
The Mind Killer
Your hosts Wesley Fenza, Eneasz Brodski, and David Spearman discuss the week's news. mindkiller.substack.com
Latest episodes

Dec 11, 2023 • 30min
BONUS Episode - Solstice Hot Takes
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindkiller.substack.com

Dec 6, 2023 • 1h 19min
Episode 97 - The Return of Altman Returns
Wes, Eneasz, and David keep the rationalist community informed about what’s going on outside of the rationalist communitySupport us on Substack!Sam Altman is back at OpenAI!Not fake news - future news! George Santos actually expelled this timeScientists got a whole-ass Earth-plant to grow in lunar regolithGaza pause didn’t last long, but the original 4 days were extended to 63 commercial ships hit by missiles in Houthi attack in Red Sea, US warship downs 3 dronesNew war just dropped!? Red Venezuela v. Guyana (v. Brazil?)The Hague ruled that this is b******tGuyana Analysis Thread!Binance CEO "CZ" steps down, pleads guilty to U.S. money laundering violationsBad news: abortion bans workTwo senators introduce “The Gas-Operated Semi-Automatic Firearms Exclusion Act” which would ban gas-operated firearms… and also non-gas-operated semi-auto firearms. Expert on guns: “Now you’re just lying”More Ukraine funding probably not comingJohn Cornyn: “I think there’s a misunderstanding on the part of Senator Schumer and some of our Democratic friends,” Cornyn said. “This is not a traditional negotiation, where we expect to come up with a bipartisan compromise on the border. This is a price that has to be paid in order to get the supplemental.”The House has already passed an immigration bill that make asylum much less generousHappy News!Life-extension drug approved for phase 2 trials (but drug is for dogs)University of Washington researchers developed deep-learning algorithms for noise canceling headphones such that wearers can pick which sounds they want to hear, and which to blockVideo demoDoritos SilentEleos Health, a company developing a “tool that can run in the background of mental health sessions and uses voice AI capabilities to analyze it and give insights and information about the patient”All 41 Workers Rescued From Collapsed Tunnel in India Himalayas After 17 Days TrappedJapan has a new island!Badass footageA team of YouTubers, engineers, and ranchers found how much horsepower a horse can pullGot something to say? Come chat with us on the Bayesian Conspiracy Discord or email us at themindkillerpodcast@gmail.com. Say something smart and we’ll mention you on the next show!Follow us!RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themindkillerGoogle: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iqs7r7t6cdxw465zdulvwikhekmPocket Casts: https://pca.st/vvcmifu6 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-mind-killer Apple: Intro/outro music: On Sale by Golden Duck Orchestra This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mindkiller.substack.com/subscribe

Nov 22, 2023 • 23min
BONUS Episode - "The Jewish Conspiracy to Change My Mind" with Yassine Meskhout
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindkiller.substack.comWes, David, and Eneasz invite Yassine Meskhout onto the podcast to discuss his recent Substack post about the Israel-Palestine situation

Nov 21, 2023 • 1h 19min
Episode 96 - Altman Returns
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindkiller.substack.comWes, Eneasz, and David keep the rationalist community informed about what’s going on outside of the rationalist communitySupport us on Substack!News discussed:George Santos wasn’t actually expelled, they just triedAnd they’re trying againSpaceX gets FAA approval for second Starship test launchSAG Strike is over! The AI provisions of the dealSama kicked …

Nov 8, 2023 • 1h 23min
Episode 95 - AI Regulation is Coming
Wes, Eneasz, and David keep the rationalist community informed about what’s going on outside of the rationalist communitySupport us on Substack!News Links:SBF guilty on all chargesWe have a speaker of the house!He doesn’t have a bank account?!?First bill passed: $14 billion in aid for Israel plus $14 billion in cuts for IRSBiden Executive Order on AIZvi agrees that it is mostly a prelude to actions to be taken in a few yearsProminent AI Scientists from China and the West Propose Joint Strategy to Mitigate Risks from AI Israel NewsHouthi Rebels in Yemen are launching missiles at IsraelHezbollah and Israel firing rockets at each other in LebanonChinese companies removed Israel from their mapsHalf of The Kids Today think Hamas was justifiedOne of the founders of the Democratic Socialists of America resigned over the Hamas supportcommies supporting a final solutionanti lgbt, black Hebrews, shocked pikachuFearless Fund sued by same group that got rid of formal discrimination in university admissionsEVs are getting harder to sellHappy News!AI reads words on Pompeii scroll, makes John Lennon sound good, gets people jobsAlmost 900 school districts are giving kids 3-day weekends!Missouri poll found 69% of parents approved, but (naturally) press coverage has been uniformly negativeU.S. economy grew almost 5% in the third quarterNew fish just droppedNew Silkworm just dropped - Adding spider DNA to silkworms creates silk stronger than KevlarTeenagers who came across an empty candy bucket refilled it with their own candyEneasz - Don’t Trans Me BroGot something to say? Come chat with us on the Bayesian Conspiracy Discord or email us at themindkillerpodcast@gmail.com. Say something smart and we’ll mention you on the next show!Follow us!RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themindkillerGoogle: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iqs7r7t6cdxw465zdulvwikhekmPocket Casts: https://pca.st/vvcmifu6 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-mind-killer Apple: Intro/outro music: On Sale by Golden Duck Orchestra This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mindkiller.substack.com/subscribe

Oct 25, 2023 • 52min
Episode 94 - David Did the Funniest Thing Ever
Wes, Eneasz, and David keep the rationalist community informed about what’s going on outside of the rationalist communitySupport us on Substack!News discussed:Alex Jones can’t use bankruptcy protection to avoid paying $1.1BCaroline Ellison of FTX admits on the stand that Sam bribed Chinese officials with $100M to unfreeze their assets, purposely tried to scam Saudi investors in the final days of FTX, & intentionally tried to sic regulators on Binance to destroy his competition.The NYT issued a mea culpa for its coverage of the destroyed hospitalA US Navy warship shot down several cruise missiles and drones launched from Yemenmia khalifa plus many others cancelledan intrepid 25-year-old Israeli woman saved an entire kibbutz from harm by leading a group of residents to kill more than two dozen advancing terroristsTexas fortifies border with New Mexico with concertina wireGag issue ordered for TrumpA group representing L. Ron Hubbard asked the Copyright Office to alter a repair exemption that makes it legal to hack Scientology's E-MeterHappy News!over the past two decades increased globalization has resulted in higher wages, safer workplaces, and less child labor, and it has happened the fastest in the countries that have opened the most and are most integrated in global supply chainsBay Area high school grad (with a 3.97 unweighted and 4.42 weighted GPA, scored 1590 out of 1600 on SATs) rejected by 16 colleges - hired by Google! Eleven of the 271 recipients of the Thiel Fellowship have founded unicorns so far!!Troop DeploymentsEneasz - Gender is personality (or maybe more accurately, personality-tropes)Got something to say? Come chat with us on the Bayesian Conspiracy Discord or email us at themindkillerpodcast@gmail.com. Say something smart and we’ll mention you on the next show!Follow us!RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themindkillerGoogle: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iqs7r7t6cdxw465zdulvwikhekmPocket Casts: https://pca.st/vvcmifu6 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-mind-killer Apple: Intro/outro music: On Sale by Golden Duck Orchestra This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mindkiller.substack.com/subscribe

Oct 11, 2023 • 56min
Episode 93 - Hamas Sucks
Wes, Eneasz, and David keep the rationalist community informed about what’s going on outside of the rationalist communitySupport us on Substack!News discussed:Azerbaijan wonThe Free Press says this is Israel’s 9/11They randomly massacred a music festival, taken many hostages“Declare a humanitarian interest in liberating Gaza from Hamas' theocratic military dictatorship”Madmen march in support of murder-rapeUS shot down an armed Turkish drone that came within 500 meters of troops Turkey has been striking Kurdish separatistsNew Tinder $500-a-month plan Trump org found guilty of fraud, lost its business licenseCowards refuse to recognize artAlabama has a new voting mapAnthropic - patterns of neuron activations map to “Features” which separately represent thingsAnthropic CEO and Co-Founder says there’s a 75-90% chance that humanity won’t be wiped out by AIs!Walmart says users of weight loss drugs are buying less foodWood structure aged 476,000 yrs old foundFDA Delenda Est!! Why won’t you let old people be happy??Happy News!Air taxis in 2025?!?Nobel Prizes awarded last weekGot something to say? Come chat with us on the Bayesian Conspiracy Discord or email us at themindkillerpodcast@gmail.com. Say something smart and we’ll mention you on the next show!Follow us!RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themindkillerGoogle: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iqs7r7t6cdxw465zdulvwikhekmPocket Casts: https://pca.st/vvcmifu6 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-mind-killer Apple: Intro/outro music: On Sale by Golden Duck Orchestra This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mindkiller.substack.com/subscribe

Sep 27, 2023 • 1h 17min
Episode 92 - Shut it Down!
Wes, Eneasz, and David keep the rationalist community informed about what’s going on outside of the rationalist communitySupport us on Substack!News discussed:FAA is “optimistic [about issuing a license] sometime next month" for Starship’s second launchGovernment shutdown impending this weekendNew war just dropped between Armenia and AzerbaijanBiden impeachment inquiry announcedDemocratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey being indicted on bribery chargesKen Paxton acquitted Writers strike is over!Various old people who don’t know how AI works are suing OpenAI for writing fanfic when prompted to write fanficThe Marines, uh, kinda lost an F35Amazon invests up to $4 billion in AnthropicHappy News!JWST finds evidence of a molecule only produced in nature by phytoplankton on an exoplanetUS Copyright office continues to hold that AI Art is not copyrightableGavin Newsome vetoed a bill to require drivers in autonomous trucksCavities have been cured!!!They Got the Lead Out of Turmeric! (in Bangladesh)Palisades Nuclear Plant to (probably) reopenChatGPT diagnosed a 7yr olds tethered cord syndrome after 17 doctors failed toTurns out there’s an assload of lithium in Nevada, which is a good step 1 to getting Chinese slave labor out of the green tech market* E - Possibly largest lithium deposit in the world discovered on Nevada/Oregon border. Mining to begin in 2026. But Holy?* E - NASA’s first asteroid samples from deep space parachuted into the Utah desert Sunday* David: Probably the West Desert, where I go shooting!* E - Dude jumps in river to save drowning child, doesn’t remove shoes!* Troop Deployment* David - CHARGE $85 FOR VIDEO GAMES YOU A******S* Eneasz - Controlled Misery can make you strongerGot something to say? Come chat with us on the Bayesian Conspiracy Discord or email us at themindkillerpodcast@gmail.com. Say something smart and we’ll mention you on the next show!Follow us!RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themindkillerGoogle: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iqs7r7t6cdxw465zdulvwikhekmPocket Casts: https://pca.st/vvcmifu6 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-mind-killer Apple: Intro/outro music: On Sale by Golden Duck Orchestra This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mindkiller.substack.com/subscribe

Sep 13, 2023 • 1h 9min
Episode 91 - Life-Sized Legos!!!
Wes, Eneasz, and David keep the rationalist community informed about what’s going on outside of the rationalist communitySupport us on Substack!News discussed:Intuitive Machines, the company behind the private moon lander, released a video of a test-fire of its landing enginesFifth Circuit injunction preventing government from censoring social mediaFifth Circuit also reversed lower court and upheld Texas law forbidding viewpoint discrimination by social media companiesSpaceX is ready for another test launch of Starship, but the FAA is dragging their feet on approval.Proud Boys leader sentenced to 22 years in prisonPutin and Erdogan met to try to revive grain dealBritish company FruitCast uses AI to count, weigh, and evaluate ripeness of millions of berries per dayFlorida State University professor Eric Stewart, a celebrated criminologist, is kicked out of FSU under allegations of fraud. Six major studies often cited as proof of systemic racism have been retracted. A collaborator blew a whistle a few years ago when a study with 500 participants was published as having over 1100 participantsHappy News!NY and LA school districts considering teaching kids to use ChatGPT to enhance learning rather than banning itUniversity of Tokyo researching a muon-based GPS replacement, which would work deep underground and underwater.Chinese air pollution down over 40% in a decade, life expectancy is up 2-6 years in cities.Ozempic can maybe completely remove the need for insulin in type 1 diabetics!? Research ongoingHuman-sized Legos make real buildings!!! German company Polaris has successfully test flown a scaled-down unmanned model of Aurora, a hypersonic/suborbital jet capable of delivering payloads to orbitThe Mars Society announced the creation of the Mars Technology Institute, whose purpose is to develop the technologies required to settle MarsA proof-of-concept device on Perseverance has generated enough oxygen to keep a small dog alive for 10 hoursUN Diplomat crowd-funds $144M to drain an abandoned oil tanker of over 1M barrels of crude and scupper the ship (Yemen couldn’t do it cuz they’re doing a civil war), prevented an eventual massive catastropheTroop DeploymentsScott Alexander 4 prezRIP Van Aaron HughesFootball now with AI-powered commentaryGot something to say? Come chat with us on the Bayesian Conspiracy Discord or email us at themindkillerpodcast@gmail.com. Say something smart and we’ll mention you on the next show!Follow us!RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themindkillerGoogle: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iqs7r7t6cdxw465zdulvwikhekmPocket Casts: https://pca.st/vvcmifu6 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-mind-killer Apple: Intro/outro music: On Sale by Golden Duck Orchestra This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mindkiller.substack.com/subscribe

Aug 30, 2023 • 1h 1min
Episode 90 - Featuring Jamiel!
Wes and David are joined by Jamiel to keep the rationalist community informed about what’s going on outside of the rationalist communitySupport us on Substack!News discussed:Prighozin, Utkin, and more or less all Wagner head honchos dead after a Wagner-owned private plane was shot downChinese real-estate company Evergrande files for bankruptcy… in US court.Fourth (and final?) Trump indictment!Abortion is illegal in South Carolina againDoJ files charges against Elon Musk for illegal discrimination against refugees, despite this making no senseFifth Circuit upheld Mifepriston ban, but stayed order pending SCOTUS reviewHappy News!Meta has developed an open source GitHub Copilot competitorNew startup Rainmaker wants to make it rainIntuitive Machines’ lunar lander slated to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 on 15 November.Quantum superchemistry. What is it? Why is it cool? Idk, but sounds super cool!AI (the kind Eneasz wants to stop) used to allow ALS patients to communicate at 80 WPM using brain interfaceTech investors are trying to make a new city in an otherwise-empty part of SFBAGot something to say? Come chat with us on the Bayesian Conspiracy Discord or email us at themindkillerpodcast@gmail.com. Say something smart and we’ll mention you on the next show!Follow us!RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themindkillerGoogle: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iqs7r7t6cdxw465zdulvwikhekmPocket Casts: https://pca.st/vvcmifu6 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-mind-killer Apple: Intro/outro music: On Sale by Golden Duck Orchestra This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mindkiller.substack.com/subscribe