Aporia Podcast

Adrian Wooldridge is an author and columnist. He is the Global Business Columnist at Bloomberg Opinion. Adrian was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, where he studied modern history and was awarded a fellowship at All Souls College. Before joining Bloomberg, Adrian worked at The Economist for over 20 years. He is the author of several books, including Capitalism in America: A History, co-authored with Alan Greenspan, and, most recently, The Aristocracy of Talent: How Meritocracy Made the Modern World. Enter our Dysgenics Award competition:  https://www.ideassleepfuriously.com/p/the-first-dysgenics-awards

Malcolm Collins is a neuroscientist-turned-entrepreneur-turned-VC-turned-education innovator. Along with his wife Simone, he is one of Amazon's top 100 best-selling non-fiction writers. Learn more about their work below.   The Pragmatist Foundation: https://pragmatist.guide  The Collins Institute for the Gifted: https://collinsinstitute.org Malcolm and Simone's latest books:   https://www.amazon.com/Pragmatists-Guide-Governance-optimizing-governance/dp/B0BSJ5SXHM/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Simone+H+Collins&qid=1674304558&s=audible&sr=1-1-catcorr  https://www.amazon.com/Pragmatists-Guide-Crafting-Religion-Demographic/dp/B0BSJ5SXK2/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Simone+H+Collins&qid=1674304558&s=audible&sr=1-2-catcorr  Timestamps:   2:46 Malcolm explains why he and his wife did embryo selection  7:18 Do people realise what they’re arguing for?  10:15 Overlooking positive pleiotropy & other bad arguments  17:18 Malcolm’s theory of the cultural super virus  18:25 Malcolm's general pessimism & falling birth rates  22:02 The case for optimism: religiosity, ritual, and exogenous motivators  23:47 Should we talk about the dysgenic effect on IQ?  24:44 The role of religion in this brave new world  26:55 Religion as a cultural software package  30:18 Malcolm’s plan to save the world!  33:28 Malcolm's idea of “descendant worship” & his thoughts on belief  34:28 Can artificial beliefs really take hold?  38:35 Is our current progress a blip & how a neo-Byzantium can survive  41:08 How many people would actually use genetic technology?   45:20 The ick factor of genetic tech  46:42 The costs and pains of IVF   52:40 Malcolm's 'theological mandate' to create a technophilic culture  54:35 Malcolm and Simone's gifted school and thoughts on improving education  1:04:17 Taking the precautionary principle when introducing new technology to children  1:06:32 A critique Malcolm respects  1:08:37 Malcolm’s recommended reading  1:09:59 Malcolm’s most controversial opinion

Auron Macintyre is a columnist and host at The Blaze. He also writes on Substack. Auron rose to prominence as a “dissident right” thinker, making popular YouTube videos on topics from what’s come to be called elite theory. Timestamps: 1:17 Auron introduces himself 3:20 Racial imposter syndrome 6:03 Whites looking for valid status 8:27 "Nonsense as a uniform” 12:42 The failure of the Intellectual Dark Web 16:18 Steelmanning the popularity of Jordan Peterson 18:40 The Overton Window of Intellectuals 22:40 Controlled opposition without a controller 24:31 What does victory look like in the face of total institutional capture? 27:53 Secessionism, federalism, and societal breakdown 30:40 Cultural decline vs material progress 36:12 Right-wing tensions 40:00 Our role in the cycle of civilisation 43:03 Reconciling theology and techno-optimism 52:36 Can biotech be deployed responsibly in our current political climate? 55:15 What will post-liberalism look like? 57:30 If Auron could only undo one aspect of post-60s culture, what would it be?

Garett Jones is Associate Professor of Economics and BB&T Professor for the Study of Capitalism at the Mercatus Center, George Mason University.  His first book, published in 2015 by Stanford University Press, is entitled Hive Mind: How Your Nation's IQ Matters So Much More Than Your Own, and was reviewed in the Wall Street Journal. His second book, also with Stanford, published in 2020, is entitled 10% Less Democracy: Why You Should Trust Elites a Little More and the Masses a Little Less, and was reviewed in The Economist. Garett's most controversial opinion: https://www.ideassleepfuriously.com/p/garett-jones-most-controversial-opinion

Razib Khan is a master of decoding ancient DNA to tell fascinating stories about our history and heritage. Timestamps:  2:39: Three mindblowing facts from ancient DNA research  6:10 Will it be possible to know the average IQ of classical Athens?  8:35 How much signal do we lose if the population is representative?   10:15 Is there really more genetic diversity within Africa?  15:02 Is gene-culture co-evolution a kind of bottleneck or sieve?  18:45 Fighting between hunter-gatherers and farmers  24:15 Psychopaths as a development of mass society & the need for security  27:20 Dysgenics and the cyclical theory of civilizations  40:40 Modalities of innovation  44:15 The timeline for genetic engineering, speciation, and runaway selection 56:10 People are masturbating  57:00 Is immortality on the cards?  1:05:00 Is this the last century of technological civilization?  1:08:20 Changing aesthetic standards, the need for wisdom, and werewolves  1:15:43 When will we be able to talk about group differences freely?  1:16:52 Will conservatives inherit the Earth?

Richard is President of the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology, whose Substack output you can find here. He also has his own Substack. His academic interests include nuclear policy, American grand strategy, political psychology, the politics of the Middle East, and international law. In today’s podcast we do a deep dive into his most interesting articles. You can find him on Twitter here. Timestamps:   2:31 Richard’s background and journey through academia 6:07 Is academia really that bad?  9:15 Is international relations a lost cause?  12:55 Why women’s tears win  16:20 Do conservatives like foreign policy because they get to be macho?  18:50 Should most women leave the academy and have children?  22:50 Should most people walk away from the academy?  28:25 Why is understanding civil rights important for fighting wokeism?  32:00 Is wokeness inevitably downstream from civil rights law?  41:40 Blank slatism and left-wing conformism  46:00 The importance of compartmentalising beliefs  47:03 Richard’s psychological theory of the culture wars  52:25 Why does Richard have any faith in democracy?  54:25 How much is wokeism orchestrated?  1:02:30 Is democracy the only weapon the right have left?  1:09:30 Why does everything move left?  1:11:40 Why does Richard think wokeness isn’t a religion?

Last week, we hosted the first ISF livestream with Bo Winegard and Jonathan Anomaly. It was a fantastic conversation loosely based around the topic on what enquiries into human nature can tell us about political philosophy. 

Prof Eric Kaufmann is a Canadian professor of politics at Birkbeck, University of London. He’s the author of several books including Whiteshift: Populism, Immigration and the Future of White Majorities, and Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?: Demography and Politics in the Twenty-First Century. Today, we’re speaking with Eric about his two reports for the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology:  Born This Way? The Rise of LGBT as a Social and Political Identity  Diverse and Divided: A Political Demography of American Elite Students Important links:  Substack: https://ideassleepfuriously.substack.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Ideas_Sleep Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ideas_Sleep

Leandra Ramm is an American singer and actress known for opera and musical theatre. She is an offspring of the Repository for Germinal Choice (otherwise known as "The Genius Sperm Bank").    My own story: https://ideassleepfuriously.substack.com/p/on-discovering-that-i-was-sperm-donor#details  My links:   Substack: https://ideassleepfuriously.substack.com  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Ideas_Sleep  Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ideas_Sleep  Timestamps:   0:00 Intro  2:26 How I heard about Leandra’s story  3:57 Leandra’s origin story  7:57 Finding the genius sperm bank and the process  11:55 Leandra’s half-siblings' origins  13:55 Family dynamics  18:55 Leandra’s school experience with a high IQ  22:15 How Leandra’s intelligence helped her  28:40 Leandra’s siblings’ stories  33:15 How did Leandra find her biological dad and half-siblings?  38:00 Leandra’s thoughts on genetics   39:55 Leandra’s dad’s life  41:40 Leandra’s thoughts on genetic engineering  44:35 The importance of biodiversity   46:35 Would Leandra support a genius sperm bank today?  48:15 The lack of regulation   50:03 Why Robert Graham started the project  50:45 The dangers of no regulation  52:40 What else did Leandra find out about the sperm bank?  54:30 Gratitude for modern science and new-found family

Simon Webb is an historian, writer, and host of the popular YouTube show, History Debunked. He has written about slavery, World War I, and even fairies. Check out his channel and books. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 1:27: What historical event should we all know about and why? 4:50 Why does Simon think democracy isn't fit for purpose? 7:35 The ironies of Brexit and immigration 10:04 Does learning history really change you? 11:13 Homeschooling's power 17:55 Is there potential for a post-Woke politics anytime soon? 19:25 Simon's meta-ethical view & religion 21:15 What is Simon's most controversial belief? 29:03 Guilt by association & social media 30:27 Why we should talk about group differences 32:00 Why would people want to change the status quo? 38:30 The primal fear of discussing group differences 41:00 Schooling in historical context and making changes 44:00 Will homeschooling become more popular? 45:15 Is immigration still a concern for the British public? 49:38 Should young people leave? 50:49 Historical inaccuracies in film and TV 56:13 Simon's favourite books 56:52 No regrets 57:12 What does it mean to be truly educated?