On this very special double episode of The Hope Axis, Anna Gát is joined by author, technology journalist, and User Mag founder Taylor Lorenz, and engineer, writer, and founder of Effort, a new media outlet, Brian Chau.

Anna, Taylor and Brian, explore what comes next for journalism, from new independent publications to AI-powered approaches to reporting, and what being “extremely online” has taught us about the internet we’re building. Hope you enjoy!

For the full transcript of our conversation, click here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LlCxe_mUEAQriLy-eqwMitq-JS0df90m/view?usp=sharing

Important Links for Taylor:

X (Twitter) – https://x.com/TaylorLorenz

Instagram– https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz/?hl=en

Website– https://www.taylorlorenz.com/

Linkedin – https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorlorenz/

Important Links for Brian:

X (Twitter) – https://x.com/brianchau57

Substack–https://substack.com/@cactus

Website– https://www.brianchau.ai/

Linkedin – https://www.linkedin.com/in/imaxblue/

Show Notes:

(0:00:00) Guest Introduction
(0:04:13) Self Publishing & Working at the NYT
(0:07:18) What Legacy Media Gets Wrong About the Internet
(0:11:29) Effort News, Reporting on Past Events & Early Internet
(0:17:40) Positive and Negative Stories about the Future
(0:24:51) Zoomer Personal Experience and Optimism
(0:27:37) Outlooks for the Future, Cultural Christianity, and Abundance
(0:40:29) How Grant Money Shapes Coverage
(0:45:31) Journalism in the Uncertain Environment, America as an Esoteric Regime
(0:50:06) Follow the Funding
(0:59:13) Presenting Facts vs Assigning Motives
(1:03:45) Hope for Journalism

Books, Essays & References Mentioned:

Taylor Lorenz — Extremely Online

Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson — Abundance

Alexis de Tocqueville — Democracy in America

Jonathan Haidt — The Anxious Generation

Marshall McLuhan — “The medium is the message”

Leo Strauss — Political philosophy

Harry Jaffa — American political philosophy

H. P. Lovecraft — Dagon

Richard Dawkins — Cultural Christianity

Peter Thiel — Antichrist and “peace and safety”

The Odyssey — Homer

Helen of Troy — Greek mythology

Arrival — Science-fiction film

Disclosure Day — Science-fiction film

Parasite — Film

Black Mirror — Science-fiction anthology series

On this episode of The Hope Axis, Anna Gát is joined by Anastasia Berg, philosopher, writer, and longtime friend of Interintellect, to talk about hope, culture, family, and the future.

Anastasia and Anna discuss her work on family and birth, the ideas behind her book “What Are Children For?," the cultural narratives that shape how we think about the future, and the power of individuals to help shape the world around them. Hope you enjoy!

For the full transcript of our conversation, click here

:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rcwi6BtgIrlqFdBZOt7fOb5rBbXLfut8/view?usp=sharing

Important Links:

X (Twitter) –https://x.com/a_n_a_berg

Substack–https://anastasiaberg.substack.com/

Website– https://www.anastasiaberg.com/

Linkedin – https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastasia-berg-410484132

Show Notes:

(0:00:00) Guest Introduction
(0:02:42) Academia and the Program for Public Thinking
(0:10:07) Problems with the Incentive Structure at Universities
(0:14:28) The Old Way of Taking Exams
(0:23:11) Students Using AI
(0:31:02) Encouragement from AI vs AI Dependency
(0:41:29) Submissions and Editing at The Point
(0:51:21) Becoming More Mindful About Human Interactions Because of AI
(0:58:14) Having Children in the Age of AI
(1:04:56) The Societal Role of Universities
(1:12:37) Cognitive Autonomy

Books, Essays & References Mentioned:

Anastasia Berg & Rachel Wiseman — What Are Children For?

The Point Magazine — Literary and cultural magazine

Program for Public Thinking — University of ChicagoChicago

Common Core — University of Chicago undergraduate curriculum

Daily Nous — Philosophy blog

Claude — AI language model

Gemini — AI model by Google

Grok — AI chatbot by xAI

Pangram — AI writing detection tool

On this episode of The Hope Axis, Anna Gát is joined by Alec Stapp, CEO and co-founder of the Institute for Progress, to talk about what gives him hope, and much more.

Alec shares the story behind his five-year transition to sole leadership at IFP, and they discuss progress studies, policy innovation, science funding, technology, and more. Hope you enjoy!

For the full transcript of our conversation, click here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zC8Rywf4pO8RVvgiLQM3Vz7lgi87oofG/view?usp=sharing

Important Links:

X (Twitter) – https://x.com/AlecStapp

IFP–https://ifp.org/author/alec-stapp/

Website– https://alecstapp.com/

Linkedin – https://www.linkedin.com/in/alec-stapp-20804b45/

Show Notes:

(0:00:00) The Introduction
(0:05:02) Starting The Institute for Progress
(0:11:58) Changes Since 2021
(0:15:48) Abundance
(0:22:45) Institutional Problems in the US
(0:28:50) Working with the Ever-Changing Overton Window
(0:32:26) Aschenbrenner, AI Security Risks, & the Inertia in DC
(0:37:11) AI Safety: Self-Corrections, the Impact of the AI Researchers
(0:46:59) Data Centers
(0:55:17) Flock Cameras
(0:56:25) Staying Agile
(0:58:11) IFP - Building an Institution
(1:02:51) The Wrong Electoral Incentives
(1:04:03) Closing Remarks

Books, Essays & References Mentioned:

Derek Thompson — The Abundance Agenda

Derek Thompson & Ezra Klein — Abundance

Alex Karp — The Technological Republic

Leopold Aschenbrenner — Situational Awareness

Nan Ransohoff — Third Wave of American Philanthropy

The Federalist Papers — Hamilton’s paper on judicial review

René Girard — Girardian theory

Boston Tea Party

Pace in the Frontier — Letter on the pace of frontier AI development.

On this episode of The Hope Axis, I’m joined by Mike Solana to talk about what gives him hope, and much more.

Mike is the editor-in-chief of Pirate Wires and Chief Marketing Officer at Founders Fund, and we discuss free speech, the fragmentation of reality in the internet age, the rise of grievance politics, the failures of the abundance movement, student debt, AI, and more. Hope you enjoy!

For the full transcript of our conversation, click here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16drg8RuK8-vlFZvrThdID6Gp5CrRnlp-/view?usp=sharing

Important Links:

X (Twitter) – Mike Solana (@micsolana) / X

Founders fund–https://foundersfund.com/team/michael-solana/

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/micsolana/?hl=en

Linkedin – https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-solana-2484a644/?isSelfProfile=false

Show Notes:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:39) Freedom of speech

(07:48) Political bubbles and separate realities

(15:28) DSA, Millennial, and Zoomer grievances

(19:42) The case of student loan debt

(26:33) Social media and endless ideological war

(29:25) "Grok, is this true?"

(38:33) The Abundance movement

(48:55) The road from science-fiction to political reality

(59:05) Ending

Books, Essays & References Mentioned:

Derek Thompson & Ezra Klein — Abundance

Louis Hartz — The Liberal Tradition in America

Michael Solana — Citizen Sim

Nick Bostrom — Simulation hypothesis

Doug Hofstadter — Cognitive science and philosophy

Peter Thiel — Email on millennials, capitalism, and student debt

Community Notes — Crowdsourced fact-checking system

Grok — AI chatbot by xAI

ChatGPT — AI language model

Large Language Models (LLMs) — Artificial intelligence models

Universal Basic Income (UBI) — Economic policy proposal

Libertarianism — Political philosophy

Post-scarcity — Economic concept

Rob Henderson — Luxury Beliefs

Carly Simon — "Let the River Run" (Working Girl)

This week, Sarah Constantin joins me on The Hope Axis. Sarah is a mathematician and versatile thinker whose work spans defense, software, AI, biotechnology, and mental health.

In this conversation, we revisit our connection from six years ago to discuss her latest explorations and her perspective in this unique moment for both AI and her own professional journey. Hope you enjoy.

For the full transcript of our conversation, click here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14uG39HZYnxphJ82I6pj4_3CLs00XK42n/view?usp=sharing

Important Links:

X (Twitter) – https://x.com/s_r_constantin?lang=en

Website– https://www.sarah-constantin.org/

Substack – https://sarahconstantin.substack.com/

Github – https://srconstantin.github.io/about/

Linkedin – https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-constantin-ba71b02b/?isSelfProfile=false

Show Notes:

(0:00:00) Introduction
(0:05:21) The Internet used to be a social place
(0:14:57) The Importance of Practical Experience
(0:19:37) From the Covid Era to the AI Era
(0:22:34) Wrong Assumptions About Medicine
(0:36:02) Self-help
(0:39:51) Love, Relationships, and Conversations
(0:45:53) Neutrality, The Debate-resolution App
(0:56:53) Taiwan, the Lack of Explosives in the US
(1:01:36) Why Sarah Writes
(1:08:37) AI

Books, Essays & References Mentioned:

Samuel Shem — The House of God

Lewis Thomas — The Youngest Science

Ayn Rand — The Virtue of Selfishness

Agnes Callard — Open Socrates

Venkatesh Rao — "Never have both halves of a conversation"

Internal Family Systems (IFS) — Psychological framework

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) — Psychological framework

Contractualism — Political philosophy of fair procedures

LessWrong — Rationalist community

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) — Statistical method

TSMC — Semiconductor manufacturing

SBIR — Small Business Innovation Research program

The military-industrial complex — Defense innovation ecosystem

This week on The Hope Axis, I’m joined by investor and startup veteran Julie Fredrickson for a conversation that purposefully wanders away from the standard career trajectory.

We move past the typical bio to talk about what actually sustains agency in a world that often feels designed to induce hopelessness.

As the "Mary Poppins of startups" and a former founder herself, Julie understands the grit required to build. We discuss the quiet, radical act of ignoring the noise to simply do good work.I hope you enjoy this one.

For the full transcript of our conversation, click here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UkTSGglb9yTo1OiKilxQ-02lLsIOmPqL/view?usp=sharing

Important Links:

X (Twitter) – https://x.com/AlmostMedia?lang=en

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliefredrickson/?isSelfProfile=false

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/juliefredrickson/?hl=en

Website - https://jfredrickson.com/

Show Notes:

(00:00) Guest Introduction  
(01:51) Knowing Your True Limits  
(07:07) Remembering and Forgetting  
(12:50) Family Systems  
(16:23) Losing a Father  
(21:58) Becoming the Explainer After 40  
(25:27) Community & Being a Beacon on the Internet  
(33:40) The Silicon Valley Diaspora  
(39:18) Algorithms Taking Over the Feeds  
(45:09) How to Show up on the Internet Today  
(48:22) Being the First Friendly Face on the Internet  
(54:28) Funding the Miracle Startups

Books, Essays & References Mentioned:

William Gibson — Pattern Recognition

Thomas Mann — Joseph and His Brothers

Howe-Strauss — The Fourth Turning theory

Peter Turchin — Cliodynamics

Henry Giroux — The Violence of Organized

Forgetting Internal Family Systems (IFS) — Psychological frame work

Rudolf Steiner — Waldorf educational philosophy

Robin Dunbar — Dunbar's number

Stendhal — The Stendhalian approach to new experiences

Sheryl Sandberg — Advice on fertility and career planning

Parsifal — The Parsifalian question

This week on The Hope Axis, Dean Ball joined me for a conversation that took a real intersection in the space-time continuum to finally make happen. Dean — a senior fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation, author of the Substack Hyperdimensional, and an influential policy voice in Washington — and I sat down to talk about his groundbreaking AI policy work including his recent four months at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where he served as the principal staff drafter for America's AI Action Plan. We went into Dean's journey in politics, his writing, why Beethoven matters for technologists, and much more. Hope you enjoy!

For the full transcript of our conversation, click here: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m6PwzgJI5p2zYbNYwypFnz6F5WPEaL0E/view?usp=sharing

Important Links: 

X (Twitter) – https://x.com/deanwball?lang=en 

Substack - https://www.hyperdimensional.co/ 

LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/dean-ball-66823728 

The Foundation for American Innovation - https://www.thefai.org/profile/dean-ball

The Federalist Society - https://fedsoc.org/bio/dean-ball-2

Show Notes:

(00:00) Introduction
(01:54) Dean Ball's family history

(05:33) New wave of politicians

(11:52) Explaining AI public debate to an alien

(17:19) The difference between American and European thought about AI?

(21:50) Technological chase and it's ties

(24:52) Is it still possible for the past to guide us through the present revolutions?

(29:51) The warmth of untidiness and conservative disposition

(36:42) Why don't Europeans understand AGI?

(47:23) The Encyclical

(50:32) What did it cost to publicly criticize the Anthropic–Department of War fiasco?

(58:59) The Hope Axis question - Beethoven and the metaphor of technology.

(01:01:55) Final comments

Books, Essays & References Mentioned: 

• Michael Oakeshott — On Being Conservative 

• Joel Mokyr — The Great Divergence 

• Luis and Pieter Garicano — Silicon Continent 

• Pope Leo XIII — Rerum Novarum 

• Ludwig van Beethoven — Hammerklavier 

• Claude Shannon — Information Theory 

• Alan Turing — Signal Processing 

• Marc Andreessen — Technoculture and AI 

• Frantz Fanon — Post-colonial theory 

• Alexis de Tocqueville — American democracy and society.

This week on The Hope Axis, Hollis Robbins joins me to talk about her dense career and what it actually means to build a life dedicated to the humanities today.

Hollis, a dear friend of Interintellect and one of the first hosts, stepped back from her role as Dean of Humanities at the University of Utah in 2024 to focus on writing three upcoming books, including one with the incredible title, “Do Not Go to College Unless.”

We get into her journey, and finding room for hope and leisure in the middle of it all. Hope you enjoy!

For the full transcript of our conversation, click here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QrykHXAFjyGdh6OlLQ1WD7yo06rIBf8J/view?usp=drive_link

Important Links:

X (Twitter) – https://x.com/anecdotal?lang=en

Substack - https://substack.com/@hollisrobbinsLinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/hollisrobbins

Google Scholars - https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=d2MNMeMAAAAJ&hl=en

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/_anecdotal/

Show Notes:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:12)  College, dropping out, intellectual ideals and AI

(07:22)  The state of universities and colleges in the time of information abundance

(15:01)  Intellect and technology

(29:00)  Anti-AI and pro-intellectual discourse is missing the point
(33:39) America's higher (mid) education doesn't compete with AI

(42:45)  Reinventing tutoring

(48:04)  How is Hollis Robbins surviving in the humanities?

(53:59)  The process of ""dumbing down"" of the American University

(01:04:03)  If a specialist won't be teaching you at the university - don't go there.

(01:07:24) Intellectual labour in scale economy.

(01:10:02)  Final thoughts

This week on The Hope Axis, Dylan O’Sullivan joins to talk about the classics and their second life online.

We get into reading in the age of TikTok and AI, and whether people today can still take on long, difficult books, along with the experience of going back to books and seeing them differently over time. Hope you enjoy.

For the full transcript of our conversation, click here:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fGdRmgt7ZO6MKGzd6sHUX15n3q5QBINl/view?usp=sharing

Important Links: 

X (Twitter) – https://x.com/DylanoA4?lang=en 

Essayful - https://substack.com/@essayful 

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanoa4/ 

The Spectator - https://spectator.com/writer/dylan-osullivan/ 

Show Notes: 

(00:00) Introduction

(02:33) The Right Age to Start Reading The Classics

(07:53) The Feeling of Cultural Stagnation

(12:22) How to Find Good Books

(21:53) Finding What to Read and Where to Think

(31:09) Dylan's Most Quoted Authors

(39:03) Modern World of Self-publishing

(41:38) What Do You Write About If You Don't Live First

(48:19) What's up with Dostoevsky

(56:14) Ulysses and End Notes

Books, Essays & References Mentioned:

C.S. Lewis — The Abolition of Man

C.S. Lewis — Mere Christianity

Arthur Koestler — Darkness at Noon

Arthur Koestler — The Act of Creation

Leo Tolstoy — War and Peace

Leo Tolstoy — Anna Karenina

Fyodor Dostoevsky — The Brothers Karamazov

Fyodor Dostoevsky — Notes from Underground

Fyodor Dostoevsky — White Nights

James Joyce — Ulysses

This week on The Hope Axis, I’m very happy to welcome Alastair Benn, deputy editor of Engelsberg Ideas. In this conversation, we talk about Scottish identity and language, the challenges of writing clearly in a “post-literate” age, and the editorial philosophy behind Engelsberg Ideas.

We also discuss the idea of Bildung and Benn’s view of the editor as a mentor who helps writers turn strong ideas into clear, readable essays. Hope you enjoy.

For the full transcript of our conversation, click here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IZLw1IkUsu5Q5A-AbAf_mAJZKCUAkQjd/view?usp=drive_link

Important Links: 

X (Twitter) –https://x.com/alastair_benn 

Engelsberg Ideas - https://engelsbergideas.com/author/alastair-benn/

LinkedIn – https://uk.linkedin.com/in/alastair-benn-0327b578

Bokforlaget Stolpe– https://bokforlagetstolpe.com/en/authors/alastair-benn/

Show Notes: 

(0:00:00) Introduction

(0:00:58) Misunderstanding the Scots

(0:05:32) Linguistic Identity and Code-Switching

(0:10:24) Scotland Compared to Scandinavia

(0:13:02) Whisky, the Burning Bush, and Scottish Identity

(0:22:26) Engelsberg Ideas

(0:25:07) Plain Language, Complex Ideas

(0:31:12) Why the Written Word Still Matters

(0:37:25) Writing Essays like Montaigne

(0:42:39) Gatekeepers of the World of the Ideas

(0:48:35) Are We Becoming Post-Literate?

(0:56:47) What Is Bildung

(1:01:08) The Bildungsroman from Goethe to Thomas Mann

(1:10:31) Innerlichkeit and the Cult of Inwardness

(1:18:14) Hans Castorp and the Arid Cult of Productivity

(1:24:38) The Biases of the Hyper-Literate Elite

(1:27:10) Schopenhauer, Hegel, and the Problem of Jargon

(1:30:03) The Editor as a Mentor

(1:36:35) AI and Editing: What It Can and Cannot Do

(1:43:19) Closing Remarks 

Books, Essays & References Mentioned:

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Thomas Mann — The Magic Mountain

Great Expectations — Charles Dickens

Arthur Schopenhauer

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Robert Louis Stevenson

Miguel de Cervantes — Don Quixote

Virgil — Aeneid

John Milton — Paradise Lost