Sam Kuypers is a physicist and researcher at the Conjecture Institute, working at the intersection of quantum theory, epistemology, and AI alignment. His work explores the deep structure of knowledge, the philosophy of time, and how models of understanding evolve, follow Sam on Twitter

We talk about quantum information, how theories evolve, the failures of conventional education, and why clarity in epistemology matters more than ever. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

02:25 – How science builds explanations vs just data

04:51 – Why quantum theory still confuses people

07:17 – Absurdity in textbook interpretations of collapse

09:43 – Why time and causality remain misunderstood

12:09 – Openness of the future and causality in physics

14:35 – The arrow of time and symmetric equations

17:01 – What realism really means in science

19:27 – Quantum theory as deeply explanatory

21:53 – Quantum entanglement and the problem of locality

24:18 – Probability, measurement, and subjective views

26:44 – Why alternate versions of reality can’t interact

29:10 – Education as guessing, criticizing, and learning

31:36 – Genuine knowledge vs passive absorption

34:02 – ChatGPT and the future of learning

36:28 – Unschooling and child-led epistemology

38:54 – Reviving forgotten epistemological frameworks

41:20 – Why the best theories aren’t widely accepted

43:46 – Epistemological mistakes and the mission at Conjecture

Henry Holtz is a meditation teacher and engineer exploring non-duality, consciousness, and the paradoxes of awakening. His work brings together deep spiritual insight with direct, embodied experience, follow Henry on Twitter

We talk about the nature of awareness, the illusion of self, the trap of seeking, and how spiritual awakening unfolds through deep honesty and surrender. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

02:50 – The shift from “I am the thinker” to “thoughts arise in me”

05:40 – How meditation reveals what was always the case

08:30 – Chasing spiritual states vs recognizing the present

11:20 – The illusion of a future enlightenment

14:10 – How self-improvement becomes another ego game

17:00 – Is there ever an endpoint to the spiritual path?

19:50 – Practice vs surrender and the apartment metaphor

22:40 – How meditation helps in daily life and engineering

25:30 – Stress, discipline, and clarity at work

28:20 – The “dark night of the soul” and spiritual depression

31:10 – Letting go of self-improvement and facing sadness

34:00 – Stability, grounding, and small daily actions

36:50 – The illusion of self and what the robber sees

39:40 – The mind’s frameworks can’t contain reality

42:30 – Spiritual traps: idolizing teachers and bypassing the present

45:20 – Searching for awareness while looking from it

48:10 – The deeper paradoxes of perception and being

51:00 – What is the default mode network and its spiritual role?

BJ Campbell is the author of the Handwaving Freakoutery Substack and a systems engineer with deep experience in data analysis. His writing explores media dynamics, gun policy, polarization, and the complex incentives behind cultural panic, follow BJ on Twitter

We talk about how freakouts form, how institutions lose trust, the mechanics of mass persuasion, and what we can do when truth breaks down. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

02:29 – The origin of “freakoutery” and viral moral panic

05:04 – How trust breaks and narratives take over

07:31 – Role of experts and institutional decay

09:58 – Why media can’t afford to be accurate

12:23 – Gun violence, data misuse, and tribal conclusions

14:50 – BJ’s breakdown of CDC messaging failure

17:18 – Do both sides cherry-pick gun data?

19:46 – Why no one really wants an honest debate

22:12 – The incentive systems of media and politics

24:39 – Are we already in a soft civil war?

27:06 – Public health as a rhetorical weapon

29:33 – How memes win and outcompete facts

31:59 – Algorithms and narrative feedback loops

34:26 – Chaos as performance and control

36:52 – Information overload and digital stress

39:19 – Epistemology and the limits of modeling

41:46 – Collapse of authority and search for coherence

44:13 – How to rebuild trust without central control

46:40 – Models, culture, and long-term thinking

49:07 – What optimism looks like under breakdown

51:34 – Freakoutery, faith, and the next wave

54:01 – Final thoughts on rebuilding rationality

Michael Strong is an educational entrepreneur, author, and co-founder of several ventures focused on liberating human potential — including the Academy of Thought and Industry and The Socratic Experience. He writes about innovation in education, startup cities, and moral development, follow Michael on Twitter

We talk about how schooling shapes society, what freedom means in practice, and why creating better institutional environments matters more than reforming broken ones. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

02:51 – The moral vision behind Socratic dialogue

05:42 – School as an obedience-training system

08:33 – The pain and purpose of adolescent development

11:24 – Why most schools kill intrinsic motivation

14:15 – Reimagining schools through freedom and trust

17:06 – Human capital and educational entrepreneurship

19:57 – Startup cities as moral ecosystems

22:48 – The importance of good rules vs lots of rules

25:39 – Why real liberty includes responsibility

28:30 – Institutions that align with human flourishing

31:21 – Virtue ethics, Aristotle, and thriving students

34:12 – How to scale good ideas without bureaucracy

37:03 – The future of self-directed learning

39:54 – Unschooling, discipline, and long-term outcomes

42:45 – Building a moral culture without coercion

45:36 – School as simulation vs engagement with reality

48:27 – The spiritual dimension of creative work

51:18 – Final thoughts on education, meaning, and freedom

Garett Jones is an economist at George Mason University and the author of Hive Mind, 10% Less Democracy, and The Culture Transplant. His work explores how intelligence, institutions, and ancestry shape national prosperity — often in surprising ways, follow Garett on Twitter

We talk about national IQ, smarter governance, immigration policy, and why “less democracy” might sometimes mean better results. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

03:11 – Smart people build better institutions that help everyone

06:22 – IQ gaps, immigration, and intergenerational convergence

09:33 – IVF, embryo selection, and boosting intelligence

12:44 – Should we optimize our children’s genetics?

15:55 – Axelrod, cooperation, and designing better institutions

19:06 – What does “10% less democracy” really mean?

22:17 – Making the case for longer political terms and elite control

25:28 – Populism, Trump, and democratic decisions

28:39 – Education, cosmopolitanism, and political tolerance

31:50 – Why Europe is less market-friendly than the U.S.

35:01 – Does democracy really cause economic growth?

38:12 – Governance, boards, and the myth of top-down control

41:23 – Iceland, open borders, and testing migration theory

44:34 – Capitalism, communism, and cultural risk

47:45 – Guest worker models and citizenship debates

50:56 – Global elite summits and influence networks

54:07 – Teaching general principles that stick

57:18 – Public choice and win-win cooperation over 10,000 years

Johan Norberg is a Swedish author and historian of ideas. He’s a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and the author of Progress, In Defense of Global Capitalism, The Capitalist Manifesto and more recently Peak Human. His work explores the roots of prosperity, the case for open societies, and why freedom leads to human flourishing, follow Johan on Twitter

We talk about what really drives progress, how innovation emerges, the false promises of degrowth, and why optimism is a moral stance. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

02:31 – Why trade and openness drive innovation

05:03 – The mindset of responsibility and agency

07:36 – Capitalism, sustainability, and environmental progress

10:10 – Why human flourishing isn’t guaranteed

12:42 – How human creativity builds prosperity

15:17 – What profit really means in free markets

17:51 – Risk-taking and the power of entrepreneurship

20:27 – The decline of global inequality

23:03 – Can markets handle externalities fairly?

25:41 – Why regulation doesn’t mean anti-market

28:15 – Cultural mixing and progress through diversity

30:54 – Embracing uncertainty instead of fearing it

33:20 – Against utopia: why hope must stay grounded

35:59 – Degrowth and the real moral risks of stopping progress

38:36 – Lockdowns, poverty, and policy trade-offs

41:10 – The future of work, leisure, and meaning

43:45 – Green growth and energy optimism

46:12 – Literature, imagination, and moral insight

48:50 – Final reflections on freedom and fallibility

Avi Kahan is a writer and thinker exploring the relationship between science, metaphysics, and religious thought. His work touches on Judaism, psychology, and the philosophical foundations of belief.

We talk about the metaphysics of God, the psychological architecture of religion, how science can take on religious roles, and why faith persists in the modern world. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

02:48 – God as a mental model and personal conviction

05:36 – Upbringing, exposure, and identity shaping

08:25 – Jewish history, struggle, and cultural continuity

11:13 – Jesus and the Inquisition story

14:01 – Leadership, law, and religious structure

16:50 – Religion and the suppression of doubt

19:38 – Greek gods and metaphysical abstractions

22:26 – Prayer, science, and embodied rituals

25:15 – Freud, Jung, and metaphysical psychology

28:03 – Can science itself become a religion?

30:52 – Scientific awe and religious feeling

33:40 – Why religion won’t die

36:28 – Religious cohesion across major traditions

39:17 – Community, healing, and harm through religion

42:05 – Optimism and human progress

44:53 – Connection, communication, and modern unity

47:42 – Moral convergence and global values

50:30 – Aristotle, Antiochus, and metaphysical struggle

Leigh Brasington is a meditation teacher in the Theravāda Buddhist tradition and the author of Right Concentration: A Practical Guide to the Jhānas. He was authorized to teach by Ayya Khema and is known for his deep knowledge of jhāna practice and insight meditation.

We talk about altered states of concentration, awakening without dogma, what it feels like to perceive without ego, and how practice transforms life. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

02:37 – Seeing reality beyond the ego

05:15 – Learning the jhānas with Ayya Khema

07:53 – Insight that follows deep concentration

10:31 – What real meditation absorption feels like

13:09 – Leigh’s critique of lighter jhāna methods

15:47 – Retreat environments and access to jhānas

18:25 – Teaching online vs in-person

21:03 – What helps students succeed

23:41 – Stories from students’ breakthroughs

26:18 – Is jhāna possible for everyone?

28:56 – Why we procrastinate on practice

31:34 – Insight meditation and Satipaṭṭhāna

34:12 – How meditation shapes happiness

36:50 – Is full awakening really possible?

39:28 – Letting go of the sense of self

42:06 – Dependent origination explained

44:44 – Emptiness and early perception

47:22 – Final reflections and recommended books

Max More is a philosopher, futurist, and one of the world’s most influential advocates for cryonics and life extension. He’s the former CEO of Alcor and a leading thinker on transhumanism, personal identity, and long-term survival, follow Max on Twitter

We talk about cryopreservation, memory, the limits of death, technological ethics, and why future generations might live radically longer and freer lives. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

02:37 – How memory works through death and anesthesia

05:15 – What happens to the body before legal death

07:53 – Ending the inevitability of aging

10:31 – How many people are signed up for cryopreservation?

13:09 – What embryos teach us about freezing humans

15:47 – How the procedure works: cryoprotectants and vitrification

18:25 – Clinical death and revival windows

21:03 – How advanced technology defines death

23:41 – Governance and the future of cryonics organizations

26:18 – Skepticism vs honest uncertainty

28:56 – Sci-fi myths and public misunderstanding

31:34 – Why Max sees biostasis as rational

34:12 – The precautionary principle and political risk-aversion

36:50 – What the IPCC really says about climate change

39:28 – Living in extreme conditions without panic

42:06 – Financial preparedness for uncertain futures

44:44 – What kind of world could revive you?

47:22 – Reprogramming mood and personality in the future

Richard Y. Chappell is a moral philosopher and Associate Professor at the University of Miami. He works on effective altruism, utilitarianism, moral realism, digital minds, and the ethics of the far future. He co-authored An Introduction to Utilitarianism and writes at the blog Good Thoughts, follow Richard on Twitter

We talk about doing good effectively, moral truth, AI consciousness, and why compassion needs reason. Topics and ideas are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

0:00 – Intro

0:24 – What is effective altruism?

4:08 – Longtermism & future risks

9:34 – Beneficentrism vs utilitarianism

14:56 – Donating 10%

17:16 – Emotions vs reason

19:09 – Writing with MacAskill

20:28 – What is moral realism?

24:35 – Liberalism vs relativism

25:12 – Why normativity matters

26:30 – Reason vs evolution

28:50 – Conscious AI

30:28 – Who counts morally?

33:55 – Mechanistic minds?

34:52 – Books that shaped him

35:24 – Defining personhood

37:30 – Should philosophers reach people?

40:43 – Status quo bias

43:07 – The meaning of life

Jac O’Keeffe is a spiritual teacher, author, and founder of the Association for Spiritual Integrity. She guides students on the path beyond ego, and speaks openly about awakening, trauma, power dynamics, and the mystery of consciousness.

We talk about spiritual awakening, teacher-student dynamics, the traps of identity, and how integrity fits into the inner path. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

02:37 – Ego breakdowns and spontaneous mystical experiences

05:15 – Helping a spirit cross over

07:53 – Interactions with beings and inner dialogues

10:31 – Realizing her spiritual orientation

13:09 – The moment that changed everything

15:47 – Intuition, autism, and social trust

18:25 – Embodiment and energetic memory

21:03 – Why spiritual teachers sometimes behave badly

23:41 – Founding the Association for Spiritual Integrity

26:18 – Why students fear giving feedback to teachers

28:56 – When teachers project their unmet needs

31:34 – Empowering students to reclaim their authority

34:12 – Shared blind spots in the teacher-student dynamic

36:50 – Projecting and mirroring in spiritual relationships

39:28 – Becoming comfortable with full humanness

42:06 – Misunderstanding Jesus and obedience

44:44 – Doing spiritual service without funding

47:22 – Consciousness incarnating to experience separation

David Deutsch is a physicist at the University of Oxford, widely considered one of the most profound thinkers alive today. He’s the author of The Beginning of Infinity and The Fabric of Reality, and a pioneer of quantum computing and Popperian epistemology, follow David on Twitter

We talk about the nature of truth, creativity, optimism, education, AGI, and why error correction is the key to human progress. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

03:13 – Can we eliminate error without ever knowing the final truth?

06:21 – Why knowledge is always incomplete

08:22 – Sam Harris, meditation, and mental frameworks

09:41 – The mind as an explanation-generator

13:22 – Anti-rational memes and the Enlightenment break

17:28 – What caused progress to finally take off?

20:29 – The nature of universal theories

23:43 – Epistemic patience vs persuasive narratives

27:16 – Institutions and pruning the “search tree” of ideas

30:21 – AGI, refusal to respond, and creative isolation

33:16 – Political promises and the irrationality of reelection incentives

37:45 – School vs justice systems: arbitrary rules and real freedom

41:43 – Creativity and the labor market

44:25 – Henry Ford and the problem of sameness

47:15 – Innovation, taxation, and punishment

50:16 – How to become a better problem solver

54:27 – Blind optimism vs blind pessimism

57:59 – Popper, Bronowski, and the power of explanation

1:01:22 – David’s most important lesson: Popperian epistemology

Scott Aaronson is a theoretical computer scientist at the University of Texas at Austin, known for his pioneering work on quantum computing and computational complexity. He writes the widely read blog Shtetl-Optimized and has shaped how researchers and the public understand both the possibilities and limits of quantum technology.

We talk about the reality of quantum computing, cryptography, AI progress, large language models, and what the future might look like when these technologies converge. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Watch on YouTube. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

03:25 – How computer science views quantum mechanics today

06:50 – Superconducting qubits and how quantum machines are built

10:15 – The rules of quantum probability explained

13:41 – Quantum error correction and protecting fragile states

17:06 – When quantum algorithms provide a speed-up (and when they don’t)

20:31 – Skepticism and testing the limits of quantum hype

23:56 – Why Scott is optimistic about scalable quantum computing

27:22 – Potential applications: materials, chemistry, and beyond

30:47 – Shor’s algorithm and breaking classical encryption

34:12 – Bitcoin, cryptography, and the risks of a working quantum computer

37:37 – Grover’s algorithm and the reality of search speedups

41:03 – Large language models vs hard computational problems

44:28 – What tasks AI still can’t solve (and how to test them)

47:53 – GPT-4 vs GPT-3: progress, hype, and possible limits

51:18 – How companies train and deploy models responsibly

54:44 – The pace of change since ChatGPT launched

58:09 – Power and danger: capability without aligned goals

1:01:34 – Why AI is not just another technology but a civilizational shift

Michael Huemer is a professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado Boulder and the author of Ethical Intuitionism, The Problem of Political Authority, and more six books. He is known for his clarity, rigor, and no-nonsense philosophical reasoning and is in my opinion one of the best philosophers alive, follow Mike on Twitter

We talk about the logic of free will, the illusion of the self, moral responsibility, philosophical anarchism, and how rationality might still matter in a deterministic universe. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Watch on YouTube. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

03:22 – Is the bias for determinism just another historical mistake?

06:44 – Deliberation presupposes freedom

10:06 – On truth, imperfection, and rational discourse

13:28 – Is Huemer’s argument for free will a deductive proof?

16:50 – Robots, compatibilism, and why freedom needs alternatives

20:12 – You didn’t create yourself — but can you still be free?

23:34 – The no-self doctrine and what it really means

26:56 – Unconscious influence and degrees of freedom

30:18 – Who gave the government the right to rule?

33:41 – Philosophical vs political anarchism

37:03 – Why most people misunderstand both government and anarchy

40:25 – Defunding the police, private courts, and anarchist reform

43:47 – Why civil disobedience is rare (and should happen more)

47:09 – Can we have progress without chaos?

50:31 – Moral progress and the abolition of slavery

53:53 – What’s changing now and what’s next

57:15 – Why being rational might be a moral obligation

1:00:37 – One philosophical idea everyone should understand

Brett Hall is the host of the TokCast podcast, a physicist and teacher, and one of the most insightful explainers of David Deutsch’s philosophy. He’s been writing and speaking about Popperian epistemology, optimism, and the universal reach of explanation for over a decade, follow Brett on Twitter

We talk about what makes people people, why consciousness might be rarer than we think, why explanatory knowledge is the most powerful force in the universe, and what AGI and progress really mean. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

03:18 – How The Fabric of Reality changed Brett’s worldview

06:42 – Optimism, meaning, and the rejection of mysticism

09:52 – What makes humans unique: universal explainers

13:07 – Consciousness, personhood, and moral status

16:44 – Popper’s critiques of academia and progress

19:59 – Why Brett rejects labels like “Popperian” or “Deutschian”

23:15 – What it means to explain something — and why we can’t define it

26:21 – Explanations vs metaphors and epistemic clarity

29:33 – Are good predictions overrated in science?

32:55 – Why AI isn’t approaching AGI (and might be moving away)

36:20 – Creativity, disobedience, and what people really are

39:40 – Tools vs tool users: moral error in anthropomorphizing AI

42:16 – Is empathy overrated? Sympathy, kindness, and curiosity

45:02 – Why “facts” are interpretations too

48:20 – Stagnation, error correction, and what still blocks progress

51:14 – Brett’s vision of extending the Enlightenment

54:38 – The path to AGI — and why forecasts are mostly fake

58:01 – Final thoughts on truth, individuality, and cosmic responsibility

Sarah Fitz-Claridge is a writer, speaker, and the founder of Taking Children Seriously together with David Deutsch. Taking Children Seriously is a new/different view of children—as being full people whose wishes matter just like ours do, whose lack of consent matters just as much as ours does, whose reasons for their wishes make sense, just like ours do, follow Sarah on Twitter

We talk about coercion, education, freedom, parenting, happiness, and what it means to truly take children seriously. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.

Watch on YouTube. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support my work here and follow me on Twitter here

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

00:38 – Why civilisations overlook children

11:39 – Do we still lack the knowledge of how to raise children otherwise?

15:25 – Is coercion increasing in the way children are raised

27:28 – Inexplicit coercion, is it intentional?

30:28 – Rationalize your reasons to your children

33:03 – We experience the childhood coercion and do the same to our kids

36:56 – Does internal coercion precedes external coercion

43:57 – Teaching problem solving to children

45:46 – Balancing parental desires and child autonomy

56:08 – Coercion is not always wrong

1:01:57 – Raising children without an agenda

1:05:07 – Outcome oriented philosophies are mistaken

1:07:04 – The bucket theory of the mind

1:17:31 – Why having the right epistemology is crucial

1:31:40 – Optimism and pessimism in life

1:37:53 – The most important thing Sarah learned

1:39:24 – Advice to people

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Tyler Cowen at the Mercatus Center last December. Here’s our conversation.

Watch on Youtube or Twitter. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Read the transcript.

Click here to support my work.

Timestamps

0:00 - We’re discovering talent quicker than ever

5:14 - Being in San Francisco is more important than ever

8:01 - There is such a thing like a winning organization

11:43 - Talent and conformity on startup and big businesses

19:17 - Giving money to poor people vs talented people

22:18 - EA is fragmenting

25:44 - Longtermism and existential risks

33:24 - Religious conformity is weaker than secular conformity

36:38 - GMU Econ professors religious beliefs

39:34 - The west would be better off with more religion

43:05 - What makes you a philosopher

45:25 - CEOs are becoming more generalists

49:06 - Traveling and eating

53:25 - Technology drives the growth of government?

56:08 - Blogging and writing

58:18 - Takes on Aella, Scott Alexander, Noah Smith and more

1:02:51 - The future of Portugal

1:06:27 - New aesthetics program with Patrick Collison

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