As the saying goes, only three things in life are certain: death, taxes & Alex Danco.

Armed with sizzling hot takes on the sad death of Twitter likes and a new secret weapon in the form of his catchphrase-turned-episode theme (“Without mystery, there is no margin”), Alex returns for his eighth episode.

Despite our intentional lack of preparation, somehow this ended up as one our most cohesive conversations yet.

As usual, we’ve included links and an episode transcript over on our Substack, where we’ve also made the foolhardy attempt to distil one overriding theme from eight episodes of fiercely unstructured, defiantly unplanned, proudly meandering conversation.

Important Links:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alex_Danco
• Website: https://alexdanco.com/
• Previous episode: https://www.infiniteloopspodcast.com/alex-danco-on-self-delusion-sancho-panza-safe-words-seinfeld-ep156/

Show Notes:

• What the fuck is going on? & the sad death of Twitter likes
• Where are the journalists?
• Without mystery, there is no margin
• Why aesthetics are underrated
• Friction is good, actually
• Make things to gain agency
• Empowering small firms to access the mysterious margin
• Everything is positioning
• How to learn effectively
• Alex as emperor of the world
• MORE!

Books Mentioned:

• The Fifth Science; by Exurb1a
• What Works on Wall Street: A Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All Time; by Jim O’Shaughnessy
• The Gervais Principle, Or The Office According to “The Office”; by Venkatesh Rao
• The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism; by Howard Bloom

Mike Maples, Jr., co-founding partner of the VC firm Floodgate, is the veteran seed investor behind some of the 21st-century’s great success stories, including Twitter, Twitch, and Applied Intuition.

His book, Pattern Breakers (co-authored with Peter Ziebelman), articulates a new model of foundership, one built on the simple premise that transformative startups upend rather than improve current practices.

My company, OSV, is built around my belief that the collapse of the old models presents enormous opportunities to those savvy enough to seize them, so I had a blast quizzing Mike on the nuts and bolts of pattern-breaking foundership, from finding true believers to waging asymmetric war on the status quo.

If Mike’s theory sounds as interesting to you as it did to me, check out our Substack, where we’ve distilled some pattern-breaking insights and shared the episode transcript. I also encourage you to buy Mike’s excellent book.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did!

Important Links:

• Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future; by Mike Maples, Jr & Peter Ziebelman
• Twitter
• Substack (Starting Greatness)
• Floodgate
• LinkedIn

Show Notes:

• Seagull mode: an unexpected founder paradigm
• How to wage asymmetric war on the present
• Evading the comparison trap
• Finding your people: how to build a movement
• Why we should continually seek the truth
• The customer isn’t always right, but the ones living in the future are
• Why disagreeableness is undervalued
• How to fix a pitch Franckendeck
• Don’t use jargon as a substitute for clear thinking
• How to find the true believers
• How to live in the future
• How founders are like trainspotters
• Why wanting to be a founder is a bad reason to start a company
• Reading habits of a pattern-breaker
• The unreliability of memory
• Mike as emperor of the world
• MORE!

Books Mentioned:

• Jonathan Livingston Seagull: A story; by Richard Bach
• The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism; by Howard Bloom
• The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations that Transform The World; by David Deutsch
• What Works in Wall Street; by Jim O’Shaughnessy
• Poor Charlie’s Almanac: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger; by Charles T. Munger

Nat Eliason is a writer with a keen interest in writing about challenging and revealing things. His debut book, Crypto Confidential: Winning and Losing Millions in the New Frontier of Finance (out July 9th, 2024), charts his personal odyssey into Crypto’s Get-Rich-Quick underbelly.

Nat joins the show to discuss the highs and lows of the cryptocurrency market, the lessons learned from his financial adventures, the psychological effects of bubbles, crypto’s cutting-edge developments, and MUCH more!

Important Links:

• Nat’s Website
• Nat’s Twitter
• Nat’s YouTube

Show Notes:

• Making A Lot of Money, As Fast as Possible
• The Peer Pressure of Crypto Markets
• The Psychological Effects of Diamond Hands
• Signs of Peak Speculation
• How Bitcoin Has Carried the Crypto Story
• Ethereum’s Innovations
• The Emergence of Stablecoins
• What Makes USD A Reserve Currency?
• The Crazy Anonymity of Crypto Projects
• The Two Options of Getting Into Crypto
• Imagining the Money Pile
• What Nat Couldn’t Keep in the Book
• Nat’s Next Career as a Novelist
• Nat as Emperor of the World
• MORE!

Books Mentioned:

• Influence; by Robert Cialdini

Creator and curator Liberty RPF returns for his second appearance on Infinite Loops. He and Jim discuss the art of curation, the opportunities and risks of AI, the curse of creativity, the future of learning, and MUCH more!

Title: 

Description:

Lulu Cheng Meservey is the Chief Communications Officer and Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Activision Blizzard.

She joins Infinite Loops to provide us with a masterclass in communications for startups. A must-listen for current and aspiring founders.

Important Links:
 • Lulu’s Twitter
 • Lulu’s Substack

Show Notes:
 • Why people write hit pieces
 • The insurgency framework
 • How to access your audience’s neural real estate
 • How to develop a spontaneous elevator pitch
 • Tips for becoming better at reading the room
 • Speak directly and take the hits
 • Defining business objectives
 • Learning from other industries
 • Personalising your message
 • Overcoming resistance to the unknown, what Christianity can teach us about comms
 • Escaping corporate jargon
 • How comms resembles rugby
 • Taking ownership of comms
 • Moving to a new model of comms
 • “Don’t let things happen to you. Go and happen to things.”

Books Mentioned:
 • The Network State: How To Start a New Country; by Balaji S. Srinivasan
 • The Hero with a Thousand Faces; by Joseph Campbell

“With enough curiosity, self-confidence is irrelevant.”

Tinkered Thinking is a writer, artist, author and creator. He is also the worthy winner of our ‘White Mirror’ competition.

His writing includes a series of ‘Lucilius Parables’, short stories dispersed throughout time and space designed to help readers reconceptualise their experience of being alive.

He joined the show to discuss writing, technology, curiosity, optimism and MUCH more!

Important Links:

• Website
  
• Twitter
  
• The Lucilius Parables, Volume I
  
• The Lucilius Parables, Volume II
  
• The Century of the Self: Happiness Machines - Adam Curtis
  

Show Notes:

• The origin of Lucilius
  
• Why write short stories?
  
• Fear and human nature
  
• Technology, progress and optimism
  
• Where is the positive poetry of today?
  
• The momentum metric
  
• How to rebrand Guatemala
  
• White Mirror
  
• Choose your disposition
  
• The power of curiosity
  
• The question as a concept
  
• Hope grows foolish with no doing
  

Books Mentioned:

• The Lucilius Parables, Volume I; by Tinkered Thinking
  
• The Lucilius Parables, Volume II; by Tinkered Thinking
  
• The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory; by Brian Greene
  
• The Fifth Science; by Exurb1a
  
• Foundation; by Isaac Asimov
  
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance; by Bob Pirsig
  
• The Beginning of Infinity; by David Deutsch
  
• Language in Thought and Action; by S.I. Hayakawa
  
• Screw the Zoo: Escape From Your Cage, Free Your Mind, and Take Over the World; by Sam McRoberts
  
• Unflattening; by Nick Sousanis
  
• Atomic Habits; by James Clear
  
• The Power of Habit; by Charles Duhigg
  
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; by Douglas Adams
  
• The Egg; by Andy Weir
  
• The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James
  
• Awakening: Conversations with the Masters; by Anthony De Mello
  
• Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment; by Jed McKenna

Edward Slingerland is a University Scholar and Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia. He has authored a number of books, including ‘Trying Not to Try’ and ‘Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization’. He joins the show to discuss the paradox of effortless action, the history of Chinese philosophy, the benefits of alcohol, and a whole lot more.

Important Links:

• Edward’s Twitter
  
• Edward’s Website
  
• Drunk
  
• Trying Not to Try
  

Show Notes:

• The paradox of trying not to try
  
• Western equivalents to wu-wei
  
• The difference between wu-wei and flow
  
• How to cultivate wu-wei
  
• How technology makes it harder to find wu-wei
  
• Why were Confucianism and Daoism so successful?
  
• Utilitarianism, China and the panopticon
  
• The right amount of rationality, choking
  
• Shutting down the prefrontal cortext
  
• The evolutionary origins of our love of alcohol
  
• The power of psychedelics
  
• Ecological niches, cooperation, creativity and honesty
  
• An alternative model of honesty
  
• Stop pushing so hard, go walk in the woods
  

Books Mentioned:

• Trying Not to Try: The Ancient Art of Effortlessness and the Surprising Power of Spontaneity; by Edward Slingerland
  
• Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization; by Edward Slingerland
  
• The Dao De Jing; by Laozi
  
• The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It; by Will Storr
  
• The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human and How to Tell Them Better; by Will Storr
  
• The Master and His Emissary; by Iain McGilchrist
  
• Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To; by Sian Beilock
  
• The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name; by Brian C. Muraresku

Jeremiah Lowin is the founder & CEO of Prefect, a dataflow automation company. Jeremiah joins Jim for his second appearance on Infinite Loops to discuss executing, storytelling, artificial intelligence and, of course, puns.

Important Links:

• Prefect.io
  
• Disney Research Hub
  
• The story of the fake statue of Venus
  

Show Notes:

• Slack, puns and the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
  
• Planning, executing and the story of Prefect in 2022
  
• Why naming things is a superpower
  
• If you can’t pivot, you’re dead
  
• Make original mistakes
  
• AI, storytelling, deep fakes and open source
  

Books Mentioned:

• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; by Douglas Adams
  
• What Works on Wall Street; by Jim O'Shaughnessy
  
• The Beginning of Infinity; by David Deutsch

Herbert is a writer and editorial director who has been writing online since he was 15. He is the editor of 'The World According to Kanye' and has written for publications such as Forge, TIME and Quartz.

Herbert joins the show to discuss his book 'Creative Doing: 75 Practical Exercises to Unblock Your Creative Potential in Your Work, Hobby, or Next Career', and to share some practical, actionable methods of harnessing the creative impulses that lie inside us all.

Important Links:

• Herbert’s Twitter
  
• Herbert’s Website
  
• Creative Doing
  

Show Notes:

• “Think less; do more”
  
• Adapting to social media
  
• “Don’t make the bad the enemy of the good”
  
• “Doing is thinking”
  
• The strongest case for thinking over doing
  
• The role of the subconscious in the creative process
  
• The Madman and the Judge
  
• What initial steps can an aspiring creator take?
  
• Is there such a thing as natural creativity?
  
• “Quality is a word smart people use to procrastinate”
  
• Unifying the Madman and the Judge
  
• Why do societies try to crush creativity out of people?
  
• Why we are all creative
  

Books Mentioned:

• Creative Doing: 75 Practical Exercises to Unblock Your Creative Potential in Your Work, Hobby, or Next Career; by Herbert Lui
  
• Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned: The Myth of the Objective; by Kenneth O. Stanley and Joel Lehman
  
• The Love Song of J. Alfred Profrock; by T.S. Eliot
  
• The I Ching
  
• Tao Te Ching; by Laozi
  
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance; by Robert M. Pirsig

Emad Mostaque is the founder and CEO of Stability AI, the company behind Stable Diffusion.

Emad joins Stability AI’s recently announced Executive Chair of the board of directors Jim O’Shaughnessy to discuss the future of AI, the benefits of open source software, and much more.

Important Links:

• Stability AI
  
• Stable Diffusion Launch Announcement
  
• Stability AI’s Twitter
  
• Emad’s Twitter
  
• Jim’s announcement as Executive Chair
  

Show Notes:

• The open vs closed AI debate
  
• How will open AI lead to better outcomes for AI safety?
  
• How will AI allow us to to solve previously unsolvable problems?
  
• How AI can transform education
  
• AI and storytelling
  
• What is ‘clean’ data?
  
• Can AI technology increase IQs across the entire world?
  
• The future: optimism, pessimism, jobs, AI alignment and the panopticon
  
• Why closed AI is a bad business model
  
• Anticipating and defending against future problems
  
• What two ideas would you like to give everyone in the world?
  

Books Mentioned:

• The WEIRDest People in the World; by Joseph Henrich

“To get me stop, they’re going to have to pry the microphone out of my cold dead hand”.

Hot on the heels of his hugely popular appearance on ‘Invest Like The Best’, David Senra joins a marathon episode of Infinite Loops to discuss obsession, education, optimism, podcasting, and so much more.

Unsurprisingly, this one is not to be missed.

Important Links:

• Founders Podcast
  
• Founders on Colossus
  
• David’s Twitter
  
• David’s Substack
  
• Runnin’ Down a Dream - Bill Gurley
  

Show Notes:

• David’s grandfather, refugees, and risk-taking
  
• Why reading history raises our ambition
  
• Obsession and genetics
  
• Why founders are the most important people in the world
  
• Our failing education system
  
• “To get me to stop, they’re going to have to pry the microphone out of my cold dead hand”
  
• “Don’t do anything that somebody else can do”
  
• Societal responses to change, predicting the future
  
• The benefits of small teams
  
• “Plan B should be to make plan A work”
  
• Optimism, risk and the bridge of nihilism
  
• Why you need to start a podcast
  
• “History doesn’t repeat, human nature does”
  
• AI and art
  
• The internet is the greatest variance amplifier in history
  
• “You can’t fake passion”
  
• Infinite networks
  
• Luck, burnout, learning and excuses
  
• “Don’t be surprised if your best idea comes 30 to 40 years into your career”
  
• The blueprint for a great day
  
• Pick the right heroes
  

Books Mentioned:

• Am I Being Too Subtle?: Straight Talk From a Business Rebel; by Sam Zell
  
• The Sugar King of Havana: The Rise and Fall of Julio Lobo, Cuba's Last Tycoon; by John Paul Rathbone
  
• The Hypomaniac Edge: The Link Between (A Little) Craziness and (A Lot of) Success in America; by John D. Gartner
  
• One Summer: America, 1927; by Bill Bryson
  
• Reluctant Genius: The Passionate Life and Inventive Mind of Alexander Graham Bell; by Charlotte Gray
  
• Born of this land : my life story; by Chung Ju-yung
  
• Shoe Dog; by Phil Knight
  
• Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print, and Power; by James McGrath Morris
  
• Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company; by Andrew S. Grove
  
• Time to Make the Donuts: The Founder of Dunkin Donuts Shares an American Journey; by William Rosenberg
  
• Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration; by Ed Catmull
  
• The Tao Te Ching; by Laozi
  
• My Life & Work - An Autobiography of Henry Ford; by Henry Ford
  
• One from Many: VISA and the Rise of Chaordic Organization; by Dee Hock
  
• Zanies: The world’s greatest eccentrics; by Jay Robert Nash
  

Dr Michael Donnino is the founder/director of the Psychophysiologic Research Group, and the first person in the country to complete a residency/fellowship program leading to board certification in internal medicine, emergency medicine, and critical care.

Liz Wallenstein is a licensed mental health counselor who has trained in, among other areas, the methodology of ‘TMS Mind Body-Connection’.

Liz and Dr Michael join the show to discuss the profound influence of Dr John Sarno on their lives, and the potentially transformational power of ‘Mind-Body’ therapies.

Important Links:

• The Mind-Body Group
  
• Michael’s Twitter
  
• Liz’s Website
  
• Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection
  

Show Notes:

• Introductions to Dr. Sarno
  
• The relationship between our emotional and physical reactions
  
• Reasons to be hopeful
  
• Emotions and conditioning
  
• A response to the sceptics
  
• The societal costs of chronic pain
  
• Mental health: moving beyond diagnostic labels
  
• Long COVID and mind-body syndrome
  
• The future of psychophysiological research
  
• What does the medical community think of mind-body syndrome?
  
• Doing the inner work that’s needed to heal
  
• The future of mind-body treatments
  
• The importance of sincerity
  

Books Mentioned:

• Your Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma; by Bessel van der Kolk;
  
• Molecules of Emotion: The Science Behind Mind-Body Medicine; by Candace Pert
  
• Healing Back Pain; by John E. Sarno
  
• The Screwtape Letters; by C.S. Lewis
  
• The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It; by Will Storr
  
• The Great Pain Deception: Faulty Medical Advice Is Making Us Worse; by Steve Ozanich
  
• Anatomy of an Illness: As Perceived by the Patient; by Norman Cousins

The brilliant Kyla Scanlon returns for her second appearance on Infinite Loops. As well as being a prolific creator, curator and writer, Kyla is the founder of the financial education company Bread. Kyla joins the show to discuss the vibecession, her plans for Bread, the creator economy, and much more.

Important Links:

• Kyla’s website
  
• Kyla’s Twitter
  
• Kyla’s TikTok
  
• Kyla’s Instagram
  
• Kyla’s Substack
  
• Kyla’s Youtube
  

Show Notes:

• Losing control of the meme
  
• Everything is vibes
  
• Inflation is a tax
  
• Are vibes top-down or bottom-up?
  
• Making complicated information fun
  
• The importance of having thick skin
  
• The benefits of free markets
  
• Do governments have vibes?
  
• How do you cultivate good vibes?
  
• The creator economy
  
• Bread's mission
  
• Education is broken
  
• Advice for upcoming content creators
  
• Against credentialism
  
• Open AI vs closed AI
  
• How can you change your models?
  
• What is your favourite medium?
  
• What would be the most surprising development over the next 12 months?
  

Books Mentioned:

• The Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics; by Gary Zukav
  
• The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism; by Howard Bloom

Noor Siddiqui is currently building Orchid, a reproductive technology company that measures genetic predisposition to disease and provides embryo screening for couples going through IVF.

Noor joins the show to discuss the ambitious culture of the West Coast, getting into the Thiel Fellowship, her personal reasons for starting Orchid, the sacred act of reproduction and why it must be made safe, her belief in children as the future, and MUCH more!

Important Links:

• Noor’s Personal Website
• Noor’s Twitter
• Noor’s Linkedin
• Orchid’s Website

Show Notes:

• The Ambitious Culture of San Francisco
• The East Coast Aversion to Risky Ambition
• The Intimate Origin Story of Orchid
• What Orchid Has Built
• The History and Controversy Around Reproductive Technology
• Surprising Aspects of Orchid’s Technology
• Benefits of Saliva Testing
• Making Our Own Genetic Luck
• Noor’s Predictions for the Field
• Advances in Embryonic Freezing
• Why Noor Values Clear Writing
• Noor as Empress of the World
• MORE!

Books/Essays Mentioned:

• What You Can't Say; by Paul Graham
• Secrets (from Zero To One); by Peter Thiel

Is this the greatest crossover event in history? Fresh from their individual appearances on Infinite Loops, Trung Phan and Rob Henderson join forces to discuss TV, film, and why Rob still hasn’t seen Apocalypse Now.

Important Links:

• Rob’s Substack
  
• Rob’s Twitter
  
• Trung’s Substack
  
• Trung’s Twitter
  

Show Notes:

• Hearts of Darkness: one of the craziest stories in Hollywood history
  
• The beginning of TV’s golden age
  
• Breadth or depth? The two paths to prestige TV
  
• What TV can teach you about elite America
  
• The two ways of watching prestige TV
  
• How TV shows program us
  
• The decline of event TV
  
• Recurring themes and HumanOS
  
• Succession and signalling
  
• The Great Reshuffle and Substack
  
• The 70s: one of the worst American decades of all time
  
• What will TV be like in 10 years’ time?
  
• Challenge yourself with art
  
• Broaden your content horizons
  

Books Mentioned:

• Heart of Darkness; by Joseph Conrad
  
• Unflattening; by Nick Sousanis
  
• The Iliad; by Homer
  
• The Odyssey; by Homer
  
• The Da Vinci Code; by Dan Brown
  
• Infinite Jest; by David Foster Wallace
  

TV Shows and Films Mentioned:

• Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse
  
• Apocalypse Now
  
• The Shield
  
• The Godfather
  
• The Sopranos
  
• Seinfeld
  
• All In The Family
  
• The Wire
  
• The Simpsons
  
• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
  
• Mad Men
  
• Game of Thrones
  
• The West Wing
  
• Roseanne
  
• Power Rangers
  
• The O.C.
  
• Breaking Bad
  
• Better Call Saul
  
• The Truman Show
  
• Back to the Future
  
• I Love Lucy
  
• Succession
  
• Will and Grace
  
• Severance
  
• House of Cards
  
• Stranger Things
  
• Office Space
  
• Euphoria
  
• Avengers: End Game
  
• Top Gun Maverick
  
• The Office
  
• Parasite
  

Nick Gillespie is the host of the Reason Interview and an editor at large at Reason. Nick is one of the most interesting libertarian thinkers in America, and has been described by the New York Times as being to libertarianism “what Lou Reed is to rock ‘n’ roll, the quintessence of its outlaw spirit".

Important Links:

• Nick’s Substack
  
• Nick’s Twitter
  
• Nick’s Podcast
  
• Reason
  

Show Notes:

• Is libertarianism dead?
  
• Saying what you think
  
• The case for rational optimism
  
• Labels and empathy
  
• President Nixon, the Great Reshuffle, Bitcoin
  
• Bureaucracy and responsiveness
  
• The rapidly changing world
  
• Prohibition and legalisation
  
• Why America does not have enough immigration
  
• The enfranchising power of social media
  
• Obscenity and moral panics
  
• Empathy with the dispossessed
  
• And MUCH more!
  

Books Mentioned:

• The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What’s Wrong with America; by Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch
  
• The Rational Optimist; by Matt Ridley
  
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; by Douglas Adams
  
• The Population Bomb; by Paul Ehrlich
  
• The Beginning of Infinity; by David Deutsch
  
• Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy; by Joseph Schumpeter
  
• The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism; by Howard Bloom
  
• One Summer: America, 1927; by Bill Bryson
  
• The War on Alcohol; by Liza McGirr
  
• Immigration and Freedom; by Chandran Kukathas
  
• The Illuminatus! Trilogy; by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea
  
• What It Means to be a Libertarian: a Personal Interpretation; by Charles Murray
  
• Raising PG Kids in an X-Rated Society; by Tipper Gore
  
• Ulysses; by James Joyce
  
• The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It; by Will Storr
  
• Happy: Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine; by Derren Brown

Will Storr is an award winning journalist and author. His book ‘The Status Game’ transforms our understanding of human nature by demonstrating how our unconscious desire for status ultimately drives our behaviour.

Important Links:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/wstorr?s=21&t=ZdtIqP9eE3_a5qZocDjEXQ
  
• Website: https://willstorr.com
  
• The Science of Storytelling: https://www.thescienceofstorytelling.com
  

Show Notes:

• Will’s origin story
  
• The strange case of David Irving
  
• The fundamental nature of status games
  
• The Stanford prison experiment and dominance games
  
• The status games played by cults
  
• Luxury beliefs
  
• Why we are all moral hypocrites
  
• The importance of being funny
  
• Social status and socioeconomic status
  
• Human OS and the education system
  
• How status seeking leads to the “very best of human nature”
  
• The murderous nature of reputation destruction
  
• The post WW1 humiliation of Germany
  
• Loaded magazine
  
• Finding the true reason behind seemingly crazy beliefs
  
• The value of religion
  
• Trading status
  
• Spreading humility
  
• Why we could be wrong about our closest beliefs
  

Books Mentioned:

• The Unpersuadables: Adventures with the Enemies of Science; by Will Storr
  
• The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition into the Forces of History; by Howard Bloom
  
• The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism; by Howard Bloom
  
• The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous; by Joseph Henrich
  
• The Science of Storytelling; by Will Storr
  
• Slaughterhouse-Five; by Kurt Vonnegut
  
• Selfie: How We Became so Self-Obsessed and What It’s Doing to Us; by Will Storr
  
• The Status Game: On Social Position and How We Use It; by Will Storr

Vitaliy Katsenelson is the CEO of a value investment firm IMA, author of two books on investing, and a recently published non-investing book named “Soul In The Game”. Known for his uncommon common sense, Forbes magazine called him "The New Benjamin Graham."

Vitaliy loves to read, listen to classical music, play chess, and write about life, investing, and music.

Important Links:

• Blog: https://contrarianedge.com/
  
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/vitaliyk
  
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/vitaliyk
  
• IMA: https://imausa.com/
  
• Favorite classical music website: https://myfavoriteclassical.com/
  
• “The Gateway Drug to Classical Music” Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1tfsohjLty6IK2b2B8AGE0
  

Show Notes:

• Coming to America from Soviet Russia
  
• How movies shape perception
  
• Two frameworks to understand the mind
  
• Programming yourself with the words you use
  
• The Thinker and the Prover
  
• Abracadabra—I create as I speak
  
• Four modes of communication
  
• Not letting an idea become your identity
  
• Writing about both sides of the argument
  
• Reality is nuanced
  
• Depersonalize your arguments
  
• A mathematical formula to determine outcomes
  
• Table cloth model of investing
  
• Event, Judgement, Reaction framework
  
• Reframing your worries away
  
• Is the USA still the best place to be for talented people?
  
• Elon Musk’s distinctiveness
  
• Favorite classical composers
  
• Opera as a plunger for the writer's block
  
• Introducing kids to classical music
  
• The best financial advice Vitaliy ever got
  
• Can money buy happiness?
  
• Experiencing self vs. remembering self
  
• Traveling is an antidote for monotony
  
• Going outside your myopic circles
  
• “The Gateway Drug to Classical Music” playlist
  
• And MUCH more!
  

Books Mentioned:

• Soul In The Game; by Vitaliy Katsenelson
  
• Think Again; by Adam Grant
  
• Influence; by Dr Robert B. Cialdini
  
• The Wealthy Barber; by David Chilton
  
• Gödel, Escher, Bach; by Douglas Hofstadter
  
• How to Win Friends & Influence People; by Dale Carnegie

Dennis McKenna is the founder of the McKenna Academy and has conducted research in ethnopharmacology for over 40 years. He is a founding board member of the Heffter Research Institute, and was a key investigator on the Hoasca Project, the first biomedical investigation of ayahuasca.

Important Links:

• McKenna Academy: https://mckenna.academy/
  
• ESPD 55 (Ethnopharmacologic Search for Psychoactive Drugs): https://espd55.com/
  
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/DennisMcKenna4
  
• ICEERS (International Center for Ethno-botanical Education, Research, and Service): https://www.iceers.org/
  

Show Notes:

• ESPD 55 conference
  
• Goals of the McKenna Academy
  
• How psychedelics affect our relationship with nature
  
• Bridging the gap between ancestral and moderns scientific knowledge
  
• Psychedelics on the safety scale
  
• Nixon’s war against drugs
  
• Fear of persecution in the medical community
  
• LSD being really responsible for the birth of modern neuroscience
  
• DMT reopening the door to clinical research
  
• Using psilocybin for end of life applications
  
• Psychedelics are not just “band-aids”
  
• Dissipation of knowledge among indigenous tribes
  
• Reality hallucination
  
• Therapeutic utility of psychedelics
  
• Future of psychedelic research
  
• Making psychedelics more accessible
  
• Protecting endangered plants
  
• Forming alliances with indigenous communities
  

Books Mentioned:

• The Immortality Key; by Brian Muraresku
  
• How to Change Your Mind; by Michael Pollan
  
• Psychology and Alchemy; by Carl Jung

David Perell is prolific writer and online educator, who runs a writing school called “Write of Passage”. David also hosts the “The North Star Podcast” featuring interviews with writers, athletes, and entrepreneurs.

Important Links:

• Website: https://perell.com/
  
• Writing School: https://writeofpassage.school/
  
• Friday Finds Links: https://perell.com/friday-finds-links/
  
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/david_perell
  

Show Notes:

• Origins of “Write of Passage”
  
• Writing leads to thinking
  
• David’s ever expanding portfolio
  
• Live the life that you teach
  
• Applying lessons from Disneyland to a writing course
  
• Four Seasons of writing education
  
• Ana’s success with David’s course
  
• Writing as a career transition
  
• Average course cohort age
  
• Building a personal monopoly
  
• Advice for an aspiring creator
  
• Dive into the work of the people you admire
  
• Managing fear of creating in public
  
• The network age
  
• Building a product for high-schoolers
  
• Finding your tribe on the internet
  
• Going against the trend with long-form essays
  
• Checklists and prescriptions
  
• The cover band strategy for investing
  
• Building an internet native education system
  
• Schools stifling creativity
  
• The Never-Ending Now
  

Books Mentioned:

• Zero to One; by Peter Thiel
  
• One Summer: America, 1927; by Bill Bryson
  
• The Status Game; by Will Storr
  
• Invest Like the Best; by Jim O'Shaughnessy
  

Shreyas Doshi is a startup advisor who has formerly worked in the product teams of tech firms like Stripe, Twitter, Google, Yahoo. He regularly writes about product, strategy, org psychology, leadership, and life!

Important Links:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/shreyas
  
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shreyasdoshi
  

Show Notes:

• Shreyas’s childhood
  
• Operating with the owner mindset
  
• The LNO framework
  
• Getting good at leveraging time
  
• The antithesis principle
  
• Having a great manager
  
• Individual vs. group decision making
  
• “Apple Pie” positions
  
• Beware of certainty theater
  
• Social media: A global intelligence network
  
• Minimizing your opportunity costs
  
• The issue with following the rubric
  
• Lessons from school at the workplace
  
• Learning to unlearn
  
• Tao Te Ching on leadership
  
• Being an invisible leader
  
• Tight vs. weak grip
  
• And MUCH more!
  

Books Mentioned:

• The Science of Storytelling; by Will Storr
  
• The Status Game; by Will Storr
  
• Tao Te Ching; by Lao Tzu
  

Our recurring guest (who rarely recurs these days), Alex Danco, comes back for his sixth appearance on Infinite Loops!

Important Links:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alex_Danco
  
• Website: https://alexdanco.com/
  
• Newsletter: https://danco.substack.com/
  

Show Notes:

• Our planned, but unplanned conversations
  
• Pink Floyd were philosophers
  
• From Heraclitus, to Lao Tzu, to Gita, to Deutsch
  
• Where does decision making come from?
  
• Projection 101
  
• Can you versus can’t you read people’s mind
  
• Jim throwing big fancy words like “Phylogenetic inertia”
  
• Corn: The apex predator
  
• Self-serving nature of memetic theory
  
• The Mirror Philosophy
  
• What is a “creator”?
  
• Communication theory by Gregory Bateson
  
• The Founding Murderer
  
• Consequences of eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge
  
• "The most entertaining outcome is the most likely.”
  
• Hot media vs. Cool media
  
• The Wire, and dumb Stringer
  
• The state of accreditation
  
• Balancing mystery with transparency
  
• Knowing pop culture as a status symbol
  
• And MUCH more!
  

Books Mentioned:

• The Science of Storytelling; by Will Storr
  
• The Status Game; by Will Storr
  
• Happy; by Derren Brown
  
• The Selfish Gene; by Richard Dawkins
  
• Steps to an Ecology of Mind; by Gregory Bateson
  
• War and Peace; by Leo Tolstoy
  

Johnathan Bi started out getting trained in Mathematics, and then eventually went on to study Philosophy and Computer Science at Columbia. He hosts a lecture series on René Girard’s Mimetic Theory and is also a founding member of Lonsdale Investment Technology.

Important Links:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnathanBi
  
• Lecture series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qu6vBebwwg
  
• Website: https://johnathanbi.com/
  
• Lonsdale Investment Technology: https://www.longterm.com/
  

Show Notes:

• Becoming pessimistic with age
  
• Humiliation always comes back to bite you
  
• How Jonathan got introduced to Buddhism and Girard
  
• Why Jonathan left academia
  
• The driving human emotion
  
• Has modernity ignored the “spirit”?
  
• Girard’s apocalyptic predictions
  
• Wild, wild west of capitalism
  
• The mystery with the discovery of the skull
  
• What does eugenics say about science?
  
• Science becoming dictatorial
  
• Buddhism figuring out the inner telescope
  
• Physical vs. metaphysical desires
  
• Mimesis in asset valuation
  
• Price to magic ratio
  
• Nietzsche's will of power
  
• Is delusion bad?
  
• Can internet lead to greater violence?
  
• “The Buddhist Solution”
  
• Girard—A rescuer of spirit
  
• And MUCH more!
  

Books Mentioned:

• The Status Game; by Will Storr
  
• The Struggle for Recognition; by Axel Honneth
  
• Sapiens; by Yuval Noah Harari
  
• The Science of Storytelling; by Will Storr
  
• The Origin of Species; Charles Darwin
  
• Untimely Meditations; by Friedrich Nietzsche

Dan McMurtrie is the Portfolio Manager at Tyro Partners, an asset management firm for institutions and HNWIs; and the General Partner at Anchorless Bangladesh, an early stage venture fund focused on Bangladeshi startups.

Links:

• Dan’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperMugatu
  
• Tyro Partners: https://www.tyropartners.com/
  
• Anchorless Bangladesh: https://www.anchorless.vc/
  
• Coolworks: Jobs in Great Places: https://www.coolworks.com/
  

Show Notes:

• Are we in the schadenfreude part of the market cycle?
  
• Going back to the fundamentals
  
• Solving the agency problem
  
• Taking concentrated beta risk
  
• Having clarity around your goals
  
• The behavioral risk in investing
  
• Do not get married to your investment thesis
  
• It’s always you vs. you
  
• Investing is about understanding other people's mistakes
  
• Societal costs of stablecoins being unstable
  
• Compatibility of social media and representative democracy
  
• Issues with the current US Govt. administration
  
• Number one existential risk for US currently
  
• Risks of information overload
  
• Improving education about commerce
  
• Dopamine manipulators
  
• Leadership vs. Stakeholder management
  
• America vs China for policy changes
  
• US legal immigration system
  
• And MUCH more!

The Fourth Way is a pseudonymously run Youtube channel and Twitter page dedicated to the path of psychological and spiritual growth and self-improvement. Built around the philosophy of two thinkers - George Gurdjieff and Peter Ouspensky - the ultimate aim of the Fourth Way is “to assist individuals in achieving a higher state of consciousness and self-awareness which can lead to a more fulfilling and meaningful existence.”

Tune in to this week’s episode to learn about the four ways of being; how to befriend your centers; the keys to the universe; and MUCH more!

Important Links:

• The Fourth Way Youtube channel
• The Fourth Way on Twitter

Show Notes:

• Memetic Alchemy
• Introducing The Fourth Way
• The Best Time To Start Is Now
• The Four Ways of Being
• Waking Sleep
• Befriending Your Centers
• Keys To The Universe
• The Law of Octaves
• Indoctrination as Hypnosis
• The Fourth Way Curriculum
• The Search for Mystery
• Don’t Forget To Self-Remember
• Life Is Movement
• A Pitch for The Fourth Way
• Don’t Go With The Flow
• The Fourth…Emperor Of The World

Books Mentioned:

• The Fourth Way; by Peter Ouspensky
• In Search of the Miraculous; by Peter Ouspensky
• Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson; by ****George Gurdjieff
• In Search of Being: The Fourth Way to Consciousness; by George Gurdjieff
• The Struggle of the Magicians; by George Gurdjieff
• Siddhartha; by Herman Hesse
• The Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean; by Thoth The Atlantean

Description:
George Mack is a creator who writes about the intersection of mental models, marketing, and technological tools and tactics. His marketing agency “Multiply” has helped grow some of the fasted growing businesses in the world backed by VCs like Stripe, YC, Sequoia, and LVMH.

• George’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/george__mack
  
• George’s newsletter: https://emailoctopus.com/lists/6d23df04-dff2-11ea-a3d0-06b4694bee2a/forms/subscribe
  
• Multiply Marketing: https://www.multiply.marketing/
  

Show Notes:

• Specific knowledge and technology
  
• Rise of TikTok
  
• Bringing people closer to tech
  
• Regulation slowing down tech innovation
  
• High agency filters
  
• A self-made teenage billionaire?
  
• New forms of education
  
• Word of mouth 2.0
  
• The best marketer doesn’t look like a marketer
  
• Elon’s 21 second pause
  
• Optimizing for luck
  
• The smart friend razor
  
• Superpower in being weird
  
• How to build a porn site
  
• Assess others to assess yourself
  
• The issue with personality tests
  
• Advice to the young
  

Books Mentioned:

• Zero to One; by Peter Thiel
  
• Tao Te Ching; by Lao Tzu
  
• The Bhagavad Gita
  

Ian Cassel is the founder of MicroCapClub, a community where hundreds of investors have discussions on US and Canadian microcap companies. They also help you become better investors with educational content covering investing strategies, intelligent fanatic CEOs, great investors, and more.

Ian is also Founder and CIO at Intelligent Fanatics Capital Management, whose goal is to own the smallest, most illiquid, least institutionally owned, misunderstood businesses that are run by intelligent fanatics.

• Ian’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/iancassel
  
• MicroCapClub: https://microcapclub.com/
  
• Intelligent Fanatics Capital Management: https://if.capital/
  

Show Notes:

• Microcaps are boons for quants
  
• How Ian fell in love with microcaps
  
• Managing other people’s money
  
• Advantages and risks of microcap investing
  
• Profitability, scarcity, and great stories
  
• The top-down and bottom-up investment framework
  
• Not being limited by minimum market caps
  
• Being a hands-on investor
  
• Turnovers in microcap portfolios
  
• PE taking over microcap firms
  
• Increasing the flywheel of serendipity
  
• Preparing to be effortless
  
• Not getting into arguments with people with made up minds
  
• Being honest about your investment approach
  
• The “mute” button hack
  
• Identifying bad management
  
• Importance of base rates
  
• Educating about microcaps
  
• Optimism beats pessimism
  
• Do macroeconomic factors really matter?
  
• What is chasing you?
  

Books Mentioned:

• The Psychology of Money, by Morgan Housel
  
• The Tao Jones Averages, by Bennett Goodspeed

After working at McKinsey and getting an MBA from MIT, Paul Millerd was succeeding well on a path that “made sense”. However, things started changing when he had a health crisis, which ended up with him embarking on a pathless path. Since 2017, he’s been tinkering with multiple side-hustles, writing newsletters, creating podcasts, traveling, and helping others join the pathless path.

• Paul’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/p_millerd
  
• Paul’s newsletter: https://boundless.substack.com/
  
• ‘The Pathless Path’ book: https://think-boundless.com/the-pathless-path/
  

Show Notes:

• Having fun paying bills
  
• Jumping off your fitness landscape
  
• The first few years of being self-employed
  
• Connecting with the subconscious self
  
• Internet as an off-ramp
  
• How to stir up curiosity
  
• Lessons from DJing
  
• The social construct of retirement
  
• Internet economy requires showing up daily
  
• Design for liking your life
  
• Tinkering
  
• Embracing laziness
  
• Luxury of doing what you want
  
• The shift from cynicism to optimism
  
• Societal progress over the last decades
  
• What’s next for Paul?
  

Books Mentioned:

• The Pathless Path; by Paul Millerd
  
• The Body Keeps The Score; by Bessel van der Kolk

Dave Chilton is a Canadian author, investor, and a venture capitalist who has appeared on television in the Canadian version of Dragons’ Den. In 1989, he released his book ”The Wealthy Barber” which went on to sell an astonishing two million copies in Canada.

You can follow Dave on Twitter at https://twitter.com/wealthy_barber and buy his book at https://www.amazon.com/THE-WEALTHY-BARBER/dp/B000SAI072

Show Notes:

• How Dave met Jim
  
• Signs of curiosity
  
• “The Wealthy Barber” TV show
  
• Twitter as a global intelligence network
  
• Capital Camp and Rethinking Private Equity
  
• Getting good at taking criticism
  
• Dave’s approach to writing “The Wealthy Barber”
  
• The decline in business travel
  
• Starting new businesses at 60
  
• Helping out authors with book publishing
  
• “The Chilton Method” web-series
  
• Power laws in podcasting
  
• Inviting Jim’s kids to Infinite Loops
  
• How to react if your passport gets pickpocketed
  
• Living in the moment
  
• Building a healthy relationship with your kids
  
• The natural love for trivia
  
• Collecting art
  
• Anecdotal info in the world of big data
  
• Still using a Blackberry
  

Books Mentioned:

• The Wealthy Barber; by Dave Chilton
  
• What Works on Wall Street; by Jim O'Shaughnessy
  
• Invest Like the Best; by Jim O'Shaughnessy
  
• Psychology of Money; by Morgan Housel
  
• The Immortality Key; by Brian Muraresku

Meb Faber is co-founder and the Chief Investment Officer of Cambria Investment Management, author of multiple books, and host of “The Meb Faber Show” podcast. You can follow Meb on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MebFaber and know more about him and his work at https://mebfaber.com/

Show Notes:

• Replicating the Yale endowment
  
• Why investors won’t follow advice
  
• Importance of writing down your investment plan
  
• The challenges of buy and hold
  
• Learning from your losses
  
• Out of favor strategies
  
• A dividend strategy without dividends
  
• The branding issue with buybacks
  
• Harsh book reviews
  
• Investing in international markets
  
• Are we in an expensive downtrend?
  
• Stated vs. Actual preference
  
• Not betting on merely sentiment
  
• Robinhood with an educational spin

Trung T. Phan is a creator in the tech, business, and media space. His Twitter threads are full of knowledge and humor, and he also co-hosts the “Not Investment Advice” podcast. Follow Trung on Twitter at https://twitter.com/TrungTPhan and subscribe to his newsletter at https://trungtphan.com/subscribe/

Show Notes:

• Trung’s Vietnamese origins
  
• Humor in your talent stack
  
• Asymmetric returns of creating content online
  
• The power of memes
  
• Getting a CFA
  
• Going back to writing movie scripts
  
• Succeeding in the creator economy
  
• How to acquire people’s attention
  
• Creating content on LinkedIn and Facebook
  
• The importance of traveling
  
• Donald Trump’s popularity in SE Asia
  
• History is not black or white
  
• Steve Jobs with the Picasso
  
• How a Microsoft guy catalyzed the iPad
  
• Musk’s space meeting with Bezos
  
• Not letting complacency set in
  
• Putting historical dates into perspective
  
• Structuring speech to persuade
  
• Jim not dissing Plato
  
• Making Ted Lasso likable in 157 seconds
  
• And MORE!
  

Books Mentioned:

• The Status Game; by Will Storr
  
• The Beginning of Infinity; by David Deutsch
  
• Virus of the Mind; by Richard Brodie
  
• The Republic; Plato

Jimmy Soni is an author whose work focuses on people who create and build interesting things—whether theories, carousels, or companies. His books include “The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley”, “A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age”, and more!

You can follow Jimmy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jimmyasoni and go through his work on https://jimmysoni.com/

Show Notes:

• The joy of curiosity
  
• How memes spread
  
• The Great Reshuffle
  
• How internet changed the publishing industry
  
• Parallels between early days of PayPal and Bitcoin
  
• Money as an information system
  
• Appreciating the micro-level decisions
  
• Three new things about Elon
  
• The Elon Effect
  
• How the PayPal founders brought the best out of people
  
• The unknown names who were critical to PayPal
  
• Claude Shannon’s financial decisions
  
• Wealth is a byproduct of the devotion to the craft
  

Books Mentioned:

• The Founders; by Jimmy Soni
  
• A Mind at Play; by Jimmy Soni
  
• Virus of the Mind; by Richard Brodie
  
• The Sovereign Individual; by James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg
  
• What Works on Wall Street; Jim O'Shaughnessy
  

Peter Saddington is a man of many talents. He’s a software developer, founder, author, VC, and writes “The Agile VC” newsletter which covers Inside Startups, Venture Capital, and Life!
You can connect with Peter on Twitter at https://twitter.com/agilepeter and subscribe to his newsletter at https://theagilevc.substack.com/

Show Notes:

• Being exceptionally useful
  
• Holding nothing close to the vest
  
• Mastering the inner self
  
• Peter’s childhood
  
• Financial future of our world
  
• Antifragility of Bitcoin
  
• Mining cryptocurrencies
  
• Infinite Loop’s NFT journey
  
• The future of NFTs
  
• How Peter got censored on YouTube
  
• The rise of Substack
  
• Jim’s business ideas for the new world
  
• The unfair advantage of a physical connection
  
• Fixing your house before fixing the world
  
• Most important skills to have for a young person
  
• Manifestation is about taking action

Ben Hunt is the creator and primary author of Epsilon Theory, and co-founder and CIO at Second Foundation Partners.
Epsilon Theory is a newsletter that examines markets through the lenses of game theory and history. Over 100,000 professional investors and allocators across 180 countries read Epsilon Theory for its fresh perspective and novel insights into market dynamics.
You can follow Ben on Twitter at https://twitter.com/EpsilonTheory and read Epsilon Theory here: https://www.epsilontheory.com/

Show Notes:

• Neurolinguistic hard reset
  
• Ben’s days at Harvard
  
• Why Klaus Schwab is a raccoon
  
• Human beings are social animals
  
• How language impacts and limits us
  
• The cost of the Metaverse
  
• How the nudging state is rewiring us
  
• Does narrative follow price, or is it the inverse?
  
• Traders respond to stories everyday
  
• How technology can fight the nudging state.
  
• NOAH: An ark of stories on the blockchain
  

Books Mentioned:

• The WEIRDest People in the World; by Joseph Henrich
  
• How the Irish Saved Civilization; by Thomas Cahill

Brian Feroldi is the author of the book “Why Does The Stock Market Go Up?: Everything You Should Have Been Taught About Investing In School, But Weren't”. His mission statement is “To Spread Financial Wellness”, and he does exactly that in this episode of Infinite Loops!

You can connect with Brian on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BrianFeroldi and get his book from Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Why-Does-Stock-Market-Everything/dp/1735066168/

Show Notes:

• Brian’s first exposure to the stock market
  
• The power of mission statements
  
• Personal finances over investments
  
• Paying off your mortgage early
  
• Finding high-quality companies
  
• (Business) Momentum investing
  
• Brian’s Investment Checklist
  
• Importance of narratives in investments strategies
  
• 99% of great investing is doing nothing
  
• On being wrong, and learning from mistakes
  
• DCA’ing into index funds
  
• Capitalism is brutal
  
• Knowing Tom Engle
  

Books Mentioned:

• Why Does The Stock Market Go Up?; by Brian Feroldi
  
• The Tao Jones Averages; Bennett W. Goodspeed
  
• How To Retire Rich; by Jim O'Shaughnessy
  
• The Intelligent Investor; by Benjamin Graham
  
• The Psychology of Money; Morgan Housel
  
• Just Keep Buying; Nick Maggiulli

Mona Sobhani, Ph.D. is a cognitive neuroscientist, researcher, and author. In 2022 she published her first book, Proof of Spiritual Phenomena: A Neuroscientist's Discovery of the Ineffable Mysteries of the Universe, which documents her “transformation from diehard materialist to open-minded spiritual seeker.”

Mona joins the show to discuss blowing open the box of materialism, why anecdotes are scientifically underrated, what she learned from studying decades of research into psi-phenomena, how quantum science is transforming the way we think about consciousness, and MUCH more!

Important Links:

• Mona’s Twitter
• Proof of Spiritual Phenomena: A Neuroscientist's Discovery of the Ineffable Mysteries of the Universe; by Mona Sobhani
• Cosmos, Coffee & Consciousness (Mona’s Substack)
• Life Will Be the Death of Me Podcast with Chelsea Handler (Ep. 19): People on the Other Side with Laura Lynne Jackson
• Infinite Potential: The Life & Ideas of David Bohm
• Prophetic AI

Show Notes:

• Mona’s Journey Beyond Materialism
• Anecdotes are Scientifically Underrated; Research Into Psi Phenomena
• How Mona Deals With Her Colleagues’ Skepticism
• The Persuasiveness of Personal Experience
• Psychic Phenomena & the Scientific Method
• Blowing Open the Box of Materialism
• How Quantum Science is Transforming How We Think About Consciousness
• Transcendent Technology
• Psychedelics as a Bridge
• What’s Next for Mona
• Bringing Humanity Back Into Science
• Mona as Empress of the World
• MORE!

Books & Articles Mentioned:

• Proof of Spiritual Phenomena: A Neuroscientist's Discovery of the Ineffable Mysteries of the Universe; by Mona Sobhani
• The Radical Ideas of Psychedelic Research 2.0 (Pt.1; Pt.2); by Mona Sobhani
• Many Lives, Many Masters: The true story of a prominent psychiatrist, his young patient and the past-life therapy that changed both their lives; by Dr. Brian Weiss
• The New Inquisition: Irrational Rationalism and the Citadel of Science; by Robert Anton Wilson
• Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy; by Michael Polanyi
• The Two Cultures; by C. P. Snow
• The Fabric of Reality: Towards a Theory of Everything; by David Deutsch
• The work of Dean Radin
• The Common Basis of Memory and Consciousness: Understanding the Brain as a Write-Read Head Interacting With an Omnipresent Background Field’ by Joachim Keppler
• How To Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence; by Michael Pollan
• What the Tortoise Said to Achilles; by Lewis Carroll

Tracy Alloway is the co-host of the Odd Lots podcast and a managing editor at Bloomberg Markets. You can follow Tracy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/tracyalloway and listen to her podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/show/1te7oSFyRVekxMBJUSethH

Show Notes:

• Financial crisis hindsight
  
• Being obsessed with risk and systemic stability
  
• Historical parallels to the crisis of ‘08
  
• Macro vs. micro bullshitting
  
• Why people refuse to say “I don't know”
  
• Victorian chicken bubble
  
• Tales of forensic accounting
  
• NFTs being used to launder money?
  
• NFTs’ path to success
  
• Insights from collapse of previous civilizations
  
• Understanding the Human OS
  
• Fair Wages for Robots
  
• Praise for Citi’s Matt King and Credit Suisse’s Zoltan Pozsar

Nick Maggiulli is a financial educator, author of the blog “Of Dollars and Data”, and the newly released book “Just Keep Buying: Proven Ways To Save Money And Build Your Wealth.”

In this episode, we talk with Nick about the robust empirical research that has gone behind the insights and ideas presented in his new book!

You can follow Nick on Twitter at https://twitter.com/dollarsanddata and buy his book at https://ofdollarsanddata.com/justkeepbuying/

Show Notes:

• Coming up with title of the book
  
• The save-invest continuum
  
• Is buying a house a good investment?
  
• Debt: Good or bad?
  
• On being shaped by our experiences
  
• One path the wealth creation?
  
• 2020 vs 2021 as an investment year
  
• Handling emotions during a bear market
  
• Importance of diversification
  
• The ideal asset allocation
  
• The Great Reshuffle
  
• The argument against stock picking
  
• Negative yield bonds
  
• Lump sum vs. DCA
  
• Index investors or momentum investors
  
• Life as a growth, and value stock
  

Books Mentioned:

• Just Keep Buying; by Nick Magguilli
  
• Security Analysis; Benjamin Graham
  
• The Intelligent Investor; Benjamin Graham
  
• Influence; by Robert Cialdini

William Green is a journalist and author of the book “RICHER, WISER, HAPPIER: How the World's Greatest Investors Win in Markets and Life.” — a book that draws on hundreds of hours of interviews with many of the world’s super-investors to demonstrate that key insights for building wealth apply to life as well.

You can follow William on Twitter https://twitter.com/williamgreen72 and get his book at https://www.amazon.com/Richer-Wiser-Happier-Greatest-Investors/dp/1501164856

Show Notes:

• From Journalism to Investing
  
• Obsessiveness required to play and win a game
  
• Behavioral biases
  
• Role of patience in investing
  
• Stoicism, and dealing with uncertainty
  
• Reading authors like Henry James
  
• Saying YES to serendipity
  
• Being present in the moment
  
• Delaying gratification
  
• “When I fall, I shall rise”
  
• Getting out of your own way
  
• Staying away from the games that don't suit you
  
• How body posture can affect you psychologically
  
• Giving pleasure to your creator
  
• Not knowing the truth
  

Books Mentioned:

• Richer, Wiser, Happier: How the World's Greatest Investors Win in Markets and in Life; by William Green
  
• Happy: Why More Or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine; by Derren Brown
  

As Chamath Palihapitiya put it back in April 2021, 10-K Diver is “one of the best fintwit accounts on Twitter.” 10-K Diver loves breaking down complex financial topics and helping people understand them via engaging Twitter threads.

You can follow 10-K Diver on Twitter at https://twitter.com/10kdiver and read all his threads at https://10kdiver.com/twitter-threads/

Show Notes:

• Curating aggressively
  
• Is there a long term plan?
  
• Reasoning from the first principles
  
• Volatility tax
  
• Do markets have a memory?
  
• Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE)
  
• Mental models for investing
  
• Premeditating
  
• Jim’s GIF game
  
• Is it a Lindy or a turkey?
  
• The ‘Money Concepts’ show
  
• Benefits and pitfalls of leverage
  
• What’s next for the 10-K diver?
  

Books Mentioned:

• Reminiscences of a Stock Operator; by Edwin Lefèvre
  
• Happy; by Derren Brown

Morgan Housel comes back for his second episode and Infinite Loops’ 100th episode! Morgan is a financial writer and author of the bestselling book “Psychology of Money” — having sold more than a million copies worldwide!

You can follow Morgan on Twitter at https://twitter.com/morganhousel, and read his blog at https://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/

Show Notes:

• Morgan’s role at Collaborative Fund
  
• Marketing that isn’t “forced”
  
• Good product is good marketing
  
• When perception becomes reality
  
• Feedback to Morgan’s book
  
• The power of stories
  
• Understanding finance vs. Experiencing it
  
• Writing is thinking
  
• Not a great age for middlemen
  
• Promises of crypto
  
• Should volatility be considered as risk?
  
• Morgan’s next book
  
• Disconnect between the ideal and the practical
  
• Change in Morgan’s life after his book’s success
  
• Happiness is not about money
  
• Raising children into great adults
  
• Interviews should be conversations, not interrogations
  
• On luck and humility
  

Books Mentioned:

• Psychology of Money; by Morgan Housel

Dr. David Rhoiney is a Robotic Surgeon, but his talent stack also includes being a cryptologist, financial educator, writer, public speaker, web developer, former Division One Basketball player and sprinter, and more! Phew...

However, he did not come from a background of privilege. He started out homeless, and the only bread winner of his struggling family from a very young age. So how did he change his life? One word: Perseverance.

Dr. David is now on the path of helping others change their own lives, and shares one of most inspiring stories we have heard till date. We are grateful to be able to share his life's journey with you. Hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did.

You can contact Dr. David on Twitter at https://twitter.com/FiSurgi and subscribe to his newsletter at https://surgifi.substack.com/

Show notes:

• David’s childhood
  
• Managing to stay away from Foster care
  
• Going through a GI bleed
  
• An academic turnaround
  
• Becoming a submariner
  
• Four years of cryptology
  
• Getting into medical school
  
• Introduction to financial literacy
  
• Origins of SurgiFi
  
• On always being kind and helpful
  
• David’s Talent Stack
  
• Advice to the young
  
• Motivating people to learn
  
• Never going back to poverty
  
• Being an autodidact
  
• Poverty is NOT chosen
  
• Ideas to improve financial literacy in the world

Douglas A. Boneparth is the President at Bone Fide Wealth, Founder at CryptoDrip, and co-author of the book ‘Millennial Money Fix’.

Follow Douglas on his Twitter at https://twitter.com/dougboneparth, CryptoDrip at https://twitter.com/cryptodripxyz and know more about Bone Fide Wealth here: https://bonefidewealth.com/

Show Notes:

• Writing a book with your spouse
  
• "Killing your darlings"
  
• Humor as a marketing strategy
  
• Generating leads with Twitter and SEO
  
• Scaling a financial planning business
  
• Demystifying financial jargon
  
• Dealing with the 2020 crisis
  
• Doug's introduction to Bitcoin
  
• The Web 2.0/Web 3.0 bridge
  
• Crypto Drip: A coffee-based NFT collection
  
• Trusting the trust-less system
  
• Gamestop-AMC saga
  
• Responsibilities of a fiduciary
  
• Earning the Right to Invest
  
• How NOT to suck on Twitter
  

Books Mentioned:

• The Millennial Money Fix; by Douglas A. Boneparth and Heather Boneparth

Steven Begleiter is a Managing Director of Flexpoint Ford. Prior to joining Flexpoint Ford in 2008, Steve was a Senior Managing Director at Bear Stearns & Co. He is also a professional Poker player who claimed the 6th place in World Series of Poker 2009, winning $1.59M

Show Notes:

• Culture at Bear Stearns
  
• The liquidity crisis that ended Bear Stearns
  
• Evolution of Financial Services
  
• Importance of having a ‘thesis’ for your investments
  
• The Rise of Private Equity
  
• Where is PE headed to?
  
• Investing lessons from a Poker career
  
• Role of luck in life and Poker
  
• Psychology at the poker table
  
• How micro-expressions can give your game away
  
• Historical perspective to the Russia-Ukraine crisis
  
• Importance of reading military history

Jake Taylor is the CEO of Farnam Street Investments and author of the book ‘The Rebel Allocator’, a book that help readers make better investment and business decisions. You can find Jake on Twitter at https://twitter.com/farnamjake1 and get his book from https://www.amazon.com/Rebel-Allocator-Jacob-Taylor/dp/173268832X

Show Notes:

• Iron Law of Economic Survival
  
• Trade-offs between profit and brand
  
• Capturing intangible value
  
• Products as signalling devices
  
• Journalytic — Getting better at decision making
  
• Reducing the friction around journalling
  
• Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey
  
• Shortening the brain’s feedback loop
  
• The Great Reshuffle
  
• The Thinker and The Prover
  
• Cheng versus Ch'i
  
• Plato’s cave analogy for business decision making
  
• What makes a good decision maker?
  

Books Mentioned:

• The Rebel Allocator; by Jake Taylor
  
• The Wealthy Barber; by Dave Chilton
  
• The Nature of Value; by Nick Gogerty
  
• The Genius of the Beast; by Howard Bloom
  
• Happy; by Derren Brown

Our recurring guest Alex Danco of Spotify, err.. Shopify returns to Infinite Loops for his fifth appearance to discuss all things Web 3! Follow Alex on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Alex_Danco and read his essays at https://alexdanco.com/

Show Notes:

• Was it un-Canadian for Canada to pass the Emergency Act?
  
• Was the MAGA movement monarchist?
  
• Social meaning of NFTs
  
• What NFTs are not
  
• Catholicism — The original blockchain
  
• Code that can make commitments
  
• Wallets are the new web browsers
  
• What really is censorship
  
• Blockchains tell you what to ignore
  
• Porting from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0
  
• NFTs as human readable format of a smart contract
  
• Why gamers end up as good decision makers
  
• How to identify an extremely online person

Described by David Perell as “like Rick Rubin for writing,” Ellen Fishbein is an author and writing coach and the founder of Altamira Studio, an independent publisher specializing in short-form books. She joins the show to discuss how traditional publishing disrespects intelligent readers, her advice for aspiring authors, what she’s learned from Shakespeare’s sonnets, and MUCH more!

Important Links:

• Altamira Studio
• Writing.coach
• Muse By Mail
• Ellen’s Website
• Ellen’s Twitter

Show Notes:

• The Caves of Altamira
• The New Book Deal
• Using Shakespeare’s Sonnets as a Writing Guide
• The Author’s Compass
• The Storytelling Magic of Herman Hesse
• Zero to One & Writing as Personal Communication
• How Traditional Publishing Disrespects Smart Readers
• How the Legacy Publishing System Results in Regression to the Mean
• AI in the Writing Process
• Cutting Out the Middle Man
• Muse By Mail
• Advice for Aspiring Authors
• Writing Coaching & Working with Big Publishers
• Ellen as Empress of the World
• MORE!

Books, Articles & Films Mentioned:

• The New Book Deal; by Ellen Fishbein
• Future of Publishing: 10 High-Conviction Views; by Ellen Fishbein
• What makes Zero to One a masterpiece; by Ellen Fishbein
• Have you found your “bible”?; by Ellen Fishbein
• ASK ARISTOTLE; by Vishal Sharma and William Jaworski
• MEMES MAKE MILLIONS; by Jason Levin
• SPACEFARING: A contribution to Earth’s archives; by Ellen Fishbein
• The Glass Bead Game; by Hermann Hesse Hesse's
• Demian: The Story of a Boyhood; by Hermann Hesse
• Siddharta; by Hermann Hesse
• Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future; by Peter Thiel with Blake Masters
• What Works on Wall Street: A Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All Time; by Jim O’Shaughnessy
• How to Retire Rich: Time-Tested Strategies to Beat the Market and Retire in Style; by Jim O’Shaughnessy
• Cave of Forgotten Dreams; Directed by Werner Herzog

Rohit Krishnan is a VC and essayist who writes the ‘Strange Loop Canon’ newsletter in which he tries to understand the ever increasing complexity of our world. You can follow Rohit on Twitter at https://twitter.com/krishnanrohit and subscribe to his newsletter at https://www.strangeloopcanon.com/

Show Notes:

• Douglas Hofstadter’s Strange Loop
  
• Memory as an unreliable narrator
  
• Are we seeing a decline in eccentricity?
  
• The Great Reshuffle
  
• We need more Thiel-style patrons
  
• Why do big companies suck at innovation?
  
• Importance of failure
  
• Reducing the cost of failure
  
• Universal Basic Income/Dividend
  
• Maximizing EV vs. Maximizing hit rate
  
• Are governments inefficient?
  
• Fragility of jobs
  
• World in 2050
  

Books Recommended:

• Gödel, Escher, Bach; by Douglas Hofstadter
  
• I Am a Strange Loop; by Douglas Hofstadter
  
• The Misbehavior of Markets; by Benoit Mandelbrot and Richard L. Hudson

Title: 

Description:
Sam McRoberts is the CEO of VUDU Marketing, an SEO agency and author of the book ‘Screw the Zoo’, a book that helps you “escape from your cage, free your mind, and take over the world.” You can contact Sam on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Sams_Antics and get his book at https://screwthezoo.com/

Show Notes:

• Life as a digital nomad
  
• Role of video games in children’ education
  
• The Great Unwashed
  
• Running an SEO consultancy
  
• Jed McKenna — A fictional character?
  
• Being kind to everyone
  
• Importance of curation in social media
  
• Bot infestation in Twitter
  
• Free will vs. Nature of reality
  
• Surrender comes after enlightenment, not before
  
• Memory as a latticework
  
• Shannon Limit
  
• Love as detachment
  
• Perseverance and survivorship bias
  
• The Original Sin
  
• Another dark age?
  
• To mute, or to block?
  
• Virtual Reality and Robots
  
• Psychedelics
  

Books Recommended:

• The Beginning of Infinity; by David Deutsch
  
• Cloud Atlas; by David Mitchell
  
• Screw the Zoo; by Sam McRoberts
  

Rick Doblin in the Founder and Executive Director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). MAPS is a leading organization in the USA supporting psychedelic and marijuana research since 1986. You can follow Rick on his Twitter at https://twitter.com/RickDoblin.

Amy Emerson is the CEO of the MAPS Public Benefit Corporation (MAPS PBC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of MAPS. You can learn more about MAPS and donate at https://maps.org/

Show Notes:

• Rick’s journey from Construction to Psychedelics
  
• How Amy met Rick and started working together
  
• How psychedelic research was hampered for decades
  
• MDMA therapy for police officers and Navy Seals
  
• Cultural shift in the perception of psychedelics
  
• Has internet made it easier or difficult to spread propaganda?
  
• Legitimate concerns agains advancements in psychedelic research
  
• MDMA: A euphoric, or psychedelic?
  
• Man-made vs. Natural psychedelics
  
• Psychedelics are NOT magic cure-all pills
  
• MDMA treatment for childhood trauma?
  
• Alternative forms of treatment like sound therapy, VR, hypnotism
  
• Why donate to MAPS
  

Books Mentioned:

• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; by Ken Kesey
  
• Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge; by Jeremy Narby
  
• How to Change Your Mind; by Michael Pollan
  
• The Immortality Key; by Brian Muraresku
  
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance; by Robert M. Pirsig
  
• The Body Keeps the Score; by Bessel van der Kolk
  
• Happy; by Derren Brown
  
• The Beginning of Infinity; by David Deutsch