55. Jared Diamond on the Downfall of Civilizations — and His Optimism for Ours
He’s the award-winning author of hugely popular books like Guns, Germs, and Steel; Collapse; and Upheaval. But Jared actually started his varied career as an expert on gallbladders and birds. The phys...
11 Des 202147min
54. Andrew Yang Is Not Giving Up on Politics — or the U.S. — Yet
He’s tried to shake up the status quo — as a Democratic presidential candidate, a New York City mayoral candidate, and now the founder of the Forward party. Will his third try be the charm? Andrew tal...
4 Des 202153min
53. The Simple Economics of Saving the Amazon Rainforest
Everyone agrees that massive deforestation is an environmental disaster. But most of the standard solutions — scolding the Brazilians, invoking universal morality — ignore the one solution that might ...
27 Nov 202132min
52. Max Tegmark on Why Superhuman Artificial Intelligence Won’t be Our Slave (Part 2)
He’s an M.I.T. cosmologist, physicist, and machine-learning expert, and once upon a time, almost an economist. Max and Steve continue their conversation about the existential threats facing humanity, ...
20 Nov 202130min
51. Max Tegmark on Why Treating Humanity Like a Child Will Save Us All
How likely is it that this conversation is happening in more than one universe? Should we worry more about Covid or about nuclear war? Is economics a form of “intellectual prostitution?” Steve discuss...
13 Nov 202145min
50. Edward Miguel on Collecting Economic Data by Canoe and Correlating Conflict with Rainfall
He’s a pioneer of using randomized control experiments in economics — studying the long-term benefits of a $1 health intervention in Africa. Steve asks Edward, a Berkeley professor, about Africa’s lon...
6 Nov 202152min
49. Mathematician Sarah Hart on Why Numbers are Music to Our Ears
Playing notes on her piano, she demonstrates for Steve why whole numbers sound pleasing, why octaves are mathematically imperfect, and how math underlies musical composition. Sarah, a professor at the...
30 Okt 202146min
48. Marc Davis Can’t Stop Watching Basketball — But He Doesn’t Care Who Wins
His childhood dream of playing in the N.B.A. led him to a career as a referee. Marc is one of the league’s top performers after over 20 seasons, but he still reviews every single one of his calls. He ...
23 Okt 202147min
