Aaron and I discuss my list of 6 university courses that in retrospect have influenced me in surprising and unexpected ways, even after many years. The list is:

Yale's Writing Seminar (Yale)
Functional Programming (Yale)
Philosophy and Computer Science (Yale)
Emerging Technology and Business Innovation (NYU Stern)
Machine Learning (NYU Courant)
Electronic Communities (NYU Stern)

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The episode starts with a game of thrones discussion for 2 minutes (how can it not)! And then Max discusses some related news items coming out of China:
The Rise of The Social Credit Score
The Re-Education Camps the Uighers and others in Western China are being forced into
Causality Myths
The Big Debate on Socialism vs Capitalism

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I visited Foursquare HQ to check in with Executive Chairman Dennis Crowley.
- Personal stories and the Innovative mind
- Industry trends in consumer apps/big data
- Foursquare's latest labs project: hypertrending at SXSW

I also follow up on last weeks episode, with more details on voting affecting the outcome of an election, and the turkey vs email problem.

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How can one estimate the probability of an unprecedented event - something that has never happened before - happening? It seems like a hopeless endeavor, but there actually are valid strategies to tackle this problem.

We also recap the interviews that occurred in the 5 previous episodes, and the continuing closure and censorship of our social networks as they are increasingly becoming associated with violence in the real world - and how we're going to get out of this.

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Marc Cenedella is the CEO of Ladders, Inc, and today he talks to Max about the Ladders Job Search service, and the job matching problem in the 21st century. After diving into The Ladders’ specific audience and product approach, the conversation turns to Max’s resume. The advice provided is invaluable to all job seekers - present and future - out there.

localmaxradio.com/64

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Today’s interview is with Bethany Crystal at Union Square Ventures. We cover a lot of ground
Building Network Effects as a means to Market Power
Building Careers, avoiding the career cliff
Inspiration from the Idea of Transfer Learning
Diversification in investments and in the self

Check out Bethany’s blog: http://bethanycrystal.com/blog/

I also talk about the launch of the Luminary Podcast Network: luminarypodcasts.com

Also - get my take on Google’s ill-fated AI Ethics panel.

localmaxradio.com/63

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Today's interview was done at a Tech2025 event where participants were asked to think about wealth and the present state of the US and Global economy. I spoke to Denise Hearn, author of "The Myth of Capitalism" about the trend towards Oligopoly and its causes.

Also included are discussions about the definition of capitalism, the definition of wealth, the price of a free good, regulatory capture, and the role of our monetary system in distorting the economy.

localmaxradio.com/62
https://www.mythofcapitalism.com/

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Michael Bronspigel runs the Facebook capitalism page and tells the story of how Facebook’s algorithm and policies affected his group. We also talk about
- the nature of online properties
- the story of how he started the group and turned it into a business
- retro internet memes
- the push to further crack down on content

The group: fb.com/capitalists, capitalismisfreedom.org
Show notes: localmaxradio.com/61

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I caught up with Hilary Mason, GM of Machine Learning at Cloudera and former founder of Fast Forward Labs. We cover how to:
- Generate ideas for Machine Learning Research
- Hold a good brainstorm
- Break into tech as a Data Scientist
- Give an engaging and successful tech talk

I also asked Hilary about the evolving role of Machine Learning and Data Science, and what she wants to build in the future!

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Today we have a look at how information technology is affecting life in authoritarian socialist regimes such as Cuba and Venezuela. Particularly, we discuss the introduction of 3G cellular service in Cuba, and how it has needed to compromise on allowing more connectivity to its citizens over the last decade.In the case of Venezuela, we look at how cryptocurrency (and Bitcoin in particular) is being used to work around currency controls and hyperinflation. It’s still speculative on how much this is really going on, but we talk more generally about how crypto technology can be used in a social-upheaval type situation in the future.We also check in on Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s recent 3.5 hour long interview on Joe Rogan. The main topic, which we have covered here in the past, is on content moderation and bias at social media companies. We round up the different viewpoints expressed and continue to provide our ongoing analysis.

localmaxradio.com/59

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