Videos

"I think the world works better when everyone has a feeling of abundance." -- Roon

"We need technological progress. It's a necessity. It's the only thing that makes our civilization prosper in the long run, or even in the short run. It's the only thing that leads to stable growth and without it... all bets are off." -- Roon

Our guest, Roon, argues that, at the end of the day, "it's a wordcel world."

AI researcher, memelord extraordinaire, and techno-optimist Roon joins the show to discuss coming up with the shape rotator vs. wordcel meme, what an AGI world could become, and why Tenet is Christopher Nolan’s best movie. Important Links: - Roon’s Twitter - https://x.com/tszzl?s=20 - Roon’s Substack - https://roonscape.ai/ - AGI Futures…

"Nostalgia is a seductive liar." -- George Ball Here's Katherine Dee on the danger of falling into a "nostalgia trap..."

"If you want to tell people the truth, you’d better make them laugh or they’ll kill you.” - George Bernard Shaw Our guest, Katherine Dee, argues that, in the Attention Economy, entertainment reigns supreme...

“There's this disbelief that things can become organically popular online. People misunderstand the way power can help." "I think there's just a lot of misunderstanding of how... social capital works, how power works, how trends explode, how things grow." - Katherine Dee

“That's cyberspace in a nutshell. Certain forms of celebrity are more valuable than others. Twitter is very valuable if you have particular goals.” - Katherine Dee

Katherine Dee is a writer, journalist, and internet culture reporter. A contributor to publications such as UnHerd, Tablet, and Blaze Media, she is also the proprietor of the Default Wisdom Substack, where she writes about a wide range of topics, including internet history and culture, digital communities, millennial nostalgia, and…

Don't be AC/DC. Be David Bowie. Derk Sivers explains...

"What seems true is actually just one possible perspective, and it's probably not the best one. So force yourself to think of other perspectives.” -- Derek Sivers

"So, all of these things that I think I'm better than average in right now, I think it's just safe to assume that I'm not. In fact, I'm going to choose to counterbalance our human nature, and so, I will deliberately choose to assume that I'm below average." -- Derek…

"[Hollywood actors are] not a special breed. They're not a different type. They are just like you. They just took the chance and showed up to the gig... They did the thing instead of watching TV, and that's all the difference it took." -- Derek Sivers

"It is your commitment itself that can make any choice the right choice for you." -- Derek Sivers

The inimitable Derek Sivers returns for Part Two of our conversation. Important Links: - Part One - Website - https://sive.rs - Twitter - https://twitter.com/sivers?s=21&t=r5Rw1ujHLmOB6xEJqeaV6g - Still Too Soon to Tell & Other Songs - https://sive.rs/music - Tech Independence - https://sive.rs/ti Show Notes: 0:00:00 Video intro 0:00:45 Main podcast 0:02:29 Curiosity…

"Physical, observable things are true. Everything else is just a perspective that you can choose to take." -- Derek Sivers

Over the years, Derek Sivers has been a musician, circus performer, computer programmer, author, public speaker and entrepreneur. In the 2000s, he sold his business, CD Baby, for $22 million and gave the proceeds to charity. Derek has optimized his life “for creating and learning” and spends as much of…

"To just exist in digital is not going to be very interesting. To just exist in physical is not going to be very interesting... The masters of this next 20, 30 years [are] who can mix all of these things together in a really interesting way." -- John Fio

Why does John Fio believe in magic? "It's really hard to find someone who can look at the Sistine Chapel...or statue of David and be like, 'Eh. I missed that one.' Everyone that goes and experiences these things has this element of, 'Whoa!' Their soul...leaves their body."

"The mistake that people make when they look at this archetype of a maniacal artist is that they're egotistical and self-obsessed and attention-obsessed. I would say it's the exact opposite." John Fio challenges the idea of the egotistical genius...

“You should invest in a business that even a fool can run, because someday a fool will.” -- Warren Buffett Here's John Fio on why ideas are HARDER than execution.

John Fio is an inventor and entrepreneur who has bootstrapped four products that have collectively generated hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue. He joins the show to discuss why ideas are harder than execution, what he learned from being Justin Bieber’s intern, what most people get wrong about Kanye…

In the 19th century, the choices we made led to a "phase change" in our reality. James Pethokoukis argues that a similar transformation can happen today.

"The solid oak tree may look like...stability personified. But, you get a crack in that oak tree... that tree's dead. A blade of grass will bend here and there. One of these will survive a hurricane, one won't... be like the blade of grass, my friend." ~ James Pethokoukis