Bilawal Sidhu — How to Unite Reality With Imagination (EP.229)
Release Date: 08/15/2024
Paul Millerd & Jimmy Soni — The Creative Opportunities of a Boring Life (EP. 302)
Infinite Loops
Fresh off releasing hardcover books we’ve ever seen, Paul Millerd returns alongside Infinite Books CEO Jimmy Soni for a deep dive into the broken incentives of traditional publishing, why the industry breeds “cynicism at scale,” and how the internet is powering a second Renaissance for creators. We get into what it means to build a creative life on your own terms, the Taoist approach to growing an audience, how to navigate financial uncertainty while raising a family, and why seemingly boring daily routines fuel extraordinary creative work. I hope you enjoy this...
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Packy McCormick - How Writing Shapes Companies (Ep. 301)
Infinite Loops
Packy McCormick is one of the most thoughtful writers in tech and investing. In this episode of Infinite Loops, we talk about why writing is still the most powerful way to think clearly, how optimism becomes rational when you spend time with people actually building things, and what happens when the internet punishes you for being early and wrong. Important Links: Packy McCormick on Optimism: The Internet Contrarian: Elliot Herschberg on GitLab Founder and Cancer: Ben Thompson's Aggregation Theory:
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Jean-Marc Daecius - The Last Human Chief of Staff (Ep. 300)
Infinite Loops
What happens when you design a company assuming AI should do everything it possibly can? Jean-Marc Daecius, OSV's Chief of Staff, joins Infinite Loops to explain what it means to be “AI first” — and why he believes he may be the company's last human chief of staff. The conversation explores how AI can remove meaningless cognitive load, protect deep work, and unlock creative leverage — from reshuffling priorities and filtering email, to reinventing publishing, agriculture, education, and even how we discover books, movies, and ideas. Important links: Substack: Jean...
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John Wang - The Man Who Built The Queens Night Market (Ep. 299)
Infinite Loops
The Queens Night Market is one of New York City’s most beloved institutions — but it was never supposed to last more than a year. John Wang, founder of the Queens Night Market, joins Infinite Loops to explain how a side project with a “terrible business model” unexpectedly became one of the most celebrated food markets in the world. From leaving a traditional legal career to imposing a strict price cap in one of the most expensive cities on earth, John shares how the market evolved into a cultural institution representing more than 100 countries through food. Important links:...
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Cliff Asness - Surviving the Meme Stock Bubble (Ep. 298)
Infinite Loops
Cliff Asness — co-founder, managing principal, and chief investment officer at AQR Capital Management — is one of the most influential quantitative investors of the last 30 years. He's also one of the most candid. In this conversation, Cliff joins Infinite Loops to talk about why losses hurt more than wins, how bubbles form, why modern investing increasingly resembles gambling, and what the dot-com era can teach us about today’s markets. Important links: Substack: Cliff's Perspectives: Cliff's X:
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Tomás Pueyo — Explaining the World Through Geography, History and Data (EP. 297)
Infinite Loops
Tomás Pueyo, the French-Spanish engineer and writer behind the successful "Uncharted Territories" Substack, joins us to dismantle the invisible forces that shape our history and future. We cover why humans are horrible at understanding exponential change, the geographical advantages of the U.S, why the Luddites might have been right, the "social media politician" of the future, why education is mostly signaling, and how air conditioning and mosquito eradication could change the destiny of nations. Important Links:
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Annie Duke — Why We Make the Wrong Decisions (Ep. 296)
Infinite Loops
Annie Duke — former professional poker player, decision strategist, and bestselling author — joins us for a deep conversation about why smart people so often make bad decisions. Annie explains why misinterpretation is more dangerous than misinformation, why data is often true but misleading, and how our brains are wired for certainty in a probabilistic world. From real-world media examples to investing, health decisions, and AI-generated insights, this episode explores how explanations feel satisfying — even when they’re wrong. Important links: Substack: Annie's website: ...
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Jimmy Soni — The Publishing System is Broken (EP. 295)
Infinite Loops
Jimmy Soni, CEO and editor in chief of Infinite Books, is back on Infinite Loops. We discuss what’s broken in traditional publishing and how we’re fixing it. We also dig into Jimmy’s forthcoming book on Kobe Bryant, why the world needs more “problem authors,” and why our goal is to make our authors millionaires. We explore why most industries optimize for prestige instead of outcomes, how digital distribution has reshaped attention, and why authors — and creators more broadly — have more leverage than they realize. Important Links: Infinite Books: https://www.infinitebooks.com/...
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Guy Spier — Wealth, Wisdom & Enlightenment (Infinite Loops CLASSICS)
Infinite Loops
Happy Holidays! We’re taking a short break from new episodes this week so you can focus on finishing that Christmas dinner. We’ll be back next Thursday with something new. In the meantime, why not tuck into this conversation with Guy Spier from January 2024, which remains one of my favorites. Enjoy! _________________ Guy Spier runs the Aquamarine Fund, an “investment partnership closely modeled on the original Buffet Partnerships.” He is also a podcast host, YouTube creator, author of The Education of a Value Investor and the host of the annual investment gathering VALUEx. He describes...
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Vik Muniz — The Art of Perception (EP.294)
Infinite Loops
What if the invention that truly made us human wasn’t the wheel, language, or even agriculture — but art? In this episode of Infinite Loops, we sit down with internationally renowned artist Vik Muniz to explore a radical and deeply human idea: that art — the ability to represent the world — may be humanity’s most important invention after fire. Born in São Paulo and now collected by major museums around the world, Muniz reflects on his own life journey — from growing up in a Brazilian favela to redefining what art can be — and explains why the artwork is only ever half complete....
info_outlineAs 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 creative projects, including this video showing ‘shadow aliens’ invading Miami Mall, which racked up 11M views in 24 hours (!) on TikTok.
Bilawal is also an adept rune-reader in the tech industry — his Creative Digest newsletter and YouTube channel offer insights and analysis on tech and market developments, while his TEDAI podcast broke the recent Helen Toner x OpenAI story.
If you’re a creator curious about the opportunities presented by cutting-edge tech, you’re gonna love this episode.
For the full transcript and bucketloads of other stuff designed to make you go, “Hmm, that’s interesting!” check out our Substack.
Important Links:
- Bilawal’s Website (includes links to all social channels)
- What Does “Rat Park” Teach Us About Addiction? (Psychiatric Times)
Show Notes:
- Aliens at the Miami Mall & the deep fake arms race
- How to unite reality with imagination
- The three waves of content democratization & the incoming content tsunami
- Artisan vs organic content
- Creation by proxy
- Climbing up the adoption curve
- Bilawal’s idea-to-execution creation process
- Remix culture & co-creation
- Competing visions of an AI-infused feature
- Finding an economic model that benefits indie creators
- Sovereign AI & being long human creativity
- Bilawal as Emperor of the World
- MORE!
Books Mentioned:
- The Fifth Science; by Exurb1a
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; by Douglas Adams
- The God Problem: How a Godless Cosmos Creates; by Howard Bloom
- The Ultimate Resource; by Julian L. Simon