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Robin Hanson is an associate professor of economics at George Mason University, and a former research associate at the Future of Humanity Institute of Oxford University. He is known for his commentary on cultural drift, which examines how the nature of cultural shifts has changed over time.

In this episode, I got a chance to talk to him about what causes cultural change, how that relates to the debate over declining fertility rates, and what could be done to address cultural drift.

Show Notes

Fertility Rate from Our World in Data

Greg Sargent is a staff writer at The New Republic and the host of the podcast "The Daily Blast."

In this episode, I got a chance to talk with Greg about the electoral popularity of immigration reform, how shifts in voter turnout have affected Democrats, the role of media responsibility during election cycles, and how to cover Trumpism without burnout or fatigue.

Show Notes

"Why Democrats Got the Politics of Immigration So Wrong for So Long" by Rogé Karma, The Atlantic

"Trump Just Laid a Brutal Trap for Dems, and They're Walking into It" by Greg Sargent, The New Republic

"Democrats Have a Better Option that Biden" by Ezra Klein, The New York Times

This interview was recorded on January 17th, 2025.

Tyler Cowen is the Holbert L. Harris Chair of Economics at George Mason University and director at the Mercatus Center. He is also the host of the podcast "Conversations with Tyler," where he talks about a wide range of topics from AI to economic inequality to social media, and much, much more.

In this episode, I got a chance to talk with Tyler about quite a few of those topics: the extent of his libertarian ideology, why he's less pessimistic about social media, what movies have influenced him, etc.

In that regard, this episode has quite a few parallels to an average Conversations with Tyler episode: you'll hear quick pivots, broad range, and a willingness to see where the host might lead. Hope you enjoy!

Show Notes

"Jonathan Haidt on Adjusting to Smartphones and Social Media" from Conversations with Tyler

Miriam Elder is an American journalist known for her coverage of the Russian government. She has written for Vanity Fair, BuzzFeed News, The Guardian, and recently, The New York Times.

In this episode, I got a chance to talk to her about her response to Trump's recent victory, and the parallels she sees between Russian authoritarianism and Republican authoritarianism.

Sources

"Don't Let Trump Drive You Into Internal Exile" by Miriam Elder, The New York Times

"How's the GOP's Trans Panic Has Shades of Putin's Anti-LGBTQ+ Playbook" by Miriam Elder, Vanity Fair

Darrell Owens is a Substack writer who is known for his commentary on housing, culture, and progressive politics.

In this episode, I got a chance to talk to him about the prevalence of homelessness in blue cities, how progressives could respond to right-wing media influencers, and the way that Twitter affects important political discourse.

Show Notes

Liberal NIMBYs Are Helping Red States by Darrell Owens, The Discourse Lounge

Why Harris Lost Uninformed Voters by Darrell Owens, The Discourse Lounge

Jessica Grose is an opinion writer for The New York Times. She is known for writing about issues related to education and culture, such as how the pandemic has affected schools in the long run, or what has been causing declining fertility rates.

In this episode, I got a chance to talk to her about the current baseline quality of US education, the increase in distrust towards societal institutions, and what the 2024 election results say about our culture.

Show Notes

Emma's Torch

"2024 is Suddenly About Having Kids" from Matter of Opinion

"Trump Doesn’t Care Enough About K-12 Education to Break It" by Jessica Grose, The New York Times

"Good Marriages Are Good. Bad Marriages Are, Well, Bad" by Jessica Grose, The New York Times

"Rachel Wiseman and Anastasia Berg on Millenial Concerns Surrounding Parenthood" from Frames of Space

Yes Day

"The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking" by Brendan I. Koerner

"Young Women Will Never Stop Talking About Sexism" by Jessica Grose, The New York Times

Noah Smith is an economist who writes the Substack "Noahpinion" and co-hosts the podcast "Econ 102." He is known for his commentary on economic issues like inflation, trade policy, deficit spending, and more.

In this episode, I got a chance to talk to him about why Democrats lost the 2024 Election, how Trump's proposed policies would affect the economy, and the tradeoff between inflation and unemployment.

Show Notes

"Identity politics isn't working" by Noah Smith, Noahpinion

"Americans hate inflation more than they hate unemployment" by Noah Smith, Noahpinion

What does Dylan Matthews think of the US's capital gains tax policies? What does Regan Arntz-Gray think of trad culture? What are Jamie Weinstein's views on Israel-Palestine?

Today's episode is a collection of cut content from past interviews I've done, plus a brief explanation for this podcast's name.