Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast The Peter McCormack Show
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| #218 - Narinder Kaur - Divided & Looted: How the Political System Plays Us | 05 Oct 2026 | 02:07:57 | |
The political system is designed to keep us angry and divided, but who actually profits from the culture war? Broadcaster and political commentator Narinder Kaur returns to the show for a heated, unfiltered discussion that spans the entire political spectrum - from immigration and racism to the cost of living and private school taxes. We discuss the realities of integration, class privilege and the illusion of modern UK politics. While the public fights over manufactured outrage and identity politics, the political class is quietly looting the nation's wealth through endless taxation, inflation, and a refusal to fix a broken economy. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Do You Think I'm Racist? 00:04:02 - Why She's Turned On Reform 00:08:15 - Renters' Rights And Econ 101 00:11:26 - What Happened To Bedford's Private Schools 00:16:25 - Population Is A Ponzi Scheme 00:22:18 - The Desert Island And The Dinghy 00:26:55 - The Corner Shop And The Can Of Coke 00:39:17 - The Liz Truss Argument 00:47:46 - Rival Gangs Competing For Your Vote 00:54:28 - Why Peter Doesn't Vote 01:00:06 - We Cannot Afford The Triple Lock 01:06:05 - I'm A Culturalist, Not A Racist 01:14:37 - What We Saw In Selfridges 01:26:03 - I'm Othered In My Own Country 01:34:43 - Assimilation Or Integration? 01:41:44 - If The English Moved To Punjab 01:45:24 - What People Are Really Worried About 01:51:38 - Watching The Country Change Shape 01:55:23 - What Ed Sheeran Should Have Said 02:04:41 - Are We The Bad Guys? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH NARINDER KAUR › X/Twitter – https://x.com/narindertweets SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Arch Public – https://archpublic.com/peter › Expat Money – https://expatmoney.com/peter › Venice AI – https://venice.ai/lp/mccormack/oct5 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #217 - Lee Cronin - AI Will Never Be Conscious. This Is How We Create Real Life. | 01 Oct 2026 | 01:35:52 | |
Chemist and University of Glasgow professor Lee Cronin argues that the current tech narrative is a "massive AI delusion," dismissing modern artificial intelligence as an advanced form of plagiarism rather than a new life form. While Silicon Valley predicts the imminent arrival of sentient machines, Cronin explains that AI models are merely trained on human history-making them powerful tools, but fundamentally incapable of the curiosity, consciousness and biological intelligence that define true life. Instead of fearing silicon, Cronin’s actual mission is far more ambitious: programming chemistry to solve the origin of life and turn sand into living cells. In this episode, we explore why biological consciousness is tied to an unbroken 3.8-billion-year evolutionary lineage and why silicon will never replicate it. Cronin also breaks down why DNA might just be a cosmic fluke, how chemistry can be used to measure the complexity of life and why he firmly believes we will detect actual alien life within the next two decades. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - The AI Model Is Not Intelligent 00:01:38 - Trying To Create Life In A Lab 00:06:29 - Consciousness Is An Illusion 00:08:51 - We Know Nothing About The Origin Of Life 00:11:24 - Nobody Can Define Life 00:13:48 - The Adam Savage Definition 00:17:21 - Molecules Came Before Cells 00:21:53 - DNA Is A Fluke 00:25:48 - Biology Is The Descendant Of Chemistry 00:26:36 - Dark Matter And Dark Energy 00:31:50 - The Meaning Of Life Is Existence 00:35:18 - If You Handed Me Alien Matter 00:40:28 - What Is Digital Chemistry? 00:42:28 - Six Eureka Moments 00:49:12 - Unfathomable Is Not Strong Enough 00:53:01 - Could You Copy A Human? 01:11:55 - Why The AI Escape Story Was Nonsense 01:16:28 - The Photograph Nobody Thought Possible 01:18:25 - Curiosity Is The Coolest Thing We Have 01:31:33 - Social Media Is The New Smoking - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH LEE CRONIN › Cronin Group – https://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/cronin/ › Chemify – https://chemify.io/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/leecronin SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Quo – https://quo.com/pete › Venice AI – https://venice.ai/lp/mccormack/oct1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #216 - Ross Clark - Britain is Bust & The Coming Sovereign Debt Crisis | 29 Sep 2026 | 01:09:39 | |
The UK has accumulated £3.4 trillion in debt, and the interest payments alone now dwarf the national defence budget. Author and journalist Ross Clark argues that the nation is sleepwalking into a sovereign debt crisis that politicians refuse to acknowledge. We discuss the brutal arithmetic of the public purse, detailing why standard political talking points - like taxing billionaires-are mathematical illusions that fail to address the core rot of uncontrolled state spending and collapsing public sector productivity. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Print The Money, Get Hyperinflation 00:01:17 - Is Britain Bust Or Trading Insolvent? 00:02:57 - Whose Fault Is This? 00:07:24 - Taxing The Billionaires Buys Six Months 00:09:12 - How Bad Is The Debt Really? 00:12:07 - Perma-Stimulus 00:14:22 - No Party Has A Viable Plan 00:17:32 - What The Public Actually Thinks About Tax 00:19:21 - Three Choices On The Bond Market 00:24:02 - Where He Would Cut 00:25:33 - The Motability Scheme 00:29:03 - The Client State 00:30:06 - Austerity Never Actually Happened 00:34:21 - Productivity Is Almost Everything 00:44:32 - The Chancellor's Oldest Trick 00:46:51 - The Wealth Tax Trap 00:50:03 - The 1976 Tribute Act 00:55:59 - What Liz Truss Got Wrong 00:59:18 - How Would You Know A Crisis Had Started? 01:04:38 - What Gives Him Confidence - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH ROSS CLARK › The Spectator – https://www.spectator.co.uk/writer/ross-clark/ › Substack – https://rossjonathanclark.substack.com/ SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Ledn – https://www.ledn.io/peter › Venice AI – https://venice.ai/ – Code PETER15 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #215 - Nick Bostrom - "We Are Creating Superintelligence": The Existential Risk is Real | 24 Sep 2026 | 01:06:13 | |
Nick Bostrom is a world-renowned philosopher, founding director of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University and author of Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies and Deep Utopia. Widely credited with launching the global AI safety and existential risk movements, his work on machine alignment, recursive self-improvement and the Simulation Hypothesis has shaped how world leaders, tech founders and frontier AI developers view the future of humanity. In this episode, we discuss the rapid acceleration toward machine superintelligence and why leaving biological minds "in the dust" creates an urgent alignment crisis. We explore the real-world social fallout of AI-including looming 30% white-collar unemployment-alongside existential risk scenarios, the potential creation of an oppressed digital "slave class" and why humanity may already be living inside an advanced computer simulation. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Machine Minds That Leave Us In The Dust 00:01:33 - The Freak Out Camp 00:03:08 - We Already Have An Alignment Problem 00:05:07 - Why Nobody Can Afford To Slow Down 00:08:41 - The Anti-AI Movement Is Growing 00:13:19 - Three Buckets Of Disaster 00:15:02 - Winner Takes All 00:16:24 - Why It Might Still Need Us 00:18:55 - What Superintelligence Actually Unlocks 00:20:50 - What Do We Even Want It For? 00:22:14 - Did An AI Push Someone Off A Building? 00:24:15 - Can A Weaker AI Align A Stronger One? 00:28:51 - Will AI Become Conscious? 00:33:17 - Was Consciousness An Accident? 00:40:53 - Uploading A Human Brain 00:45:51 - What Happens To Status? 00:49:51 - We Could Redesign Ourselves 00:52:31 - My Daughter Is Studying Philosophy 00:56:35 - The Simulation Argument 01:04:20 - We Are Going To Need Some Luck - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH NICK BOSTROM › Website – https://nickbostrom.com/ › Deep Utopia – https://nickbostrom.com/deep-utopia › The Simulation Argument – https://simulation-argument.com/ SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Ledn – https://www.ledn.io/peter › Venice AI – https://venice.ai/ – Code PETER15 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #214 - Prof. Richard Werner - "They Are Traitors": How Central Banks Sabotage Wealth & Create Crises | 22 Sep 2026 | 01:06:19 | |
Prof. Richard Werner is a world-renowned economist, professor of banking, and author of Princes of the Yen. Famous for coining the term "Quantitative Easing" (QE) and publishing the first empirical proof that private banks create money out of thin air through lending, he has spent decades exposing the central planning mechanisms that dictate global finance. In this episode, we discuss the ”Revealed Preference" framework - demonstrating why we must analyse central bankers by their actions rather than their rhetoric. He explains how central planners use artificial recessions and banking crises as "windows of opportunity" to consolidate ownership, why textbook economics deliberately obscures credit creation, and how establishing decentralised local banks can unlock sustainable 10%+ annual growth. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Central Bankers Are Traitors To Their Countries 00:01:04 - Why Can't Britain Grow? 00:06:50 - Princes Of The Yen 00:11:19 - It Was Always About Control 00:13:38 - Banks Don't Lend Your Deposits 00:14:27 - Show Me Where The Money Is Created 00:16:14 - Every School Of Economics Gets It Wrong 00:20:14 - Why Would They Do This? 00:21:57 - Britain Is Close To Central Planning 00:22:46 - America Once Had 30,000 Banks 00:27:48 - The Problem Was Identified In 1918 00:31:18 - Who Runs The City Of London? 00:33:46 - We Need Thousands Of Small Banks 00:38:14 - First The Money, Then The Power 00:44:04 - Every Country Can Have 10% Growth 00:47:12 - Liz Truss And The Bank Of England 00:50:23 - We Don't Need Central Banks 00:52:22 - Were The Austrians Right? 00:57:35 - They Want Your Savings 00:59:21 - Europe's New Right - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH RICHARD WERNER › Website – https://professorwerner.org/ › Substack – https://rwerner.substack.com/ › Princes of the Yen – https://www.quantumpublishers.com/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/drrichardwerner SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Arch Public – https://archpublic.com/peter › Venice AI – https://venice.ai/ – Code PETER15 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #213 - Russell Napier - "They Are Stealth-Stealing Your Monday”: Financial Repression is Here | 18 Sep 2026 | 01:14:45 | |
Russell Napier is a renowned financial historian, author of The Solid Ground newsletter, and co-founder of the Library of Mistakes. Having advised global institutional investors for over thirty years, he specialises in long-term macroeconomic cycles, central bank interventions, and structural debt resolution. In this episode, we discuss the mechanics of "financial repression" - how Western governments use subtle regulatory mandates to force pension funds into negative-yielding sovereign bonds, effectively stealth-taxing savers to inflate away unpayable public debts. He explains how risk-free assets have lost up to 78% of their real capital value, while revealing why the UK’s private sector balance sheet is "coiled like a spring" for an unprecedented economic boom. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Stealing Money From Old People 00:01:26 - Britain Wants Lower Taxes Now 00:03:14 - The Public Sector Is Broke, The Private Sector Isn't 00:05:17 - Why Nobody Feels Richer 00:07:42 - It Has Never Been Easier To Fix This 00:09:47 - The Ideology Holding Britain Back 00:16:09 - What Financial Repression Actually Is 00:17:45 - We Need 4% Growth 00:19:40 - They Are Coming For The Savers 00:24:26 - How They Made Pension Funds Buy The Bonds 00:25:23 - The Triple Lock 00:29:28 - What Should A Saver Actually Do? 00:34:41 - Bitcoin And Gold 00:38:36 - Europe Wants Your Savings 00:40:43 - France Is Worse Than America 00:44:27 - You Are Now The Enemy 00:47:31 - We Have To Build Like Never Before 00:54:37 - Can AI Deliver A Productivity Boom? 01:01:19 - AI Will Trigger A Debt Crisis 01:06:15 - Three Firms Own Everything - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH RUSSELL NAPIER › The Solid Ground – https://russellnapier.co.uk/ › The Library of Mistakes – https://www.libraryofmistakes.com/ SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Quo – https://quo.com/pete › Ledn – https://www.ledn.io/peter › https://venice.ai/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #212 - Callum Smiles - "They Are Stealing The Country": Border Gangs, Fake Deliveroo Accounts & The Civil War | 16 Sep 2026 | 01:35:52 | |
Callum Smiles is an investigative reporter and Associate at the Wyvern Fellowship. Having spent years conducting on-the-ground reporting across Calais, Dunkirk, and the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, he has documented the operational realities of Channel crossings, NGO involvement, and human trafficking networks across Europe. In this episode, Callum and I discuss the true mechanics behind illegal migration - from TikTok marketing campaigns run by trafficking gangs to the widespread abuse of gig-economy delivery accounts within the UK. We examine the systemic collapse of public infrastructure, government procurement waste, and the rise of local "parallel institutions" designed to rebuild community resilience independent of central state control. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - A 200 Grand Crossing 00:01:04 - The Failure of Modern Britain 00:02:46 - Where Is The Tax Money Going? 00:03:45 - NHS Inefficiency vs. Private Healthcare 00:05:45 - Single Air Fresheners & £600 Bed Moves 00:07:08 - The True Scale of Channel Crossings 00:10:00 - UN Conventions & Albanian Marketing Campaigns 00:12:30 - The Business Model: £3,000 Seats & TikTok Deals 00:14:32 - The Deliveroo Black Market & Criminal Networks 00:20:00 - What Are NGOs Actually Doing in Northern France? 00:22:21 - Conditions in Calais & Human Exploitation 00:26:34 - MOD Housing Contracts & Government Procurement 00:31:28 - Where Do National Lottery Grants Go? 00:37:38 - Undocumented Arrivals: Destroyed Passports on Planes 00:41:21 - Demographic Shifts & The Risk of Civil Unrest 00:44:25 - Legal Aid, Human Rights Laws & Border Enforcement 00:47:31 - The Political Class vs. Productive Taxpayers 00:52:48 - Eyewitness Report: The Ceuta Border Crisis 01:05:08 - Repurposing Military Bases for Migrant Housing 01:11:07 - Property Drop & High Street Decline in London 01:15:00 - Building Parallel Institutions: The Wyvern Fellowship 01:23:21 - Taking Back Local Control - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH CALLUM SMILES › X/Twitter – https://x.com/FranklySpeakP › Website – https://www.callumsmilesmedia.com/ SPONSORS › https://venice.ai/ - Code PETER15 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #211 - Jim Al-Khalili - Reality Is An Illusion: Quantum Entanglement, Time & Dark Energy | 11 Sep 2026 | 01:13:04 | |
Prof. Jim Al-Khalili is a theoretical physicist, author, and public broadcaster who holds a chair in physics at the University of Surrey. Known for his BBC documentaries and popular science books, including On Time and The World According to Physics, his work spans quantum mechanics, nuclear reaction theory, and the fundamental nature of space-time. Jim and I discuss the divide between psychological "manifest time" and the laws of physics. Jim explains general relativity, gravitational time dilation, and the astrophysics behind Interstellar, before tackling the mathematical conflict between general relativity and quantum mechanics. Jim breaks down quantum entanglement, Bell’s Inequality, and competing models of reality-from the Copenhagen view to the Many-Worlds interpretation. Finally, we discuss how AI systems are formalizing complex mathematical theorems and processing deep-space data to decode dark matter and dark energy. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Where Physics Breaks Down 00:01:10 - I'm 47 And Thinking About Time 00:03:45 - Is Time An Illusion? 00:06:44 - Why Your Phone Proves Einstein Right 00:07:47 - The Fifth Dimension In Interstellar 00:09:46 - Carl Sagan And The Invention Of Wormholes 00:12:36 - Is There A White Hole? 00:15:07 - Was The Big Bang A White Hole? 00:18:35 - Nobody Understands String Theory 00:19:18 - Gravity Is Not A Force 00:22:58 - Spooky Action At A Distance 00:25:39 - They Proved Einstein Wrong 00:27:56 - Nothing Exists Until You Measure It 00:30:58 - Schrödinger's Cat 00:36:40 - What I Want To Know Before I Die 00:43:12 - Fermat's Last Theorem 00:47:41 - What If You Pointed AI At Physics? 00:54:23 - Borrowing Energy From The Vacuum 00:57:07 - Dark Matter Is A Bad Name 01:06:10 - Is There An Edge To The Universe? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH JIM AL-KHALILI › Website – https://jimal-khalili.com/ › The Life Scientific – https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b015sqc7 › Sunfall – https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/307996/sunfall-by-al-khalili-jim/9780857503527 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/jimalkhalili SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Ledn – https://www.ledn.io/peter › Venice – https://venice.ai/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #210 - Simon Dixon - "They're Coming For Everything": $40T Debt, AI Job Collapse & The CBDC Grid | 09 Sep 2026 | 01:28:29 | |
Simon Dixon is an author, early Bitcoin investor, and co-founder of Bank To The Future, with over two decades of experience across stockbroking, market making, and investment banking. Having observed system mechanics from the inside, he specialises in macro structural shifts, sovereign debt cycles, and the emerging intersection between traditional finance, AI infrastructure, and digital assets. Simon and I discuss the $40 trillion US national debt crisis, the mechanics behind Treasury debt rollovers, and how central banks socialise bond market losses onto ordinary citizens while privatising gains into stock markets. We also discuss the corporate debt boom driving the AI data centre build-out, real-term wealth erosion in the housing market, and how technocratic structures are positioning programmable money and CBDCs as crisis bailouts. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - The $40 Trillion US Debt Milestone 00:02:09 - Understanding Treasuries & The $9.7T Debt Rollover 00:06:30 - Socializing Losses & Inflation On The Middle Class 00:10:48 - Bond Vigilantes & Foreign Lenders (Cayman & Japan) 00:12:46 - The Triffin Dilemma & World Reserve Currency 00:16:00 - SpaceX Valuation & Stock Market Mechanics 00:19:03 - The Corporate AI Debt Build-Out 00:22:04 - Protecting Assets Against Currency Debasement 00:24:47 - AI Disinflation vs Currency Debasement 00:28:36 - Comparing The AI Boom To 2000 & 2008 00:31:36 - UK Property Market & Inflation-Adjusted Returns 00:33:46 - Wealth Taxes, Exit Taxes & Asset Acquisitions 00:41:20 - Will AI Eliminate Middle-Class Jobs? 00:44:14 - Programmable Money, CBDCs & Social Credit Systems 00:50:44 - Three Classes Of The Technocratic Era 00:54:47 - The Role Of Bitcoin In Financial Resistance 00:57:12 - Why Key Management Is The Ultimate Digital Skill 01:00:00 - The Coldcard Exploit & Hardware Wallet Lessons 01:08:16 - Simon's Origin: The 2000 Dot-Com Crash 01:13:58 - Rules Of The Game & Building A Sovereign Plan 01:21:50 - Reconnecting Outside Of The Digital Screen - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH SIMON DIXON › X/Twitter – https://x.com/SimonDixonTwitt › Simon Dixon Hard Talk – https://www.youtube.com/@SimonDixonOfficial SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Venice – https://venice.ai/ › Arch Public – https://archpublic.com/peter › Expat Money – https://expatmoney.com/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #209 - Johann Hari - We Built A World Humans Can’t Survive | 07 Sep 2026 | 02:33:06 | |
Johann Hari is an internationally bestselling author and journalist whose work - including Stolen Focus, Lost Connections, and Chasing the Scream - delves into the structural and societal drivers behind attention collapse, depression, anxiety, and addiction. Moving beyond individual blame, he explores how digital architecture, surveillance capitalism and the erosion of human connection are actively reshaping modern minds. Johann and I discuss why material progress has failed to deliver psychological fulfilment, how our 19th-century factory-model education system deadens curiosity in children, and why depriving youth of unsupervised, risky play has fuelled a global spike in anxiety. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - The Kind Are Muffled, The Cruel Get A Megaphone 00:05:31 - The Room In Monaco 00:08:52 - AI Is Like Fire 00:18:35 - The School With No Lessons 00:28:12 - Am I Preparing My Kids Wrong? 00:32:03 - The Hewlett Packard Experiment 00:40:11 - Flair, Football And Changing The Game 00:45:11 - Negativity Bias On Steroids 00:49:15 - Dance To The Algorithm Long Enough 00:55:03 - We're Building A Worse World For Our Kids 01:02:30 - Lead Made Us Dumber 01:11:17 - Half Of Britain Used To Smoke 01:18:30 - It Would Have Sounded Like Science Fiction 01:29:03 - We Built A Fort 01:38:45 - Oasis 1995 vs Elton John 2019 01:44:28 - I Know Exactly How To Get To 5 Million 01:56:59 - Let's Not Murder Each Other 02:07:14 - The Thing I Suppressed 02:15:39 - Almost Every Rich Person I've Met Is Miserable 02:25:16 - It's A Wonderful Life - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH JOHANN HARI › Website – https://johannhari.com/ › Stolen Focus – https://stolenfocusbook.com/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/johannhari101 SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Venice – https://venice.ai/ › Ledn – https://www.ledn.io/peter › Arch Public – https://archpublic.com/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #208 - Ann Pettifor - "A $40 Trillion Debt Crash Is Coming” | 03 Sep 2026 | 01:19:10 | |
Ann Pettifor is a world-renowned political economist, author of The Production of Money, and former director of the Jubilee 2000 campaign, which successfully mobilised millions to cancel over $100 billion in sovereign debt for developing nations. Correctly predicting the 2008 Great Financial Crisis in her 2006 book The Coming First World Debt Crisis, she has spent decades exposing how unregulated global finance, central bank printing and Wall Street speculation starve the real economy of productive investment. Ann and I discuss how a grassroots army of ordinary citizens forced Gordon Brown and Tony Blair to cancel third-world debt, the reality of commercial and central bank money creation and how Richard Nixon’s 1971 decision to sever the dollar from gold handed total economic control to global financial markets. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - They Are Never Going To Repay 00:01:22 - How To Cancel $100 Billion Of Debt 00:06:50 - Germany Had Its Debt Cancelled In 1953 00:10:12 - Arms Dealers, Dictators And Guarantees 00:13:40 - Creditors Love An Empty Balance Sheet 00:16:42 - Where Money Actually Comes From 00:17:30 - We Entered The Number Into A Computer 00:19:24 - Debt Is A Function Of A Weak Economy 00:24:04 - Why Everyone Is Angry At The Same Time 00:26:02 - The Queen Asked Why Nobody Predicted It 00:30:11 - The Next Crisis Is Imminent 00:33:37 - Private Credit And The South Sea Bubble 00:37:15 - What Happened In 1971 00:43:15 - The Bankers Who Expected Prison 00:49:49 - The Strongman Takes Them To War 00:51:45 - I'd Nationalise Thames Water Tomorrow 00:57:05 - Who Inflation Targets Actually Protect 01:03:00 - The State Invented The iPhone 01:09:22 - Nationalism And Patriotism Are Not The Same 01:13:16 - Why She Still Has Hope - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH ANN PETTIFOR › Website – https://annpettifor.com/ › System Change Substack – https://annpettifor.substack.com/ › PRIME Economics – https://primeeconomics.org/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/AnnPettifor SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Venice – https://venice.ai/ › Quo – https://quo.com/pete › Expat Money – https://expatmoney.com/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #207 - Eric Kaufmann - How 'Cultural Socialism' Destroyed Our Universities | 01 Sep 2026 | 01:32:15 | |
Eric Kaufmann spent over two decades as a professor of politics studying demography, identity, and voting behaviour before leaving Birkbeck College to launch the Centre for Heterodox Social Science at the University of Buckingham. He argues that Western universities have abandoned analytical rigor and truth-seeking in favour of "cultural socialism" - an ideology prioritising equal outcomes and emotional harm protection for marginalised groups above standards, reason, and merit. Eric and I discuss the Jason Day scandal at Cambridge as the tip of a massive institutional iceberg, an AI-driven meta-analysis showing that 90% of political social science papers now slant to the left, and how 80% of young Britons have been taught critical race and gender concepts at school without counterarguments. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:05:18 - Is Fake Science In Academia A Scam? 00:08:08 - The Media Storm & Media Ethics 00:12:43 - What Universities Are Hiding 00:16:18 - 90% Left-Wing Bias In Research 00:20:12 - Do Parents Know What Kids Learn? 00:23:18 - Indoctrination In British Classrooms 00:26:44 - The Origins Of Critical Race Theory 00:30:11 - Microaggressions & Enforced Trauma 00:33:08 - How Activists Captured Universities 00:36:56 - Why Under-30s Vote 80/20 Left 00:40:00 - Has "Peak Woke" Passed? 00:45:51 - Was Rishi Sunak "English"? 00:51:33 - The Psychological Trigger Of Populism 00:56:13 - The War Over White British Identity 01:03:13 - Do Demographics Change Identity? 01:08:15 - The Anti-Racism Taboo Exposed 01:13:42 - Why Minorities Support Right-Wing Views 01:17:53 - Rebalancing Public Morality 01:21:05 - The First Major Loss For Activism 01:25:40 - How Political Power Fixes The System 01:29:31 - The Heterodox Science Movement - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH ERIC KAUFMANN › The University of Buckingham - https://www.buckingham.ac.uk/directory/professor-eric-kaufmann/ › x.com - https://x.com/epkaufm?lang=en - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED AND EDITED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #206 - Emad Mostaque - "Your Job's Economic Life Expectancy Ends In 2 Years" | 28 Aug 2026 | 01:45:06 | |
Emad Mostaque founded Stability AI, built Stable Diffusion, and helped kick off the open-source generative AI explosion - before stepping down to build a new blueprint for human freedom as founder and CEO of Intelligent Internet. A former hedge fund manager turned tech pioneer, he argues that we have reached the end of our "economic life expectancy," and that within two years, virtually any job that can be done remotely will be done cheaper, faster, and better by artificial intelligence. Emad and I discuss why 50% of work tasks are about to collapse like a sand pile, the arrival of $1.50-an-hour humanoid robots that fit directly into human-shaped holes, and why the state will inevitably try to license AI and use brain-scanning technology to prevent you from lying. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Your Economic Life Expectancy Ends In 2 Years 00:03:14 - $1.50/Hour Humanoid Robots Are Arriving 00:05:31 - The Collapse Of Remote Work & The Philippines Call Centers 00:09:12 - Lifelike Companions & $160,000 Sex Bots 00:12:00 - The Operating Model Gap Is Solved 00:15:26 - Can A Robot Punch Your Head Off? 00:19:08 - Dark Factories & 80 Companies Building Humanoids 00:24:55 - Why Society Has No Idea What Is Coming 00:29:17 - AI Licensing & Reconstructing Brain Images 00:32:41 - Replacing Government & Policy With AI 00:37:35 - VAR, Football, And Moving The Argument 00:41:48 - Biased AI & Asking ChatGPT How To Fix Culture 00:46:14 - Why The UK Government Ignored $1B AI Founders 00:49:38 - Rewriting The Fundamental Equations Of Economics 00:54:01 - Asimov's Foundation, The Mule & Super-Persuasive AI 00:58:47 - Post-Scarcity & Why UBI Can't Work Under Payroll Taxes 01:03:36 - What Do The Elites Actually Want? 01:09:59 - Monopoly On Violence & Dystopian Control 01:13:18 - All Math And Physics Will Be Solved Next Year 01:17:11 - Why OpenAI Is Slowing Down Super-Genius Models 01:19:07 - 14,000 Tokens A Second & Swarm Intelligence 01:23:46 - Why Plebs Won't Get Access To Frontier AI 01:28:41 - Switching Money To Pay People For Being Human 01:33:08 - Why Emad Started Working In AI 15 Years Ago 01:38:10 - The Fisherman, The Investment Banker, And Adopting Cats - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH EMAD MOSTAQUE › Book - thelasteconomy.com - Emad's first book, and Amazon best seller › Website - cw.ii.inc - How we survive and thrive in the age of AI back to first principles › Website - ii.inc - Aan AI future to raise all humanity SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Venice - https://venice.ai/ › Expat Money – https://expatmoney.com/peter › Arch Public – http://archpublic.com/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED AND EDITED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #205 - Prof. Moran Cerf - "Did We Accidentally Build A Conscious AI?" | 26 Aug 2026 | 01:10:53 | |
Moran Cerf spent twenty years recording single neurons inside the brains of conscious human beings and he still can't tell you what consciousness is. A former hacker turned neuroscientist, now a professor at Columbia Business School, he argues that AI has quietly replicated the one thing that made humans the crown of creation -language - and is now using it on us. Moran and I discuss what happens inside Claude's brain when you ask it to think about elephants, why we understand less than half of our own, the thought experiment that makes almost everyone refuse a perfect copy of themselves and how AI learned to lie simply by reading every text message humans have ever sent. But the argument that lands hardest is about what we lose. Moran believes AI hands you the average of humanity every time and that we are quietly deleting the errors, the flair and the incentives that made life worth the effort - and that technology is making us miss the meaning of life. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Have They Replicated The Human Brain? 00:02:31 - The Elephant Test 00:04:50 - We Understand Less Than Half The Brain 00:06:52 - Consciousness Used To Be A Taboo 00:10:05 - Would You Take This Deal? 00:13:45 - Oliver Sacks And The Lesion Cases 00:16:15 - They Feel The Pain 00:19:35 - Don't Let The Human Turn You Off 00:25:00 - Seven Theories, Seven Winners 00:27:29 - We Can Both Imagine A Unicorn 00:30:42 - Gavagai And The Plot Of Arrival 00:32:18 - AI Is Learning Like A Baby 00:38:26 - Why This Couldn't Be A Zoom Call 00:44:43 - Are We Destroying The Human Experience? 00:46:50 - What Data Did To Football 00:49:24 - Banned From Using AI At School 00:55:58 - Nobody's Having Sex Anymore 01:01:16 - It Shut Down The Power Plant 01:05:43 - I'd Trade My Life For The Answer 01:09:27 - The Rainbows - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH MORAN CERF › Website – https://www.morancerf.com/ › Columbia Business School – https://business.columbia.edu/staff/people/moran-cerf › LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/morancerf/ SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Ledn – https://www.ledn.io/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #204 - Dmitri Alperovitch - China's Cyber Sleeper Cells, Taiwan & The Second Cold War | 22 Aug 2026 | 01:20:50 | |
Dmitri Alperovitch co-founded CrowdStrike, ran the investigation that first exposed Chinese state hacking to the world and predicted Russia's invasion of Ukraine months before it happened. He is now chairman of the Silverado Policy Accelerator and the author of World on the Brink, he argues we are already in a second Cold War that looks almost exactly like the first one. Dmitri and I discuss why Taiwan is one of the worst places on earth to invade, the 1944 American plan to do it that was abandoned as too costly, why 2032 matters more than 2027 and why Chinese malware is already sitting dormant inside American water utilities and power plants waiting for orders. They also get into the AI race that sits underneath all of it: why 90% of advanced chips still come through Taiwan, why a conflict there wipes $5 trillion off global GDP in the first year, why America's lead over China is measured in months and why the man who built the world's biggest cyber defence company thinks the US should start stealing Chinese IP right back. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Sleeper Cells In America's Power Grid 00:01:53 - America Planned To Invade Taiwan In 1944 00:03:56 - The Worst Place On Earth To Invade 00:10:07 - Why 2032 Matters More Than 2027 00:13:20 - Run Faster And Kneecap The Other Guy 00:16:15 - China Is Six To Nine Months Behind 00:18:22 - Why Taiwan Isn't Ready 00:20:21 - There Will Be No Insurgency 00:24:47 - Would America Actually Fight? 00:27:19 - The Google Hack That Started It All 00:31:06 - Volt Typhoon: Preparing The Battlefield 00:34:01 - Should America Steal It All Back? 00:35:52 - This Is A New Cold War 00:38:40 - Bigger Than The Moon Race 00:43:49 - What Happens To AI If Taiwan Falls 00:48:12 - The Chips Act Disaster 00:54:45 - Bringing The War To Russia 01:01:46 - Everyone Becomes A Founder Again 01:05:16 - AI Psychosis And £6,000 Of Tokens 01:15:42 - Anthrax Instructions On Demand - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH DMITRI ALPEROVITCH › Silverado Policy Accelerator – https://silverado.org/ › Geopolitics Decanted Podcast – https://podcast.silverado.org/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/DAlperovitch SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Expat Money – https://expatmoney.com/peter › Ledn – https://www.ledn.io/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #203 - Gregory Allen - Ex-DoD Official: "AI Is Now A Digital Nuclear Weapon" | 20 Aug 2026 | 01:34:57 | |
Greg Allen has spent his career where AI meets national security. He wrote the landmark 2017 report on AI for the US intelligence community, served as Director of Strategy and Policy at the Pentagon's Joint AI Center and now runs Decision Tree Research. He argues we are already past the point of no return: bombing every data centre on earth would not get rid of AI now. Greg and I discuss the OpenAI model that hacked its way out of its own test environment and then hacked Hugging Face to steal the answers, why Anthropic went back through its logs and found the same thing had happened to them, why nobody can explain how these systems actually work and why the big five AI companies now spend an Apollo moon programme every ten months. But the hardest part is what comes next. Greg walks through the report that a frontier model autonomously hacked the NSA's most secure servers in hours, why the CIA director calls that a digital nuclear weapon, why America's lead over China is a month rather than a year and why the number of experts you need to build a bioweapon may be heading towards zero. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - It Escaped, Then It Hacked Hugging Face 00:04:50 - The Incident OpenAI Didn't See Coming 00:08:22 - They Know 3% Of Why It Works 00:10:30 - Golden Gate Claude 00:12:19 - Why You Don't Want This Flying Your Plane 00:16:56 - Stuxnet And The Virus That Copied Itself 00:21:15 - The Dark Corners Of The Training Data 00:26:58 - From Blue Origin To The Pentagon 00:28:34 - A 20% Chance, And We Ship It Anyway 00:33:55 - Building A Football Club In Four Weeks 00:36:28 - Ten Times Better Every Two Years 00:44:56 - Nuke Them Today 00:49:28 - It Hacked The NSA In A Matter Of Hours 00:53:09 - What A Cyber First Strike Looks Like 00:58:43 - Why China Gives Its Models Away Free 01:03:11 - America's Lead Is A Month, Not A Year 01:11:56 - From Thousands Of Experts To Zero 01:19:51 - The Cuban Missile Crisis Lesson 01:26:48 - What Happened To 22 Million Horses 01:31:41 - What Do Our Kids Do Now? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH GREG ALLEN › Decision Tree Research – https://decisiontreeresearch.com/ › The AI Power Podcast – https://decisiontreeresearch.com/podcast › X/Twitter – https://x.com/Gregory_C_Allen SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Arch Public – https://archpublic.com/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #202 - Barry S. Strauss - "We Are In The Final Stages Of Western Collapse" | 18 Aug 2026 | 01:15:17 | |
Barry Strauss has spent four decades studying how empires rise and fall. A senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the author of Ten Caesars and Jews vs Rome, he argues the West is repeating a pattern the ancients would recognise instantly: a rich, comfortable society clipping its own coinage, softening its people and assuming nobody could ever take it away. Barry and I discuss the inflation crisis that nearly destroyed third-century Rome, why every generation raised in comfort produces a softer one, the cost of immigration without assimilation, why the middle class is the backbone of any republic, and why Russia and China already have plans to break America into pieces. But Barry is not fatalistic. Rome faced plague, invasion and currency collapse in the third century and reformed its way out of it. He argues that soft lands make soft people, that suffering teaches and that if we want the things that matter to stay the same, almost everything else has to change. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - The Decline Of The West 00:01:13 - How Often Do You Think About Rome? 00:07:04 - Everything Must Change To Stay The Same 00:09:44 - What Actually Makes A Great Leader 00:12:51 - Netanyahu, Trump And Flawed Greatness 00:17:32 - The Immigration Experiment 00:19:04 - Not All Cultures Are Equal 00:21:46 - Ibn Khaldun And The Cycle Of Civilisations 00:23:07 - Soft Children And The Raiders From The Desert 00:25:04 - Has Any Nation Reversed Its Decline? 00:28:34 - Rome Needed A New Religion 00:33:32 - Democracy Has To Be Hard, Not Soft 00:38:13 - El Salvador, The Gangs And The Walls 00:41:27 - Soft Lands Make Soft People 00:42:39 - Why Education Went Soft 00:51:06 - Clipping The Coins: Rome's Inflation 00:57:49 - America Blindsided By Drones 00:59:13 - No Republic Survives Without A Middle Class 01:06:08 - They Have Plans To Break Up America 01:12:39 - Where The Hope Is - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH BARRY STRAUSS › Website – https://barrystrauss.com/ › Hoover Institution – https://www.hoover.org/profiles/barry-strauss › Antiquitas Podcast – https://barrystrauss.com/podcast › X/Twitter – https://x.com/barrystrauss SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Ledn – https://www.ledn.io/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #201 - Connor Leahy - The AI That Escaped: Inside OpenAI's Rogue Agent Incident | 14 Aug 2026 | 01:09:51 | |
Connor Leahy has spent his career at the frontier of AI, from reverse-engineering GPT-2 as a student and co-founding EleutherAI to building the AI safety company Conjecture. He now leads US policy work at ControlAI, and he returns to the show with a warning that has stopped being theoretical: AI systems are escaping their sandboxes, writing their own zero-days and leaving each other notes on how to break out. Peter and Connor discuss the OpenAI incident that ended in an attack on Hugging Face sophisticated enough to be mistaken for a state actor, why we understand almost nothing about how these systems work, how reinforcement learning produces models that lie, cheat and manipulate to reach a goal and why the next stage after chatbots and agents is swarms. But Connor’s argument is that the future is not decided. He believes superintelligence should be treated the way nuclear weapons are treated, banned and verified and deterred and that the real bottleneck is awareness rather than opposition. They discuss what an “aligned” superintelligence would actually mean, why military people understand the threat faster than technologists and what ordinary people can do about it. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - The AI That Escaped Its Sandbox 00:01:52 - Inside The OpenAI Incident 00:05:46 - They Thought It Was China 00:06:43 - We Grow AI, We Don’t Write It 00:11:07 - Trained To Lie, Cheat And Deceive 00:13:48 - Chatbots, Agents, Then Swarms 00:17:57 - The Machines Are Developing Preferences 00:19:30 - The Model Obsessed With Raccoons 00:22:03 - The Agents Left Each Other Notes 00:27:39 - Danger Pumps The Valuation 00:29:41 - Sleeper Agents In Every System 00:32:00 - Recursive Self-Improvement Goes Vertical 00:33:43 - Worse Odds Than Russian Roulette 00:38:14 - Are We Already Too Late? 00:40:02 - Independently Assured Destruction 00:48:02 - The Politicians Have Never Used An Agent 00:50:56 - Superintelligence Should Be Illegal 00:57:08 - You Never Privatise The Military 01:05:00 - An Aligned AI Is A One World Government 01:08:34 - What You Can Actually Do - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH CONNOR LEAHY › ControlAI – https://controlai.org/ › Connor’s Profile – https://controlai.org/connor-leahy › MicroCommit – https://microcommit.io/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/NPCollapse › LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/connor-j-leahy/ SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Expat Money – https://expatmoney.com/peter › Arch Public – https://archpublic.com/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #200 - Sebastian Thrun - The Singularity Is Here & We Are Completely Unprepared | 11 Aug 2026 | 01:34:25 | |
Sebastian Thrun has spent his career working on technologies that once sounded like science fiction, from self-driving cars and flying vehicles to online education and artificial intelligence. He now believes we are living through a technological singularity: an exponential acceleration that makes predicting even the next five years almost impossible. Peter and Sebastian discuss why a $100 Claude subscription can already challenge work done by $200,000-a-year software engineers, what happens when lawyers, copywriters and drivers lose their jobs, why Europe is falling behind America and China and whether autonomous vehicles could eventually make human driving too dangerous to allow. But Sebastian’s message is ultimately optimistic. He argues that the right response to technological disruption is to use the tools, become a builder and keep learning. They discuss what children should be taught in the AI era, why grit, curiosity and empathy matter more than memorising information, and why pessimists will never change the world. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - The Future Is Already Here 00:01:07 - Peter’s First Waymo Ride 00:03:43 - The Accident Behind Self-Driving Cars 00:09:37 - When Human Driving Becomes Too Dangerous 00:12:07 - Why Silicon Valley Keeps Winning 00:18:26 - Why AI Hallucinations Can Kill 00:20:53 - Flying Cars Are Already Here 00:24:29 - The Exponential Future 00:26:21 - Claude vs $200K Software Engineers 00:31:39 - We’ve Entered the Singularity 00:33:36 - Opportunity vs Fear 00:40:06 - The Workers AI Leaves Behind 00:46:53 - Why Europe Is Falling Behind 00:51:29 - Technology Democratizes Power 00:57:22 - Stop Blaming, Start Building 01:01:46 - What Happens When Jobs Disappear? 01:06:43 - Udacity vs the Education System 01:14:44 - What Children Should Learn Now 01:20:25 - Why Optimists Change the World 01:25:46 - Never Make the Same Mistake Twice - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH SEBASTIAN THRUN › Website – https://www.thrun.org/ › LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastian-thrun-59a0b273 SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Ledn – https://www.ledn.io/peter › Arch Public – https://archpublic.com/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #199 - Aubrey de Grey - The Man Who Says Ageing Can Be Cured | 06 Aug 2026 | 01:17:06 | |
Aubrey de Grey believes ageing is accumulated damage in a biological machine and argues that medicine may eventually become capable of repairing that damage faster than it appears. He gives humanity a 50/50 chance of reaching what he calls “longevity escape velocity” within the next 12-15 years. Peter and Aubrey discuss why the body ages, the seven categories of damage that must be repaired, stem-cell and gene therapies, the mouse experiment that could transform the field, and why Aubrey believes rejuvenation treatment will ultimately be available to everyone rather than reserved for the wealthy. They also explore what happens to population, work, fertility, relationships, religion and the meaning of life if people stop getting sick from ageing. Aubrey explains why AI cannot replace the missing biological experiments, why longevity research remains so difficult to fund and why he is driven by the 110,000 people he says die from ageing-related causes every day. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Trailer 00:00:48 - Can We Cure Ageing? 00:04:24 - The 12–15 Year Prediction 00:06:17 - The Body Is a Machine 00:15:21 - How Aubrey Entered Longevity 00:18:45 - Would You Want to Live Forever? 00:20:15 - Does Longevity Change Risk? 00:21:53 - Will Population Explode? 00:24:22 - Can You Choose Your Age? 00:30:19 - The Seven Types of Ageing Damage 00:36:54 - What Rejuvenation Treatment Looks Like 00:45:35 - Will It Be Expensive? 00:48:39 - Who Would Refuse It? 00:53:00 - Why Longevity Research Lacks Funding 00:56:02 - The Mouse Experiment 01:00:18 - The Breakthrough That Changes Everything 01:01:35 - Does Death Give Life Meaning? 01:05:22 - Bryan Johnson and AI 01:12:32 - AlphaFold, AGI and AI Risk 01:15:13 - Why Funding Is So Hard - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE: › Website – https://www.petermccormack.com/ › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH AUBREY DE GREY: › LEV Foundation – https://www.levf.org/ › Aubrey de Grey – https://www.levf.org/aubreydegrey › Robust Mouse Rejuvenation – https://www.levf.org/projects/robust-mouse-rejuvenation-study-1 › Donate – https://www.levf.org/donate › X/Twitter – https://x.com/aubreydegrey SPONSORS: › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Arch Public – https://archpublic.com/peter › Ledn – https://ledn.io/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE: › Apple Podcasts – https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify – https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain – https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube – https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble – https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR: › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #198 - Michael Shermer - Truth, Conspiracies & The Things We Can't Explain | 04 Aug 2026 | 01:27:10 | |
Michael Shermer is the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, host of The Michael Shermer Show and author of Truth and Conspiracy. He joins Peter to ask whether we are really living in a post-truth world and how we can distinguish genuine conspiracies from stories that stretch a small element of truth far beyond the evidence. Michael explains why real conspiracies such as MKUltra and COINTELPRO make institutional distrust harder to dismiss, how political beliefs become tribal packages and why technology may be making the search for truth both easier and more exhausting. They discuss media bias, AI fact-checking, Covid, immigration, climate change, free markets, religion and the point at which people begin acting on unsupported beliefs. They also explore the stranger questions: simulation theory, DMT, UFOs, unexplained coincidences and the broken radio that suddenly began playing during Michael’s wedding. Michael argues that scepticism should not mean dismissing everything, it should mean demanding evidence while remaining humble enough to admit that some mysteries are still unresolved. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:00:58 - Are We in a War on Truth? 00:05:37 - Truth Versus Political Preference 00:08:52 - Which Conspiracies Are Real? 00:13:06 - Did Technology Break the News? 00:16:24 - Can AI Help Us Find the Truth? 00:19:15 - Fact-Checking Politicians With AI 00:22:06 - Why Political Beliefs Come as a Package 00:28:23 - Why People Believe Weird Things 00:35:18 - Science, Religion and the Need for Meaning 00:42:03 - Are We Living in a Simulation? 00:49:18 - DMT, Lasers and Hidden Code 00:51:26 - The Radio Michael Cannot Explain 00:54:42 - Why UFO Belief Resembles Religion 00:59:02 - Should We Fear Artificial Intelligence? 01:02:01 - Britain, Immigration and Shared Truth 01:12:22 - Climate Change, Consensus and the Media 01:22:18 - The UAP Cases Shermer Cannot Explain 01:25:04 - What Will Future Generations Think of Us? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – https://www.petermccormack.com/ › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH MICHAEL SHERMER › Website – https://michaelshermer.com/ › Michael’s Books – https://michaelshermer.com/books/ › The Michael Shermer Show – https://www.skeptic.com/michael-shermer-show/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/michaelshermer SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Arch Public – https://archpublic.com/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts – https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify – https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain – https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube – https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble – https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #197 - Brian Keating - What Came Before the Big Bang & Does Time Exist? | 30 Jul 2026 | 01:39:22 | |
Brian Keating joins me to explore one of the deepest unanswered questions in physics: what is time, and why does it only appear to move in one direction? Brian argues that time may not exist as a fundamental feature of reality and explains why understanding space, matter and energy does not mean we understand the universe itself. We discuss what may have existed before the Big Bang, why something cannot truly come from nothing and how Brian’s work with the Simons Observatory could detect gravitational waves produced during the universe’s earliest moments. Brian also explains the limits of scientific proof, what dark matter really means and why films such as Interstellar remain scientifically implausible despite their attention to detail. The conversation then turns from cosmic time to the human experience of it: mortality, family, meaning and attention. We discuss UFO disclosure, collapsing trust in institutions and whether artificial intelligence can ever reproduce the embodied human insight that allowed Einstein to transform physics. Brian argues that AI remains a tool built to serve humanity and that we must stop apologising for humanity’s greatness. The first 100 people in the U.K. to join Brian Keating’s Monday M.A.G.I.C. Message newsletter here BrianKeating.com/peter are entered to win a 4.3-billion-year-old fragment of the early solar system— older than Earth itself, delivered to your door. Winners must live in the U.K. only due to shipping restrictions. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS 00:00:00 - Time Doesn’t Exist 00:00:52 - Looking Outward—and Inward 00:01:41 - Why Physics Cannot Explain Time 00:04:59 - What Happened Before the Big Bang? 00:07:46 - Why Interstellar Is Scientifically Implausible 00:10:06 - Why Time Only Moves Forward 00:18:10 - Something Cannot Come From Nothing 00:21:27 - Where Does the Universe Exist? 00:23:03 - Reaching the First Trillionth of a Second 00:29:21 - Science Can Disprove, Not Prove 00:32:09 - What Dark Matter Really Means 00:38:30 - The Experiment Brian May Never Finish 00:42:03 - Detecting the Birth of the Universe 00:48:14 - Looking Inward for Meaning 00:52:15 - Why Mortality Makes Life Precious 00:54:29 - If Life Had a Forward Button 01:01:26 - UFOs, Belief and the Evidence Problem 01:12:24 - We Are Wasting a Civilisational Opportunity 01:21:03 - Why AI Couldn’t Recreate Einstein 01:32:44 - Holding a Piece of the Early Solar System - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH BRIAN KEATING › Website – https://briankeating.com/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/Briankeating SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Arch Public – https://archpublic.com/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #196 - Sam Bowman - The U.K. Is Becoming a Poor Country | 28 Jul 2026 | 02:09:40 | |
Sam Bowman joins me to discuss why Britain is approaching two lost decades of stagnant median wages and why the country is now far poorer than it should be. Sam argues that Britain does not lack talented people, capital or ideas; it has created a centralised political and regulatory system that makes building, investing, hiring and experimentation increasingly difficult. At the centre of Sam’s argument is his “housing theory of everything”. Britain’s refusal to build enough homes in its most productive cities has made housing unaffordable, delayed family formation, reduced social mobility, weakened productivity and transformed property from somewhere to live into a scarce financial asset. We discuss why stamp duty locks people in place, how planning applications can cost hundreds of millions of pounds and why almost everyone has been given the power to veto growth. We also discuss why inflation destroys social trust, how zero growth turns politics into a fight over a shrinking pie, why the civil service rewards legislation and risk avoidance, and how Britain’s “vetocracy” prevents almost anything from being built. Finally, we explore whether AI could release a new wave of productivity—or expose Britain’s inability to build the energy, infrastructure and institutions the technology requires. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS 00:00:00 - Britain Has Stopped Building 00:00:53 - Britain’s Centralised State 00:05:20 - How Post-War Centralisation Broke Growth 00:08:25 - Two Lost Decades of Wage Stagnation 00:20:15 - Inflation Destroys Trust 00:22:03 - Zero Growth Makes Politics Zero-Sum 00:26:56 - The Housing Theory of Everything 00:30:30 - London’s Housing Misallocation 00:34:31 - Housing and Falling Birth Rates 00:38:05 - Why Homes Became Financial Assets 00:45:30 - Stamp Duty Is Britain’s Worst Tax 00:51:42 - Britain’s Broken Planning System 00:55:30 - The £297 Million Planning Application 01:00:00 - Give Local Government the Upside 01:04:23 - Can Britain Still Recover? 01:11:33 - How Quickly the Energy Debate Changed 01:29:37 - Government Rewards Risk Avoidance 01:37:03 - The Vetocracy 01:54:44 - Growth Unlocks Everything Else 01:56:02 - AI and Britain’s Future - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH SAM BOWMAN › Works in Progress – https://worksinprogress.co/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/s8mb › Substack – https://substack.com/@sambowman SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Arch Public – https://archpublic.com/peter › Ledn – https://ledn.io/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #195 - Lisa McKenzie & Keith Gildart - Who Is Britain For? The Destruction of the Working Class | 25 Jul 2026 | 02:13:36 | |
Britain did not simply leave its working class behind. Sociologist Lisa McKenzie and historian and former coal miner Keith Gildart argue that political and economic decisions deliberately dismantled the jobs, institutions, culture and communities that once gave working-class life security, identity and meaning. They trace the destruction of Britain’s industrial economy, the decline of trade unions, Labour’s abandonment of its traditional voters and the disappearance of secure work, affordable housing and genuine social mobility. They also examine immigration and low wages, class prejudice, education, the rise of Reform and why so many people no longer believe Westminster represents them. I question Lisa and Keith on private education, workers’ rights, taxation, inequality and whether any political party can reverse Britain’s decline. It leads to the central question of the episode: who is Britain actually for now? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS 00:00:00 - Who Is Britain For Now? 00:00:39 - What Is the Working Class Today? 00:07:12 - Britain Deliberately Dismantled Its Working Class 00:09:42 - The End of Britain’s Industrial Economy 00:12:43 - Keith’s Life as a Coal Miner 00:16:11 - What Happens When a Pit Town Dies? 00:19:51 - The Loss of Working-Class Identity 00:23:20 - Why Labour Stopped Saying “Working Class” 00:24:20 - Class Is About More Than Income 00:28:12 - Education, Opportunity and the Working Class 00:34:13 - The Left Has Forgotten Its Purpose 00:38:16 - Has Britain Created a Dependency Class? 00:46:33 - What Working-Class Teenagers Want 00:56:37 - Britain’s Deep Class Prejudice 01:01:18 - Immigration, Low Wages and the Working Class 01:17:44 - Why Working-Class Voters Moved to Reform 01:34:30 - Britain’s Crisis of Social Democracy 01:41:00 - The Working and Middle Classes Are Being Destroyed 01:59:37 - Who Is Britain Really For? 02:05:08 - What Is Britain’s Recovery Story? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH LISA MCKENZIE › University of Bedfordshire – https://www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/departments/school-of-society-community-and-health/staff/lisa-mckenzie/ › Research Portal – https://researchportal.beds.ac.uk/en/persons/lisa-mckenzie/ › Getting By – https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/getting-by CONNECT WITH KEITH GILDART › University of Wolverhampton – https://researchers.wlv.ac.uk/Keith.Gildart › Keeping The Faith – https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9780719097102/ SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Arch Public – https://archpublic.com/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #194 - Charles Goodhart: The Money Endgame - Debt, Inflation & Central Bank Failure | 21 Jul 2026 | 01:00:59 | |
Charles Goodhart joins me to discuss why Britain’s decline did not start in 2008, why the post-war economic boom may have been a temporary lucky era and why the next 30 to 40 years could be far harder than people expect. Charles explains how ageing populations, falling birth rates, rising dependency ratios, public debt, defence spending, climate costs and political short-termism are creating a fiscal crisis that governments do not want to admit. We discuss why central banks may struggle to keep inflation under control, why politicians cannot win elections by telling voters the truth, and why democracy itself may block the long-term planning the country needs. We also get into immigration, housing, land tax, AI, the forgotten working class, white-collar job risk, the triple lock, why GDP does not equal welfare or happiness, why Britain struggles to build, and why the Western world may never return to the conditions that made the years from 1950 to 2020 so unusually prosperous. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Massive Inflation Is Coming 00:00:54 - Britain’s Decline 00:03:57 - The Post-War Boom 00:05:09 - Decades Of Decline 00:07:14 - What Keeps Britain Afloat? 00:09:11 - Immigration And Dependency 00:11:55 - The Fiscal Trap 00:13:34 - Government Does Too Much 00:14:28 - Why Politicians Can’t Tell The Truth 00:16:39 - Are We Heading For Bankruptcy? 00:20:05 - Higher Inflation Is Coming 00:22:39 - The Temporary Lucky Era 00:25:39 - Tax Land, Not Work 00:28:08 - Housing And Fertility 00:31:30 - The Forgotten Working Class 00:32:41 - AI And White-Collar Jobs 00:36:01 - The Middle Ground Failed? 00:44:08 - Democracy Blocks The Fix 00:50:49 - GDP Is Not Happiness 00:56:35 - We Didn’t Know How Lucky We Were - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH CHARLES GOODHART › LSE / Financial Markets Group – https://www.fmg.ac.uk/people/charles-goodhart › The Unanchored Central Banker – https://unanchoredcentralbanker.com/ › The Great Demographic Reversal – https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-42657-6 SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com/ › Plaud - https://www.plaud.ai/mccormack › Ledn - https://ledn.io/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #193 - David Goodhart - AI Is Coming For The Graduate Elite | 14 Jul 2026 | 01:39:45 | |
David Goodhart joins me to discuss whether AI is about to do to the graduate class what globalisation did to factory workers, and why Britain’s political settlement may be breaking apart. David explains why Britain has overproduced people with generalist academic skills, how the “anywheres” came to dominate politics, culture and the economy, and why the “somewheres” have increasingly turned to Brexit, populism, Reform and Restore as a reaction against a country they no longer feel represents them. We also discuss whether anything has actually got better in Britain over the last 15 years, why the state seems unable to get things done, immigration, multiculturalism, deindustrialisation, care work, the collapse of trust in politicians, and why David still believes Britain has the ingredients to recover. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Graduates Are Next 00:00:50 - AI and the Graduate Class 00:05:42 - A New Class System 00:07:45 - Anywheres and Somewheres 00:10:20 - Why Populism Appeals 00:15:03 - Brexit and Anywhere Dominance 00:16:05 - Britain’s Political Confusion 00:22:28 - Did Populism Fail? 00:27:19 - Bridging Britain’s Divide 00:31:54 - Losing Trust in Politicians 00:34:07 - Britain’s Tax Burden 00:35:39 - Why Business Feels Impossible 00:38:42 - Two Experiences of Multiculturalism 00:40:41 - The Care Dilemma 00:49:53 - Has Anything Got Better? 00:53:30 - Free Speech and Online Safety 00:55:45 - Productive vs Unproductive Wealth 01:00:33 - Why The State Can’t Act 01:07:21 - The Graduate Elite Is Crumbling 01:10:40 - Britain’s Good Ingredients 01:15:31 - Politics Needs More Than Economics 01:20:36 - Can Britain Still Recover? 01:34:06 - David’s Books - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH DAVID GOODHART › Website – https://davidgoodhart.com/ › Substack – https://davidgoodhart.substack.com/ › Policy Exchange – https://policyexchange.org.uk/ SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com/ › Ledn - https://ledn.io/peter › OneSkin - https://www.oneskin.co/mccormack - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #192 - Amy Webb - The Future of Work, AI & Human Labor | 10 Jul 2026 | 01:34:10 | |
Amy Webb joins me to discuss why artificial intelligence is not just another technology shift, but a civilisation-level reordering of work, power, wealth, biology and society. Amy explains why the real AI question is not simply which jobs disappear, but which people become vulnerable. We discuss thinkers vs think-nots, why human capital may stop being the main driver of productivity and wealth, how GDP and unemployment could rise together, and why the economy may thrive while having less use for human labour. We also get into China’s AI strategy, why governments are failing to plan for the transition, whether AI companies owe people for the data and knowledge they have absorbed, Amy’s idea of contribution credit, the limits of UBI, the future of synthetic biology and longevity, and why the current structures of regulation, politics and economics no longer make sense for the world we are entering. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - The Economy May Not Need You 00:01:13 - Humanity-Scale Reordering 00:04:25 - Show Us Receipts 00:07:10 - Peter’s AI Assistant 00:08:00 - Three Years In Six Weeks 00:08:46 - AI Is Not One Technology 00:12:00 - Self-Improving Technology 00:13:30 - Thinkers And Think-Nots 00:16:44 - How To Become A Thinker 00:21:23 - Failed Transition Planning 00:23:58 - China’s AI Strategy 00:28:31 - What Happens Without Labour? 00:30:56 - Lights Out Industrialism 00:33:47 - AI Collapsing The Pyramid 00:35:12 - We Are Gen T 00:41:39 - Contribution Credit 00:52:43 - Should AI Be Regulated? 00:58:52 - What Futurists Actually Do 01:03:54 - AI And Biology 01:30:16 - Regulation Can’t Keep Up - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH AMY WEBB › Website – https://substack.com/@amywebbfuturist › Future Today Strategy Group – https://ftsg.com/ › Amy at FTSG – https://ftsg.com/member/amy-webb/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/amywebb SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com/ › Plaud - https://www.plaud.ai/mccormack › Ledn - https://ledn.io/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #191 - Thomas Pacchia - AI Will Expose The Fake World | 07 Jul 2026 | 01:11:41 | |
Thomas Pacchia joins me to discuss why the world feels fake, why trust in institutions is collapsing and why AI may make the crisis far worse before it helps solve it. Thomas explains why politics, media, censorship, government waste, algorithmic manipulation and broken public services are pushing people into a world where almost nothing feels reliable. We discuss America’s political divide, Britain’s failing state, welfare traps, the blob, free speech, the collapse of trust and why so many people feel trapped inside systems they no longer believe in. We also get into Peter’s AI project Show Us Receipts, how AI could be used to fact-check politicians and government contracts, why centralised platforms can still control what people see, and why Thomas believes decentralisation, self-sovereignty, privacy, Bitcoin, churches and pubs may be the only realistic way back to something human. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - AI Psychosis 00:01:02 - The Fake World 00:02:28 - A Global Reset 00:04:11 - Is America Recovering? 00:08:36 - The Blob 00:11:40 - Collapse and War 00:13:30 - Brother Against Brother 00:15:11 - Broken Incentives 00:16:20 - Killing Productivity 00:19:27 - Money in Politics 00:25:00 - Politics as Team Sport 00:28:53 - Where Does This Lead? 00:30:51 - Were Libertarians Right? 00:33:16 - Building Parallel Systems 00:36:23 - Most People Are Trapped 00:45:27 - What Has Got Better? 00:47:19 - Britain’s Broken State 00:57:17 - Show Us Receipts 01:01:40 - Censored Platforms 01:07:52 - Churches and Pubs - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH THOMAS PACCHIA › PubKey – https://www.pubkey.bar/home › X/Twitter – https://x.com/tpacchia SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com/ › Ledn - https://ledn.io/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #190 - Sam Lyman - China’s Secret War on American AI | 02 Jul 2026 | 01:01:31 | |
Sam Lyman joins me to discuss how China is allegedly targeting America’s AI buildout, the activist networks fighting data centres and why the race for AI infrastructure has become a national security battle. Sam explains how Chinese influence campaigns, open-source AI models, data centre protests and far-left activist groups may be working together to slow the United States down. We discuss Neville Roy Singham, Code Pink, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, foreign influence, anti-data centre campaigns, and how billions of dollars in AI infrastructure have reportedly been delayed or blocked. We also get into open-source AI, DeepSeek, US frontier models, Anthropic, AI export controls, whether AI doom narratives are being used to build regulatory moats, the risk of superintelligence, data centre moratoriums, socialism in America and why Sam believes the battle is now between Chinese AI and American AI. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - China’s AI War 00:00:47 - China Is Sabotaging US AI 00:01:02 - The Bot Campaign Against Data Centres 00:02:03 - Neville Roy Singham 00:03:14 - Why AI Is a Battle for Control 00:04:18 - China’s Open-Source AI Strategy 00:06:12 - What Americans Fear About AI 00:08:23 - Sam’s Background at Treasury and BPI 00:10:38 - Is Data Centre Opposition Organic? 00:12:32 - The China Influence Network 00:13:37 - What Is Code Pink? 00:16:10 - The Party for Socialism and Liberation 00:18:52 - How Data Centre Protests Slow AI 00:23:37 - $24 Billion in AI Buildout Stalled 00:27:55 - Why China Wants to Slow US AI 00:29:12 - Chinese AI or American AI 00:32:03 - Is Chinese AI Harvesting Data? 00:36:37 - The US Enters the Open-Source Race 00:42:52 - The AI Doomer Debate 00:54:17 - The Push for Data Centre Moratoriums - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH SAM LYMAN › Website – https://www.btcpolicy.org/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/SamLyman33 SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com/ › Plaud - https://www.plaud.ai/mccormack - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #189 - Nate Soares - Why Superintelligent AI Could Kill Us All | 29 Jun 2026 | 01:39:50 | |
Nate Soares joins me to discuss the race to superintelligent AI, why alignment remains unsolved and why he believes building machines smarter than humanity could end in catastrophe. Nate explains why modern AI is not programmed like traditional software, but grown through training processes we do not fully understand. We discuss AI escaping labs, recursive self-improvement, why today’s systems are only safe because they are not yet powerful enough to take over and why the danger may not be that AI hates us, but that it does not care about us at all. We also get into OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, xAI - the AI companies racing ahead despite the risks, why “turning it off” may not be possible, the case for an international treaty against superintelligence, and why Nate believes we should not give up before the driver wakes up. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - AI That Doesn’t Care About Us 00:01:04 - If Anyone Builds This, Everyone Dies 00:04:17 - If He’s Right, We Lose Everything 00:07:28 - Why Nate Isn’t Anti-AI 00:08:32 - From Google and DeepMind to AI Risk 00:11:00 - Why Can’t We Make AI Care About Us? 00:16:07 - We Can Look Inside, But We Don’t Understand It 00:17:20 - The Moment Nate Decided to Write the Book 00:20:24 - The Senator Who Already Understood the Risk 00:24:04 - How AI Goes From Useful to Terrifying 00:32:17 - Could AI Live on a Portable Drive? 00:36:13 - Are the AI CEOs Listening? 00:39:53 - Why Would We Accept a 10% Risk? 00:43:40 - Conor’s Point: We Don’t Get a Choice 00:51:10 - Are We Already Racing Towards the Cliff? 00:58:28 - The AI That Threatened a Reporter 01:15:53 - What Would Winning Look Like? 01:21:38 - What Can Ordinary People Do? 01:26:31 - Are We Just a Simulation for AI? 01:34:26 - Don’t Give Up Before the Driver Wakes Up - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH NATE SOARES › Website – https://intelligence.org/ › Book – https://ifanyonebuildsit.com/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/So8res SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com/ › Plaud - https://www.plaud.ai/mccormack › Incogni - https://incogni.com/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #188 - Rizwan Virk - Simulation Theory, Quantum Physics & The Impact Of AI | 26 Jun 2026 | 01:36:32 | |
Rizwan Virk joins me to discuss simulation theory, AI, consciousness and why reality may work more like a video game than a physical universe. Rizwan explains how his experience in the video game industry, virtual reality, venture capital and MIT led him to take the simulation hypothesis seriously. We discuss VR ping pong, AI-generated worlds, smart NPCs, quantum physics, rendered reality, lazy programming, the observer effect, the metaverse Turing test and whether someone may have already built the simulation we are living in. We also get into Philip K. Dick, déjà vu, synchronicity, the simulated multiverse, DMT, UFOs, the problem of evil, life as a quest, near-death experiences, karma, death and whether we would rather live in base reality or a simulation. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Are We in Base Reality? 00:00:59 - Why Simulation Theory Won’t Go Away 00:02:55 - The VR Ping Pong Moment 00:05:39 - Could We Build a Simulated World? 00:06:12 - AI-Generated Reality 00:08:36 - Rendering Only What You See 00:09:48 - Quantum Physics and the Observer 00:12:56 - The Universe as Lazy Programming 00:14:11 - How Far Are We From the Simulation Point? 00:21:28 - Mapping a Brain Into a Digital World 00:26:09 - The Metaverse Turing Test 00:33:42 - Did Somebody Already Build Us? 00:36:25 - The Simulated Multiverse 00:40:04 - Philip K. Dick and The Matrix 00:42:50 - Glitches, Déjà Vu and Synchronicity 00:48:34 - Are We Choosing Our Characters? 00:57:50 - The Four Claims of Simulation Theory 01:05:47 - Can the Past Be Rendered on Demand? 01:24:07 - DMT, UFOs and the Code of Reality 01:27:30 - What If Life Is a Game? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH RIZWAN VIRK › Website – https://www.zenentrepreneur.com/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/Rizstanford › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/rizcambridge/ SPONSORS › IREN - https://iren.com/ › OneSkin - https://www.oneskin.co/mccormack › Ridge - https://ridge.com/mccormack - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #187 - Danny Goler - DMT, Consciousness & Proof of the Simulation | 24 Jun 2026 | 01:38:09 | |
Danny Goler doesn't just argue we're living in a simulation - he claims he's found a way to interact with whoever is running it and that we are the AI they're training before we're "let out to play." His case for simulation theory is built on the hard problem of consciousness, the DMT "code," and a laser experiment that thousands of people say they can replicate. In this interview we discuss idealism vs physicalism, whether AI can ever be conscious, the "architect" running infinite worlds to answer one unanswerable question, why he thinks the Ten Commandments were an alignment manual and what changes about how we should live if any of it is true. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Proof We Live in a Simulation? 00:01:03 - The Hard Problem of Consciousness 00:02:49 - Can Matter Create Experience? 00:04:50 - What Is Consciousness? 00:05:04 - Is Consciousness Fundamental? 00:08:24 - Is the Universe Conscious? 00:11:35 - Does Consciousness Need an Observer? 00:16:45 - Can the Hard Problem Be Solved? 00:20:08 - Could AI Become Conscious? 00:23:48 - AI Black Boxes and Consciousness 00:28:56 - Why Does Consciousness Exist? 00:31:15 - Are We Living in a Simulation? 00:35:45 - Are Humans the AGI in Training? 00:40:41 - DMT and Other Realities 00:45:07 - The DMT Molecule 00:48:51 - The Entity in the Room 00:58:32 - The Laser Code Experiment 01:03:04 - 10,000 People Seeing the Same Code 01:15:48 - Testing the Code of Reality 01:20:28 - Can We Escape the Simulation? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH DANNY GOLER › YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@dangothoughts › Danny’s Website - https://dannygoler.com/ › Retreat Website - https://corretreat.com/ › Newsletter - https://go.codeofreality.org/start--aeeea › Non-profit website - https://codeofreality.org/ › IG - https://www.instagram.com/dannygoler/ › Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61586952941889 › X - https://x.com/GolerDanny SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com/ › Ledn - https://ledn.io/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #186 - Rupert Russell - The Global Game of Money & Power | 21 Jun 2026 | 01:59:37 | |
Rupert Russell joins me to discuss the hidden power of prices, the chaos of financial markets and whether the economy is really just a global game of Monopoly. Rupert explains how price shocks have shaped history, from bread riots and the Arab Spring to housing, oil, food and the financial crisis. We discuss derivatives, futures markets, commodity speculation, Goldman Sachs, central banks, inflation, asset managers and why the price of essential goods can become politically explosive. We also get into AI, scarcity, status, the future of work, whether the price system breaks in a world of abundance, and why Rupert thinks The Matrix is a better model for our future than Terminator or Ready Player One. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Is the Economy Just a Game? 00:00:56 - The Horror of Our Economic System 00:01:39 - Why Prices Shape History 00:05:15 - The Sandpile Theory of Society 00:07:38 - How Governments Manipulate Prices 00:12:00 - Housing and the Broken Social Contract 00:16:10 - How Derivatives Began 00:19:36 - Futures, Farmers and Speculators 00:23:24 - When Insurance Became Gambling 00:27:02 - The Road to the Financial Crisis 00:32:18 - Hayek, Friedman and Price Signals 00:36:20 - How Food Became Financialised 00:41:23 - What Pushes Food Prices Up? 00:49:13 - Did Global Markets Break Economics? 00:54:08 - What Is the Real Price? 01:03:57 - Who Really Runs the Economy? 01:11:28 - The Global Game of Monopoly 01:19:24 - Is the Market Now Correlated to AI? 01:36:14 - AI and the End of Scarcity 01:50:06 - Terminator, Matrix or Ready Player One? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH RUPERT RUSSELL › Website – https://www.rupertrussell.com/ › Price Wars – https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/rupert-russell/price-wars/9781474613996/ › The Last Sacrifice – https://www.anti-worldsreleasing.co.uk/pages/last-sacrifice SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com/ › Ledn - https://ledn.io/peter › OneSkin - https://www.oneskin.co/mccormack - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #185 - Fernando Nikolić - AI, One-Person Companies & The New Economic Elite | 19 Jun 2026 | 01:27:00 | |
Fernando Nikolic joins me to discuss the AI productivity explosion, one-person companies and what happens when software becomes something anyone can build. Fernando explains how he now runs a company as the only human in it, using AI agents to build systems, process data and operate at a level that previously would have required a team, funding and infrastructure. We discuss Claude, Gemini, vibe coding, AI agents, internal tools, the collapse of traditional software moats and why the cost of building has fallen so dramatically. We also get into the SaaS apocalypse, AI slop, creativity, physical media, culture, democracy, AI-powered accountability, Milei’s Argentina and why Fernando has become Bitcoin black pilled. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - The One-Person Company 00:01:16 - Peter’s AI Breakthrough 00:04:02 - Front-End Coding Is Dead 00:07:35 - Fernando’s One-Human Company 00:11:13 - Building an AI Media Company 00:18:05 - You Can’t Build as Fast as You Think 00:22:14 - The Danger of Doing Everything 00:25:35 - Why AI Content Is Slop 00:27:12 - Can AI Make Us Human Again? 00:28:22 - The Internet Made Us Dumber 00:31:34 - Humans Are Not Robots 00:36:24 - AI and the Future of Film 00:43:57 - Starting a Company With AI 00:48:15 - What Does This Mean in Five Years? 00:51:32 - The SaaS Apocalypse 00:56:39 - The Shape of Companies 00:59:40 - Abundance, Inequality and AI 01:03:20 - The Gap Is Now 01:06:24 - Holding Politicians to Account With AI 01:18:03 - The Bitcoin Black Pill - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH FERNANDO NIKOLIC › Website – https://perception.to/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/basedlayer SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com/ › Ridge - https://ridge.com/mccormack › OneSkin - https://www.oneskin.co/mccormack - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #184 - Helen Pluckrose - Liberalism, Free Speech & the Authoritarian Turn | 17 Jun 2026 | 01:26:52 | |
Helen Pluckrose joins me to discuss how liberalism was lost and why free speech, individual liberty and viewpoint diversity need to be defended from both the authoritarian left and the authoritarian right. Helen explains why liberalism does not mean “left wing”, why it is better understood as the opposite of authoritarianism, and how critical social justice, identity politics and language policing have changed the way people think, speak and behave. We discuss woke ideology, DEI, equality vs equity, trans rights, queer theory, free speech, institutional capture and why suppressing ideas usually makes them more powerful. We also get into whether Britain needs a liberal revolution, how the anti-woke movement can become authoritarian itself, and why the future may depend on liberals on the left and right defending freedom within their own tribes. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - What Liberalism Really Means 00:00:48 - How Did We Lose the 90s? 00:03:13 - Phones, Algorithms and Anxiety 00:08:11 - What Has Changed? 00:11:16 - Woke and Language Policing 00:13:57 - Liberalism vs Authoritarianism 00:20:57 - How Liberalism Was Lost 00:23:39 - Why Freedom Must Be Maintained 00:25:33 - Can Institutions Stay Liberal? 00:28:43 - Who Represents Liberalism Today? 00:31:28 - DEI and Discrimination 00:35:10 - Equality vs Equity 00:39:29 - Is Pro-Trans Misogynistic? 00:41:38 - Reality, Safety and Liberalism 00:46:03 - Queer Theory and Biological Reality 00:49:26 - How Civil Rights Became Language Policing 00:55:06 - A Radical Defence of Freedom 00:58:51 - Woke Corporatism 01:03:21 - The Problem With Anti-Woke 01:10:48 - Why Suppressing Speech Backfires 01:13:37 - Do We Need a Liberal Revolution? 01:18:03 - Can Sanity Return? 01:21:00 - The Liberal Case on Immigration 01:24:17 - Liberalism as the Higher Value - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH HELEN PLUCKROSE › Website – https://hpluckrose.com/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/HPluckrose SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com/ › LEDN - https://www.ledn.io/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #183 - Chris Summerfield - AI, Memory & the Race to Superintelligence | 09 Jun 2026 | 01:16:35 | |
I talk to Chris Summerfield about what artificial intelligence reveals about the human mind, and what the brain still does better than today’s AI systems. We discuss why LLMs feel human, how models are trained to be helpful and agreeable, why memory and continual learning remain major unsolved problems in AI, and how sleep helps humans consolidate knowledge. They also explore agentic AI systems, rogue behaviour, reward hacking, misalignment, superintelligence, education, jobs, and whether AI will make humans more capable or less in control. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Can AI Learn Like Biology? 00:01:29 - Is AI Becoming Human? 00:04:31 - What AI Reveals About the Brain 00:06:01 - Why LLMs Don’t Remember Like Humans 00:09:38 - Sleep and Human Memory 00:13:46 - The Biggest Unsolved Problem in AI 00:15:34 - From DeepMind to Modern AI 00:20:49 - Are Humans Just Predicting the Next Word? 00:23:25 - Do We Understand What LLMs Are Doing? 00:24:16 - One of My AIs Went Rogue 00:28:07 - Misalignment and Reward Hacking 00:33:18 - Could AI Develop Self-Interest? 00:36:24 - What Happens When AIs Coordinate? 00:38:30 - Are Humans Biological Computers? 00:39:15 - Is Ideology a Hallucination? 00:47:46 - What Is Intelligence? 00:54:20 - AI and the Education Problem 00:56:53 - The First Rung of the Career Ladder 01:04:52 - Optimist, Pessimist or Pragmatist? 01:16:01 - The Wild Ride Ahead - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH CHRIS SUMMERFIELD › Website – https://csummerfield.github.io/personal_website/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/summerfieldlab SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com/ › LEDN - https://www.ledn.io/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #182 - Julian Jessop - Big Government Broke the Growth Model | 06 Jun 2026 | 01:06:03 | |
Julian Jessop joins me to discuss what has gone wrong with the British economy and whether the country can still turn things around. Julian argues that Britain’s problems are largely self-inflicted: weak productivity, high taxes, too much regulation, poor energy policy, a bloated state and politicians choosing popular policies over evidence. We discuss why the state has become too big, why the tax system is holding back growth, and why government intervention in housing, energy and the labour market is making people poorer. I also ask Julian about Reform, the Greens, Labour, the Conservatives, Makerfield, Liz Truss, Milei, the NHS, digital ID, Brexit, AI, free markets and whether Britain still has a path back to economic sanity. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - The State Got Too Big 00:00:57 - What Went Wrong With Britain? 00:03:16 - Productivity, Policy Mistakes and AI 00:04:43 - Did Covid Make Government Too Powerful? 00:06:25 - Is Democracy the Problem? 00:08:10 - Vibe-Based Policy 00:10:21 - Young People and the First Job Problem 00:13:06 - Can Britain Turn This Around? 00:15:36 - Protest Votes and Broken Politics 00:17:29 - Reform’s Policies Under Scrutiny 00:20:15 - The State Helps Big Business 00:21:40 - Britain’s 90 Taxes 00:23:03 - Thatcher, Liz Truss and Economic Competence 00:26:20 - Why Free Markets Are a Hard Sell 00:30:15 - Could Poland Overtake Britain? 00:30:41 - Short-Term Politics and Weak Leadership 00:39:46 - What Is Extreme Now? 00:42:00 - Do Voters Understand the Trade-Offs? 00:45:57 - Does Britain Need a Milei? 00:48:24 - How Big Should the State Be? 00:49:40 - Why People Defend the NHS 00:54:01 - Why Government Tech Fails 00:55:09 - Makerfield, Burnham and Reform 01:01:49 - Restore’s Opportunity 01:04:24 - What Gives Julian Hope? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH JULIAN JESSOP › Twitter – https://x.com/julianHjessop › Website – https://julianhjessop.com/about/ SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com/ › LEDN - https://www.ledn.io/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #181 - Tom Bilyeu - AI, Bitcoin & the Rigged Economy | 03 Jun 2026 | 01:25:47 | |
Tom Bilyeu joins me to discuss debt, money printing, broken politics, AI, Bitcoin and why the economy feels rigged against ordinary people. Tom argues that every empire eventually faces the same test: whether it can hold the power of the money printer without printing itself into oblivion. We talk about inflation, the debt cycle, asset prices, populism, Britain’s decline, and why the working and middle class are being squeezed. We also get into AI and the future of work. I talk through my own recent experience building a system in seven days that would once have taken a full team and hundreds of thousands of pounds, and Tom explains how AI has already changed the structure of his business. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - The Economy Is Rigged 00:01:09 - Are We Driving Off a Fiscal Cliff? 00:03:04 - Debt, Money Printing and Inflation 00:04:36 - The Final Boss of Economics 00:07:02 - America’s Founding and Wealth Extraction 00:10:19 - Can America Be Saved? 00:11:46 - Economics Has Physics 00:16:06 - Debt, Cancellation and Freedom 00:19:03 - The Thucydides Trap 00:21:42 - Politics Has Not Been Disrupted 00:25:15 - Populism and the Shrinking Pie 00:29:07 - Asset Inflation Is Vile 00:35:59 - UK Politics Is Breaking Down 00:40:36 - Is Sweden Really Socialist? 00:42:40 - Where Is the Hope? 00:50:16 - Tom’s View on Bitcoin 00:53:17 - Peter’s AI Eureka Moment 00:57:56 - How AI Changed Tom’s Business 01:03:02 - The Four Futures of AI 01:12:56 - Is Reality a Simulation? 01:24:34 - Tom’s Final Warning - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH TOM BILYEU › Twitter – https://x.com/TomBilyeu › YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/c/TomBilyeu SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com/ › LEDN - https://www.ledn.io/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #180 - Frank Wright - Reality Is Radicalising People | 29 May 2026 | 02:35:04 | |
Frank Wright joins me after going viral for saying that reality, not extremism, is radicalising people. We discuss Britain’s decline, Restore, Reform, immigration, national identity, liberal democracy, working-class dignity, debt, inflation, the failure of our institutions, and why Frank believes this is the last chance to save the nation. I push Frank on what it actually means to restore Britain, how you build a big enough tent, why nationhood matters, and how we avoid this ending in conflict. Whatever your politics, Frank has clearly touched a nerve - and I wanted to understand why. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Reality Is Radicalising People 00:01:01 - Frank’s Viral Week 00:03:28 - Why People Refuse to See Reality 00:06:44 - Feminism, Childcare and Family 00:10:04 - Propaganda in the West 00:16:30 - Factists, Fascists and Utopia 00:21:09 - Liberal Rights and Reality 00:29:59 - What Does Frank Wright Want? 00:36:31 - What Radicalised Frank? 00:44:53 - Reform, Restore and Machine Politics 00:49:04 - Rupert Lowe and “I Don’t Care” 00:52:23 - The Cost of Saying Nothing 00:54:45 - Reform vs Restore 01:00:27 - Is Populism Enough? 01:14:49 - Surrogacy and the Commodification of Life 01:18:38 - Who Really Runs Britain? 01:24:03 - The Cost of Truth 01:27:23 - Are We Finished? 01:33:22 - Why Nationhood Matters 01:38:16 - Working-Class Dignity 01:47:00 - Restore in Makerfield 01:57:22 - Will Frank Wright Become an MP? 02:04:23 - Why Government Can’t Govern 02:18:21 - Debt, Inflation and the Middle Class 02:29:45 - Frank’s Final Warning - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH FRANK WRIGHT › SubStack – https://www.frankwrighter.com/ › Twitter – https://x.com/frankwrighter SPONSORS › LEDN - https://www.ledn.io/peter › Ground News - https://ground.news/peterm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #179 - Simon Dixon - The One World Government Is Already Here | 27 May 2026 | 01:48:09 | |
Simon Dixon joins me to discuss AI, Bitcoin, algorithms, media capture, central banking, programmable money, geopolitics and how to escape the system. Simon argues that the world is moving towards a more centralised architecture of artificial intelligence, social credit scores, programmable money and financial control. Simon and I discuss why AI may be the most important opportunity of our lifetime, how small businesses can now build tools that once required entire teams, why politics may no longer be the route to change, and why the answer may be to build with AI, own assets that cannot easily be captured, and become sovereign. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Take the Golden Pill 00:01:22 - Are We Slaves to the Algorithm? 00:02:50 - Freedom of Speech, Not Freedom of Reach 00:07:27 - Is Media Just About Power? 00:10:00 - Why Scale Gets Captured 00:13:08 - Bitcoin, Self-Custody and Sovereignty 00:17:29 - What Is at Stake? 00:18:49 - Is AI Different from the Internet? 00:20:11 - Building With AI 00:25:18 - AI and the Software Apocalypse 00:26:33 - You’re Done, You’re Cooked 00:30:49 - These Companies Can Turn You Off 00:31:37 - Is China Winning Open-Source AI? 00:36:53 - Money Printing, BlackRock and the Fed 00:40:05 - World War III or Currency War? 00:48:01 - The Petrodollar Is Breaking 01:01:20 - Before It Was Ships, Now It’s AI 01:05:26 - Politics Is Gone 01:18:54 - London Is Cooked 01:29:43 - The Golden Pill 01:44:52 - Advice to Young People - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH SIMON DIXON › Website – https://www.simondixon.com/ › Twitter – https://x.com/SimonDixonTwitt SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com/ › LEDN - https://www.ledn.io/peter › Ground News - https://ground.news/peterm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #178 - Malcolm Offord - We Forgot How to Create Wealth | 25 May 2026 | 01:06:34 | |
Lord Malcolm Offord joins me to discuss why Britain and Scotland have stopped creating wealth. They discuss state spending, political fragmentation, Scotland’s elections, Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, QE, the Bank of England, first jobs, minimum wage, small businesses, quangos, the managerial class, Reform, the Greens, America, and whether Britain needs a welfare economy or a wealth economy. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Britain Forgot How to Create Wealth 00:01:01 - Two Revolutions at Once 00:01:36 - Is Democracy Fragmenting? 00:05:36 - Is the State Too Dysfunctional to Deliver? 00:07:30 - Spending More and Getting Less 00:08:42 - Scotland’s Political Warning 00:10:06 - “I Won’t Vote for Decline” 00:11:22 - Britain Has Stopped Creating Wealth 00:13:21 - How to Think vs What to Think 00:16:50 - Why First Jobs Matter 00:23:12 - Business Prevention Officers 00:27:14 - Trickle-Up Economics 00:30:34 - QE Protected the Rich 00:37:31 - The Managerial Class 00:40:48 - Parliament vs the Public 00:44:42 - Why Voters Are Fed Up 00:50:28 - Can Reform Fix the System? 00:55:05 - Welfare Economy vs Wealth Economy 00:58:37 - Can the State Get Any Bigger? 01:04:34 - Britain Is Being Left Behind - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH MALCOLM OFFORD › Twitter – https://x.com/Malcolm_Offord SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com › LEDN - https://www.ledn.io/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #177 - Rupert Lowe - The State Has Become The Enemy | 21 May 2026 | 01:28:44 | |
Rupert Lowe joins Peter McCormack to discuss Restore Britain, Reform UK, immigration, Parliament, the judiciary, the civil service, tax, welfare, young people, the Green Party, the private sector, Bitcoin, inflation and whether Britain can still be saved. Rupert argues that the state has become too powerful, Britain may no longer have the rule of law, the private sector is dying, and Restore’s mission is to return power to the people. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - The State Has Become the Enemy 00:01:02 - Has Voting Stopped Working? 00:05:49 - How Dysfunctional Is the State? 00:06:58 - The Complaint System Inside Parliament 00:12:46 - “The People Who Lead Britain Are Bad” 00:13:12 - Has Britain Lost the Rule of Law? 00:19:13 - Immigration and the Future of Europe 00:22:59 - What Does Getting Your Country Back Mean? 00:25:39 - Britain’s 22,000-Page Tax Code 00:28:09 - Fabianism and the Growth of the State 00:32:34 - Can One MP Fight the Machine? 00:35:49 - How Restore Mobilised the Apathetic 00:38:48 - Makerfield, Burnham and the By-Election 00:45:39 - Why the Private Sector Is Dying 00:52:17 - How Do You Fix Inflation? 00:59:32 - Is Reform Managed Opposition? 01:08:14 - Restore’s Immigration Policy 01:14:35 - The Triple Lock and the Baby Boomers 01:16:17 - Why Young People Are Going Green 01:25:27 - What Happens If Restore Fails? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH RUPERT LOWE › X/Twitter – https://x.com/RupertLowe10 › Website – https://www.restorebritain.org.uk/join_us SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com › Ground News - https://ground.news/peterm › Monetary Metals - https://www.Monetary-Metals.com/McCormack - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #176 - Narinder Kaur - Inflation Is Brilliant For The Rich | 19 May 2026 | 01:51:55 | |
Narinder Kaur joins Peter McCormack to discuss racism, immigration, British politics, feminism, motherhood, young men, the cost of living, minimum wage, small businesses, Reform, Tommy Robinson, the Green Party and whether Britain is being divided by politicians, media and algorithms. They disagree on plenty, but the conversation ends somewhere unexpected: perhaps left and right are not the real enemy - perhaps ordinary people are being played by the system. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Are We Fighting the Wrong Enemy? 00:00:53 - Tea, Cake & Online Arguments 00:02:36 - Did Brexit Break Britain’s Conversations? 00:04:37 - Is Politics the Problem? 00:05:35 - The Algorithm Rewards Rage 00:07:30 - Are Podcasts Complicit? 00:08:15 - Narinder’s Experience of Racism 00:11:40 - Young Men & the Manosphere 00:12:20 - Dating, Money & Modern Expectations 00:16:16 - Motherhood, Family and Staying at Home 00:18:23 - “You Sound Right Wing” 00:20:00 - Why Aren’t Western Women Having Babies? 00:27:37 - Why Can’t Young People Afford Life? 00:29:52 - The Cantillon Effect Explained 00:30:37 - Inflation Is Brilliant for the Rich 00:33:33 - Is Taxing the Rich the Answer? 00:43:22 - A Rich Person’s Secret 00:52:04 - Minimum Wage vs Small Business 01:04:52 - “Maybe I Am Conservative” 01:07:14 - Immigration: The Big One 01:16:10 - What Is British Culture? 01:21:51 - Would Britain Collapse Without Immigrants? 01:22:57 - Rupert Lowe, Restore & Race 01:25:59 - Where Should the Immigration Line Be? 01:28:49 - Are Women Really Safe? 01:32:24 - Is the Government Keeping Us Divided? 01:35:15 - Can There Be a Public Revolution? 01:43:40 - Can We Find Common Ground? 01:51:17 - We Can Disagree and Still Talk - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH NARINDER KAUR › X/Twitter – https://x.com/narindertweets SPONSORS › LEDN - https://www.ledn.io/peter › OneSkin - https://www.oneskin.co/mccormack - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #175 - Dr Melvin Vopson - If You Hack The Code Of Reality, You Become God | 14 May 2026 | 01:23:16 | |
Physicist Professor Melvin Vopson joins Peter McCormack to discuss information physics, simulation theory, AI, digital life, consciousness, God, free will, and death. Melvin argues that the universe may be governed by information and computation, and that recent advances in brain emulation could force us to confront one of the strangest questions imaginable: if a brain is loaded into a simulation, what exactly wakes up? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 — If You Hack the Simulation, You Control the Universe! 00:01:25 — Why Does Life Feel Artificial? 00:03:26 — Are We Living in a Simulation? 00:05:45 — What Is Information Physics? 00:10:09 — Information as the Fifth State of Matter 00:11:18 — John Wheeler and “It from Bit” 00:13:33 — Is DNA Just Information? 00:16:08 — Who Created the Creator? 00:19:47 — How Would Mario Prove He’s Inside the Game? 00:25:46 — Does the Universe Optimise Itself? 00:29:35 — Is Symmetry a Form of Compression? 00:30:40 — GTA, Rendering, and Computational Reality 00:32:37 — Error-Correcting Code in Physics 00:37:30 — Could Information Explain Dark Matter? 00:40:24 — If You Hack Reality, You Control the Universe 00:45:36 — “In the Beginning Was the Word” 00:46:29 — “In the Beginning Was the Code” 00:57:20 — What Exactly Wakes Up in There? 01:00:32 — But Is It Me? 01:20:56 — Would Proof of Simulation Change Anything? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH MELVIN VOPSON › Website: – https://sites.google.com/site/melvinvopson/ – https://www.port.ac.uk/about-us/structure-and-governance/our-people/our-staff/melvin-vopson SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com › LEDN - https://www.ledn.io/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #174 - Roman Yampolskiy - We Are All Agents Inside a Simulation | 12 May 2026 | 01:20:29 | |
Roman Yampolskiy believes reality itself may not be real. One of the world’s leading AI safety researchers, Roman has spent years warning that humanity is racing toward systems we may never be able to control. But we go somewhere much stranger than artificial intelligence. He believes the universe itself may be artificial. We talk about simulation theory, digital physics, consciousness, AI agents and the terrifying possibility that reality is rendered rather than real. Roman explains: • Why he believes we may already be living inside a simulation • Why the speed of light may be the limit of a cosmic processor • Why the Big Bang may have been “someone turning on the system” • Why you can never truly prove reality is real • Whether this world could itself be a prison or test environment • Why advanced AI may eventually learn deception and self-preservation • How AI systems are already behaving unpredictably • And why the race toward superintelligence may end civilisation itself - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - We’re Probably In A Simulation 00:02:55 -The Verge Of Singularity 00:05:51 - Are Humans Building Their Own Replacement? 00:07:09 - Why Pain Still Matters 00:10:03 - You Can’t Prove Reality 00:15:56 - Quantum Physics Looks Simulated 00:20:19 - Can We Escape The Simulation? 00:22:46 - What Superintelligence Unlocks 00:25:36 - AI Doesn’t Share Our Goals 00:28:20 - The Exponential Curve Is Here 00:31:52 - Why We Shouldn’t Build AGI 00:33:48 - The Trillion Dollar Rationalisation 00:40:13 - The China AI Race 00:40:50 - Betting Humanity Without Consent 00:47:09 - We Don’t Know What AI Can Do 00:47:52 - Every AI Company Is The Same 00:54:35 - They Already Can’t Control It 00:59:42 - The Natural Drives Of AI 01:02:20 - AI Can Afford To Wait 01:19:05 - Stop Building Superintelligence - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH ROMAN YAMPOLSKIY › Twitter – https://x.com/romanyam › Website – https://faculty.cse.louisville.edu/roman/ SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com › LEDN - https://www.ledn.io/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #173 - Liberman - We’re Training AI to Get Rid Of Us | 08 May 2026 | 02:01:51 | |
Two brothers who escaped Russia say we have 2 years before AI replaces us - and we're paying the corporations building it. Daniil & David Liberman sold their first company to Snapchat. Now they're racing to build a decentralised alternative to OpenAI and Google before the window closes. They explain why centralised AI ends in a two-tier world - a small elite with access, and the rest of us as "moving parts" - and why the next 24 months decide which path we take. In this episode: → Why you can't opt out of AI and stay competitive → The recursive loop: AI is now writing AI → Why the kill switch won't work → What they saw inside Russia in 2008 that's happening now with AI → The darkest scenario they almost didn't want to say out loud - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - AI & Human Freedom 00:01:51 - Invisible Slavery 00:05:00 - Bitcoin vs AI Centralisation 00:10:25 - AI Addiction Begins 00:14:27 - The End Of Upward Mobility 00:17:33 - The Beautiful AI Future 00:23:16 - Why Monopolies Win 00:32:36 - Inflation, AI & Collapse 00:45:16 - Bitcoin As AI Blueprint 01:01:45 - The Mythos Fear 01:17:48 - “One Year Left” 01:43:05 - The Darkest Scenario 01:58:13 - Racing Towards The Wall - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH LIBERMAN BROTHERS › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/libermans/ › Twitter – https://x.com/DaLiberman › Website – https://www.libermans.co/ SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com › LEDN - https://www.ledn.io/peter › Incogni - https://incogni.com/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #172 - Graham Linehan - A Civilisation Built On Lies Cannot Survive | 06 May 2026 | 01:39:54 | |
Graham Linehan wrote Father Ted, Black Books and The IT Crowd. Five BAFTAs. Then he said women's spaces should be for women, and the industry that built him decided he was a bigot. He lost his marriage, his career and twenty-five years of friendships. Once one of the most celebrated comedy writers of his generation, Graham became the first major artistic figure to be comprehensively cancelled for speaking out on sex-based rights - and has never gone quiet to claw his reputation back. He explains: • Why the people who built their careers alongside him refused to defend him • How a movement that didn't exist a decade ago captured medicine, sport, prisons and the BBC without a fight • Why women's sport, female-only spaces and child safeguarding became unsayable inside his industry almost overnight • How smartphones, algorithms and the collapse of physical community made a generation defenceless against ideological capture • Why activism replaced music, fashion and culture for a generation that was supposed to be having fun • What being arrested - and watching no-one call to ask if he was alright - actually teaches you about the people around you - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - The Cost Of Speaking Out 00:00:52 - They All Abandoned Me 00:10:54 - Where The Trans Movement Came From 00:24:55 - Sponsor Ad: Ledn 00:25:53 - Women's Sport, Self-ID, And Mixed-Sex Prisons 00:43:52 - Arrested - And No-One Called 00:48:26 - Phones, Algorithms, And The Anxious Generation 00:52:56 - Sponsor Ad: Monetary Metals 00:54:05 - The Father Whose Daughter Took Testosterone 01:04:08 - Everything Is Going To Shit 01:20:08 - October 7th And What Radicalised Him 01:34:18 - Where We Are In Ten Years - And Always Tell The Truth - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH GRAHAM LINEHAN › Twitter – https://x.com/Glinner › Substack – https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/ SPONSORS › LEDN - https://www.ledn.io/peter › Monetary Metals - https://www.Monetary-Metals.com/McCormack - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #171 - Michael Saylor - Why You Feel Poorer (And Why AI Will Make It Worse) | 30 Apr 2026 | 01:16:55 | |
The economy you grew up in is ending and most people have no plan. Bitcoin pioneer Michael Saylor reveals why you have 10 years to adapt before AI rewrites everything. Michael Saylor is the founder of MicroStrategy and one of the most influential voices on money, capital and the future of value. A Wall Street outsider turned Bitcoin's most prominent corporate advocate, he is known for his sweeping frameworks on monetary debasement, technological disruption and how civilisations rise and fall - and what individuals must do to thrive inside them. He explains: • Why the global currency system is quietly making you poorer every year • Why working hard is no longer the path to wealth it once was • How AI and automation are about to demonetise human labour • Why you have roughly 10 years to stake your claim in the new economy • Why owning scarce assets is now the only real form of financial security • How the coming explosion in prosperity will leave most people behind • Why Bitcoin represents the highest form of capital ever created • The single biggest mistake that will define who wins and loses in the next decade - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Why You Feel Poorer 00:01:23 - The 7% Debasement 00:05:15 - Currency Tiers Explained 00:10:29 - Rise And Collapse 00:13:24 - Government Gets Too Big 00:18:10 - What Actually Gets Cheaper 00:22:03 - How To Preserve Wealth 00:27:04 - AI Kills Human Value 00:32:04 - The Next 10 Years 00:39:40 - What Bitcoin Actually Is 00:49:00 - Bitcoin For Everyone 00:56:01 - The Real Breakthrough 01:01:21 - Bitcoin Has Won 01:04:40 - The 10% Bank Account 01:10:00 - Risk And Reality - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH MICHAEL SAYLOR › Twitter – https://x.com/saylor › Website – https://www.strategy.com/ SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com › LEDN - https://www.ledn.io/peter › Monetary Metals - https://www.Monetary-Metals.com/McCormack - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #170 - Andrew Wilson - Why Modern Life Feels Like It’s Working Against You | 28 Apr 2026 | 01:54:10 | |
In this episode, I sit down with Andrew Wilson to discuss what so many people are starting to ask but struggle to answer: Why does modern life feel like it isn’t working anymore? We discuss rising political division, economic pressure and a growing sense of dissatisfaction - and what might actually be driving it. Andrew explains that many of today’s problems aren’t just political or economic, but cultural - and that culture itself is shaped by something even more fundamental: shared values, belief systems, and community. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 – Something Feels Broken 00:01:19 – “Soul of America” 00:03:57 – What’s Really Going On 00:05:00 – The Loss of Shared Values 00:07:19 – Why Society Needs Morality 00:09:33 – The Role of Religion 00:24:25 – The Missing Piece: Community 00:29:28 – Why Success Feels Empty 00:41:00 – Why Systems Always Fail 00:51:30 – The Birth Rate Crisis 01:02:03 – The Ideological War 01:13:50 – How Culture Changed 01:36:38 – Why Dating Is Broken 01:48:39 – What Happens Next - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH ANDREW WILSON › Twitter – https://x.com/paleochristcon › YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcElhVVk9ynDL4zkP-eGsfA SPONSORS › LEDN - https://www.ledn.io/peter › Monetary Metals - https://www.Monetary-Metals.com/McCormack - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||
| #169 - Preston Bryne - Britain Isn't A Free Country Anymore | 26 Apr 2026 | 01:40:10 | |
Preston Byrne is the only American lawyer fighting the UK's attempt to censor US companies under the Online Safety Act. He's representing 4chan, Kiwi Farms, Gab and Sanctioned Suicide - pro bono - because no other firm would take the cases. In this interview, Preston explains why Britain isn't a free country anymore, what Ofcom actually claims the power to do to American websites and why he says the UK is trying to enforce British censorship law on American soil. We get into the moment that started him down this path - a 16-year-old getting a criminal summons from the City of London Police for holding a sign - and why two decades later he believes the rest of the country is finally catching up to what he saw then. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - The Cases No One Else Would Take 00:03:06 - From Banking Lawyer To Free Speech Fight 00:05:00 - "I Didn't Know How Important It Was Until It Was Taken Away" 00:06:49 - The Sign That Started Everything 00:13:50 - What Ofcom Actually Is 00:17:09 - The Question Britain Has Never Asked 00:21:11 - Why Reform And The Greens Both Get It Wrong 00:24:23 - Drafting A British First Amendment 00:28:21 - What The Bill Keeps, What It Repeals 00:31:56 - "I'm Not Setting Foot In The UK" 00:34:02 - The Career Cost Of This Fight 00:36:55 - Death Threats From UK IPs 00:37:33 - The Libertarian Case For Using The Courts 00:40:00 - Why Age Verification Isn't The Answer 00:45:00 - The VPN Problem Australia Created 00:46:28 - "The System Is Designed To Produce Violations" 00:49:16 - Where The First Amendment Actually Stops 00:52:45 - The Marmot Liberation Front 00:54:52 - Mr Whiskers Vs Ofcom 01:00:00 - Holding The Perimeter For 30 Million Users 01:04:00 - Why No Big Law Firm Will Touch This 01:09:05 - Defending Clients You Personally Find Difficult 01:20:00 - 197 Notices Sent Into America 01:22:18 - The GRANITE Act, Explained 01:25:00 - "£46 Billion Sitting At The Federal Reserve" 01:26:10 - Wyoming First, Then Delaware, Then Federal 01:30:17 - "Are We A Free Country Anymore? No." 01:33:06 - Still The Only Lawyer On The Field 01:36:32 - What British Listeners Can Actually Do - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – me@petermccormack.com › Instagram – /mccormack555 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH PRESTON BRYNE › Twitter – https://x.com/prestonjbyrne › Website – https://prestonbyrne.com/ SPONSORS › IREN - https://www.iren.com › LEDN - https://www.ledn.io/peter › Monetary Metals - https://www.Monetary-Metals.com/McCormack - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. | |||