Infinite Loops

Nat Eliason is a writer with a keen interest in writing about challenging and revealing things. His debut book, Crypto Confidential: Winning and Losing Millions in the New Frontier of Finance (out July 9th, 2024), charts his personal odyssey into Crypto's Get-Rich-Quick underbelly.

Nat joins the show to discuss the highs and lows of the cryptocurrency market, the lessons learned from his financial adventures, the psychological effects of bubbles, crypto's cutting-edge developments, and MUCH more!

Important Links:

• Nat's Website
• Nat's Twitter
• Nat's YouTube

Show Notes:

• Making A Lot of Money, As Fast as Possible
• The Peer Pressure of Crypto Markets
• The Psychological Effects of Diamond Hands
• Signs of Peak Speculation
• How Bitcoin Has Carried the Crypto Story
• Ethereum's Innovations
• The Emergence of Stablecoins
• What Makes USD A Reserve Currency?
• The Crazy Anonymity of Crypto Projects
• The Two Options of Getting Into Crypto
• Imagining the Money Pile
• What Nat Couldn't Keep in the Book
• Nat's Next Career as a Novelist
• Nat as Emperor of the World
• MORE!

Books Mentioned:

• Influence; by Robert Cialdini

Noor Siddiqui is currently building Orchid, a reproductive technology company that measures genetic predisposition to disease and provides embryo screening for couples going through IVF.

Noor joins the show to discuss the ambitious culture of the West Coast, getting into the Thiel Fellowship, her personal reasons for starting Orchid, the sacred act of reproduction and why it must be made safe, her belief in children as the future, and MUCH more!

Important Links:

• Noor's Personal Website
• Noor's Twitter
• Noor's Linkedin
• Orchid's Website

Show Notes:

• The Ambitious Culture of San Francisco
• The East Coast Aversion to Risky Ambition
• The Intimate Origin Story of Orchid
• What Orchid Has Built
• The History and Controversy Around Reproductive Technology
• Surprising Aspects of Orchid's Technology
• Benefits of Saliva Testing
• Making Our Own Genetic Luck
• Noor's Predictions for the Field
• Advances in Embryonic Freezing
• Why Noor Values Clear Writing
• Noor as Empress of the World
• MORE!

Books/Essays Mentioned:

• What You Can't Say; by Paul Graham
• Secrets (from Zero To One); by Peter Thiel

The Fourth Way is a pseudonymously run Youtube channel and Twitter page dedicated to the path of psychological and spiritual growth and self-improvement. Built around the philosophy of two thinkers - George Gurdjieff and Peter Ouspensky - the ultimate aim of the Fourth Way is "to assist individuals in achieving a higher state of consciousness and self-awareness which can lead to a more fulfilling and meaningful existence."

Tune in to this week's episode to learn about the four ways of being; how to befriend your centers; the keys to the universe; and MUCH more!

Important Links:

• The Fourth Way Youtube channel
• The Fourth Way on Twitter

Show Notes:

• Memetic Alchemy
• Introducing The Fourth Way
• The Best Time To Start Is Now
• The Four Ways of Being
• Waking Sleep
• Befriending Your Centers
• Keys To The Universe
• The Law of Octaves
• Indoctrination as Hypnosis
• The Fourth Way Curriculum
• The Search for Mystery
• Don't Forget To Self-Remember
• Life Is Movement
• A Pitch for The Fourth Way
• Don't Go With The Flow
• The Fourth…Emperor Of The World

Books Mentioned:

• The Fourth Way; by Peter Ouspensky
• In Search of the Miraculous; by Peter Ouspensky
• Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson; by ****George Gurdjieff
• In Search of Being: The Fourth Way to Consciousness; by George Gurdjieff
• The Struggle of the Magicians; by George Gurdjieff
• Siddhartha; by Herman Hesse
• The Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean; by Thoth The Atlantean

Mona Sobhani, Ph.D. is a cognitive neuroscientist, researcher, and author. In 2022 she published her first book, Proof of Spiritual Phenomena: A Neuroscientist's Discovery of the Ineffable Mysteries of the Universe, which documents her "transformation from diehard materialist to open-minded spiritual seeker."

Mona joins the show to discuss blowing open the box of materialism, why anecdotes are scientifically underrated, what she learned from studying decades of research into psi-phenomena, how quantum science is transforming the way we think about consciousness, and MUCH more!

Important Links:

• Mona's Twitter
• Proof of Spiritual Phenomena: A Neuroscientist's Discovery of the Ineffable Mysteries of the Universe; by Mona Sobhani
• Cosmos, Coffee & Consciousness (Mona's Substack)
• Life Will Be the Death of Me Podcast with Chelsea Handler (Ep. 19): People on the Other Side with Laura Lynne Jackson
• Infinite Potential: The Life & Ideas of David Bohm
• Prophetic AI

Show Notes:

• Mona's Journey Beyond Materialism
• Anecdotes are Scientifically Underrated; Research Into Psi Phenomena
• How Mona Deals With Her Colleagues' Skepticism
• The Persuasiveness of Personal Experience
• Psychic Phenomena & the Scientific Method
• Blowing Open the Box of Materialism
• How Quantum Science is Transforming How We Think About Consciousness
• Transcendent Technology
• Psychedelics as a Bridge
• What's Next for Mona
• Bringing Humanity Back Into Science
• Mona as Empress of the World
• MORE!

Books & Articles Mentioned:

• Proof of Spiritual Phenomena: A Neuroscientist's Discovery of the Ineffable Mysteries of the Universe; by Mona Sobhani
• The Radical Ideas of Psychedelic Research 2.0 (Pt.1; Pt.2); by Mona Sobhani
• Many Lives, Many Masters: The true story of a prominent psychiatrist, his young patient and the past-life therapy that changed both their lives; by Dr. Brian Weiss
• The New Inquisition: Irrational Rationalism and the Citadel of Science; by Robert Anton Wilson
• Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy; by Michael Polanyi
• The Two Cultures; by C. P. Snow
• The Fabric of Reality: Towards a Theory of Everything; by David Deutsch
• The work of Dean Radin
• The Common Basis of Memory and Consciousness: Understanding the Brain as a Write-Read Head Interacting With an Omnipresent Background Field' by Joachim Keppler
• How To Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence; by Michael Pollan
• What the Tortoise Said to Achilles; by Lewis Carroll

Described by David Perell as "like Rick Rubin for writing," Ellen Fishbein is an author and writing coach and the founder of Altamira Studio, an independent publisher specializing in short-form books. She joins the show to discuss how traditional publishing disrespects intelligent readers, her advice for aspiring authors, what she's learned from Shakespeare's sonnets, and MUCH more!

Important Links:

• Altamira Studio
• Writing.coach
• Muse By Mail
• Ellen's Website
• Ellen's Twitter

Show Notes:

• The Caves of Altamira
• The New Book Deal
• Using Shakespeare's Sonnets as a Writing Guide
• The Author's Compass
• The Storytelling Magic of Herman Hesse
• Zero to One & Writing as Personal Communication
• How Traditional Publishing Disrespects Smart Readers
• How the Legacy Publishing System Results in Regression to the Mean
• AI in the Writing Process
• Cutting Out the Middle Man
• Muse By Mail
• Advice for Aspiring Authors
• Writing Coaching & Working with Big Publishers
• Ellen as Empress of the World
• MORE!

Books, Articles & Films Mentioned:

• The New Book Deal; by Ellen Fishbein
• Future of Publishing: 10 High-Conviction Views; by Ellen Fishbein
• What makes Zero to One a masterpiece; by Ellen Fishbein
• Have you found your "bible"?; by Ellen Fishbein
• ASK ARISTOTLE; by Vishal Sharma and William Jaworski
• MEMES MAKE MILLIONS; by Jason Levin
• SPACEFARING: A contribution to Earth's archives; by Ellen Fishbein
• The Glass Bead Game; by Hermann Hesse Hesse's
• Demian: The Story of a Boyhood; by Hermann Hesse
• Siddharta; by Hermann Hesse
• Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future; by Peter Thiel with Blake Masters
• What Works on Wall Street: A Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All Time; by Jim O'Shaughnessy
• How to Retire Rich: Time-Tested Strategies to Beat the Market and Retire in Style; by Jim O'Shaughnessy
• Cave of Forgotten Dreams; Directed by Werner Herzog

Professor, Mathematician and Writer John A. Paulos joins the show to discuss math education, the power of puzzles, cognitive biases, and MUCH more!

Important Links:

• John's Website
• John's Twitter

Show Notes:

• Why Do People Hate Math?
• The Power of Posing Problems with Counterintuitive or Shocking Results
• Using Everyday Examples to Understand Math Concepts
• Systems Designed to Take Advantage of Innumeracy
• People's Ignorance of Randomness and Random Samples
• The Strange Power of Anchoring Bias
• Tradeoffs between Probability and Plausibility
• The Prisoner's Dilemma & Math Anxiety
• Improving the Monty Hall Problem
• Designing an Ideal Intro Math Course
• The Big Brother Aspect of Nudging
• John as Emperor of the World
• MORE!

Books Mentioned:

• Innumeracy - Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences; by J.A. Paulos
• A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market; by J.A. Paulos
• A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper; by J.A. Paulos
• Statistics; by D.A. Freedman, R. Pisani, and R.A. Purves
• Thinking Fast and Slow; by Daniel Kahneman

Chris Wilcha is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and commercial director.

His latest film, Flipside, which is co-executive produced by Jim and presented in association with Infinite Films (among others), opens in select US theaters tomorrow (May 31st, 2024).

An ode to creative failure, abandoned projects, and rekindled passion, Flipside premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival to rave reviews. Here's the full description:

"When filmmaker Chris Wilcha revisits the record store he worked at as a teenager in New Jersey, he finds the once-thriving bastion of music and weirdness from his youth slowly falling apart and out of touch with the times. FLIPSIDE documents his tragicomic attempt to revive the store while revisiting other documentary projects he has abandoned over the years. In the process, Wilcha captures This American Life icon Ira Glass in the midst of a creative rebirth, discovers the origin story of David Bowie's ode to a local New Jersey cable television hero, and uncovers the unlikely connection between jazz photographer Herman Leonard and TV writer David Milch. This disparate collection of stories coheres into something strange and expansive—a moving meditation on music, work, and the sacrifices and satisfaction of trying to live a creative life."

Important Links:

• Flipside; a film by Chris Wilcha
• 32 Sounds; a film by Sam Green

Show Notes:

• An Ode to Abandoned Projects
• How Flipside Got Made
• When Filmmaking Gets Personal
• Taking the Big Swings
• Bringing the Film to Life in the Editing Room
• "Life can only be understood backwards, but we must live it forwards"
• Meeting Uncle Floyd
• Working With Judd Apatow & the Coen Brothers; Balancing Art & Commerce
• Stylistic Choices & Following Your Obsession
• How Jim Got Into Music
• The Changing Landscape of Documentary Filmmaking
• How the Creative Industries Compare to Wall Street
• Chris' Favourite Unmade Documentaries
• Chris as Emperor of the World
• MORE!

"PHETASY IS a movement disguised as a company. We just want to make you laugh while the world burns."

Bridget Phetasy is an entrepreneur, writer, podcast host, political commentator, burgeoning media mogul, and standup comedian. Over the past few years, her media company - Phetasy - has become an outlet for 100s of hours of social commentary filtered through her sharp and spiky worldview.

She joins the show to discuss the comedic temperature in America today; the role of comedy in contemporary society; humour as a weapon; and MUCH more!

Important Links:

• Bridget's Twitter
• The 'Beyond Parody with Bridget Phetasy' newsletter
• Bridget's Youtube channel
• Bridget's website

Show Notes:

• Comedy as Dissidence
• Post-Trump Comedy
• America's Comedic Temperature
• A Tipping Point For Comedy
• Does The Rubber Band Snap Back?
• The Atomization of Culture
• The Coddling of the American Mind
• Fighting Political Peer Pressure
• The Anti-fragility of Normie-ville
• "Capitalism Always Wins"
• The Pendulum Swings
• The Cyclical Nature of Moral Panic
• Luxury Beliefs
• Humor as a Weapon
• The Societal Utility of Comedy
• MORE!

Books Mentioned:

• Trickster Makes This World: Mischief, Myth, and Art; by Lewis Hyde
• Mediated: How the Media Shapes Your World and the Way You Live in It; by Thomas de Zengotita
• Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community; By Robert D. Putnam

Porter Braswell is the Founder and CEO of 2045 Studio, an exclusive network for accomplished professionals of color.

Porter is also the Co-founder and Executive Chairman of the career advancement platform Jopwell, the host of the Harvard Business Review podcast Race at Work, and the author of two books, including 2019's Let Them See You.

Porter joins the show to discuss how 2045 Studio is harnessing community to empower professionals of color to succeed, how to establish trust within a community, what he learned from Magic Johnson's mentorship, and MUCH more!

Important Links:

• 2045 Studio
• Porter's LinkedIn
• Porter's Twitter
• Porter's Instagram
• Race at Work podcast
• O'Shaughnessy Ventures Invests in 2045 Studio

Show Notes:

• The Significance of 2045
• Bridging the Inclusion Gap
• Networks, Community & the Clubhouse
• The Opportunity To Be in the Majority
• Building the Right Kind of Partnerships
• The Importance of Human Capital
• Socratic Problem-Solving
• How to Establish Trust Within a Community
• The 2045 Approach to Networking
• Councils & Relationship-Building
• Surprising Lessons From Foundership
• Leveraging the Community
• Magic Johnson's Mentorship & the Advantages of the Athletic Mentality
• Why Porter Writes
• "Wouldn't it be so cool if I could always feel like I belong?"
• 2045's Long-Term Vision
• Porter as Emperor of the World
• MORE!

Books Mentioned:

• Let Them See You: The Guide for Leveraging Your Diversity at Work; by Porter Braswell
• Yes, You Can: The Secrets Revealed for How to Get into and Succeed at America's Top Universities and Colleges; by Porter Braswell
• The Intelligent Investor; by Benjamin Graham

Grant Mitchell is a seasoned entrepreneur, operator, and investor in the areas of health, technology, and machine learning. He is currently the co-founder and CEO of Every Cure, where he uses AI to research rare diseases and conduct drug repurposing.

Grant joins the show to discuss the use of AI in rare drug research, the role of translational scientists, neglected knowledge, and MUCH MORE!

Important Links:

• Every Cure Website
• Dr. Grant's Twitter
• Dr. Grant's LinkedIn

Show Notes:

• The Organizational Problem in Pharma
• The Power of Biomedical Knowledge Graphs
• The Traditional Pharma Approach to Drug R&D
• Risks in the World of AI-driven Drug Discovery
• The Limits of AI for Medical Use
• Biology's 'Ignorome'
• The Role of Translators
• Every Cure's Typical Supporters
• Neglected Latent Knowledge
• Grant as Emperor of the World
• MORE!

Books/Essays Mentioned:

• The AI Revolution; by Tim Urban (Wait But Why)
• Ikigai - The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life; by Héctor García & Francesc Miralles