Talking Books cover image

Talking Books

Latest episodes

undefined
Oct 1, 2024 • 58min

Aaron Sorkin and David Brooks: What's Character Got to Do with It?

Aaron Sorkin and David Brooks discuss their approaches to creating compelling characters. Sorkin emphasizes the importance of understanding a character's desires and obstacles, using examples from his own work like "The Social Network." David Brooks shares anecdotes about encounters that inspired his writing and the empathy required to portray complex characters. Both writers stress the significance of immersion in a character's experience and the importance of authentic dialogue.
undefined
Sep 29, 2024 • 48min

Mo Gawdat on AI: The Future of AI and How It Will Shape Our World

🤖 AI is here, and it’s evolving faster than we ever imagined. How do we adapt when the rules of the game are shifting under our feet? Is the future one of abundance, or are we heading toward disaster? 🌍 Are we missing the warning signs again? The world is changing fast, faster than we can keep up. From the pandemic to AI advancements, it feels like we’re all being caught off guard. But are we paying attention? 🚀 We’re standing on the brink of something massive. Will we rise to the occasion and adapt, or will the future slip through our fingers?
undefined
Sep 29, 2024 • 1h 9min

Foods for Protecting the Body & Mind: Dr. Neal Barnard

Dr. Neal Barnard discusses the potential benefits of eliminating certain foods from the diet for various conditions. While not everyone is sensitive to gluten or dairy, some may find relief by avoiding these foods. He suggests looking into supportive foods that can help bring the body back into balance. Dr. Barnard provides tips for improving sleep hygiene, recommending organic food and a cast-iron pan when possible. He also discusses the difference between grass-fed and grain-fed animals and expresses skepticism towards the promotion of organic grass-fed beef. Dr. Barnard encourages people to focus on eating simple, whole foods and emphasizes the scientific evidence supporting their health benefits.
undefined
Sep 28, 2024 • 1h 32min

Jordan Peterson: From the Barricades of the Culture Wars

Jordan Peterson discusses the impact of technological revolutions on education and intellectual engagement, his motivation for writing his books, and his experiences with workplace unconscious bias training and the controversy surrounding his perceived transphobia. Peterson attributes his widespread influence to the technological transformation brought about by YouTube and podcasts, which have led to a significant demand for high-level intellectual dialogue and engagement. He also reflects on the importance of being careful with one's speech and the potential consequences of carelessness. Additionally, Peterson criticizes universities for their handling of free speech and inclusivity, and he is currently suing Wilfred Laurier University for slander. Throughout the interview, Peterson emphasizes the importance of understanding the differences between men and women and the need for discipline and order to overcome chaos and hopelessness. He also challenges the notion that socio-cultural constructs explain the differences between men and women, citing data on suicide rates, prison populations, and occupational segregation.
undefined
Sep 27, 2024 • 32min

Bari Weiss at the All-In Summit 2024

(2:19) Defining the polarizing forces in American society (5:11) How institutions like the New York Times were captured by radicals, giving up "the heroin needle of prestige" (16:39) Avoiding audience capture while building The Free Press (22:09) Sacks's strategy to find reliable media sources (27:26) Ideological capture of medicine, building a new institution
undefined
Sep 26, 2024 • 30min

Tekedra Mawakana at the All-In Summit 2024

(1:43) Joining Waymo, breaking down their approach vs competitors (9:57) Focus on reducing deaths, impact on Uber, creating an AV ecosystem (16:44) Thoughts on Cruise's issues in SF, operating at scale, unit economics (22:09) Selling to carmakers, US focus vs international (27:51) Hardest challenge while leading Waymo
undefined
Sep 25, 2024 • 1h 17min

Steve Jobs: A Biography from Walter Isaacson Part 1

Based on more than forty interviews with Steve Jobs conducted over two years--as well as interviews with more than 100 family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues--Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing. Isaacson's portrait touched millions of readers. At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering
undefined
Sep 24, 2024 • 17h 28min

Nexus by Yuval Harari

For the last 100,000 years, we Sapiens have accumulated enormous power. But despite all our discoveries, inventions, and conquests, we now find ourselves in an existential crisis. The world is on the verge of ecological collapse. Misinformation abounds. And we are rushing headlong into the age of AI—a new information network that threatens to annihilate us. For all that we have accomplished, why are we so self-destructive?Nexus looks through the long lens of human history to consider how the flow of information has shaped us, and our world. Taking us from the Stone Age, through the canonization of the Bible, early modern witch-hunts, Stalinism, Nazism, and the resurgence of populism today, Yuval Noah Harari asks us to consider the complex relationship between information and truth, bureaucracy and mythology, wisdom and power. He explores how different societies and political systems throughout history have wielded information to achieve their goals, for good and ill. And he addresses the urgent choices we face as non-human intelligence threatens our very existence.Information is not the raw material of truth; neither is it a mere weapon. Nexus explores the hopeful middle ground between these extremes, and in doing so, rediscovers our shared humanity.
undefined
Sep 23, 2024 • 41min

Travis Kalanick at the All-In Summit 2024

(2:27) What Travis is working on at Cloud Kitchens (12:32) Travis's operating playbook (16:16) Strategy at Uber: Competing with Lyft, surge pricing, dealing with bad press (26:12) Being a "War time CEO" and competing in China (34:09) Travis reflects on getting ousted as CEO of Uber and his future
undefined
Sep 22, 2024 • 41min

Marc Benioff at the All-In Summit 2024

(2:32) Funding Shinya Yamanaka's research (11:38) Marc on building philanthropy into Salesforce (17:15) AI's impact on enterprise software and the cloud (27:56) Salesforce's AI approach

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
App store bannerPlay store banner

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode