safe to eat

Nathan and Erik analyze the moats of the most powerful companies in AI. The paradigm-shifting technology has led to a flourishing open-source community with market share. Yet, the big players have key competitive advantages that can be examined from many different angles.

We chat about:

-AIs trading crypto + the broader role of crypto/CBDCs

-the impact of AI on real interest rates (Cowen’s Third Law)

-the replenishing of low-hanging fruit

Tyler Cowen is a professor of economics at George Mason University and Director of the Mercatus Center. He needs little introduction given his widespread online footprint. Tyler writes regularly on his blog Marginal Revolution, hosts his podcast Conversations with Tyler, and is the author of a column on Bloomberg.

Tyler is an avid traveler, the author of books including The Great Stagnation and Talent, and a food connoisseur of many cuisines.

Growing up in Georgia, Clarence Thomas wanted to make his mark. His goal was to become his hometown’s first Black Catholic priest. But in the 1960s, he abandoned that dream. Instead, he embraced campus activism and the teachings of Malcolm X. Season 8 of Slow Burn is produced by Joel Anderson, Sophie Summergrad, Sam Kim, and Sofie Kodner. Josh Levin is the editorial director of Slow Burn. Derek John is Slate’s executive producer of narrative podcasts. Susan Matthews is Slate’s executive editor. Editorial direction by Josh Levin, Derek John, and Joel Meyer. Merritt Jacob is Slate’s senior technical director. Our theme music is composed by Alexis Cuadrado. Artwork by Ivylise Simones. Learn more about your ad choices.

Happy National Train Day, everyone – for those of you who missed it: that was May 13th this year. A year ago, we started down this path with Train Set: Track One, which gave way to Track Two …and now, here we are for the final part of our train-fecta.

Slip coaches, the worlds shortest trains, private cars, torpedoes, and of course, Thomas.

When Kevin Kelly turned 68 years old, he began writing down notes and thoughts about all the lessons he’d learned in his life and the ones he wished he’d learned earlier. While those notes were originally intended for his young adult children, they eventually became the book Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier, which was released in May 2023. On this episode of the Knowledge Project, Kelly goes in-depth on some of the book’s most essential lessons, including learning, setting deadlines, perfection, forgiveness, living a meaningful life, reasoning, and so much more. Kelly is the co-founder of the magazine Wired, which twice won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence while he served as publication’s Executive Editor during the 1990s. He is also the co-chair of The Long Now Foundation, a membership organization that champions long-term thinking, as well as the founder of the popular Cool Tools website, which has been reviewing tools daily for 20 years. He is also an artist as well as the author of 14 books. --

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Players, pundits and fans complain bitterly that referees are getting worse each season – but is that fair?