Dr. Gena Gorlin — How to Build a Builder (EP.236)
Infinite Loops
My guest today is Dr. Gena Gorlin, a psychologist specializing in the unique needs of the ultra-ambitious. Unlike many in her field. Gena doesn’t aim to simply lift the floor of her clients’ ambitions — she wants to raise the ceiling. In this episode, she breaks down the “Builder Mindset” - a way of thinking that empowers people to live to healthier, happier, and more fulfilled lives. Over on our , we dig deeper into Gena’s ideas, exploring the perils of perfectionism, the allure of complacency, and why psychological perfection might be more achievable than you think. Important...
info_outline
Nir Eyal — How To Become An Indistractable Force (EP.235)
Infinite Loops
“Most people don’t want to acknowledge the uncomfortable truth that distraction is always an unhealthy escape from reality.” My latest guest, , writes, consults, and teaches about the intersection of , technology, and business. Nir previously taught as a at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford. In our conversation, Nir gives it to us straight. Distraction is killing us, and stopping us from reaching our full potential. In a world that is constantly conspiring to keep us distracted, Nir provides an...
info_outline
Alex Danco — Finding Mystery in the Margin (EP.234)
Infinite Loops
As the saying goes, only three things in life are certain: death, taxes & Alex Danco. Armed with sizzling hot takes on the sad death of Twitter likes and a new secret weapon in the form of his catchphrase-turned-episode theme (“Without mystery, there is no margin”), Alex returns for his eighth episode. Despite our intentional lack of preparation, somehow this ended up as one our most cohesive conversations yet. As usual, we’ve included links and an episode transcript over on our , where we’ve also made the foolhardy attempt to distil one overriding theme from eight episodes of...
info_outline
Mike Maples, Jr. — How To Become a Pattern-Breaking Founder (EP.233)
Infinite Loops
Mike Maples, Jr., co-founding partner of the VC firm Floodgate, is the veteran seed investor behind some of the 21st-century’s great success stories, including Twitter, Twitch, and Applied Intuition. His book, Pattern Breakers (co-authored with Peter Ziebelman), articulates a new model of foundership, one built on the simple premise that transformative startups upend rather than improve current practices. My company, OSV, is built around my belief that the collapse of the old models presents enormous opportunities to those savvy enough to seize them, so I had a blast quizzing Mike on the...
info_outline
Ben Orlin — Math As Universal Language (EP.232)
Infinite Loops
As a former quant with six grandkids, my spidey-senses started tingling as soon as I heard about Ben Orlin’s mission to make math fun. A native of St.Paul, Ben is a math educator and popularizer who is known for his “Math With Bad Drawing” blog and book series. Today’s conversation revolves around his excellent, original new book , which reframes math as a language, complete with nouns, verbs and grammar. Like any mathematician worth his salt, Ben loves games, which he sees as ‘puzzle engines’. No wonder then that our conversation meandered and unfolded like a satisfying...
info_outline
Gurwinder Bhogal's Guide to Modern Survival (EP.231)
Infinite Loops
“We have created for ourselves a world that we didn't evolve for.” Gurwinder Bhogal is, for my money, one of the most independent, original and insightful thinkers you’ll find in our corner of the internet. He returns to discuss how willpower and good old-fashioned human agency can help us reclaim our mental sovereignty and escape the “constant avalanche of concerns that are being vomited over us through our laptop screens, our phones, our TV screens, and in conversations.” For the full transcript, episode takeaways, and bucketloads of other stuff designed to make you go, “Hmm,...
info_outline
Julia Sonnevend — Charming! (EP.230)
Infinite Loops
Professor Julia Sonnevend believes that charm is one of the defining political trends of our era. In her latest book, she argues that charm will do no less than “shape the future of democracy worldwide,” exploring how it is weaponized by politicians ranging from Jacinda Arden to Kim Jong Un. In our episode, you will discover why charm has emerged as a political force and how to innoculate yourself when you encounter it in the wild. Julia and I also dig into the five components of a charming interaction, a tantalizing prospect for those of you who want to dabble in the dark arts yourself…...
info_outline
Bilawal Sidhu — How to Unite Reality With Imagination (EP.229)
Infinite Loops
As a proud owner of the exceedingly rare “two-digit” designation on CompuServe (the internet’s precursor), I’ve always been an early adopter of new tech. I was, therefore, particularly excited to speak to Bilawal Sidhu, a one-man corporation whose prolific output outpaces many creators put together. Since he was 11, Bilawal has been passionate about using cutting-edge tech to create videos that unite reality with his imagination. He made his bones as a product manager at Google, but after his short-form videos generated millions of views on social media, he decided to go all-in on his...
info_outline
Luca Dellanna — How to Play (and Win) Long Term Games (EP.228)
Infinite Loops
When Luca Dellanna speaks, I listen. Unlike many of the other management, productivity and behavioral gurus out there, Luca is ruthlessly committed to providing actionable, tangible advice that is rooted in the messy, chaotic reality of daily life. This conversation, my second with Luca, revolves around his excellent new book, . Why should you care? Because long-term strategies consistently deliver better results. In other words, being able to identify, play, and win long-term games is, quite literally, the secret to success. With examples ranging from NASA janitors to Stonehenge spray...
info_outline
Ateet Ahluwalia — The Many Bosses of a Venture Capitalist (EP.227)
Infinite Loops
Let me introduce you to the four horsemen of the investment apocalypse: Fear. Greed. Hope. Ignorance. Notice anything? Three of four are emotions. I’ve long argued that effective investing is far more about emotional control than technical know-how (although the latter certainly helps!) By hook or by crook, the best investors can find a way to tame their pesky emotional impulses and overcome that primal urge to respond impulsively to panic, passion, or pride. My guest, the razor-sharp Ateet Ahluwalia, is a veteran trader and investor who has spent well over 15 years at the coalface, from...
info_outlineArjun Khemani is a 17-year-old writer and podcaster who dropped out of high school to help lead support at Airchat, the social network co-founded by Naval Ravikant.
As the host of the Arjun Khemani podcast, Arjun has spoken to a wide range of guests including David Deutsch, David Perell and Naval Ravikant. His Substack, Progress Good, “serves as a defense against the anti-Enlightenment tradition, exploring progress, rationality, and optimism.”
Arjun joins the show to discuss why education should be voluntary, the moral case for selfishness, the pessimism of ultimacy and MUCH more!
Important Links:
- Arjun’s Twitter
- Progress Good (Arjun’s Substack)
Show Notes:
- The Myth of the Good Old Days
- The Citadel of Science
- Generational Warfare
- Why Education Should Be Voluntary
- Misunderstanding Money
- Escaping the Altruism Trap: the Case for Selfishness
- Coercion & Moral Righteousness
- The Pessimism of Ultimacy
- The Hunt for Better Problems
- Arjun’s Leap Into the Unknown
- Reimagining Education
- What’s Next?
- Arjun as Emperor of the World
- MORE!
Books Mentioned:
- One Summer: America 1927; by Bill Bryson
- The New Inquisition: Irrational Rationalism and the Citadel of Science; by Robert Anton Wilson
- The Road to Serfdom; by Friedrich Hayek
- The Lessons of History; by Will & Ariel Durant
- Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behaviour; by David R. Hawkins
- Deschooling Society; by Ivan Illich