Brave New World - hosted by Vasant Dhar

Latest Episodes:

Ep 80: Kevin Mitchell Makes a Case for Free Will Mar 21, 2024

Show notes

Given what we know of physics and neuroscience, can there be free will? Kevin Mitchell, a neuroscientist himself, joins Vasant Dhar in episode 80 of Brave New World to unpack his argument for the existence of free will. Useful resources 1. Kevin Mitchell on Amazon, Twitter, Trinity College, Google Scholar, his blog and his homepage. 2. Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will -- Kevin Mitchell. 3. Innate: How the Wiring of Our Brains Shapes Who We Are -- Kevin Mitchell. 4. Freedom Evolves -- Daniel Dennett. 5. Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will -- Robert Sapolsky. 6. Free Will -- Sam Harris. 7. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement -- Episode 21 of Brave New World. 8. Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment -- Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein. 9. Synthetic Biology -- J Craig Ventor Institute. 10. David Krakauer. 11. David Krakauer on Complexity, Agency, and Information -- Episode 242 of Sean Carroll's Mindscape. 12. Anthony Zador on How our Brains Work — Episode 35 of Brave New World. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 79: Arthur Spirling on How AI Can Change Politics Mar 07, 2024

Show notes

Artificial intelligence is transforming society. And therefore politics. Arthur Spirling joins Vasant Dhar in episode 79 of Brave New World to share his insights from his twin fields of data science and political science. Useful resources: 1. Arthur Spirling at Princeton, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Scholar and his own website. 2. Why open-source generative AI models are an ethical way forward for science -- Arthur Spirling. 3. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State -- Episode 19 of Brave New World. 4. The Narrow Corridor — Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson. 5. Why Nations Fail — Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson. 6. How Social Media Threatens Society -- Episode 8 of Brave New World (w Jonathan Haidt). Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 78: David Halpern on Nudging Feb 22, 2024

Show notes

How can we use the insights of behavioral economics to make the world a better place? David Halpern joins Vasant Dhar in episode 78 of Brave New World to share his learnings from running the Behavioral Insight Team for the British government. Useful resources: 1. David Halpern on Wikipedia and the Behavioural Insights Team. 2. The work of the Behavioral Insights Team. 3. Inside the Nudge Unit -- David Halpern. 4. Social Capital -- David Halpern. 5, The Hidden Wealth of Nations -- David Halpern. 6. The behavioural science of online harm and manipulation, and what to do about it -- Elisabeth Costa and David Halpern. 7. Subsidies vs Nudges: Which Policies Increase Saving the Most? -- Raj Chetty et al Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 77: Pippa Ehrlich on the Mysteries of the Sea Feb 08, 2024

Show notes

Her film My Octopus Teacher won an academy award -- and her insights on nature, and her love for it, go far beyond the film. Pippa Ehrlich joins Vasant Dhar in episode 77 of Brave New World to talk about her work and what she has learnt from it. Useful resources: 1. Pippa Ehrich on Instagram, X, LinkedIn and IMDb.. 2. My Octopus Teacher -- Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed. 3. Peter Singer on Animal Liberation -- Episode 74 of Brave New World. 4. Save Our Seas Foundation. 5. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea -- Jules Verne. 6. Using Deliberate Cold Exposure for Health and Performance -- The Huberman Lab Podcast. 7. Wim Hof Method. 8. The Effects of Cold Exposure Training and a Breathing Exercise on the Inflammatory Response in Humans: A Pilot Study -- Jelie Zwaag et al. 9. Dmitry Rinberg on the Mysteries of Smell -- Episode 62 of Brave New World. 10. Anthony Zador on How our Brains Work -- Episode 35 of Brave New World. 11. Deep Rising -- Matthieu Rytz. 12. David Chalmers on the Nature of Reality -- Episode 41 of Brave New World. 13. Sea Change Project. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 76: Peter Ward on Life on Earth Jan 25, 2024

Show notes

Life on earth is a crazy accident. We have no idea how it arose or whether it will survive. Peter Ward joins Vasant Dhar in episode 76 of Brave New World to chat about the origins of our planet, the many extinctions and resurgences of life, and the future of our species.

Useful resources: 1. Peter Ward on Wikipedia, University of Washington and Amazon. 2. Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe -- Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee. 3. A New History of Life -- Peter Ward and Joe Kirschvink. 4. The Medea Hypothesis -- Peter Ward. 5. The Flooded Earth -- Peter Ward. 6. Roy Chapman Andrews on Amazon. 7. Jason and the Golden Fleece -- Apollonius of Rhodes. 8. Hercules, My Shipmate -- Robert Graves. 9. The Gaia Hypothesis. 10. SETI Institute. 11. Rare Earth Hypothesis. 12. The Drake Equation. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 75: Mohit Satyanand on Investing and India Jan 11, 2024

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He's been a successful entrepreneur and investor, and is highly regarded for his sharp understanding of India. Mohit Satyanand joins Vasant Dhar in episode 75 of Brave New World to share his inspiring story -- and to offer a word of caution. Useful resources 1. Mohit Satyanand on Twitter, Instagram and IMDb. 2. Gimme Mo — Mohit Satyanand's newsletter. 3. Salaam Baalak Trust. 4. Aswath Damodaran on Investing -- Episode 33 of Brave New World. 5. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State -- Episode 19 of Brave New World. 6. The Narrow Corridor: How Nations Struggle for Liberty — Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson. 7. Law and Education in Our Modern World — Episode 5 of Brave New World (w John Sexton). Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 74: Peter Singer on Animal Liberation Dec 14, 2023

Show notes

Why should only human beings be worthy of moral consideration? Would we still eat animals if we had a sense of their mass-produced suffering? Peter Singer joins Vasant Dhar in episode 74 of Brave New World to discuss his influential work as a philosopher. Useful resources: 1. Peter Singer at Britannica, Wikipedia, Princeton, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon and his own website. 2. Animal Liberation Now -- Peter Singer. 3. Animal Machines -- Ruth Harrison. 4. My Octopus Teacher -- Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed. 5. Seven Up! -- Paul Almond. 6. Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development. 7. A Theory of Justice -- John Rawls. 8. Everything is Illuminated -- Liev Schreiber. 9. Nudge -- Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein. 10. The Life You Can Save. 11. Maneka Gandhi on Animal Rights -- Episode 44 of Brave New World. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 73: Paul Sheard Demystifies Money Nov 30, 2023

Show notes

What is money? How is it created? What is the relationship of governments, central banks, and commercial banks to money? Paul Sheard joins Vasant Dhar in episode 73 of Brave New World to cut through the fog. Useful resources:1. Understanding QE in the New World -- Episode 10 of Brave New World (w Paul Sheard). 2. The Power of Money -- Paul Sheard. 3. David Yermack on The Crypto Revolution -- Episode 30 of Brave New World. 4. Monetary Economics -- Wynne Godley and Marc Lavoie. 5. The Deficit Myth -- Stephanie Kelton. 6. Inflation: Causes and Consequences -- Milton Friedman. 7. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State — Episode 19 of Brave New World. 8. Sapiens -- Yuval Noah Harari. 9. Leviathan -- Thomas Hobbes. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 72: Ajay Shah on the Dangers of Digital Public Infrastructure Nov 16, 2023

Show notes

Digital Public Infrastructure sounds like a huge step forward for the world -- till you think about how it empowers the state to oppress the people. Ajay Shah joins Vasant Dhar in episode 72 of Brave New World to warn that we are not being wary enough of state coercion when we think of this incredible technology. Useful resources: 1. Ajay Shah on Twitter and Substack. 2. In Service of the Republic: The Art and Science of Economic Policy -- Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah. 3. Everything is Everything -- Ajay Shah's YouTube show, co-hosted by Amit Varma. 4. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Ajay Shah: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. 5. Imagining India -- Nandan Nilekani. 6. Nandan Nilekani on an Egalitarian Internet -- Episode 15 of Brave New World. 7. Albert Wenger on the World After Capital -- Episode 29 of Brave New World. 8. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State — Episode 19 of Brave New World. 9. The Narrow Corridor — Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson. 10. Is the Singularity Near? -- Episode 2 of Everything is Everything. 11. 1984 -- George Orwell. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 71: David Sontag on AI in Healthcare Nov 02, 2023

Show notes

David Sontag joins Vasant Dhar on episode 70 of Brave New World to highlight where and how AI is creating a major transformation in healthcare. We could create a brave new world of individualized and holistic healthcare, where the machine really cares about us and tells us what to do based on knowledge and data. Useful resources 1. David Sontag on Twitter, LinkedIn, MIT and Google Scholar. 2. Heuristic Methods for Imposing Structure on Ill-Structured Problems -- Harry E Pople Jr. 3. Harry E Pople on ResearchGate. 4. Human and Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare — Episode 4 of Brave New World (w Eric Topol). 5. Waiting for Doctor AI -- Episode 9 of Brave New World (w Regina Barzilay). 6. UpToDate. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

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