Dwarkesh Podcast
@dwarkeshpodcast • 9,476 subscribers
Deeply researched interviews. Hosted by @dwarkesh_sp. https://t.co/hq7epHY0dU https://t.co/y9nO6uPNgf
Videos
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 Podcast29,935 次观看 • 1 年前
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 Podcast26,591 次观看 • 1 年前
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 Podcast22,942 次观看 • 1 年前
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 Podcast17,509 次观看 • 1 年前
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 Podcast16,492 次观看 • 1 年前
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 Podcast15,546 次观看 • 1 年前
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 次观看 • 1 年前
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 Podcast14,252 次观看 • 1 年前