Audience of One

Kyle Harrison, General Partner at Contrary Capital and writer, discusses investing in people, talent vortexes, tradition vs progress, building systems, and writing.

Venture capitalist Jackson Dahl discusses compulsion, futurism, art, curators, and community. Topics include pursuing deep relationships, exploring vs. exploiting, preserving optionality, navigating accelerating change, outsourcing thinking, optimizing internet friendships, incentivizing art creation, and the beauty of film.

Tyler Denk, co-founder and CEO of Beehiiv and former second employee at Morning Brew, discusses the importance of newsletters, standing out, and taking the path less traveled. Topics include market insights, supporting creators, problems in podcasting, quality as a moat, owning distribution, being a CEO, passion and luck, authenticity, and issues in the music industry.

Xavier Helgesen, Co-founder of Enduring Ventures and founding CEO of Zola Electric, discusses holding companies, the publishing industry, capital allocation, focus, reinventing ourselves, building things that last, parenting, and more.

Emmett Shear, co-founder of Twitch, discusses topics such as agency, meta learning, deliberate practice, coordination problems, parasocial relationships, and positive-sum games. They explore the importance of persistence, finding one's passion, and the impact of geography. They also touch on the future vision, the significance of coordination problems, and Paul Graham's next essay.

Nick (AKA Critter / @becomingcritter) is a writer and podcaster. We talk about presence, skepticism, religion, fearless authenticity, balancing seriousness and fun, relationships, and podcasting. Please enjoy. — (03:01) Seeking mystery & divinity (08:54) Skepticism, presence, and realizations about conceptions like time (23:36) Impermanent immediacy (33:30) Oscillating between seriousness and unseriousness; being authenticity (39:46) Fun as motivation & using the skills/aptitudes you're given (42:22) 80/20 analysis on good storytelling; find the thing you've got good taste in (51:09) What breaks relationships (57:29) Maintaining openness in relationships (01:02:00) Becoming a better podcaster (01:06:33) Repeat struggles with podcasting (01:07:51) Final question — Nick’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/BecomingCritter Nick’s Podcast: https://becomingcreature.substack.com/podcast Spencer’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/SP1NS1R Spencer’s Blog: https://spencerkier.substack.com

Matt Bateman is the Vice President of Pedagogy at Higher Ground Education. We talk about a pedagogy, Montessori, capability and agency in children, experimentation in education, how young education is as a science, the importance of work, and a conception of the good life. — (00:42) Leaving academia (02:35) Why Montessori & seeing a classroom for the first time (09:24) Children are capable (12:27) We underestimate children because they’re alien to adults (15:28) Creating an environment for children to thrive (19:38) Agency is not just about picking from the menu, but also about how you eat (25:52) Teaching backflips & the expert decomposition of tasks (29:46) Can most things be learned through systematized instruction? (35:03) Lots of things are instructional design problems, but education as a field is young (37:51) Experimentation & innovation in education; conservatism (44:03) Homeschooling (48:48) The role of the parent vs teacher (52:11) The importance of work (57:27) The good life (01:02:54) Matt’s final question for listeners — Matt’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/mbateman Higher Ground: https://www.tohigherground.com/ Montessorium: https://montessorium.com/ Spencer’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/SP1NS1R Spencer’s Blog: https://spencerkier.substack.com

Nicole (@startingfromnix) is a writer. We talk about writing, introspection, being heart- vs. head-heavy, what’s core to your identity, pursuing meaning over ego, living in the present, depth and endurance, and more. — (00:41) Writes helps you clarify your thoughts (02:49) The taste gap & inching closer to what you want to write (05:47) Focusing on the process (08:46) Self-excavation & tracking your evolution (10:48) What's core to your identity vs. malleable & a result of your environment (13:52) Suppressing sensitivity (15:40) Pseudonymity & keeping your identities separate (17:14) High vs low self-monitoring (20:22) Becoming more heart-heavy (29:01) Find people who are free in different ways (34:07) Living in the present (37:55) Reflecting vs. living (41:42) Curiosity vs. efficiency (45:02) Disposability vs. depth (48:31) Is it ego or is it meaning (51:24) Overanalyzing yourself (54:09) Awareness, agency, & curiosity (56:15) Finding wisdom (58:25) Nicole’s final question — Nicole’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/startingfromnix Nicole’s Site: https://nicoles.substack.com/ Spencer’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/SP1NS1R Spencer’s Blog: https://spencerkier.substack.com

Jake (@0FJAKE) is a podcaster, writer, and the former Chief of Staff for Balaji Srinivasan. We talk about sabbaticals and taking the time to find your work, pseudonymity and authenticity, status, challenging norms, the benefits of audio, and more. — (00:44) Taking sabbaticals (06:29) People should spend more time finding their next thing (16:56) Having faith, following your gut (23:38) Pseudonymity (35:33) Curating your info diet & parasocial relationships (41:59) Doing things that feel authentic (50:53) The benefits of audio (56:15) Jake’s final question for listeners — Jake’s Twitter: twitter.com/0FJAKE Jake’s Site: https://homeofjake.com/ Spencer’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/SP1NS1R Spencer’s Blog: https://spencerkier.substack.com

Dwarkesh Patel is the creator of the Lunar Society newsletter and podcast. We talk about curiosity, talent, podcasting and research, status games, finding what to work on, standing out from the crowd, and AI & futurism. — (00:42) Starting a podcast out of college while others enter the workforce (04:51) How he overcomes the occasional desire to quit (06:09) Feeling like podcasting isn't building something of value (10:15) Following curiosity vs playing status, money, or power games (16:00) Share your work publicly (16:55) You must have skill to get noticed (19:47) Asking what the world will look like in 2100 (22:40) Breadth vs depth, local vs global maxima (25:11) Evolving your maps & models of the world; focusing on science & tech (27:08) AI optimism (30:06) AI research & regulation (31:46) Other opinions about the future (36:16) Why the initial interest in talent? (38:01) Do the one big thing that stands out (48:02) What makes for good research, questions, and interviews? (52:50) When to podcast vs. write (55:25) Asking good questions, learning fast, and finding the interesting parts to highlight — Dwarkesh’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/dwarkesh_sp Dwarkesh’s Site: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/ Spencer’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/SP1NS1R Spencer’s Blog: https://spencerkier.substack.com