Dwarkesh Podcast
@dwarkeshpodcast • 3,141 subscribers
Deeply researched interviews. Hosted by @dwarkesh_sp. https://t.co/hq7epHY0dU https://t.co/y9nO6uPNgf
Videos
Building mirror life could wipe out everything on Earth. Life as we know it is built on left-handed amino acids, encoded by RNA and DNA made from right-handed sugars. Because all organisms share a common evolutionary origin, this molecular handedness is universal. In theory, we could synthesize life using right-handed amino acids—a mirror version of biology. But such life would be incompatible with all existing ecosystems. It could outcompete and destroy everything. Worse, with future technology, someone could engineer mirror-life bioweapons—bacteria immune to all our natural defenses. George Church, the godfather of synthetic biology and co-author of the mirror life paper, came on the podcast. His answer about how we might prevent a mirror-life disaster? Well, let's say it doesn't inspire much confidence.
Dwarkesh Podcast182,617 просмотров • 1 год назад
It's quite possible that the median Chinese voter is more reactionary and less liberal than members of the Chinese government. Arthur Kroeber explains how the government actually spends a lot of its time tempering nationalist voices in the blogosphere rather than signal boosting militaristic calls to action. Full episode with Arthur Kroeber out now!
Dwarkesh Podcast55,681 просмотров • 1 год назад
When Dylan Patel came on the podcast last fall, he suggested China could centralize compute to leap ahead in the AI race. Arthur Kroeber doesn't think this is a possibility. The Chinese tech giants (Alibaba, Huawei, ByteDance, Xaiomi) have proved their merit through success on the market, and have earned enough leverage in the government to prevent such a centralized move from happening.
Dwarkesh Podcast40,947 просмотров • 1 год назад
The Roman Empire collapsed because of the bubonic plague. 60%+ death rates in many regions. Was there any way the Roman Empire could have *avoided* collapse? Full episode with Kyle Harper (Kyle Harper) on the shocking role of disease and climate in human history out tomorrow!
Dwarkesh Podcast32,710 просмотров • 1 год назад
Casey Handmer argues AI pricing is so elastic that Anthropic could raise subscription prices 10x to fund new gas turbines. If that’s true, why is solar still the future? “The learning rate for natural gas is nowhere near as steep as solar… there are very few manufactured products easier to make than solar panels.”
Dwarkesh Podcast25,414 просмотров • 10 месяцев назад
How can we understand the power of ideology? Stephen Kotkin offers up NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani as an example: “So there's this young kid who's really adept at social media who just looks like he won the primary for a Democratic candidate for mayor in New York City. And one of the things he wants to do is freeze rents because he wants more affordable housing. So he's a complete idiot in terms of facts. The way to get more affordable housing is to build more housing. If supply massively increases and it exceeds demand, the price has to go down. It's proven again and again and again. And what rent control does or freezing of rent, it inhibits the building of new housing. Because who's going to build new housing when you can't make money off of it? Rent control is what produces the lack of affordable housing in the first place. So he sees what's the problem as the solution now. Now, is he a fool? No, he's a really bright guy. He's very well educated.”
Dwarkesh Podcast26,550 просмотров • 11 месяцев назад
“Prion diseases, fungal diseases — we don’t have nearly the same infrastructure or biomedical research for those as we do for bacterial or viral diseases.” Kyle Harper, author of Plagues Upon the Earth, on the overlooked threats that could drive the next pandemic. Full episode out now.
Dwarkesh Podcast27,568 просмотров • 1 год назад
Casey Handmer argues that investment in natural gas is doomed, even if there were no near-term geopolitical or financial risks from an AI bubble or China invading Taiwan. The fundamental problem: gas turbines need 20 years to pay back, but solar and batteries have already won on price. You're financing infrastructure that's economically obsolete before it's even built.
Dwarkesh Podcast21,274 просмотров • 10 месяцев назад
Lewis Bollard explains Richard Dawkins' counterintuitive theory: intelligence might actually protect us from the worst of suffering. "Less intelligent animals might feel pain and fear more acutely than more intelligent animals. And that's because they can't rationalize it. They can't tell a story around it... It is just unmitigated pain. And they don't know when it's going to end."
Dwarkesh Podcast17,217 просмотров • 10 месяцев назад
European equities (IEUR) are up 20%+ in 2025, far outpacing the S&P 500’s 3.8% gain. Does a potential U.S. lead in AGI justify a centralized bet on America, or is it time to rebalance? Ken Rogoff, former chief economist of the IMF, makes the case for global investment diversification—despite decades of U.S. dominance: "Europe seems to be under pressure to remilitarize. Remilitarizing would actually be good for the euro. It would be good for technology in Europe... My instinct is that these things have some regression to mean"
Dwarkesh Podcast18,490 просмотров • 1 год назад
When an industry optimizes for one metric, it often breaks everything else. In factory farming, this creates compounding suffering. Lewis Bollard explains how trying to solve pig boredom opens a spiral of unintended consequences. “At each step, there is a new solution that can’t solve the fundamental underlying parts of the problem. And sometimes just makes it worse.”
Dwarkesh Podcast16,049 просмотров • 10 месяцев назад
Ending factory farming isn't about making everyone vegetarian. The animal welfare movement made the same mistake as early environmentalists - turning a systems problem into a personal virtue test. No major social reform succeeded by first converting millions to change their habits. They changed the defaults - subsidies, procurement, regulations. You could have more impact on animal welfare while eating a burger than a vegan who believes they are doing their part. Full episode with Lewis Bollard out now!
Dwarkesh Podcast15,282 просмотров • 10 месяцев назад
Why has the U.S. remained so dominant for so long? Kenneth Rogoff says it’s not just policy — it’s also a string of lucky breaks. “China made a big mistake sticking to the dollar. Europe should’ve delayed bringing Greece into the Euro. We’ve been fortunate — sometimes by our rivals’ blunders.”
Dwarkesh Podcast15,360 просмотров • 11 месяцев назад
"Export-led economies can’t rig the global system — they have to compete. Not just on price, but by raising their game. Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China — all did it. China backed big bets (like solar), stuck with them, and outpaced us. We gave up after Solyndra." Full episode with Arthur Kroeber out now!
Dwarkesh Podcast15,628 просмотров • 1 год назад
Ruthlessly optimizing efficiency created the factory farming problem. But in some cases, efficiency gains from tech can have a positive impact on animal welfare. Here Lewis Bollard describes how in-ovo sexing "went from 10 years ago just being a vague idea to today, it's already a third of the European egg industry."
Dwarkesh Podcast13,292 просмотров • 10 месяцев назад
Novel cures for disease and aging are often cited by AI company leaders as the primary motivation for developing AGI. But George Church thinks we can achieve these benefits by using ML to solve narrow scientific questions. He thinks AGI could be a catastrophe of our own making, and it's foolish to take that risk when we can get the benefits we want in a more controlled, direct way.
Dwarkesh Podcast11,547 просмотров • 11 месяцев назад
Больше нет контента для загрузки