safe to eatalmartin@gmail.comAndrew Martin a podcast appreciation project! think google reader shares (RIP), but for podcasts.en-ushttps://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/noAI and I | Why Opus 4.5 Just Became the Most Influential AI ModelDan and guest Paul Ford discuss Claude Opus 4.5's capabilities as a coding model. The episode explores how this tool can keep coding and coding autonomously without tripping over itself, marking new possibilities for software development. They examine design principles behind Claude Code, practical applications in building software, and broader implications of AI's evolution in development workflows.Wed, 03 Dec 2025 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/4901:25:0049https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-049/Lenny's Podcast | Slack founder: Mental models for building products people love ft. Stewart ButterfieldStewart Butterfield is the co-founder of Slack and Flickr, two of the most influential products in internet history. After selling Slack to Salesforce in one of tech's biggest acquisitions, he's been focused on family, philanthropy, and creative projects. In this rare podcast appearance, Stewart shares the product frameworks and leadership principles that most contributed to his success. From utility curves to the owner's delusion to hyper-realistic work-like activities, his thoughts on craft, strategy, and leadership apply to anyone building products or leading teams.Thu, 27 Nov 2025 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/4801:30:3548https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-048/Decoder Ring | The Red String Board ConspiracyThere's a ubiquitous prop in just about every police procedural and conspiracy thriller: a cork board pinned with documents, newspaper clippings, and Polaroid photos, all connected by a web of red string. They go by many names, including pin boards, string boards, evidence boards, investigation walls, conspiracy walls, and walls of crazy. These boards can be vehicles of insight or manifestations of madness – and in many cases, both. But where did they come from? And can they really solve a crime? In this episode, we try to unwind the red string board all the way to its center. To aide in our investigation, we enlist the help of Aki Peritz, a former CIA analyst and the author of Disruption: Inside the Largest Counterterrorism Investigation in History. You'll also hear from Shawn Gilmore, editor of The Vault of Culture and creator of the Narrative String Theory project; and Dr. Anne Ganzert, author of Serial Pinboarding in Contemporary Television. And we learn about the intricacies of building a string board from production designers Michael Scott Cobb (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and John D. Kretschmer (Homeland).Mon, 08 Sep 2025 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/4751:2147https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-047/Core Memory | Dwarkesh Patel Wants People to Learn ThingsThe episode features an interview with Dwarkesh Patel, a prominent podcaster known for going deep with subjects rather than oversimplifying content. The conversation covers his rise as an interviewer, particularly in AI discussions, and announces his upcoming book The Scaling Era: An Oral History of AI, co-authored with Gavin Leech and published through Stripe Press. The interview was recorded in San Francisco and explores both his professional work and personal background.Tue, 19 Aug 2025 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/4601:10:0046https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-046/Astral Codex Ten Podcast | Your Review: Alpha SchoolThis is one of the finalists in the 2025 review contest, written by an ACX reader who will remain anonymous until after voting is done. I'll be posting about one of these a week for several months. When you've read them all, I'll ask you to vote for a favorite, so remember which ones you liked. Just as we don't accept students using AI to write their essays, we will not accept districts using AI to supplant the critical role of teachers. – Arthur Steinberg, American Federation of Teachers-PA, reacting to Alpha's cyber-charter bid, January 2025. In January 2025, the charter school application of Unbound Academy, a subsidiary of 2 Hour Learning, Inc, lit up the education press: two hours of AI-powered academics, 2.6x learning velocity, and zero teachers. Sympathetic reporters repeated the slogans; union leaders reached for pitchforks; Reddit muttered another rich-kid scam. More sophisticated critics dismissed the pitch as selective data from expensive private schools. But there is nowhere on the internet that provides a detailed, non-partisan, description of what the 2 hour learning program actually is, let alone an objective third party analysis to back up its claims.Fri, 11 Jul 2025 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/4501:48:2845https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-045/Conversations With Tyler | Stephen Kotkin on Stalin, Power, and the Art of BiographyIn his landmark multi-volume biography of Stalin, Stephen Kotkin shows how totalitarian power worked not just through terror from above, but through millions of everyday decisions from below. Currently a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution after 33 years at Princeton, Kotkin brings both deep archival work and personal experience to his understanding of Soviet life, having lived in Magnitogorsk during the 1980s and seen firsthand how power operates in closed societies. Tyler sat down with Stephen to discuss the state of Russian Buddhism today, how shamanism persists in modern Siberia, whether Siberia might ever break away from Russia, what happened to the science city Akademgorodok, why Soviet obsession with cybernetics wasn't just a mistake, what life was really like in 1980s Magnitogorsk, how modernist urban planning failed there, why Prokofiev returned to the USSR in 1936, what Stalin actually understood about artistic genius, how Stalin's Georgian background influenced him (or not), what Michel Foucault taught him about power, why he risked his tenure case to study Japanese, how his wife's work as a curator opened his eyes to Korean folk art, how he's progressing on the next Stalin volume, and much more.Mon, 24 Mar 2025 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/4401:26:2544https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-044/Guardian Audio Long Read | The ghosts are everywhere: Can the British Museum survive its omni-crisisBeset by colonial controversy, difficult finances and the discovery of a thief on the inside, Britain’s No 1 museum is in deep trouble. Can it restore its reputation? By Charlotte HigginsTue, 18 Mar 2025 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/4300:38:4843https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-043/Ezra Klein Show | The Government Knows AGI is ComingArtificial general intelligence — an A.I. system that can beat humans at almost any cognitive task — is arriving in just a couple of years. That’s what people tell me — people who work in A.I. labs, researchers who follow their work, former White House officials. A lot of these people have been calling me over the last couple of months trying to convey the urgency. This is coming during President Trump’s term, they tell me. We’re not ready.One of the people who reached out to me was Ben Buchanan, the top adviser on A.I. in the Biden White House. And I thought it would be interesting to have him on the show for a couple reasons: He’s not connected to an A.I. lab, and he was at the nerve center of policymaking on A.I. for years. So what does he see coming? What keeps him up at night? And what does he think the Trump administration needs to do to get ready for the AGI — or something like AGI — he believes is right on the horizon?Sat, 08 Mar 2025 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/4201:06:2342https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-042/O'Reilly Solid Podcast (RIP) with Jon Bruner | Trip to McMoon's, pt 2 - Rebooting a 1970s satellite with modern software and hardwareIn the first episode of the Solid Podcast, we talked with Dennis Wingo, founder of Skycorp, in the former NASA McDonald’s where he’s been restoring the first images of the moon taken from space. After an hour of recounting his techno-archaeology exploits — reverse-engineering the arcane analog image-transmission systems that NASA’s engineers developed in the 1960s — Dennis paused and said, “and that’s just one of our history projects.” That teaser is where we begin today’s episode. Ready to apply modern computing to another analog challenge, Dennis turned his attention to the reboot of the International Sun/Earth Explorer-3, a research satellite launched in 1978 and commended to the heavens in 1997. NASA decommissioned the equipment for communicating with the satellite in 1999, so Dennis set about reverse-engineering the ISEE-3’s control system and devising a way to communicate with it. In the 1970s, he would have needed custom analog hardware, but now, general-purpose hardware is powerful enough that he could do it all with software. Wingo’s team built a system on top of an Ettus software-defined radio that could analyze the satellite’s 2.2-gigahertz S band signal; all that remained was to transmit a wake-up call and then listen through a receiver powerful enough to hear the 36-year-old satellite’s signal. The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico did just that. The “steely-eyed missile men” of the 1970s had done some magnificent engineering work. When Wingo re-established contact with the satellite, it was off course by 3,000 kilometers — after traveling 24 billion kilometers. The story is an excellent illustration of how software can replace physical complexity — one of the key themes we follow at the Solid conference, and Dennis will deliver a keynote at Solid San Francisco in June, where he’ll talk about his extraordinary combination of techno-archaeology and modern computing.Tue, 08 Oct 2024 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/4138:4441https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-041/O'Reilly Solid Podcast (RIP) with Jon Bruner | Trip to McMoon's, pt 1 - the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery ProjectWe’re kicking off our newest series, the O’Reilly Solid Podcast, with an episode recorded in the manager’s office of a McDonald’s at NASA’s Ames Research Center. David Cranor and I (Jon Bruner) visited McMoon’s, as it’s known, to talk with Dennis Wingo, founder of two audacious “techno archaeology” efforts. In the first episode, we discuss the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project, which has rescued NASA’s first high-resolution images from satellites orbiting the moon. Dennis’ team reverse-engineered the extraordinary analog image transmission system that the satellites used in 1966 and 1967, digitized 14 tons of magnetic tape, and interpreted them to compose imagery at vastly higher resolution than NASA was originally able to recover from the satellites. Before the invention of the charge-coupled device (CCD), collecting and transmitting images was an electro-mechanical enterprise. The process required to get images from the moon to the earth highlights the ingenuity of NASA’s early engineers — and the relative ease of working with electronics today, when crossing between physical and virtual is straightforward.Mon, 07 Oct 2024 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/4070:4640https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-040/30 for 30 Podcasts | Searching For Hobey Baker, Episode 1 The NaturalNarrated by David Duchovny, Searching for Hobey Baker re-contextualizes and brings to life the story of one of the greatest college athletes who has largely been lost to history. After Hobey Baker makes his triumphant Princeton hockey debut against Williams, we travel back to his early days attending St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire. He develops a reputation as both an athletic phenom and a kind, generous sportsman. After the economic crash of 1907, his father struggles to send him to college at Princeton where he becomes a two-sport star in football and hockey. After graduation, Hobey embarks on a summer motorcycle trip around Europe – a grand experience interrupted by the ominous clouds of conflict circling the continent.Wed, 12 Jun 2024 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/39252639https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-039/Lenny's Podcast | Zigging vs. zagging - How HubSpot built a $30B company Dharmesh Shah (co-founder/CTO)Dharmesh Shah is the co-founder and CTO of HubSpot (currently valued at $30 billion) and one of the most fascinating founders I’ve ever met. Dharmesh is the keeper of HubSpot’s Culture Code, built ChatSpot (an AI chatbot built on top of HubSpot CRM) and a game called WordPlay (which grew to 16 million users), and also founded and writes for OnStartups, a top-ranking startup blog and community with more than 1M members. He’s also invested in 100+ startups including OpenAI, AngelList, Coinbase, and Dropbox. In our conversation, we discuss • The biggest lessons he has learned from building HubSpot • The importance of leaning into your strengths • Dharmesh’s data-oriented approach to public speaking • How he developed HubSpot’s culture code • The decision-making process at HubSpot • His contrarian approach to building products • Why founders and product teams are all fighting the second law of thermodynamics • How “flash tags” can save your teams time • How to decide what ideas are worth investing inFri, 19 Apr 2024 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/38610438https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-038/Aboard Podcast | Using AI RespectfullyFrom copyright violations to environmental concerns to the looming threat of the singularity, AI is a hot-button topic these days. Paul and Rich talk through many facets of this conversation, and discuss how they think about the AI components of Aboard. Plus: A little roleplay in which we learn that Paul thinks Aboard is an earnest mid-century cartoon character.Thu, 18 Apr 2024 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/3724:4337https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-037/Quanta Magazine | Tiny Language Models Come of AgeTo better understand how neural networks learn to simulate writing, researchers trained simpler versions on synthetic children’s stories.Wed, 06 Mar 2024 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/36124836https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-036/Dwarkesh Podcast | Demis Hassabis - Scaling, Superhuman AIs, AlphaZero atop LLMs, Rogue Nations ThreatDemis Hassabis - Scaling, Superhuman AIs, AlphaZero atop LLMs, Rogue Nations Threat Wednesday 28 February 2024 https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/podcast Open in Pocket Casts Share Here is my episode with Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind We discuss: Why scaling is an artform Adding search, planning, AlphaZero type training atop LLMs Making sure rogue nations can't steal weights The right way to align superhuman AIs and do an intelligence explosionWed, 28 Feb 2024 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/35369435https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-035/Guardian Audio Long Read | One Swedish zoo, seven escaped chimpanzeesWhen the great apes at Furuvik Zoo broke free from their enclosure last winter, the keepers faced a terrible choice. This is the story of the most dramatic 72 hours of their lives. By Imogen West-Knights.Wed, 31 Jan 2024 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/3453:1034https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-034/Sweat The Technique | Lessons from Montessori (with Bob Nardo)Ryan sits down with Bob Nardo, Founding Head of School and Executive Director at Libertas School of Memphis. They discuss why the principles of Montessori work, and how they can be applied to successful organizations of all kinds.Wed, 20 Dec 2023 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/33281533https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-033/Decoder Ring | The Great Parmesan Cheese DebateParmesan is a food—but it’s not just a food. Italy’s beloved cheese is often paired with a deep craving for tradition and identity. But its history also involves intrepid immigrants, lucrative businesses and an American version that’s probably available in your local grocery store. After a notorious debunker of Italian-cuisine myths claims this Wisconsin-made product is the real deal, we embark on a quest to answer the question: Has an Italian delicacy been right under our noses this whole time?Wed, 12 Jul 2023 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/32265832https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-032/Plain English | An Optimistic Guide to America’s Clean-Energy FutureThe world is engaged in a multitrillion-dollar project to decarbonize the economy to slow or reverse climate change. But what exactly does that mean? How optimistic should we be that we can pull this off? And what new technology do we need to build to make it happen? This is a mega-pod with two guests. Ramez Naam is a writer, speaker, and one of the best technologists I know at explaining the progress we’re making toward building a clean-energy economy. And Vinod Khosla is one of the most famous venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, the founder of Khosla Ventures, and an investor in several sci-fi-sounding companies, including one that is working on fusion technology—which might be one of the most exciting and important technologies we'll ever build.Thu, 22 Jun 2023 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/31512431https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-031/The Lunar Society | Carl Shulman - Intelligence Explosion, Primate Evolution, Robot Doublings, and Alignment

In terms of the depth and range of topics, this episode is the best I’ve done.

No part of my worldview is the same after talking with Carl Shulman. He's the most interesting intellectual you've never heard of.

We ended up talking for 8 hours, so I'm splitting this episode into 2 parts.

This part is about Carl’s model of an intelligence explosion, which integrates everything from:

* how fast algorithmic progress and hardware improvements in AI are happening,

* what primate evolution suggests about the scaling hypothesis,

* how soon before AIs could do large parts of AI research themselves, and whether there would be faster and faster doublings of AI researchers,

* how quickly robots produced from existing factories could take over the economy.

We also discuss the odds of a takeover based on whether the AI is aligned before the intelligence explosion happens, and Carl explains why he’s more optimistic than Eliezer.

The next part, which I’ll release next week, is about all the specific mechanisms of an AI takeover, plus a whole bunch of other galaxy brain stuff.

Maybe 3 people in the world have thought as rigorously as Carl about so many interesting topics. This was a huge pleasure.

Fri, 16 Jun 2023 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/30985630https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-030/99% Invisible | The Siren of Scrap Metal

Amid the noisy bustle of Mexico City, there is a particularly iconic sound echoing on repeat in the background. This recording blares from trucks that cruise the streets all across this massive city. The crews inside are looking to buy old household items and appliances to fix and resell or to just sell for scrap. Basically, they’re scrap metal haulers, and the recording is their pitch to prospective sellers. Their pitch culminates in 'o algo de fierro viejo que vendan,' which basically means “or any old metal thing you’re selling.” This last bit has become the recording’s namesake: fierro viejo, literally “old iron.”

How this recording (and its subsequent remixes for live performances and otherwise) managed to achieve icon status in Mexico is a story of an unlikely alchemy: a family that, through grit, talent and a bit of luck, transmuted scrap metal into poetry, music, and joy.

Mon, 12 Jun 2023 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/2934:3729https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-029/The Joy of Why | What Has the Pandemic Taught Us About Vaccines?Wed, 07 Jun 2023 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/28257428https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-028/EconTalk | Luca Dellanna on Risk, Ruin, and ErgodicityMon, 05 Jun 2023 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/271:07:3127https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-027/Guardian Audio Long Read | The war on Japanese knotweedSun, 04 Jun 2023 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/2643:1826https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-026/The Cognitive Revolution | Where are the Moats in AI? With Nathan Labenz and Erik TorenbergNathan and Erik analyze the moats of the most powerful companies in AI. The paradigm-shifting technology has led to a flourishing open-source community with market share. Yet, the big players have key competitive advantages that can be examined from many different angles.Fri, 02 Jun 2023 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/25521325https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-025/Ryan Chern Podcast | Tyler Cowen: Second-Order Economics, Talent, and StraussianismWe chat about:</p> <p>-AIs trading crypto + the broader role of crypto/CBDCs</p> <p>-the impact of AI on real interest rates (Cowen’s Third Law)</p> <p>-the replenishing of low-hanging fruit</p> <p><br></p> <p>Tyler Cowen is a professor of economics at George Mason University and Director of the Mercatus Center. He needs little introduction given his widespread online footprint. Tyler writes regularly on his blog <em>Marginal Revolution</em>, hosts his podcast <em>Conversations with Tyler</em>, and is the author of a column on <em>Bloomberg</em>.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Tyler is an avid traveler, the author of books including <em>The Great Stagnation</em> and <em>Talent</em>, and a food connoisseur of many cuisines.Thu, 01 Jun 2023 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/2427:5724https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-024/Slow Burn | ABCGrowing up in Georgia, Clarence Thomas wanted to make his mark. His goal was to become his hometown’s first Black Catholic priest. But in the 1960s, he abandoned that dream. Instead, he embraced campus activism and the teachings of Malcolm X. Season 8 of Slow Burn is produced by Joel Anderson, Sophie Summergrad, Sam Kim, and Sofie Kodner. Josh Levin is the editorial director of Slow Burn. Derek John is Slate’s executive producer of narrative podcasts. Susan Matthews is Slate’s executive editor. Editorial direction by Josh Levin, Derek John, and Joel Meyer. Merritt Jacob is Slate’s senior technical director. Our theme music is composed by Alexis Cuadrado. Artwork by Ivylise Simones. Learn more about your ad choices.Wed, 31 May 2023 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/23327123https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-023/99% Invisible | Train Set: Track ThreeHappy National Train Day, everyone – for those of you who missed it: that was May 13th this year. A year ago, we started down this path with Train Set: Track One, which gave way to Track Two …and now, here we are for the final part of our train-fecta. Slip coaches, the worlds shortest trains, private cars, torpedoes, and of course, Thomas.Tue, 23 May 2023 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/2231:1722https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-022/The Knowledge Project | Kevin Kelly: Excellent Advice for LivingWhen Kevin Kelly turned 68 years old, he began writing down notes and thoughts about all the lessons he’d learned in his life and the ones he wished he’d learned earlier. While those notes were originally intended for his young adult children, they eventually became the book Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier, which was released in May 2023. On this episode of the Knowledge Project, Kelly goes in-depth on some of the book’s most essential lessons, including learning, setting deadlines, perfection, forgiveness, living a meaningful life, reasoning, and so much more. Kelly is the co-founder of the magazine Wired, which twice won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence while he served as publication’s Executive Editor during the 1990s. He is also the co-chair of The Long Now Foundation, a membership organization that champions long-term thinking, as well as the founder of the popular Cool Tools website, which has been reviewing tools daily for 20 years. He is also an artist as well as the author of 14 books. -- Want even more? Members get early access, hand-edited transcripts, member-only episodes, and so much more. Learn more here: https://fs.blog/membership/ Every Sunday our Brain Food newsletter shares timeless insights and ideas that you can use at work and home. Add it to your inbox: https://fs.blog/newsletter/ Follow Shane on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/ShaneAParrishTue, 16 May 2023 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/211:14:0021https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-021/Guardian Audio Long Read | The impossible job: inside the world of Premier League refereesPlayers, pundits and fans complain bitterly that referees are getting worse each season – but is that fair?Fri, 21 Apr 2023 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/201:03:1920https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-020/The Pathless Path | Goofing Off On Purpose - Kevin Kelly on why we should subsidize travel for young people, owning his time, a rest ethic, riding his bike across US, his love of YouTube, staying optimistic about the future, raising children and his new bookKevin is the founding executive editor of Wired magazine, a writer and a photographer. When he was young he dropped out of college and travelled to Taiwan, which he describes as a live changing experience. Kevin is passionate about owning his time, the importance of goofing off and staying optimistic about the development of technology.Mon, 17 Apr 2023 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/19300119https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-019/The Logan Bartlet Show | Robin Hanson (Economist) - So AI Is Not Going to Kill Us All?Robin Hanson is an associate professor of economics at George Mason. He is known for a number of his works including Prediction Markets and Futarchy, writings on the possibility of alien life with both the Great Filter and Grabby Aliens, his book The Elephant In The Brain about our social programming, as well as extensive work and thought in the field of artificial intelligence including a very prescient series of debates and writings with Eliezer Yudkowsky 15 years ago.Mon, 10 Apr 2023 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/181:30:0818https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-018/The Cognitive Revolution | The Embedding Revolution: Anton Troynikov on Chroma, Stable Attribution, and future of AI(0:00) Preview (1:17) Sponsor (4:00) Anton breaks down the advantages of vector databases (4:45) How embeddings have created an AI-native way to represent data (11:50) Anton identifies the watershed moment and step changes in AI (12:55) Open AI’s pricing (18:50) How chroma works (33:04) Stable Attribution and systematic bias (36:48) How latent diffusion models work (51:26) How AI is like the early days of aviation (56:01) How Disney inspired the release of Stable Attribution (59:53):Why noise can lead to generalization (1:01:04) Nathan’s KPI for The Cognitive Revolution (1:01:59) Other use cases for embedding (1:03: 19) Anton touches on the applications for biotech (1:04:35) Anton on doomerism hysteria and what actually worries him (1:11:43) - Nathan sums up a plausible doomer scenario (1:20:17)What AI tools does Anton use and why? (1:22:55) Anton’s hopes *Thank you Omneky for sponsoring The Cognitive Revolution. Omneky is an omnichannel creative generation platform that lets you launch hundreds of thousands of ad iterations that actually work, customized across all platforms, with a click of a button. Omneky combines generative AI and real-time advertising data. Mention Cog Rev for 10% off. Twitter: @CogRev_Podcast @atroyn (Anton) @labenz (Nathan) @eriktorenberg (Erik) Join 1000's of subscribers of our Substack: https://cognitiverevolution.substack.com/ Websites: cognitivervolution.ai trychroma.com/ omneky.comSun, 05 Mar 2023 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/17517917https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-017/Plain English | The Dark Side of Being Obsessed With Productivity'Productivity is a trap. Nobody in the history of humanity has ever achieved work-life balance. The real problem isn’t our limited time. The real problem—or so I hope to convince you—is that we’ve unwittingly inherited, and feel pressured to live by, a troublesome set of ideas about how to use our limited time, all of which are pretty much guaranteed to make things worse.' That's how Oliver Burkeman, the author of 'Four Thousand Weeks,' explains our relationship to happiness and time. In this episode, he and Derek talk about his philosophy, the downside of constantly living for some future achievement, goals versus habits, and making peace with our finitude. Host: Derek Thompson Guest: Oliver Burkeman Producer: Devon ManzeFri, 10 Feb 2023 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/16301416https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-016/Guardian Audio Long Read | Who killed the prime minister? The unsolved murder that still haunts SwedenWe are raiding the Audio Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2019: Three decades ago, Olof Palme was assassinated on Stockholm’s busiest street. The killer has never been found. Could the discovery of new evidence finally close the case?Wed, 25 Jan 2023 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/1537:2615https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-015/Sweat the Technique | Teaching Like a ChampionIntroducing Lost Debate's newest weekly podcast, Sweat the Technique! In our very first episode, Ravi sits down with co-host Doug Lemov, K-12 expert and author of the international bestseller Teach Like a Champion. They discuss how lessons from teaching and running schools can be used toward success in any fieldSun, 15 Jan 2023 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/14354514https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-014/The Weeds | Back to School: Masters mishaps Reshared: Thought the comparison between MA programs (lots of debt, no income) and unpaid or poorly paid internships (no debt, maybe no income) was really on the nose. There are a lot of really predatory MA programs out there (esp in the humanities!) and it seems like the halo effect of university brands allows for behavior that would get shut down in any other context. Matt is joined by Vox's Libby Nelson and Jerusalem Demsas for a conversation about the rising cost of master’s programs, their usefulness in today’s economy, and their role as federally subsidized job training. Matt, Libby, and Jerusalem reflect on their varied educational paths and discuss the effectiveness of student loan forgiveness for higher ed. This week’s white paper illuminates the downstream consequences of raising pollution standards for battery recycling in the United States. Resources: “‘Financially Hobbled for Life’: The Elite Master’s Degrees That Don’t Pay Off” by Melissa Korn and Andrea Fuller (The Wall Street Journal; July 8, 2021) The Masters Trap, Part Two, Part Three by Anne Helen Peterson (Culture Studies; July 2021) “Graduate programs have become a cash cow for struggling colleges. What does that mean for students?” by Jon Marcus (PBS Newshour; September 18, 2017) “Master’s degree programs surge at nation’s colleges and universities” by Nick Anderson (The Washington Post; May 25, 2013) White Paper: “North-South Displacement Effects of Environmental Regulation: The Case of Battery Recycling” (NBER; August 2021)Fri, 20 Aug 2021 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/13388213https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-013/Reply All | #161 Brian vs. BrianJust for fun, a guy and his friends record a Christmas song in his Living room. More than three years later, he walks into a grocery store and hears that song playing. Alex investigates.Thu, 19 Aug 2021 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/12287712https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-012/Swyx Mixtape | 6 + 2 + 1 [Warren Spector, designer of Deus Ex]

Warren Spector's 6 + 2 + 1:

  • What's the core idea?
  • Why do this game? Commercial hit? No choice?
  • What are the dev challenges? Hard is ok, impossible not good
  • Is this idea well-suited to games? Games are about DOING, not BEING
  • What's the fantasy? If no fantasy, bad idea
  • What are the verbs? Games are about Doing
  • Has anyone done this before? If no - could be a bad idea, or good, just be careful
  • What's the ONE thing? ONE new thing that hasn't been done before
  • Do you have something to say? An issue/theme to explore
Tue, 17 Aug 2021 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/1145511https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-011/The Weeds | (Spencer Ackerman Interview) Reign of TerrorMatt is joined by reporter Spencer Ackerman, author of the new book Reign of Terror. Ackerman explains the ways in which America’s approach to domestic white terrorism differs from its approach to international threats. They discuss the treatment of Timothy McVeigh after the Oklahoma City bombing, and the way in which it primed the political and cultural response to 9/11 and the War on Terror. Ackerman also argues that the unlawful and immoral approach of the government laid the groundwork for Trump's presidency. Resources: Reign of Terror by Spencer Ackerman (Penguin Random House; Aug 10, 2021) The Jakarta Method by Vincent Bevins (Public Affairs; May 19, 2020) 'Second Inaugural Address' by George W. Bush (January 20, 2005) State of Exception by Giorgio Agamben (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press; 2005) Guest: Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman), author, reporter, and publisher of Forever Wars on Substack, contributing editor at the Daily Beast.Mon, 16 Aug 2021 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/10356510https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-010/World of DaaS | Susan Athey: Tech Economists, Machine Learning, and CausationSusan Athey, The Economics of Technology Professor at Stanford's Graduate Business School, talks withWorld of DaaS host Auren Hoffman. Susan serves as the Founding Director at Stanford's Golub Capital Social Impact Lab, using technology and social science to improve the effectiveness of social sector organizations, and is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Athey was the first Chief Economist at Microsoft. She's also on the Board of Directors of Expedia, Lending Club, Ripple, Rover, Turo, and more. Susan and Auren dive into the role of tech economists, machine learning, and causal inference.Sun, 15 Aug 2021 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/933099https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-009/Not Boring | Own the Internet

What if I told you about a business that:

  • Has strong network effects
  • Grew revenue 200x YoY
  • Is preparing to offer a 25% dividend
  • About to implement a permanent share buyback program?
  • That's pretty much Ethereum.
Sat, 14 Aug 2021 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/828628https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-008/a16z | Undruggable DrugsIn this episode of the a16z Podcast, we take a deep dive into the world of drug development—specifically 'undruggable drugs': a category of protein, protein family or even piece of RNA that’s so difficult to target that many researchers don’t even want to touch it.Jay Bradner, President of the Novartis Institute for BioMedical Research, shares with a16z General Partners Jorge Conde and Vijay Pande, and a16z's Hanne Tidnam, all the new tools, technologies and breakthroughs which are causing the science of therapeutics to explode in some of these areas where it's been incredibly difficult (even impossible) in the past. From molecular glues to cell and gene therapies, Bradner shares the behind-the-scenes science stories of what it really takes to make a new drug that shatters the category of an 'undruggable' target.Mon, 11 May 2020 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/728:407https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-007/Track Changes | Time to BuildPaul and Rich have a follow up discussion about Marc Andreessen’s newest article and ask the important question: How can we connect and empower people to create crucial tools for society when the industry has become so transactional? Are we able to create necessary social momentum when there’s no money involved? Paul puts out a plea for Postlight to create a software development kit for education at a platform level. It remains to be seen if venture capitalists are ready to shift their focus to do the same. (Perhaps that’s an idea for Marc Andreessen to think about!)Sun, 10 May 2020 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/621:226https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-006/Longform | Kevin KellyKevin Kelly is a writer and a founding executive editor ofWired Magazine. He is the author ofWhat Technology Wants,Out of Control andThe Inevitable: Understanding the Twelve Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future.“I always try to write about the future—and it became harder and harder because things would catch up so fast. If you readOut of Control now, I’ve heard that people say, ‘well, this is obvious.’ I have to tell you, it was dismissed as entirely pie-in-the-sky, wild-eyed craziness twenty-five years ago.Sun, 03 May 2020 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/501:06:125https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-005/Track Changes | User Friendly: A HistoryFriction is introspection: This week on Track Changes Paul and Rich sit down with UX designer Cliff Kuang and co-founder of Dalberg Design Robert Fabricant to talk about their new book User Friendly. We discuss the history of the concept and how it’s become something that we demand yet often take for granted. We also chat about the greater paradigm shift that led to the popularity of user experience design and about why we should maybe start to question the view that ease equals progress.Fri, 01 May 2020 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/433:464https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-004/The Weeds | Human Challenge TrialsJane, Dara, and Matt discuss the possibility of 'human challenge trials' to speed vaccine development. Resources: 'How Anthony Fauci Became America’s Doctor' by Michael Specter, The New Yorker 'What Each Side of the COVID-19 Debate Should Understand About the Other' by Brian Doherty, Reason 'Special Report: Peruvian coca farmers to Paris pushers, coronavirus upends global narcotics trade' by Gabriel Stargardter, Drazen Jorgic, Reuters White paper Hosts: Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Senior Correspondent, Vox Jane Coaston (@cjane87), Senior politics correspondent, Vox Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration reporter, ProPublica Credits: Jeff Geld, (@jeff_geld), Editor and Producer Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts About Vox Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Follow Us: Vox.com Facebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesThu, 30 Apr 2020 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/332163https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-003/Lawfare | Charlie Warzel on the Pandemic InternetOn this episode ofLawfare's Arbiters of Truth series on disinformation, Kate Klonick and Quinta Jurecic spoke with Charlie Warzel, an opinion writer at large at the New York Times. He’s written about the internet, disinformation, privacy and platform governance—and recently he’s been focusing on how these collide with COVID-19 and the uncertainty and anxiety of living through a pandemic. They talked about what the pandemic shows us about the role of big tech companies and how the spread of a deadly disease in the midst of a polarized information environment may be a worst-case scenario for disinformation.Wed, 29 Apr 2020 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/248:282https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-002/Ezra Klein Show | Scott Gottlieb on how, and when, to end social distancingWhen will social distancing end? When will life return to “normal”? And what will it take to get there? Scott Gottlieb is a physician and public health expert who served as Donald Trump’s first FDA commissioner, where he was the rare Trump appointee to win plaudits from both the left and the right. Now he’s a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where he’s emerged as a leading voice on the coronavirus response. Gottlieb is one of the lead authors of a comprehensive roadmap for what it would take to end social distancing and reopen the American economy. The report divides coronavirus response into four distinct phases (we are currently in phase one, which requires the strictest social distancing measures) and documents key “triggers” that states need to meet if they want to advance to a phase with less intense social distancing and a somewhat normal economy. It’s exactly what we need right now: a specific proposal for what comes next that we can actually analyze and debate. Two themes drive this conversation. First, what are the challenges to simply getting out of lockdown? Why don’t we have enough tests yet? What’s stopping us from making more? And second, what does the world look like out of lockdown but before we get to a vaccine? What’s being imagined here isn’t a return to normal, either socially or economically, but a kind of limbo that it’s not clear we have the political will to sustain and that has few answers for the most vulnerable among us. For more on this topic, I looked at not just the AEI plan but three others for this piece. I thought immersing myself in the plans to reopen the economy would be some comfort. Boy, was I wrong. Resources: ''A road map to re-opening'' by Scott Gottlieb, Caitlin Rivers, Mark McClellan, Lauren Silvis, and Crystal Watson, AEI ''I’ve read the plans to reopen the economy. They’re scary.'' by Ezra Klein, Vox The Weeds - How does this end? Want to contact the show? Reach out at ezrakleinshow@vox.com Please consider making a contribution to Vox to support this show: bit.ly/givepodcasts Your support will help us keep having ambitious conversations about big ideas. The Ezra Klein Show is a finalist for a Webby! Make sure to vote at https://bit.ly/TEKS-webby New to the show? Want to check out Ezra’s favorite episodes? Check out the Ezra Klein Show beginner’s guide (http://bit.ly/EKSbeginhere) Credits: Producer/Editor - Jeff Geld Researcher - Roge Karma Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesTue, 28 Apr 2020 08:00:00 +0000https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/130341https://almartin82.github.io/safe-to-eat/posts/episode-001/