Category: Podcast

Entrepreneur, podcaster, free thinker and good friend Jeff Till joins me to expand on a Facebook post about “doublespeak” or “doublethink” where a policy idea is mistaken for (or purposefully replaced by) a more genuine objective or desire. Here we talk myths about school, the law, the military, welfare, and regulation.

We do a mish-mash of both of our podcasts – even the intro music!  Huge thanks to Jeff for his sleek editing and adding some relevant and fun sound clips.

The post the episode is based on:

Just about every argument for school is actually an argument for the value of education that proves nothing about the value of school.

Just about every argument for law is actually an argument for the value of order that proves nothing about the value of law.

Just about every argument for welfare is actually an argument for the value of compassion that proves nothing about the value of welfare.

Just about every argument for the military is actually an argument for the value of security that proves nothing about the value of the military.

Just about every argument for regulation is actually an argument for the value of safety that proves nothing about the value of regulation.

Doublespeak is alive and well. Those who succeed in making the name of their pet policy linguistically interchangeable with a basic universal value always get to play offense.

This and all episodes are also available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

Praxis colleague, aviation buff, and all around interesting guy Zak Slayback comes back to the show to talk about the future, technology, progress, work, universal basic income, and much more.

We discuss whether there is a “digital divide” between urban and rural populations, whether that has significance culturally or politically, the rate of technological change, how self-driving cars might disrupt the aviation industry, and whether a future of greater wealth and robots means income should be forcibly redistributed (hint: no).

This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

Today we discuss why you have to be free before you expect the world to, not the other way around.  We talk about why politics is disempowering, why it’s so hard to not let your job get in the way of your work, and why fringe theories are great for society.

Recommended in the episode: But What if We’re Wrong, Patterson in Pursuit, Meditations on First Philosophy by Rene Descartes.

This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

To specialize or to generalize, that is the question – which I asked Chuck Grimmett, a web developer during the day and solver of interesting problems in creative ways during the night.

Chuck likes to dabble in many things while searching for might be interesting, and has an unique approach to learning which entails the importance of projects wih quick, tangible turnaround.

Check out Chuck’s projects at cagrimmett.com and his awesome food and drink recipes at cooklikechuck.com.

This and all episodes are also available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

New York Time Best-Selling Author, popular podcaster, speaker, and intellectual entrepreneur Tom Woods joined the podcast to discuss what motivates him day in and day out, why he left academia to do things his own way, and how he’s learned to be both an ideas person and a business person wrapped into one.

Tom has multiple NYT best-selling books, but that made him a target for his academic colleagues and the intelligentsia.  The Ivory Tower doesn’t smile upon popular books in general, especially the kind Tom tends to write which, to borrow from his podcast opener, “Shred the 3×5 card of conventional opinion.”

Tom has a way of embracing debate and handling criticism, but he’s human.  He shares in this interview some of the nasty things lobbed at him and the difficulty he had responding and not holding grudges or being fueled by hate.

This is not a political episode.  Whatever you think about Tom’s opinions, I suspect you’ll gain tremendous value and insight from the conversation and gain a respect for Tom as a person.  He’s genuine and transparent and I must say this was one of the single most enjoyable interviews I’ve done.

You can find out much more about Tom at www.tomwoods.com

This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

*Yes, I’ve changed the format of the numbering and titles of episodes.  I hope this makes it simpler and more consistent.  From here on out every episode will be numbered with a whole number and the word “episode” will not precede it.  Sorry for the change and any confusion!

A few basketball inspired thoughts on whether following your gut is better than planning an elaborate strategy.

This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

Abbey Lovett is a recent highschool grad about to start Praxis.  She’s always experimenting and believes entrepreneurship is more important for kids than academic subjects. She had a lemonade stand with employees at age of nine and grew hungry for more.

We discuss her education, the importance of debate, why her entrepreneurship camp failed, and how she made the decision to apply for Praxis.

Check out her blog at lovettup.com.

This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

Don’t play around when it comes to your life and decisions and society and goodness and science and the numbers and stuff.

It’s all really, really important.  Don’t be flip and glib with this stuff.  Do what the experts and averages tell you.

You’ll thank me when you’re fitting in snugly.

This episode brought to you by unthinking peer pressure and the age-old wisdom of non-risk taking self-proclaimed elites who fight diligently to keep you safe from your deviant dreams day in and day out. (But especially days in).

Special thanks to show producer Lav Kozakijevic for his tireless work editing, posting, and adding show notes for each and every episode!

We live at a time when artificial intelligence is booming and major breakthroughs are happening, with a lot of people thinking about what is coming and how will it impact society. Robin Hanson is an economics professor at GMU with a background that ranges from philosophy, to physics and computer research.

He joins me today to talk about his book ‘The Age of Em: Work, Love and Life when Robots Rule the Earth’ which is shipping as we speak, where he outlines what he thinks will happen when humans become able to emulate a human brain in a machine. We discuss what are the things that might be different, what are those that will change less than we expect, and how social institutions will change once AI reaches such a level.

Don’t skip his blog overcomingbias.com and you can order his new book from Amazon here.

This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

Today we discuss my threatening letter from the municipal business license office, TK’s appearance on the Tom Woods show and some critical comments he received, whether believing in your own power is delusional, why wishful thinking is the source of all the good stuff, why faith is not the absence of logic but a remembrance of it, whether coding is a skill every will need or no one will need, old-timey radio voices, and more!

Mentioned in the episode: Rebecca Black, Child’s Play, Become a Rich Employee, Web Browsers Beat GPA’s, Shaquille O’Neal shooting threes, C.S. Lewis, Marc Andreessen, Game of Thrones (no spoilers), and a lot more I’m probably forgetting.

Oh, and believe it or not, this is the 100th episode of the podcast!  Why is it numbers 68.5?  Several episodes like “Ask Isaac” and other special features are not numbered.  But 100 total episodes posted nonetheless.  Make sure to rate and review us if you like it!

This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

A young tech company builds software for small businesses. It employs around 10-15 people and is currently hiring. That is a hypothetical situation which myself and Daniel Myers go through in this episode of the podcast, with me being the recruiter and Daniel a young prospect.

Some standard questions that appear during almost every interview are covered, along with some of the ones that I personally like to ask on interviews. After the mock-up we also go through some of the basics concerning job interview preparation and the point of view that interviewees should take.

Get in touch with Daniel on LinkedIn.

This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

Did Malcolm Gladwell really get it wrong?

People love to point out when a writer shares an idea that’s oversimplified or could be misapplied if not interpreted wisely.  Why don’t they pick on the readers who are dumb enough to misinterpret it instead?

Do ideas come first and bring about changes in technology and social institutions or do those changes come first and bring about new ideas?  What does the answer mean when it comes to creativity?  Can you control your ideas without stifling creativity?  What does it mean to have 100% equity in the startups in your head vs. 5% in those you actually create?

Mentioned in the episode: The Nirvana Fallacy, Kristen Stewart, Twilight, Malcolm Gladwell and his detractors, Scott Berkun, Agere Sequiter Credere, Paul Cantor’s Commerce & Culture, Blake Lively, The Waking Life, Sir Mix-A-Lot, Apparition, The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Bruce Levine, Thundersqueak, Youth Pastors, and more that I’m forgetting.

This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.

Most people see traveling as something of a luxury, instead of an investment into discovering different places and people. Most importantly traveling is an investment into discovering yourself.

Ryan and Amanda’s first trip together was just a great excursion, but after completing it they realized that what they want is to wander the world. Experiences that they had in different countries, how they fund their traveling, what strains they faced and their plans for years that come and much more are discussed in this episode.

Make sure to visit theworldwanderers.com where you can find great advice on traveling.

This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.