The Hope Axis by Anna Gát

The inimitable Sari Azout, founder of the new digital gardening platform Sublime, joins me for a wide-ranging discussion about ideas, digital minimalism, humane tech and building the future with care. Hope you enjoy!You can read the transcript of this conversation here.Important Links:Sublime’s SubstackSari on SublimeSari on XSari on LinkedInShow Notes:(0:01:17) The Philosophy of Ideas(0:04:42) Avoiding Brain Hijacking and Deepening Your Intentions(0:11:58) Making People Care(0:16:45) Observing Digital Shabbat(0:24:22) Succession as the Art of Giving Back(0:29:33) Are we all sentenced to Freedom? (0:37:59) Surprising Ways People Use Sublime (0:47:53) No AI Leader Gets Us Excited (0:55:02) Sari's Psychedelic Experience (1:01:49) Surfacing Ideas and Making StuffBooks / Resources Mentioned:The Disappearance of Rituals; by Byung-Chul HanAntimemetics; by Nadia AsparouhovaThe Essays of Venkatesh Rao

The very great Erik Hoel joins me for a conversation on AI, free will, emergence, creativity, neuroscience, consciousness and much more. Hope you enjoy!For the full transcript of our conversation, click here.Important Links:The Intrinsic PerspectiveErik on Twitter/XShow Notes:(0:00:00) Guest Introduction(0:05:12) Innovative Structures in Fiction(0:09:43) Gender Dynamics in Publishing(0:13:19) Erik Hoel's Origin Story(0:20:11) An Unorthodox Literary Trajectory(0:30:34) Consciousness and Information Theory(0:35:45) Science At the Edges(0:45:07) Is There a Bull Case for Neuroscience?(0:48:38) AI's Stunning Progress(0:51:05) AI as an Annoying Toddler(0:55:19) The Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Perspectives of Consciousness(1:00:59) Understanding Free Will(1:17:53) Closing RemarksBooks, Essays & Key People Mentioned:When the Map is Better than the Territory by Erik Hoel“How I taught my 3-year-old to read like a 9-year-old” by Erik HoelThe Da Vinci Code by Dan BrownFoucault's Pendulum by Umberto EcoThe Revelations by Erik HoelUlysses by James JoyceEinstein's Dreams by Alan LightmanThe Novels of Italo CalvinoThe World Behind the World by Erik HoelGödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas HofstadterMoby Dick by Herman MelvilleRomeo and Juliet by ShakespeareHamlet by ShakespeareKing Lear by ShakespeareThe Magic Mountain by Thomas MannWar and Peace by TolstoyResearchers & ThinkersSøren KierkegaardFrancis CrickGiulio TononiKarl FristonRobert SapolskyJudea PearlGary MarcusJulian JaynesFrancis FukuyamaCarl SaganBoethius

Santiago Ramos of Wisdom of Crowds joins me to talk about hope in apocalyptic times. AI, public philosophy, journalism, the aesthetics of urgent honesty, the value of disagreement, dialectics leading one to religion, whether crowds really are wise... ENJOY!For the full transcript of our conversation, click here.Important Links:Wisdom of CrowdsAuthor Page at Plough MagazineAuthor Page at CommonwealSantiago’s Twitter/XShow Notes:(00:00) Intro(00:23) Guest Introduction(03:57) What gives Santiago Hope(06:44) What Does Human Flourishing Mean?(11:56) The Apocalyptic Aesthetic in Modern Discourse(21:47) The Personal Transformations of Anna and Santiago(32:11) The Next Great Synthesizers of our Tech Moment(40:42) Agreement is Nice, but Disagreement is Better(47:48) Apocalypse as Revelation(53:00) What's obvious to Santiago but not to Others

The very great Agnes Callard joins me to talk about her excellent new book Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life.Just two Hungarian girls discussing love and ethics, truth and ignorance, paradoxes and beliefs—and Kant, Aristotle, Mill, Nussbaum, William James—and of course Socrates. Hope you enjoy!For the full transcript of our conversation, ⁠click here⁠.Important Links:Agnes's UChicago ProfileAgnes's XShow Notes:(0:00:00) Guest introduction (0:02:52) Why do some people ask load-bearing questions?(0:08:20) You can't force Philosophy on People (0:10:45) Philosophy is a Dangerous Profession (0:13:26) What Broke Tolstoy? (0:20:09) Every Human Flaw Stems from Ignorance (0:26:40) The sociology of conversation (0:32:36) Social Contracts and Reciprocity (0:45:12) The Three Big Philosophical Schools (0:47:21) Shift from Utilitarian to Virtue Ethics (0:53:40) Socrates' Approach to Truth-Seeking (0:57:37) Jamesian Beliefs and Leap of Faith (1:10:07) The Power of Truth In Conflict

Author, builder and friend — Rohit Krishan joins me in a wide ranging conversation about Indian and American culture. We discuss the Get Shit Done mentality of Indian entrepreneurs, predictions for the Indian diaspora, Rohit’s experiences with LLMs, and the surprising ways his children use AI.For the full transcript of our conversation, click here.Important Links:Rohit’s Substack: Strange Loop CanonX / TwitterShow Notes:00:00 Guest introduction 02:36 How Are India and America Similar? 09:06 Live Players vs. Dead Players 10:34 How American Policy Experiments Echo 18th-century scientists' Wacky Ideas 12:03 What Shapes The Indian Mindset? 14:13 Hyphenated Identities and Assimilation 18:00 The Business Culture of India: Get Shit Done 23:39 The Indian Diaspora in 2040… 28:20 What Most Surprised Rohit? 36:03 Technology Isn’t Magic…Yet 41:35 Dealing with LLMs: A Story of ‘Fuck Around and Find Out’ 43:55 What is Vibe Coding? 49:11 Will A.I. Prompting Make Us Sharper? 53:08 How Rohit’s Kids Use AI 57:17 What Rohit is Hopeful AboutAssorted Links:Samo Burja: Live versus Dead PlayersAlison GopnickDiana FleischmanDouglas Adams

The brilliant and always candid Haya Odeh - co-founder and design lead of Replit - and I talked about her company (and her husband and co-founder Amjad Masad), entrepreneurship, and hope — immigration, motherhood, resilience, being your best self, and the great power of not having a plan B.https://x.com/HayaOdehhttps://x.com/Replit

Max Meyer, founder and editor of Arena Magazine, dives into intriguing discussions about American culture and innovation. He highlights the contrasts between rural and urban values, and how migration shapes identity. Topics like the rise of Dogecoin as a governance model reveal the quest for agility in leadership. Meyer emphasizes the importance of transparency in media, especially in today's TikTok era. He also foreshadows an exploration of warfare and technology in an upcoming magazine issue, all while infusing messages of hope and resilience.

#satire #newsletters #DOGE #elonmusk #politics #liberalism #trolls #feminismThis was our 21st episode, and I celebrated its coming of drinking age by inviting my scandal hero mutual Richard Hanania. We talked about the art of satire (and a little trolling). Writing independently and without filter. Why Neoliberalism was, according to Richard, right. Why Liberals must make a comeback. Why women’s intuition should be taken seriously. Why romance is a pillar of social order. Why men and women - and generations, political sides - need to talk to each other. The social value of Classical Liberalism. Why Conservatism, according to Richard, is turning into a movement of the dunces. Why normie journalists are actually indispensable for a healthy democracy. Why Richard thinks I’m a too high level thinker. Why Tyler Cowen is the intellectual that gives him the most hope. And much more!Links: https://www.richardhanania.com/https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/book-review-the-origins-of-woke

Join Kyla Scanlon, an economics creator and author known for her sharp analysis of Gen Z, as she dives into the challenges and aspirations of her generation. She discusses the three types of Gen Z and their responses to economic instability. The conversation covers topics like digital isolation, the influence of sentiment on economic perceptions, and the impact of technology on communication. Kyla also reflects on the importance of genuine connection and hope amidst societal fragmentation and how these themes shape our future.

Writer, literary critic, and the man behind the great The Common Reader (https://www.commonreader.co.uk) blog, Henry Oliver joined me to gossip about literature and then dive in and build our own Western Canon. Enjoy!We talked about good literature and bad literature, Tolstoy and Shakespeare, Woolf, Bloom… Romanticism, quests, Goethe, Tolkien... And most importantly we built a from-scratch Western Canon for visiting aliens...Henry's Canon:1) The King James Bible2) The Odyssey3) The Aeneid4) Dante's Inferno5) Petrarch's Canzoniere6) Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur7) The Canterbury Tales8) Tartuffe9) A Winter's Tale10) The Pilgrim's Progress11) Montaigne's Essays 12) The Gargantua-Pantagruel series13) Gulliver's Travels 14) The Sorrows of Young Werther15) Emma16) Fathers and Sons17) The Death of Ivan Ilyich18) Chekhov: The Seagull19) The Lord of the Rings20) The Last Samurai