February 17, 2026
AI labs bet on using AI to make future AI safe. Ajeya Cotra discusses the 'intelligence explosion' and the urgent need for early warning signs.
February 10, 2026
AGI timeline predictions swung wildly in 2025. This episode unpacks the hype vs. reality, from unsustainable scaling tricks to the real-world utility gap.
February 3, 2026
Why are we so prone to anxiety & depression? Evolutionary psychiatrist Randy Nesse explains our "bad feelings" are often useful, but miscalibrated.
January 27, 2026
Even if we solve AI alignment, humanity could still lose control. David Duvenaud explains the mechanisms of gradual economic and political disempowerment.
January 20, 2026
Historian Christopher Brown argues slavery's abolition wasn't inevitable but a contingent event, challenging the myth of automatic moral progress.
January 13, 2026
James Smith explains mirror life, a synthetic biothreat invisible to our immune systems, posing a catastrophic risk to all life on Earth.
January 6, 2026
Linguist John McWhorter argues the optimal number of languages is one, language extinction is voluntary, and creoles are superior languages.
December 29, 2025
A deep dive into AI's race to nowhere, the US's passive response to China, and why the UK's unelected Lords are its most effective politicians.