Hidden Forces

Latest Episodes:

Christopher Cole | How Do We Profit from the Unknown? Financial Volatility at the Edge of Crisis. Mar 27, 2017

Show notes

In Episode 5 of Hidden Forces, host Demetri Kofinas speaks with Christopher Cole about political and financial volatility. Chris is the founder of Artemis Capital and the portfolio manager of the Artemis Vega Fund, which seeks to profit from periods of financial volatility, dislocation, and systemic crisis in financial markets. His core focus is systematic, quantitative, and behavioral based trading of financial volatility derivatives.

What is volatility? What accounts for the unprecedented levels of mean reversion in implied volatility that we have seen in financial markets? What accounts for volatility persistence? Demetri and Chris compare spot (historic) volatility to implied (forward) volatility. They look at volatility-of-volatility (vol-of-vol). Christopher Cole presents his opinion that modern portfolio and system rebalancing strategies actually dampen financial volatility. Demetri sees these strategies as increasing volatility in the long-term, which Chris agrees with. Christopher also makes the further point that stocks are overvalued when looked at from enterprise value to EBITDA, Case Schiller PE, Price to Book, Price to Sales, etc. He also believes that financial volatility could come from either the left or right tail of the distribution. We could have inflation or deflation, according to Christopher. His objective is to profit regardless of whether we get a move upwards or downwards in prices. What is the best way to carry volatility and go long uncertainty?

The concepts discussed in this episode may appear complicated, but they are really rather simple. What listeners need to remember is that volatility is just change. Volatility reflects uncertainty, and we live in uncertain times. This episode is about learning how to embrace this uncertainty. It is about learning how to embrace change. It is an episode about learning how to profit from risk by capitalizing on the unknown.

Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas

Editor: Connor Lynch

Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou

Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @hiddenforcespod

Television History and Culture in America (1946-2009) | Television Historian Gary Edgerton Mar 20, 2017

Show notes

In Episode 4 of Hidden Forces,host Demetri Kofinas speaks with famed historian of television culture, Gary Edgerton. Professor Edgerton is Dean of the College of Communication at Butler University. He has published eleven books and more than eighty book chapters, journal articles, and encyclopedia entries on a wide assortment of media and television culture topics. He is also co-editor of the Journal of Popular Film and Television. His award-winning book, The Columbia History of American Television, was named the 2008 John G. Cawelti Award winner for Outstanding Scholarly Inquiry into American Cultural Studies by the American Culture Association.

In their conversation, Demetri and Gary discuss the history of television as a technology and storytelling medium that fundamentally transformed American society and culture from the end of World War II until the present day. They explore the ways in which the growing aspirations of Americans – their changing norms, their victories, as well as their tragedies – played themselves out on their flickering, analogue screens. They consider the various ways in which American society dealt with the tragedy of Vietnam through shows like MASHand the A-Team. They explore the coming of age story through shows like MacGyver, Nightrider, and The Wonder Years. Gary comments on the significance of protofeminist programs like I Love Lucy and later, The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The two discuss Baywatchand The Cosby Show, as examples of the power of international syndication. The subject of racism in America is also discussed through the example of shows like Amos 'n' Andy, as well as All in the Family. Demetri and Gary also discuss some of the more technical innovations of television, including the origin of the "close-up" as a tool for aiding character development and its successful implementation in the popular soap operas of the day. Finally, Gary Edgerton provides his thoughts about how television has (and will continue) to transform itself in the digital age of the 21stcentury.

Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas

Editor: Connor Lynch

Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @hiddenforcespod

Art, Finance, Technology, and the Development of the Postmodern Self | Philosopher Mark C. Taylor Mar 13, 2017

Show notes

In Episode 3 of Hidden Forces, host Demetri Kofinas speaks with philosopher and theologian Mark C. Taylor. Mark is Chair of the Department of Religion and Co-Director of the Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life. A leading figure in debates about postmodernism, Taylor has written on topics ranging from philosophy, religion, literature, art and architecture to education, media, science, technology and economics. He has authored 30 books, among which include Journeys to Selfhood: Hegel and Kierkegaard, About Religion: Economies of Faith in Virtual Culture, Confidence Games: Money and Markets in a World without Redemption, The Moment of Complexity: Emerging Network Culture, and Speed Limits: Where Time Went and Why We Have So Little Left.

In this episode, we cover topics in religion, finance, art, and technology. Most importantly, we take this journey as individuals, exploring the paths blazed for us by Martin Luther and his Protestant Reformation. We build on the works of Ockham and Thomas Aquinas. We learn about economic philosophers like Adam Smith and Friedrich Hayek, who addressed the problems of non-linearity, information networks, and how complex systems create order from chaos. We look at how technology, for all its benefits, still leaves something to be desired. Perhaps this stems from a fundamental contradiction in its application to the human experience. Lastly, we ask, "what is it all for? What does it all mean? Where are we going, and why the great hurry?"

Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas

Editor: Connor Lynch

Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @hiddenforcespod

Jim Rickards | Can Complexity Science, Bayesian Inference Theory, and History Help Predict the Next Financial Crisis? Mar 06, 2017

Show notes

In Episode 2 of Hidden Forces, host Demetri Kofinas speaks with New York Times bestselling author and financial commentator, Jim Rickards. Jim is the author of multiple New York Times bestsellers including The Death of Money, Currency Wars, and The New Case For Gold. His latest book is The Road To Ruin: The Global Elites' Secret Plan for the Next Financial Crisis. He is the editor of the Strategic Intelligence newsletter and a member of the advisory board of the Center for Financial Economics at Johns Hopkins. He's an adviser to the Department of Defense and the U.S. intelligence community on international economics and financial threats and served as a facilitator of the first-ever financial war games conducted by the Pentagon.

Jim and Demetri explore financial history stretching back to some of the earliest economic philosophers. They recall the deregulation of US financial system from the time of Bretton Woods, through the financial panics in Asia in the late 1990s to the Financial Crisis of 2008. Jim Rickards address one of the economics professions' greatest weaknesses, namely, the desperate need for better modeling. What can complexity theory, Bayesian analysis, and behavioral psychology tell us about our world? How can these theories help improve or replace our broken models? The two end with projections about the future. Jim gives his rationale for why he believes the next crisis will be larger and could run deeper than what any of us might imagine.

Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas

Editor: Connor Lynch

Engineering: Ignacio Lecumberri

Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @hiddenforcespod

How will Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and Automation Impact the Future of Work? | David Kirkpatrick Feb 27, 2017

Show notes

In Episode 1 of Hidden Forces, host Demetri Kofinas speaks with journalist and tech guru David Kirkpatrick. David is the author of "The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World," and the founder of Techonomy Media, which produces some of the best conferences at the intersection of technology, business, academia, and government. David is also a contributing editor to Bloomberg Television and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Nothing is off the table in this conversation. In fact, we run the table. In our inaugural episode of Hidden Forces, We take listeners on a whirlwind technological tour of the 21stcentury. Demetri and David explore some of the most pressing challenges in artificial intelligence, the future of work, the surveillance state, cyber-attacks, blockchain technology, black box algorithms, etc. Demetri also asks David if he thinks we might be living in a simulation. You won't want to miss that one!

Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas

Editor: Connor Lynch

Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @hiddenforcespod

Hidden Forces Launch Trailer Feb 13, 2017

Show notes

What drives the changes we see in the world? What are the underlying forces that influence our lives? What causes markets to rise and fall? Why does life sometimes imitate art? Why do we seem to disagree more than ever before in our politics? What determines what you see on Facebook? What makes something beautiful?

My name is Demetri Kofinas, and I've spent the better part of my life asking these questions. I built my career in media obsessing over them. For me, this has always been a quest to discover the true nature of my world, where I come from and where I'm going. This is about uncovering and understanding the mystery of a world that is so rich and beautiful in its design and function, that to not wonder at its magnificence is to miss something profound.

If you also find yourself asking these questions or if they inspire you to wonder more about the reality you are living in, about where things come from, how they came to be, how they work and what it all means for you, then this is the show for you.

Subscribe now and be the first to hear when we launch.

https://www.hiddenforces.io

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