Michael Muthukrishna: A Theory of Everyone

The Dissenter | 25 September 2023 | 1h 40m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Michael Muthukrishna about his book A Theory of Everyone: The New Science of Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We’re Going. Discusses the premise of the book; the four laws of life: energy, innovation, cooperation, and evolution; how cooperation expands in human societies, and what distinguishes us from other animals; intelligence and IQ, and the collective brain and the idea of “genius”; the importance of institutions and cultural norms, and the role of ideas; multiculturalism, and how to solve the “paradox of diversity”; our current energy ceiling, and the problems that derive from it and how to solve them; and the challenges of studying human behavior cross-culturally.

It’s finally here! Michael Muthkrishna launches what will surely be the most important book this year in conversation with Matthew Syed at the London School of Economics, 28 September at 6:30 pm. You can watch remotely or afterwards on LSE’s YouTube channel.

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Indian Experiences in WW2

History Extra | 17 August 2023 | 0h 33m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Diya Gupta about her book India in the Second World War: An Emotional History. Backgrounds that 2.5 million Indian soldiers fought in the Second World War. Describes the complex web of emotional experiences, how Indian soldiers and civilians back home felt about the war, and how the conflict impacted their lives.

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Russ Roberts | Godfather Of Podcasting

Curious Worldview Podcast | 7 September 2023 | 1h 25m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Russ Roberts replete with wisdom. Discusses Christopher Hitchens, good communication versus good talking, whether some cultures create more good communicators than others, Nassim Taleb and randomness, the role that serendipity played in Roberts’ life, and more.

See also the EconTalk episode with Christopher Hitchens discussing George Orwell.

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When Did Marriage Become a Luxury Good?

Freakonomics Radio | 21 September 2023 | 1h 02m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Melissa Kearney about her book The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind. Describes the problem of changing marriage patterns and the benefits of growing up in a two-parent household – and argues that it’s time for liberals to face these facts.

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Keith Houston on the History of Pocket Calculators

Patented: History of Inventions | 16 August 2023 | 0h 45m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Keith Houston about his book Empire of the Sum: The Rise and Reign of the Pocket Calculator. Discusses how humans did mathematics before calculators; the development of number systems, slide rules and mechanical calculators; and shares stories about key steps in the development of pocket calculators.

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Tyler Cowen on Singapore, AI and Economic Growth

Bretton Goods | 4 September 2023 | 1h 07m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Tyler Cowen discussing why there are so few Singaporean famous people, what Singapore can do to get weirder, why he’s sceptical of an AI-driven singularity, what happens to kids and public intellectuals in a post-GPT world, and why he’s optimistic on Kenyan economic growth.

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Elon Musk: Walter Isaacson on the World’s Most Polarizing Person

The Next Big Idea | 14 September 2023 | 1h 07m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Walter Isaacson about his book Elon Musk. Discusses Elon Musk’s formative experiences; the pluses and minuses of his personality; his role with eBay, Tesla, SpaceX, Twitter, artificial intelligence, the war in Ukraine, and more.

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Surviving Hitler and Stalin

Dan Snow’s History Hit | 9 August 2023 | 0h 37m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Daniel Finkelstein about his book Two Roads Home: Hitler, Stalin, and the Miraculous Survival of My Family. Recounts stories from his parents’ remarkable lives: his mother Mirjam Wiener survived the Nazi concentration camps, and his father Ludwik Finkelstein lived through a Soviet gulag. Discusses how they survived the horrors of both regimes and imparts some of the lessons that they learned along the way.

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