captain of the parenting police" by Darby Saxbe, The Argument

"Let's be honest about the second shift" by Regan, All Cats Are Female

Fair Play by Eve Rodsky

"Unfair Play" by Lyman Stone

Bret Devereaux is a military historian and a Teaching Assistant Professor at North Carolina State University. He writes the blog "A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry," which covers US foreign policy, the nature of military tactics in war, and the best sci-fi/fantasy stories.

In this episode, I got a chance to speak with him about what Star Wars teaches us about modern insurgencies, why non-violent protest often works as a potent strategy, and the best-case scenario for the future of American democracy.

Show Notes

"Collections: Against the State – A Primer on Terrorism, Insurgency and Protest" by Bret Devereaux, A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry

Letter from Birmingham Jail

The End of History and the Last Man by Francis Fukuyama

Matthew Yglesias is the head of the Substack "Slow Boring" and co-host of the podcasts The Argument and Politix. He's been writing about politics for far longer than many people have been politically aware: he's written for Bloomberg, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and more. He even helped co-found the website Vox back in 2014.

Nowadays, his thesis is that Democrats need to moderate on many contentious issues: crime, non-renewable energy, transgender participation in sports, and so on. It's this thesis of his that I find incredibly fascinating, and that's part of the reason I enjoyed the opportunity to speak with him here.

In this episode, I got the chance to speak with him about the concept of the median voter, Matt's dynamic with his friend Ezra Klein, and which priorities Democrats ought to focus on to gain popularity.

Show Notes

"In defense of being wildly out of touch" by Matthew Yglesias, Slow Boring

"Should race matter in college admissions?" from The Argument Podcast

"Shmoderation is the future" by Matthew Yglesias, Slow Boring