Astral Codex Ten Podcast

[previously in series: 1, 2, 3] You spent the evening agonizing over which Bay Area House Party to attend. The YIMBY parties are always too crowded. VC parties were a low-interest-rate phenomenon. You’ve heard too many rumors of consent violations at the e/acc parties - they don’t know when to stop. And last time you went to a crypto bro party, you didn’t even have anything to drink, and somehow you still woke up the next morning lying in a gutter, minus your wallet and clothes. You finally decide on a Progress Studies party - the last one was kind of dull, but you hear they’re getting better. https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/bride-of-bay-area-house-party

The New York Times has an article on “dating docs”. These are a local phenomenon - I think an ex of mine might have been Patient Zero. I don’t begrudge the Times for writing about them. I’m just surprised they’re considered an interesting phenomenon. What could be more obvious than making sure potential dates know what you’re like? https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-describable-dating

Explore finalist #13 in the Book Review Contest and the author's limited knowledge of history outside of Europe. Learn about the difference between written and unwritten history and the books 'The Secret of Our Success' and 'The Weirdest People in the World'. Discover the causal chain from cultural change to economic growth and the interdisciplinary approach to studying Western history and economics. Dive into the development of the West from Europe to modernity, exploring the role of the Western Church, the decline of kin institutions, and the influence of science and democracy. Explore the Church's impact on European institutions and individualism through the Marriage and Family Program.

This podcast explores Putin's rise to power, debates his actions, and raises concerns about potential democracy undermining. It also discusses the fast privatization in Russia, conspiracy theories surrounding Putin, his ties to the Russian Orthodox Church, and reflections on political violence and threats to democracy.

The podcast covers a range of interesting topics, including a book review contest, opposition to traffic congestion taxes, libertarianism, AI governance, historical incidents, murder crackdown, controversies surrounding famous figures and concepts, the impact of college on earnings, gene variability and far ultraviolet radiation, FDA restrictions on cancer patients, room temperature superconductors, prediction markets, claims of political bias in AI models, the horrifying reality of taxation and its parallels to slavery, and insights on drop in Mormon fertility and the impact of Trump's republicanism.

[This is one of the finalists in the 2023 book review contest, written by an ACX reader who will remain anonymous until after voting is done. I’ll be posting about one of these a week for several months. When you’ve read them all, I’ll ask you to vote for a favorite, so remember which ones you liked] What does it take to be literally Hitler? https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/your-book-review-the-rise-and-fall

Actual serious review here, Amazon link to the book here. These were just some extra parts that stuck out to me. https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/more-memorable-passages-from-the

Review of Masha Gessen's "The Man Without A Face" [previously in series: Erdogan, Modi, Orban, Xi] I. Vladimir Putin’s Childhood As Metaphor For Life   Vladimir Putin appeared on Earth fully-formed at the age of nine. At least this is the opinion of Natalia Gevorkyan, his first authorized biographer. There were plenty of witnesses and records to every post-nine-year-old stage of Putin’s life. Before that, nothing. Gevorkyan thinks he might have been adopted. Putin’s official mother, Maria Putina, was 42 and sickly when he was born. In 1999, a Georgian peasant woman, Vera Putina, claimed to be his real mother, who had given him up for adoption when he was ten. Journalists dutifully investigated and found that a “Vladimir Putin” had been registered at her village’s school, and that a local teacher remembered him as a bright pupil who loved Russian folk tales. What happened to him? Unclear; Artyom Borovik, the investigative journalist pursuing the story, died in a plane crash just before he could publish. Another investigative journalist, Antonio Russo, took up the story, but “his body was found on the edge of a country road . . . bruised and showed signs of torture, with techniques related to special military services.” https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/dictator-book-club-putin  

You can find the meetup organizer volunteer form here. If you want to know if anyone has signed up to run a meetup for your city, you can view that here. Everyone else, just wait until 8/25 and I'll give you more information on where to go then. https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/meetups-everywhere-fall-2023-call  

Plus more CFTC, X, and UFOs https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/mantic-monday-73123-room-temperature