Yaroslav Trofimov discusses Ukraine's history, identity, and war of independence. Topics include Putin's miscalculations, Ukrainian resistance, Zelensky's role, international support, Mariupol siege, Russian aggression, and the future of the conflict.

Magatte Wade, entrepreneur and author, discusses African economic development in the podcast. Topics include challenges with aid, African prosperity, forming a business in Senegal, free enterprise in pre-colonial Africa, special economic zones, and supporting African entrepreneurs.

Tor Nørretranders, author of 'The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down to Size,' discusses primary vs extended consciousness, Maxwell's demon, free will, Benjamin Libet's experiments, emergence, exformation, Julian Jaynes's theory, and the impact of information deprivation in modern living spaces.

Stuart Kauffman discusses cosmology, quantum gravity, dark matter & energy, Hubble tension, baryonic Tully-Fisher relation, delay hypothesis, past hypothesis problem, dark matter as Ricci soliton, inflation requirements, cold dark matter & cosmic web, Mach's principle, & more.

Alex Fink, founder of Otherweb, discusses combating fake news with AI, declining news media, internet advertising's impact, Otherweb's curation engine, unhooking the internet from ads, the fight against fake news, AI in movie production, watermarking images, social media addiction, public benefit corporations, stewardship capital model, and unconventional fundraising strategies.

Sam Sammane, author of 'The Singularity of Hope: Humanity's Role in an AI-Dominated Future,' discusses topics like human-AI augmentation, AGI obstacles, AI in drug discovery, brain-computer interfaces, and the need for a compassionate approach to society in a future dominated by AI.

Simon DeDeo, expert on civil violence predictions, discusses the likelihood of major civil violence in America. Topics include terms of wager, orders of magnitude, American readiness for violence, statistical distributions of violence, polarization, basins of attraction, mimetic desire, political distance, tribalization around politics, and scenarios inciting conflicts in a post-ideological world.

Psychologist and author Gregg Henriques discusses the free will vs determinism debate, emphasizing the importance of clear definitions and the concept of choice. The conversation covers levels of analysis, ontology in evolutionary complexification, systems of justification, and the emergence of personhood through self-awareness. They explore the role of language in shaping consciousness, top-down causation, and the implications of accountability in society.

Robin Hanson discusses cultural drift, declining fertility, agency risk, and corporate culture dynamics. They examine the convergence of global elite culture, societal impacts of cultural norms, and explore deep multiculturalism. The podcast also delves into hierarchical goals, totalitarianism, decentralized authority, and potential future scenarios for human evolution.

Richard Bartlett discusses the co-living experiment in Andalusia, emphasizing starting small, finances, membrane design, organizing events, the importance of landscape and vibe, the emergent TPOT network, curating participants, and the danger of oversystematizing. They explore systems for participation, just-in-time system design, biasing toward small-group interactions, and GameB finance. The conversation also touches on financial planning, building high-trust communities, weaving weak links, and assuming good faith in interactions.