• 1 hour 53 minutes
    62: "DEEP VZN" Revisited | Kevin Esvelt

    I'm reposting my 2022 interview with Kevin Esvelt on the deranged USAID program "DEEP VZN," in conjunction with my latest appearance on Sam Harris's podcast, in which we discuss this terrifying topic

    11 March 2026, 5:50 pm
  • 1 hour 21 minutes
    61: An "Observatory" for a Shy Super AI ?

    Might we unwittingly start sharing our world with a super AI? A monologue and (mostly) playful thought experiment.

    4 August 2024, 10:30 pm
  • 1 hour 52 minutes
    60: Deep Fakes | Sam Harris and Zohaib Ahmed

    Will the glittering dawn of the genai era be accompanied by a dark tsunami of pixel-perfect deep fakes? I discuss this prospect with Sam Harris, as well as the CEO of synthetic audio pioneer Resemble.ai.

    5 June 2023, 12:55 am
  • 32 minutes 41 seconds
    59: Generative AI | What's New & What's Next

    My thoughts on what's happening in the mad world of generative AI, announcing my new home online at robreid.substack.com, and more.

    8 March 2023, 7:35 pm
  • 1 hour 55 minutes
    58: Recipes for Future Plagues | Kevin Esvelt

    USAID's new "DEEP VZN" program aims to discover new pandemic-grade viruses, then broadcast their genomes to the world, according to MIT evolutionary engineer Kevin Esvelt. He estimates that 30,000 people in dozens of countries could then easily assemble them.

    28 February 2022, 7:20 pm
  • 1 hour 59 minutes
    57: Octopus Intelligence (and more!) | Roger Hanlon

    A wide-ranging discussion of cognition in octopuses & cuttlefish, plus many, many other topics with globally renowned sensory ecologist Roger Hanlon.

    8 October 2021, 5:58 pm
  • 1 hour 13 minutes
    56: A Massive Future for an Old Vaccine? | Megan Murray

    Harvard epidemiologist Megan Murray tells us all about the anti-tuberculosis vaccine "BCG," and the astonishing protection it may provide against Covid -- as well as looming future pandemics.

    19 June 2021, 9:39 am
  • 1 hour 42 minutes
    55: Detecting Disease Outbreaks from Internet Traffic | Seth Stephens-Davidowitz

    This is closely tied to a 4-hour collaboration between Sam Harris and me, which Sam is posting to his podcast's feed. I strongly recommend that episode too! But it's not "required" for you to get everything out of this fascinating conversation with Seth.

    23 April 2021, 10:34 pm
  • 2 minutes 47 seconds
    54: Announcing a New Season

    This "episode" is just a quick new announcement of a new season of the podcast (finally)! And also of something very cool that I'm working on with fellow podcaster Sam Harris.

    2 February 2021, 10:34 pm
  • 1 hour 41 minutes
    53: The Case Against Reality | Don Hoffman (classic + updated)

    Quantitative Psychologist Don Hoffman has a head-spinning take on the true nature of reality vs. what our senses report to us. This is a revisitation of our original interview, expanded with lots of new material recorded last week.

    30 July 2019, 4:01 am
  • 1 hour 37 minutes
    52: Many Quantum Worlds | Sean Carroll

    Quantum mechanics – and its eerie "Many Worlds" interpretation – are explored in terms that both poets & physicists can appreciate.

    15 July 2019, 4:02 am
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