The Every Podcast

Antidepressants changed my life.

I have OCD and antidepressants did what nearly a decade of therapy, meditation, and supplements couldn’t: they allowed me to live my life without being in a 24/7 spiral. (Bonus: they actually made therapy and meditation far more helpful once they started to work.)

I think antidepressants are seriously misunderstood. Yes, they blunt negative emotions. But they also operate on personality and sense of self: they can make you bolder, less sensitive to failure, and less risk-averse.

In short: they are a technology that changes how we see ourselves and the world.

That’s why I invited Dr. Peter D. Kramer on my show. Dr. Kramer is a psychiatrist and the author of eight books, including Listening to Prozac, which is an international bestseller. He has practiced psychiatry and taught psychotherapy at Brown University for nearly four decades.

Listening To Prozac is one of my favorite books, and it documents Dr. Kramer’s experiences as a psychiatrist seeing how antidepressants like Prozac changed his patients’ sense of self and personality.

Now, you might be wondering why have him on a show about ChatGPT? Well, technology can change who we are even if it comes as a software product rather than a pill. It’s undoubtedly true that as generations of humans learn to live with AI, it will change what it means to be human—and how we see ourselves and the world. I think that can be a good thing, but it could also be scary.

I wanted to talk to Dr. Kramer about his book, and see if we could apply some of his insights in Prozac to ChatGPT. It was an incredible conversation, and I was honored to talk to him.

If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! 

Want even more?

Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.

To hear more from Dan Shipper:

Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe 

Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper 

To learn more about the topics in this episode:

Listening to Prozac by Peter D. Kramer

ChatGPT and the Future of the Human Mind by Dan Shipper

SSRIs by Scott Alexander

Links to resources mentioned in the episode:

Dr. Peter D. Kramer: https://twitter.com/PeterDKramer 

ChatGPT and the Future of the Human  Mind by Dan Shipper: https://every.to/chain-of-thought/chatgpt-and-the-future-of-the-human-mind 

Listening to Prozac  by Dr. Kramer: https://www.amazon.com/Listening-Prozac-Landmark-Antidepressants-Remaking/dp/0140266712 

Should You Leave? by Dr. Kramer: https://www.amazon.com/Should-You-Leave-Psychiatrist-Autonomy/dp/0140272798 

Against Depression by Dr. Kramer: https://www.amazon.com/Against-Depression-Peter-D-Kramer/dp/0143036963 

Ordinarily Well by Dr. Kramer: https://www.amazon.com/Ordinarily-Well-Antidepressants-Peter-Kramer/dp/0374536961 

Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote by Jorge Luis Borges: https://raley.english.ucsb.edu/wp-content/Engl10/Pierre-Menard.pdf 

The Soul of A New Machine by Tracy Kidder: https://www.amazon.com/Soul-New-Machine-Tracy-Kidder/dp/0316491977 

Making Hay by Verlyn Klinkenborg: https://www.amazon.com/Making-Hay-Verlyn-Klinkenborg/dp/0941130185 

Oranges by John McPhee: https://www.amazon.com/Oranges-John-McPhee/dp/0374512973 

You can build and run a one-person internet business that earns half a million in annual revenue—with AI.

Ben Tossell showed me exactly how in this episode. Ben is the founder of Ben’s Bites—one of the best daily AI newsletters out there, which I love reading every day—and an investor in a number of promising early-stage AI startups. Ben is also an experienced founder whose no-code platform Makerpad was acquired by Zapier.

I think Ben is really good at starting profitable internet businesses that are sneakily big, but don’t require too many resources. Over the last couple of years, he’s assembled a war chest of AI tools including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Lex, and Supernormal to help him do this. In this episode, we get into the weeds of how Ben has integrated AI into his workflow to find new business opportunities, run them well, and evaluate their performance. 

We get into:
- How to use ChatGPT as a business strategist
- Building your MVP with ChatGPT
- Turning interview transcripts into compelling articles
- Analyzing business data using AI tools
- How to generate persuasive landing page copy with ChatGPT
- Offload time-consuming tasks to AI

This episode is a must-watch for anyone who is curious about using AI to bootstrap a profitable internet business.

Want even more?
Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.

To hear more from Dan Shipper:
Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe
Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper

Links to resources mentioned in the episode:
- Ben Tossell: https://twitter.com/bentossell

I made the greatest trade of my life with Jesse Beyroutey in 2019. We bought Nvidia shares when they were trading at $33. They’re worth nearly $800 today.

I sat down with Jesse to top that trade in 90 minutes using Gemini Pro 1.5’s incredible 1 million token context window—and make a $1,000 trade live on the show. 

Jesse is a managing partner at IA Ventures, a $600 million venture fund with seed investments in companies like Wise and Digital Ocean. He’s also a very close friend and one of the smartest people I know. 

We unpack our investment thesis for our Nvidia trade and leverage the power of Gemini Pro 1.5 and ChatGPT to orchestrate what we hope will be the best trade of our lives. We put our money where our mouth is and make a $1,000 trade while the cameras are still rolling.

There’s a plot twist at the end of this episode—so stick around to see the epilogue Jesse and I recorded just days after we made our investment.

We get into:

• How Jesse leverages LLMs to get nuanced answers to his questions
• Ways to find patterns in large swaths of data using Gemini Pro 1.5 
• Gemini Pro 1.5 and ChatGPT going head-to-head
• How Gemini Pro 1.5 can be used to understand the stock market
• Why it’s important to consistently refine your search queries
• What Jesse thinks are the new big opportunities enabled by LLMs

This is not investment advice, but it’s a must-watch for anyone who wants to leverage the power of AI to make smarter financial decisions.

If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! 

Want even more?

Sign up for Every to unlock our ⁠ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT⁠. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.

To hear more from Dan Shipper:

• Subscribe to Every: ⁠https://every.to/subscribe⁠ 
• Follow him on X: ⁠https://twitter.com/danshipper⁠ 

Links to resources mentioned in the episode:

⁠Follow Jesse Beyroutey
Nathan Labenz’s podcast, The Cognitive Revolution

You can break into Hollywood with a movie you made alone in your room without using a single camera. Dave Clark showed me how live on this show.

Dave Clark is a film director and commercial director with experience working with brands like HP and Intel who is now experimenting with cutting-edge AI technology. He recently produced a popular sci-fi short Borrowing Time, which has over 110,000 views on X and was mentioned in Forbes. Dave made this film only using AI tools like Midjourney, text-to-video model Runway, and generative voice AI platform ElevenLabs. 

Dave told me that he couldn’t have made Borrowing Time without AI—it’s an expensive project that traditional Hollywood studios would never bankroll. But after Dave’s short went viral, major production houses approached him to make it a full-length movie. I think this is an excellent example of how AI is changing the art of filmmaking, and I came out of this interview convinced that we are on the brink of a new creative age.

We dive deep into the world of AI tools for image and video generation, discussing how aspiring filmmakers can use them to validate their ideas, and potentially even secure funding if they get traction. Dave walks me through how he has integrated AI into his movie-making process, and as we talk, we make a short film featuring Nicolas Cage using a haunted roulette ball to resurrect his dead movie career, live on the show.

This episode is a must-watch for creative people interested in bringing their stories to life, movie buffs, and anyone curious about the future of creativity.

If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! 

Want even more?

Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.

To hear more from Dan Shipper:

Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe 

Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper 

Links to resources mentioned in the episode:

Follow Dave Clark

Borrowing Time, Dave’s viral sci-fi short

Forbes article that mentions Borrowing Time

Dan’s article on how AI is changing filmmaking

Nathan Labenz’s podcast, The Cognitive Revolution

Are you a curious person with a lot of ideas and little time? 

Anne-Laure Le Cunff can show you how to do it all. Anne-Laure is the founder of one of my favorite internet communities for curious minds, Ness Labs, a prolific writer, and a neuroscience PhD candidate. She’s also writing a book, Liminal Minds, that’ll be out later this year.

And she said that the reason she can run a business, write a book, and do a PhD all at the same time is ChatGPT.

Anne-Laure is one of the busiest people I know, and in this episode we dive into how she uses ChatGPT to get everything done.

We get into:

- How to use ChatGPT to be more efficient

- Tips to break down research papers into digestible insights

- How she leverages ChatGPT to revamp her YouTube thumbnails

- Tips on using ChatGPT to write prolific articles

- Doing deep research on the internet using ChatGPT 

- How to use ChatGPT to generate advice tailored for your needs

- How to surface useful insights from your journal using ChatGPT

This is a must-watch for curious, creative people who want to get more done.

If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! 

Want even more?

Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it ⁠here for free⁠.

To hear more from Dan Shipper:

Subscribe to ⁠Every⁠

Follow him on ⁠X⁠

Links to resources mentioned in the episode:

⁠Anne-Laure Le Cunff⁠

⁠Anne-Laure following ChatGPT’s recipe to make an obscure Algerian cheese ⁠

⁠Anne-Laure’s meditation journal⁠

⁠Nathan Labenz’s podcast, The Cognitive Revolution

The next big idea is hiding in plain sight. It’s right here, scattered across the internet in incoherent fragments. Steph Smith, my guest for this episode, knows how to connect the dots. 

Steph Smith is a prolific online creator, host of the a16Z podcast, author of a book about building a successful blog called Doing Content Right, and creator of Internet Pipes, a toolkit to surface useful insights on the internet. 

I sat down with Steph to explore the internet through her eyes. I discover the method behind her uncanny knack of spotting emerging trends. Steph also reveals the internet’s most underrated advantage: validating business ideas cheaply and quickly. As we talk, I pitch Steph two businesses, and we use an arsenal of tools and strategies to vet them live on the show. 

This episode is a must-watch for anyone who spends time online and wants to create useful, fun things. Here’s a taste:

If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! 

Want even more?

Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.

To hear more from Dan Shipper:
Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe
Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper 

Links to resources mentioned in the episode:

Steph Smith: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio
Internet Pipes: https://internetpipes.com/
Doing Content Right: https://doingcontentright.com/#features
Steph's database of untranslatable words: https://eunoia.world/
Neal Agarwal: http://neal.fun
Keywords Everywhere: https://keywordseverywhere.com/
Reddit tools: https://anvaka.github.io/sayit/?query=, https://gummysearch.com/
SEO tools for market analysis: https://www.similarweb.com/,  https://www.junglescout.com/, https://answerthepublic.com/ 

You can make a video game without writing a single line of code. Logan Kilpatrick uses ChatGPT to show me how.

Logan is OpenAI’s first developer relations and advocacy hire. A big part of Logan’s job is supporting the community of builders using ChatGPT, DALL-E, and the OpenAI API. He’s also deeply invested in growing this community, convinced that AI tools can enable more people to build. 

To prove this point, Logan and I build a video game live on the show. We use GPT Builder and ChatGPT to create Allocator, a text-based strategy game where players step into the shoes of a historical U.S. president and are tasked with managing the government’s budget. We have an awesome time iterating it all the way from rough idea to functional video game in less than one hour—without any coding. 

 This is a must-watch for anyone who wants to bring their creative ideas to life.

If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! 

Want even more?

Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.

To hear more from Dan Shipper:
Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe
Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper
Links to resources mentioned in the episode:
Our video game, Allocator: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-oooxUbOkj-allocator

Dr. Gena Gorlin (https://twitter.com/Gena_I_Gorlin) is a clinical psychologist at UT Austin whose goal is to raise the ceiling on human potential. 

I sat down with her to discuss how ChatGPT has become a key tool in her quest for radical self-betterment.

In this episode, she feeds ChatGPT a list of her old journal entries, and it conducts the most thorough and insightful annual review and goal-setting session you’ve ever seen. We watch as ChatGPT writes a year-by-year personal biography of her life, helps her set goals for 2024, and points out blindspots she might’ve missed.

It’s a mind-bending example of how ChatGPT can unlock your potential.

If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! 

Want more?

Dan is running a course with Dr. Gorlin called Maximize Your Mind With ChatGPT. It’s a four-week cohort-based course marrying the cutting edge of AI with the best of what psychology knows about how to reach your potential. 

Learn more: https://maxyourmind.xyz

Want even more?

Sign up for Dan’s newsletter Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.

To hear more from Dan Shipper:

Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe 

Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper 

Links to resources mentioned in the episode:

Gena’s newsletter: https://builders.genagorlin.com/ 

In Defense of Radical Self-Betterment: https://every.to/p/in-defense-of-radical-self-betterment 

How to Use ChatGPT for Psychological Growth: https://every.to/p/how-to-use-chatgpt-for-psychological-growth 

Tyler Cowen is an economist who has been thinking about the impact of technology on life, work, and the economy for the past decade. He is a prolific writer behind the leading economic blog Marginal Revolution, a professor of economics at George Mason University, and the author of 17 books. 

In this episode, I dive deep with him on how ChatGPT will change the economy, and how he uses it in his own life.

We explore Tyler’s predictions about how AI will impact the economy, distilling decades of contemplation into insights. We watch him interact with ChatGPT and learn how he uses it as a universal translator when he travels, a reading companion, and a research tool. We also see him use Perplexity, and walk through how he fits the two tools together in his workflow.  

This is a must-watch for anyone who wants insights on adapting to the future of work. If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share. And sign up for Every to get our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT.

To hear more from Dan Shipper:

• Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe 
• Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper 
• Register for his course, Maximize Your Mind With ChatGPT: https://www.maxyourmind.xyz/ 

David Perell is one of the best known internet writers of his generation. 

He’s amassed almost a half million followers on X, hosts the popular podcast How I Write, and founded Write of Passage, which has taught thousands of students how to be digital writers.

We go deep on using ChatGPT to: 

• Doing deep reading of old books
• Finding anecdotes that spread
• Better understanding your taste
• Finding your heroes
• Understanding your blind spots as a leader
• Unpacking the strategy of your business

If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share. 

Timestamps:

1. Intro 00:53
2. Finding and understanding his heroes 13:42
3. Understanding his personality and leadership style 19:14
4. Who does David work well with? 25:53
5. Workshopping the New York Times’s business strategy 36:52
6. Why ChatGPT is incredible at diversity, accessibility, and speed 52:54
7. Bringing old books like Moby Dick to life with DALL-E 58:50
8. Using ChatGPT for deep textual analysis 1:06:29
9. ChatGPT for writing anecdotes that spread 1:21:04
10. Conversations with ChatGPT as food and drink for the soul 1:25:55