Best Stephen Rand Podcasts (2024)

1
31 - Nick Simmons: Octu Ventures + Urbit, Building the Pillars of a Digital Civilization 1:02:18

1M ago1:02:18

1:02:18

Nick Simmons is Cofounder and member of Octu Ventures, a member-driven venture DAO investing in teams building on Urbit. Urbit comprises a decentralized network of personal servers, a unique digital ID system, and a decentralized peer-to-peer networking protocol. Altogether, these constitute load-bearing pillars of a truly digital civilization. We …

1
Lucy Turnbull — Urbanism, YIMBYism, and Solutions to Australia's Housing Crisis (Bonus Live Episode) 46:43

1M ago46:43

46:43

Lucy Turnbull is an urbanist, businesswoman and philanthropist. She was the first female Lord Mayor of Sydney, from 2003-4. From 2015-20, she was the inaugural Chief Commissioner of the Greater Sydney Commission, tasked with delivering strategic planning for the whole of metropolitan Sydney. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

1
30 - Alexander Pacheco: Building a Network of 150 56:36

2M ago56:36

56:36

Alexander Pacheco is the founder of social media platform, 150. Based on Dunbar’s Limit, 150’s innovative social network leverages insights from network science to create a small-town feel that elides many of the downsides that come with incumbent social media giants. Alexander walks us through using anthropology and human nature to shape the netwo…

1
Bryan Caplan — The Economics of Housing Abundance 1:50:14

2M ago1:50:14

1:50:14

Bryan Caplan is Professor of Economics at George Mason University. A bestselling author, his books include The Case Against Education, Open Borders, and Build, Baby, Build: The Science and Ethics of Housing Deregulation. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/bryan-caplan-155 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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29 - Kevin Dolan (Bennett's Phylactery): Rebooting Natalism for the 21st Century 1:16:59

2M ago1:16:59

1:16:59

I’m joined by cofounder and organizer of the 2023 Natal Conference in Austin, TX, Kevin Dolan. We talk about the conception of a conference to promote having more babies, the various religious and techno-optimist factions of the Natalist Movement, environmental detriments to fertility, how we’re radically undervaluing motherhood, thought-terminatin…

1
28 - Charles Rosenbauer and Olli Payne: Finding the Keys to Our Possible Futures 1:26:41

2M ago1:26:41

1:26:41

I am joined by Charles Rosenbauer and Olli Payne of Possibilia Magazine. Possibilia is an ambitious literary magazine showcasing realistic, optimistic science fiction. They’re bringing positive visions of the future in digital and in print—replete with short stories, nonfiction companion pieces, and illustration. We talk about the constraints of ke…

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27 - Lomez: Keeper of the Press 1:03:27

4M ago1:03:27

1:03:27

I speak with father of the Passage Prize and Keeper of the Passage Press, Lomez. Passage Prize started as an open call for literary and artistic submissions to find untapped talent from the Twitter anon sphere. It quickly exceeded its initial ambitions, drawing artists both obscure and famous to claim their spot in the coveted limited run print edi…

1
26 - Stephen R. C. Hicks: Ayn Rand and High Romanticism 59:04

4M ago59:04

59:04

On Ayn Rand, Objectivism, the resonance of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, the development and spread of Individualism, high Romanticism, Rand's polarizing characters, the relationship between altruism and selfishness in her works and philosophy, Ayn Rand's large influence on entrepreneurs, and the intellectual subculture of Randian academics.…

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25 - Kevin MacDonald: Jewish Group Evolutionary Strategy | Cofnas-MacDonald Debate, pt. 2 1:15:06

6M ago1:15:06

1:15:06

For part 2 of the Cofnas-Macdonald debate I interview evolutionary psychologist Kevin Macdonald. We go over his response to Nathan Cofnas' objections to the Jewish Group Evolutionary Strategy laid out in "The Culture of Critique" series, his explanations for outstanding Jewish influence, conscientiousness, emotional intensity, and affect intensity …

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24 - Nathan Cofnas: Jewish Group Evolutionary Strategy | Cofnas-MacDonald Debate, pt.1 1:39:14

6M ago1:39:14

1:39:14

Nathan Cofnas is Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, working in philosophy of biology and ethics. We discuss his paper “Still No Evidence for a Jewish Group Evolutionary Strategy” in the context of his ongoing debate with Kevin MacDonald and "The Culture of Critique” series. We cover explanations for outstanding and disproportiona…

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23 - Zero HP Lovecraft: Toward a Christo-Nietzschean Synthesis 1:25:50

7M ago1:25:50

1:25:50

I speak with sci-fi horrorist Zero HP Lovecraft on his Six Components of Religious Experience, a functionalist approach to religion, the concept of God becoming increasingly abstract and far away (divine distance), how Christianity can benefit from Nietzsche’s bitter medicine, Christianity’s struggle with modern sexual mores, pathological altruism,…

1
2023 Retrospective — A Listener Interviews Me 1:47:48

7M ago1:47:48

1:47:48

In this special episode, the tables are turned as I'm interviewed by a listener of the show, DJ Thornton from Sydney. We reflect on the progress of the show in 2023, what I learned from this year's guests, and what's in store for 2024. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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22 - Luca Cacciatore: The State of Christianity in America 50:21

7M ago50:21

50:21

Luca Cacciatore joins me to discuss Christianity in America, the decline of religiosity, the Second Great Awakening, how technology mediates religiosity, faith and fertility, religion grappling with science, the Evangelical Revolution, and the dearth of compelling Christian narratives for young men.By Alex Murshak

1
David Deutsch & Steven Pinker (First Ever Public Dialogue) — AGI, P(Doom), & The Enemies of Progress 1:55:40

7M ago1:55:40

1:55:40

At a time when the Enlightenment is under attack from without and within, I bring together two of the most thoughtful defenders of progress and reason, for their first ever public dialogue. Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. I think of him as providing the strongest empirical defence of the Enlightenment (…

1
21 - The Kino Corner: Great Films Touch Our Lives 1:36:58

7M ago1:36:58

1:36:58

I am joined by Kino Corner to discuss movie making, film as a medium for capturing the zeitgeist of different eras, shooting on digital, film, and hybrid, the economics of why mid-budget movies have disappeared, crowdfunding movies, The Killer (Fincher, 2023), Asteroid City (Anderson, 2023), drifting from the binge model of TV series', and the Kino…

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20 - Michael Millerman: Heidegger, Dugin, and Strauss -- The Rewilding of Philosophy 1:28:25

8M ago1:28:25

1:28:25

Michael Millerman joins me to discuss starting a philosophy school, why tech and startups are seeking wisdom, whether Western philosophy is still a living tradition, objections to the usefulness of philosophy, leading students to the eternal questions, the intimate pleasure of communing with old friends, Martin Heidegger's influence on Alexander Du…

1
Shruti Rajagopalan — On Spotting Talent, And Making Sense of Rising India 2:45:00

8M ago2:45:00

2:45:00

Shruti Rajagopalan is an Indian-American economist. She leads the Indian political economy research program and Emergent Ventures India at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She also hosts the Ideas of India podcast. Full transcript available at: jnwpod.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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19 - Bitcoin Gandalf: Satoshi’s Immaculate Coinception 1:05:41

8M ago1:05:41

1:05:41

I sit down with Bitcoin Gandalf for a deep dive on Satoshi's immaculate coinception. Gandalf is a large influencer in the Bitcoin space and works in Bitcoin mining. Bitcoin is one of the most innovative technologies of the last century from a governance and coordination perspective. I believe it has the potential to be a vehicle for civilization-le…

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18 - Nikolai Yakovenko: Exploring DeepNews 56:06

8M ago56:06

56:06

DeepNews is using LLMs to aggregate and summarize the latest news across the internet, seeking to change the way we digest news. Nikolai Yakovenko is an ex-Twitter, Google, and Nvidia machine-learning engineer who initially forayed into Web3 with his venture 'DeepNFTValue,' which uses machine learning to estimate the value of NFTs; before also goin…

1
17 - Will: Anthrochauvinism 1:15:17

8M ago1:15:17

1:15:17

In this conversation, I speak with Will (@latinxputler) about Anthrochauvinism, an alternative to e/acc & decel ideologies. We cover his experiences in the early days witnessing the formulation of e/acc (Effective Accelerationism) in groupchats as a response to Effective Altruism. His reservations about transhumanism and encounters with post-human …

1
Raghuram Rajan — Debt, Monetary Policy, and Unintended Consequences 1:51:50

9M ago1:51:50

1:51:50

What were the deep causes of the global financial crisis and great recession? Has unconventional monetary policy in the wake of the crisis done more harm than good? And should monetary policy target financial stability? I discuss these questions and more with Indian economist and Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Raghuram Rajan. Rag…

1
16 - Grant Dever: Nuclear Texas 1:16:44

9M ago1:16:44

1:16:44

We envision a nuclear Texas. Grant Dever is a research fellow at FREOPP (Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity) who writes about energy policy, with a focus on nuclear power. He earned his degree in economics and business from the University of Rochester. During the pandemic, Grant cultivated community for IndieThinkers.org—an accelerator fo…

1
15 - Brendon Marotta: Children’s Justice 1:37:35

9M ago1:37:35

1:37:35

Brendon Marotta is a filmmaker, author, and podcaster. We talk about his book, "Children's Justice", which applies critical theory to the controversial topic of infant circumcision. We go through his decision to appropriate the tools and tactics of critical theory in service of this issue, apprehensions around taking circumcision up as a social jus…

1
14 - Stephen Pimentel: Reviewing ”Selective Breeding and the Birth of Philosophy” 1:49:45

10M ago1:49:45

1:49:45

Engineer and essayist Stephen Pimentel joins me for a review of the recently released bestselling book in Political Philosophy, Costin Alamariu’s “Selective Breeding and the Birth of Philosophy”. In this discussion we go deep in tracing the argument, point-by-point, of Costin’s thesis concerning the twin emergence of philosophy and tyranny out of t…

1
13 - Steve Hsu: Polygenic Embryo Selection, Improving LLMs, & Getting Nearly Cancelled 1:22:02

10M ago1:22:02

1:22:02

Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics at Michigan State University, as well as the founder of Genomic Prediction and SuperFocus AI; he also hosts the Manifold podcast, and the Information Processing blog. Steve and I speak about polygenic risk scoring and embryo selection, using AI to predict phenotype from genotype, in-vitro fertilization …

1
Peter Singer — Moral Truths and Moral Secrets 1:54:39

10M ago1:54:39

1:54:39

Peter Singer is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. He is widely regarded as the world's most influential living philosopher. Full transcript available at: jnwpod.com Episode recorded on 26 April 2023. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.By Joe Walker

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12 - Garrett Dailey: Designing Business Around Philosophy 1:33:12

10M ago1:33:12

1:33:12

Garrett Dailey is the founder of Aion Enterprises, a business philosophy and design firm. We speak about the meaning of Aion, building a business around philosophy, individuation, the Candy Cane model of reality, and the importance of aesthetics for catalyzing people with a compelling vision of the future. “Any sufficiently complex thought is philo…

1
11 - Disgraced Propagandist: The World of Dissident Marketing 1:02:45

11M ago1:02:45

1:02:45

Disgraced Propagandist (Isaac Simpson) is the founder of WILL, a dissident marketing agency, and The Carousel Substack and podcast. We speak about how WILL does dissident marketing for a cohort of new natural “wholesome” brands, the marketing industry as the canary in the coal mine for workplaces becoming Longhouses, the power of branding, the mean…

1
Peter Turchin — Why Societies Fall Apart (And Why the US May Be Next) 1:41:45

11M ago1:41:45

1:41:45

Peter Turchin is a complexity scientist and one of the founders of cliodynamics — a new, cross-disciplinary field that applies mathematics and big data to test historical theories. Full transcript available at: jnwpod.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.By Joe Walker

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10 - Razib Khan: Genetic Time Traveling 1:34:25

11M ago1:34:25

1:34:25

Razib Khan is a population geneticist, has a popular Substack on genetics and history, and is a co-founder of GenRAIT. We speak about his role in the scientific ecosystem, the effect of the computing revolution on ancient genetics and genomics, why he’s most interested in Eurasian steppe populations, how ancient DNA has shed light on theories in ar…

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Stephen Wolfram — Constructing the Computational Paradigm 4:24:06

11M ago4:24:06

4:24:06

Stephen Wolfram is a physicist, computer scientist and businessman. He is the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research, the creator of Mathematica and Wolfram Alpha, and the author of A New Kind of Science. Full transcript available at: jnwpod.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.By Joe Walker

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9 - Hannah Frankman: On the Education of Rebels 1:10:16

12M ago1:10:16

1:10:16

Hannah Frankman is the founder of Rebel Educator, an all-inclusive resource hub for parents, teachers, and entrepreneurs. We discuss her experiences in educational reform and alternative paths to education, Montessori education philosophy, her involvement in the education space, and the launch of Rebel Educator. We also cover criticisms of the educ…

1
Katalin Karikó — Forging the mRNA Revolution 2:03:50

12M ago2:03:50

2:03:50

Katalin Karikó is a Hungarian-American biochemist. She is one of the inventors of mRNA technology. Full transcript available at: thejspod.com. Episode recorded on 15 February 2023. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.By Joe Walker

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Richard Rhodes — The Making of the Atomic Bomb 3:42:20

12M ago3:42:20

3:42:20

Richard Rhodes is an American historian and the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Full transcript available at: thejspod.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.By Joe Walker

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8 - Bo Winegard: Aporias of Human Nature 1:12:43

12M ago1:12:43

1:12:43

Bo Winegard on life after cancellation, why we should talk about group differences in intelligence, Aporia - a new magazine courting heterodox social science and philosophy, victimhood rhetoric, the tedious relationship of truth to justice, anonymity vs. identity, are we at peak wokeness?, noble lies, epistemic accelerationism, limits to academic d…

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7 - Mark Wilcox: 21e8 and Computational Data Markets 1:19:21

1y ago1:19:21

1:19:21

Mark Wilcox on 21e8, his information architecture company, computational data markets, why compute is money, Bitcoin’s role in all this, price discovery via compute, how AI is destroying people’s belief in the computer, deleveraging from the U.S. dollar, decision theory, the curse of dimensionality, and moving back to base primitives. “The problem …

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6 - Jason Snyder: Growing Doomer Optimism 1:33:27

1y ago1:33:27

1:33:27

I speak with Doomer Optimist cofounder and faculty in the Department of Sustainable Development at Appalachian State University, Jason Snyder, about finding the others, using the internet to encourage localism, Balaji Srinivasan’s The Network State, homesteading, the value of embodied work, regenerative agriculture, resource independence, and our d…

1
5 -Jonah Davids: Mental Health is Unwell 1:05:36

1y ago1:05:36

1:05:36

Jonah Davids' new Substack, Mental Disorder, explores the science and politics of mental health from a data-driven perspective. Jonah is also Communications Director at the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology. We spoke about why being a psychologist has no noticeable effect on the efficaciousness of talk therapy, the lack of evidence …

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4 - Cody Moser: The Science of Innovation, Core-Periphery Networks, Internet Polarization 1:25:14

1y ago1:25:14

1:25:14

Cody Moser is a PhD student in the Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences at University of California, Merced. His work focuses primarily on the evolution of human behavior and human institutions. We spoke about his work generating formal network models with agent-based modeling, the life history of organizations, core-periphery dynamics …

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3 - Jae Yang and John Bugnacki: Tacen and the Wild West of Tech 1:22:49

1y ago1:22:49

1:22:49

Jae Yang and John Bugnacki of Tacen join me to discuss financial sovereignty, the regulatory state of crypto in the United States, the Wyoming stabelcoin, and why you have to go to the frontier for better governance and technology. Tacen is working on a crypto exchange that is fast, non-custodial, and cross-chain. Project TXA is a settlement networ…

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2 - Matthew Mehan: Classical Education & the Moral Training of Self-Government 1:01:19

1y ago1:01:19

1:01:19

Matthew Mehan is Associate Dean and Assistant Professor of Government for Hillsdale College’s Steve and Amy Van Andel Graduate School of Government in Washington D.C. We spoke about the relationship of poetry to philosophy, the value of a classical liberal arts education, technology and the Tyranny of Velocity, raising children with social media, p…

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1 - Robin Hanson: Prediction Markets & Futarchy 1:35:54

1y ago1:35:54

1:35:54

Robin Hanson and I discuss prediction markets, decision markets, Futarchy, and Demarchy. We cover simple and more elaborate applications of prediction markets, common objections to them and barriers to implementation at the organization level, when a prediction market becomes a decision market, his vision for Futarchy--a proposed system of governme…

1
Ken Henry — An Economic Odyssey 4:35:09

1y ago4:35:09

4:35:09

Dr Ken Henry is an Australian economist who served as Secretary of Australia's Treasury from 2001 to 2011. He was instrumental in helping Australia avoid recession during the 2008 Global Financial Crisis — Australia was the only major advanced economy to do so. Full transcript available at: thejspod.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor…

1
Palmer Luckey — Science (Non)fiction 1:39:19

1y ago1:39:19

1:39:19

Palmer Luckey is an American tech entrepreneur and billionaire. He has founded two companies: Oculus VR (acquired by Facebook for $2 billion in 2014), and Anduril (recently valued at $8.5 billion). He has been described as the real-life Tony Stark. Full transcript available at: www.thejspod.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Daniel Kahneman — Dyads, And Other Mysteries 1:13:07

1y ago1:13:07

1:13:07

Daniel Kahneman is widely regarded as the most influential psychologist alive. He won the Nobel Prize in Economics (2002) for his work on judgment and decision-making under uncertainty, much of it done jointly with his late collaborator Amos Tversky. He is the author of the bestselling books Thinking, Fast and Slow and Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgme…

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Talent Is That Which Is Scarce — Tyler Cowen 48:21

1+ y ago48:21

48:21

In the long run, talent allocation is almost everything. But as a society, we're not actually very good at it. The question of how to reliably match people with jobs they are well suited for is one of the big unsolved problems of our times. Joe catches up with return guest Tyler Cowen to discuss the art of identifying talent. Tyler is a professor o…

1
Intellectual Exoskeletons — Andy Matuschak 2:08:54

1+ y ago2:08:54

2:08:54

From language and writing to the Hindu-Arabic numeral system, computers and Adobe Photoshop, our species has a history of inventing tools for augmenting our own intelligence. But what comes next? Andy Matuschak is a developer and designer. He helped build iOS at Apple, founded and led Khan Academy's R&D lab, and now works as an independent research…

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Rationality And Its Opposite — Steven Pinker 52:32

1+ y ago52:32

52:32

How rational are we? How can a species smart enough to set foot on the moon also be prone to conspiracy theories that the moon landing was fake? Joe speaks with Steven Pinker to discuss rationality — and its opposite. Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, an elected t…

1
Against Bayesianism — David Deutsch 1:39:02

2y ago1:39:02

1:39:02

Bayesianism, the doctrine that it's always rational to represent our beliefs in terms of probabilities, dominates the intellectual world, from decision theory to the philosophy of science. But does it make sense to quantify our beliefs about such ineffable things as scientific theories or the future? And what separates empty prophecy from legitimat…

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The Lessons Of Afghanistan — William Dalrymple 58:12

3y ago58:12

58:12

William Dalrymple is an acclaimed historian and writer. Show notes available at: josephnoelwalker.com/138-afghanistan See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.By Joe Walker

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