The Hope Axis by Anna Gát

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

Investor and writer Jim O'Shaughnessy came on The Hope Axis and shared his Theory of Life. We talked about…probably everything? The 80s on Wall Street, reputation and norms, patterns and emotions, financial markets and family, Shakespeare sonnets and journaling, Cold War and conformism, Girard and Jung, reality and instincts, 911 and altruism, the Internet and belief systems, books and obsessions, innovation and investment, culture and hope. And so much more…https://x.com/jposhaughnessyhttps://www.osv.llc/https://www.infiniteloopspodcast.com/https://www.infinitebooks.com/

The one and only Zena Hitz — Tutor at St. John's College and author of one of my favourite books 'Lost in Thought — joined me to talk about Plato and Christ, contemplation and service, wisdom and being lost, morality and dignity, end goals and anxieties — Agnes Callard and Irina Dumitrescu — Aquinas and Hildegard of Bingen, and happiness!Links:https://www.zenahitz.net/https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691178714/lost-in-thought