Best Tim Stephenson Podcasts (2024)

1
An Agentic Mixture of Experts for DevOps with Sunil Mallya - #708 1:15:09

1h ago1:15:09

1:15:09

Today we're joined by Sunil Mallya, CTO and co-founder of Flip AI. We discuss Flip’s incident debugging system for DevOps, which was built using a custom mixture of experts (MoE) large language model (LLM) trained on a novel "CoMELT" observability dataset which combines traditional MELT data—metrics, events, logs, and traces—with code to efficientl…

1
Restorative Justice Works Where Retribution Fails 59:48

3h ago59:48

59:48

You know the saying “hurt people hurt people.” Well, our guest argues “healed people heal people.” Most of us look away from the terribly failed system of justice, but Notre Dame Professor Jason Springs offers us a new path that The post Restorative Justice Works Where Retribution Fails appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.…

1
Tim Walz’s Unique Appeal to Young Men’s Masculinity 57:08

2d ago57:08

57:08

There’s a mountain of electoral gold which, for the first time, is being mined: graduates of regional public universities. Many of them men. Colleges with “state” in their name. Our guest Washington Monthly editor in chief Paul Glastris talks about The post Tim Walz’s Unique Appeal to Young Men’s Masculinity appeared first on Keeping Democracy Aliv…

1
Building AI Voice Agents with Scott Stephenson - #707 1:01:44

7d ago1:01:44

1:01:44

Today, we're joined by Scott Stephenson, co-founder and CEO of Deepgram to discuss voice AI agents. We explore the importance of perception, understanding, and interaction and how these key components work together in building intelligent AI voice agents. We discuss the role of multimodal LLMs as well as speech-to-text and text-to-speech models in …

1
SSC 84: Midsommar (Aster, 2019) 1:41:19

10d ago1:41:19

1:41:19

Show Notes Ari Aster @ Film at Lincoln Center Ari Aster on The Big Picture Podcast Synopsis Midsommar follows the depressed Dani as she joins her disengaged boyfriend on a trip to Sweden to attend a folk festival. The more they learn about the reclusive commune of which they are guests, the more unsettling their experience becomes. Starring Florenc…

1
Is Artificial Superintelligence Imminent? with Tim Rocktäschel - #706 55:52

11d ago55:52

55:52

Today, we're joined by Tim Rocktäschel, senior staff research scientist at Google DeepMind, professor of Artificial Intelligence at University College London, and author of the recently published popular science book, “Artificial Intelligence: 10 Things You Should Know.” We dig into the attainability of artificial superintelligence and the path to …

1
The Demise if Neoliberalism. At Last

14d ago

—

Reagan, Clinton, and Obama all boosted neoliberalism. But Biden is showing that he’s on a different track. Democrats in the 90s moved away from FDRs liberalism only to solidify Wall St’s hold on our economic life and political power. In The post The Demise if Neoliberalism. At Last appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.…

1
Heather Cox Richardson: Yes Democracy IS Awakening 59:57

15d ago59:57

59:57

In a democracy, we expect to have our own say over how we are governed. There’s a great grumbling throughout America because many don’t feel listened to. That’s the impetus behind today’s Trumpist populism. This populism is the voice of The post Heather Cox Richardson: Yes Democracy IS Awakening appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.…

1
ML Models for Safety-Critical Systems with Lucas García - #705 1:16:06

16d ago1:16:06

1:16:06

Today, we're joined by Lucas García, principal product manager for deep learning at MathWorks to discuss incorporating ML models into safety-critical systems. We begin by exploring the critical role of verification and validation (V&V) in these applications. We review the popular V-model for engineering critical systems and then dig into the “W” ad…

1
Wisconsin Rural Voters: Challenge and Opportunity for Democrats 59:51

20d ago59:51

59:51

Wisconsin is a key swing state in the upcoming election, with traditions of both real right and real left. On today’s show on-the-ground journalist Christina Lieffring tells us about realities in that 90% rural state. She says to win voters, The post Wisconsin Rural Voters: Challenge and Opportunity for Democrats appeared first on Keeping Democracy…

1
SSC 83: Hereditary (Aster, 2018) 1:54:27

23d ago1:54:27

1:54:27

Show Notes Smile's viral marketing campaign Ari Aster on CBC Q Alex Wolff's struggles with the role Toni Collette's career review Synopsis Hereditary follows the Graham family as they mourn their secretive grandmother, finding out more about her sinister proclivities—and how they have inherited them— along the way. Starring Toni Collette, and writt…

1
The Deep Roots of American Illiberalism,Yes Illiberalism 59:55

22d ago59:55

59:55

Many Americans were appalled at the violent January 6th assault on the capitol. The thought was: “That’s not who we are.” But in truth, throughout our history, a great number of Americans have supported hierarchies and authoritarianism; freedom for us The post The Deep Roots of American Illiberalism,Yes Illiberalism appeared first on Keeping Democr…

1
AI Agents: Substance or Snake Oil with Arvind Narayanan - #704 54:22

22d ago54:22

54:22

Today, we're joined by Arvind Narayanan, professor of Computer Science at Princeton University to discuss his recent works, AI Agents That Matter and AI Snake Oil. In “AI Agents That Matter”, we explore the range of agentic behaviors, the challenges in benchmarking agents, and the ‘capability and reliability gap’, which creates risks when deploying…

1
On Rosh Hashanah: Netanyahu, The Israeli Right, and Jewish Identity 59:19

27d ago59:19

59:19

In light of the Israeli state’s massive assault on Gaza, and now Lebanon, the question comes up: What does it mean to be a Jew? Our guest veteran New York Times sportswriter Robert Lipsyte says being a Jew entails certain The post On Rosh Hashanah: Netanyahu, The Israeli Right, and Jewish Identity appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.…

1
Is Corporatocracy Unstoppable? 58:32

29d ago58:32

58:32

Corporations have their own interests at heart. From post-Civil War America through to Germany in 1933 to America today. And knowing public image counts, many try to have it both ways: bragging that they support reproductive and LGBTQ rights as The post Is Corporatocracy Unstoppable? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.…

1
AI Agents for Data Analysis with Shreya Shankar - #703 48:24

29d ago48:24

48:24

Today, we're joined by Shreya Shankar, a PhD student at UC Berkeley to discuss DocETL, a declarative system for building and optimizing LLM-powered data processing pipelines for large-scale and complex document analysis tasks. We explore how DocETL's optimizer architecture works, the intricacies of building agentic systems for data processing, the …

1
From Rockefeller Republicanism to Trumpism: How Did We Get Here? 59:10

1M ago59:10

59:10

“People think of Nelson Rockefeller as the epitome of moderate Republicanism.” But what appears to be a clean break from this tradition is really an evolution. Author Professor Marsha E. Barrett explains how the shift to the right was something The post From Rockefeller Republicanism to Trumpism: How Did We Get Here? appeared first on Keeping Democ…

1
Architecture as the Ultimate Expression of Power: Gaza 2035 58:35

1M ago58:35

58:35

It was only discovered in an architectural trade journal: Netanyahu’s “Gaza 2035.” Architects were hired to provide models of a new Gaza , the old one having been flattened. Steel and glass high risers being erected where once a people The post Architecture as the Ultimate Expression of Power: Gaza 2035 appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.…

1
Stealing Part of a Production Language Model with Nicholas Carlini - #702 1:03:30

1M ago1:03:30

1:03:30

Today, we're joined by Nicholas Carlini, research scientist at Google DeepMind to discuss adversarial machine learning and model security, focusing on his 2024 ICML best paper winner, “Stealing part of a production language model.” We dig into this work, which demonstrated the ability to successfully steal the last layer of production language mode…

1
Dr Ransom Morin | Vitruvian Wellness Center 1:08:34

1M ago1:08:34

1:08:34

It was such a pleasure to have my friend Dr Ransom Morin on the podcast this week. Ransom is the owner of Vitruvian Wellness Center in West Springfield, MA. They specialize in Wellness and Chiropractic Care. We met many years ago when Ransom joined a networking group that I was part of. We had a great conversation on topics ranging from Business Gr…

1
Nuts and Bolts: What Needs to be Learned to Make Our Agenda Reality 57:57

1M ago57:57

57:57

As Americans, we want what we want right now. But it doesn’t work that way to make real political change. As with any mechanism, there are certain things that must be learned to make it work and achieve our goals. The post Nuts and Bolts: What Needs to be Learned to Make Our Agenda Reality appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.…

1
SSC 82: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (Anderson, 2004) 1:18:28

2M ago1:18:28

1:18:28

Show Notes The Wes Anderson Collection by Matt Zoller Seitz The Most Difficult Shot in Movie History (And Why It Matters) Synopsis The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissuo tells of the story of the titular oceanographer, on the hunt for the rare shark that killed his friend so he can exact revenge and film his next movie. Starring Bill Murray, written by…

1
Criminalizing The Unhoused Gets Us Nowhere 57:57

1M ago57:57

57:57

Some might call it “cruel and unusual punishment,” arresting, sweeping the parks, bulldozing homeless encampments. Others believe if people are poor it’s their own fault. On this show, the Reverend Dr. Liz Theoharis of The Kairos Center discusses an essay The post Criminalizing The Unhoused Gets Us Nowhere appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.…

1
Supercharging Developer Productivity with ChatGPT and Claude with Simon Willison - #701 1:14:15

2M ago1:14:15

1:14:15

Today, we're joined by Simon Willison, independent researcher and creator of Datasette to discuss the many ways software developers and engineers can take advantage of large language models (LLMs) to boost their productivity. We dig into Simon’s own workflows and how he uses popular models like ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude to write and test hundr…

1
Vetting A Deal 57:47

1M ago57:47

57:47

On today's episode of Boys Under The Hood James and Pat talk their way through a potential deal that involves purchasing an existing bodyshop and real estate. Download today to learn more about what goes into creating a valuation for a business and creative ways to structure the deal. Thank you for listening! Visit our website to listen to more epi…

1
A Military Security State and the Erosion of Freedom 59:14

2M ago59:14

59:14

They love to say America has the strongest military of any nation ever. But boasting usually leads to disaster. On this show, we hear from William J. Astore, a retired lieutenant colonel of the US Air Force and professor of The post A Military Security State and the Erosion of Freedom appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.…

1
What is the 9/11 Generation? 57:47

2M ago57:47

57:47

History professor Matt Warshauer argues in his new book that the 9/11 generation is the most unique in American history, and he explains how. The title is Creating and Failing the 9/11 Generation. This generation has seen a nonfunctional government, The post What is the 9/11 Generation? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.…

1
Matt Dessereau | East Village Tavern | Part 1 18:22

2M ago18:22

18:22

Part 1 | This week, James and Pat are joined by Matt Dessereau, who owns East Village Tavern in East Longmeadow, MA. With nearly 30 years in the hospitality business, Matt shares his tips on building a great work environment for his staff. In part 1 of this 2-part episode, they explore how to find, hire, train, and keep employees. James has known M…

1
Evangelicals Souring on Trump: Why It Took So Long. 59:56

2M ago59:56

59:56

He got 81% of the evangelical vote in key swing states in 2016. Our guest today the Reverend Doug Pagitt is exceptionally familiar with what goes on with evangelical Christians, and he says he expects Trump to get less than The post Evangelicals Souring on Trump: Why It Took So Long. appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.…

1
SSC 81: Mad Max: Fury Road (Miller, 2015) 1:45:14

2M ago1:45:14

1:45:14

Show Notes We shot a YouTube video about film formats on 35mm film The Insane Realism of the Film That Invented the Modern Car Movie Synopsis Mad Max: Fury Road finds the franchise’s titular hero caught in the escape of Immortan Joe’s harem of wives, under the leadership of Imperator Furiosa. Starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron, and directed by …

1
Automated Design of Agentic Systems with Shengran Hu - #700 59:30

2M ago59:30

59:30

Today, we're joined by Shengran Hu, a PhD student at the University of British Columbia, to discuss Automated Design of Agentic Systems (ADAS), an approach focused on automatically creating agentic system designs. We explore the spectrum of agentic behaviors, the motivation for learning all aspects of agentic system design, the key components of th…

1
Gen Z, Millennials and The 2024 Presidential Election 56:46

2M ago56:46

56:46

They weren’t there for Biden. A large chunk of young men are for Trump, but with a new presidential candidate, the Democratic Party is connecting with young people. One millennial voice is Josh Lafasan, on today’s show he says the The post Gen Z, Millennials and The 2024 Presidential Election appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.…

1
Marketing | How To Get More Customers Today 35:41

2M ago35:41

35:41

On this episode of Boys Under The Hood, James and Pat talk about different forms of marketing and the reasons to use each. Then James talks about an extreme example where they weren't able to market for people. Listen now to find out why! Thank you for listening! Visit our website to listen to more episodes or to ask a question. www.LotusPE.us Use …

1
Waving Goodbye to Neoliberalism? 54:46

2M ago54:46

54:46

It may have the word “liberal” in it but it’s anything but. Until the Biden/Harris years, the corporate wing of the Democratic Party had its deserved image of serving the richest among us. Trump understood raw populist anger to win The post Waving Goodbye to Neoliberalism? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.…

1
Hawley And the Right: Terrified About Their Manhood 59:28

2M ago59:28

59:28

Now with the nomination of not just a woman, but a woman of color, they feel even more threatened. Today’s right encourages and seeks to use men’s anger in the culture war, even though those very policies actually harm working The post Hawley And the Right: Terrified About Their Manhood appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.…

1
The EU AI Act and Mitigating Bias in Automated Decisioning with Peter van der Putten - #699 45:34

2M ago45:34

45:34

Today, we're joined by Peter van der Putten, director of the AI Lab at Pega and assistant professor of AI at Leiden University. We discuss the newly adopted European AI Act and the challenges of applying academic fairness metrics in real-world AI applications. We dig into the key ethical principles behind the Act, its broad definition of AI, and ho…

1
With Walz, Can Democrats Win Back Rural America? 58:58

2M ago58:58

58:58

Since at least 2016, the Democratic policy has been driven by big contributors, yielding rural voters to Trump who at least pretended to hear them. With Minnesota Governor Tim Walz nominated as VP for Harris, middle America people who had The post With Walz, Can Democrats Win Back Rural America? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.…

1
SSC 80: Gone Girl (Fincher, 2014) w/ Bunny Stephenson 1:49:54

3M ago1:49:54

1:49:54

Synopsis The film centers on the marriage of Nick & Amy Dunne, the nature of which is called into question (along with the former’s culpability) when the latter goes missing on the day of their fifth wedding anniversary. Starring Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck, and directed by David Fincher, Gone Girl was released Oct. 2, 2014. Where to watch Gone G…

1
Avi Chomsky: 21st Century Colonialism and Extractivism 57:06

2M ago57:06

57:06

Colonialism: Now it’s called corporate globalization. As the energy appetite of the west continues to accelerate, so does extractivism, without the consent of the people directly affected. In this revealing discussion, Professor Avi Chomsky explodes the many myths we white The post Avi Chomsky: 21st Century Colonialism and Extractivism appeared fir…

1
The Building Blocks of Agentic Systems with Harrison Chase - #698 59:17

2M ago59:17

59:17

Today, we're joined by Harrison Chase, co-founder and CEO of LangChain to discuss LLM frameworks, agentic systems, RAG, evaluation, and more. We dig into the elements of a modern LLM framework, including the most productive developer experiences and appropriate levels of abstraction. We dive into agents and agentic systems as well, covering the “sp…

1
Hiring and Retaining Staff 29:49

3M ago29:49

29:49

On this episode of Boys Under the Hood, James and Pat discuss ways to hire and and retain staff. They deep dive into engagement techniques and ways to set your business up for success when hiring Thank you for listening! Visit our website to listen to more episodes or to ask a question. www.LotusPE.us Use this link to schedule your seat in our Bi-w…

1
Jails and Prisons Were a Hotbed of Covid. Needlessly. 59:09

3M ago59:09

59:09

The ideal breeding ground for the Covid virus: A place where people were forced to have constant close contact with each other and with the wider community. In other words: prisons. You know how awful it was for us on The post Jails and Prisons Were a Hotbed of Covid. Needlessly. appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.…

1
Make the Winner of the Popular Vote President 55:46

3M ago55:46

55:46

We were taught in elementary school that every vote counts in America. But as we all know the 2016 winner of the popular vote did not become president. The truth is the presidential candidates will spend a billion dollars this The post Make the Winner of the Popular Vote President appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.…

1
Simplifying On-Device AI for Developers with Siddhika Nevrekar - #697 46:37

3M ago46:37

46:37

Today, we're joined by Siddhika Nevrekar, AI Hub head at Qualcomm Technologies, to discuss on-device AI and how to make it easier for developers to take advantage of device capabilities. We unpack the motivations for AI engineers to move model inference from the cloud to local devices, and explore the challenges associated with on-device AI. We dig…

1
The Term “MAGA” Acknowledges US Empire is Over 59:33

3M ago59:33

59:33

Make America great “again?” What does that phrase assume? Our guest today, retired Lt Col. William Astore served 20 years in the military. No, he’s not a stereotypical macho militarist, far from it. He says our “full spectrum global empire” The post The Term “MAGA” Acknowledges US Empire is Over appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.…

1
SSC 79: American Psycho (Harron, 2000) 1:13:15

3M ago1:13:15

1:13:15

Synopsis The movie centers on Patrick Bateman, a handsome, intelligent and successful young professional in 1980s New York that moonlights as a psychotic killer. Starring Christian Bale, directed by Mary Harron, and based on the book of the same name by Brett Easton Ellis, American Psycho was released on April 14, 2000. Where to watch American Psyc…

1
White Male Supremacists Fear and Hate it But “Romance” and Nuclear Families Aren’t the Only Option 57:34

3M ago57:34

57:34

We assume our picture of romance and marriage has always been there, but according to our guest author and professor Sabrina Strings, it was invented in the 12th century as a myth about Sir Lancelot. Marriage was about power, domination, The post White Male Supremacists Fear and Hate it But “Romance” and Nuclear Families Aren’t the Only Option appe…

1
Genie: Generative Interactive Environments with Ashley Edwards - #696 46:51

3M ago46:51

46:51

Today, we're joined by Ashley Edwards, a member of technical staff at Runway, to discuss Genie: Generative Interactive Environments, a system for creating ‘playable’ video environments for training deep reinforcement learning (RL) agents at scale in a completely unsupervised manner. We explore the motivations behind Genie, the challenges of data ac…

1
Dems Need the Middle Class: Why is the DNC Still So Corporatized? 57:27

3M ago57:27

57:27

There is a palpable movement under Kamala Harris; so why is party leadership still so out of touch with working people as they were in 2016? Our returning guest, veteran party insider Norman Solomon, says the DNC is still top-down The post Dems Need the Middle Class: Why is the DNC Still So Corporatized? appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.…

1
What’s Behind Trumpism: The Open Attack on Democracy 59:26

3M ago59:26

59:26

As Trump heads into the 2024 campaign, you might wonder who is behind it, who benefits from destroying our republic. Here is the story. The religious nationalists see him as a fierce leader. They believe God sends such kings to The post What’s Behind Trumpism: The Open Attack on Democracy appeared first on Keeping Democracy Alive.…

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Tim Stephenson Podcasts

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