Nick Maggiulli — Climbing the Wealth Ladder (EP.276)
Infinite Loops
Nick Maggiulli, data scientist turned financial writer and COO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, joins me to discuss his latest book,The Wealth Ladder, which presents a six-level framework for building and managing wealth. Warning: this episode will upend what you think you know about money. We explore why atypical results require atypical actions, how income and not budgeting is the real unlock for wealth mobility, and how many financial myths persist simply because they feel good. Nick also shares the personal rules he lives by, how wealth changes meaning, and why being rich doesn’t guarantee...
info_outline
Lawrence Yeo — The Inner Compass (EP.275)
Infinite Loops
Lawrence Yeo — writer, illustrator and author of “The Inner Compass” — joins the show to discuss the power of intuition in an uncertain world. We explore why embracing uncertainty leads to greater curiosity, how social conditioning pulls us away from our true north, why doing things for their own sake builds authentic conviction and how journaling the "whys" rather than the "whats" can transform your self-awareness. This conversation flowed so naturally we jumped right in without a formal introduction! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. For the full transcript, episode takeaways,...
info_outline
Will Storr—The Status Game (Infinite Loops CLASSICS)
Infinite Loops
Hello everyone, Jim here. We're taking a brief two-week break from new episodes to spotlight a couple of golden oldies from the archive. Years later, these remain some of my favorite conversations. We’ll be back soon with fresh episodes, but in the meantime, here's my September 2022 chat with the always interesting Will Storr. _________________ Will Storr is an award winning journalist and author. His book ‘The Status Game’ transforms our understanding of human nature by demonstrating how our unconscious desire for status ultimately drives our behaviour. Important Links: ...
info_outline
Rupert Sheldrake — On Scientism, Morphic Resonance and the Extended Mind (Infinite Loops CLASSICS)
Infinite Loops
Hello everyone, Jim here. We're taking a brief two-week break from new episodes to spotlight a couple of golden oldies from the Infinite Loops archive. Years later, these remain some of my favorite conversations. We’ll be back soon with fresh episodes, but in the meantime, enjoy this trip back to February 2024, when we welcomed the one and only Rupert Sheldrake. _________________ Rupert Sheldrake is a biologist and author of 9 books and over 100 scientific papers. A critic of what he sees as the scientific establishment’s dogmatic dedication to materialism, he is perhaps best known for his...
info_outline
Aaron Stupple & Logan Chipkin — The Sovereign Child: Liberating Kids from the Tyranny of Rules
Infinite Loops
What if everything we think we know about raising children is not just wrong, but actively harmful? Aaron Stupple and Logan Chipkin, authors of "The Sovereign Child," join Infinite Loops to make a case so compelling and radical that it challenges the very foundation of modern parenting and education. From birth, we're told that children need rules, structure, and authority to thrive. But what if this approach is crushing their natural creativity, problem-solving abilities, and authentic self-development? Stupple and Chipkin argue that children are people—full stop. They have reasons,...
info_outline
Nadia Asparouhova — An Antimemetic Rollercoaster
Infinite Loops
Nadia Asparouhova, author of "Antimemetics: Why Some Ideas Resist Spreading," joins me for a fascinating exploration of why some ideas go viral while others—often the most important ones—resist transmission entirely. We dive into antimemes, Curtis Yarvin's journey from being canceled to becoming mainstream, St. Paul as history's ultimate memetic engineer, and why "Don't Mess with Texas" became a masterpiece of viral messaging. Plus her current research on advanced meditation techniques, internet dynamics, and MUCH MORE! Important Links: Show Notes: Nadia’s fall into the...
info_outline
Miyoba Hamuhuma and Israel Balogun — Grassroots Solutions for Africa’s Impoverished Youth (EP.272)
Infinite Loops
I’m joined today by two remarkable men I met through the O’Shaughnessy Fellowships and Grants program. Israel Balogun was homeless and illiterate until the age of 22. Now, he leads a Nigerian youth rehabilitation nonprofit for street kids and is building a self-sustaining village for 200 out-of-school children with the support of an OSV Fellowship. Miyoba Hamuhuma lost both parents by 12 and battled polio as a child. Now he runs Enlight Abilities, a Zambian organization advocating for inclusive education and economic dignity for children with disabilities and their families, backed by...
info_outline
Dr. Diane Hennacy Powell — Speculations in Post-Materialism (EP.271)
Infinite Loops
Dr. Diane Hennacy Powell, neuropsychiatrist and author of "The ESP Enigma," joins me for a mind-bending exploration of consciousness, savant abilities, and the limitations of materialist science. Trained at Johns Hopkins under a neurologist-turned-psychiatrist, Diane has spent decades investigating phenomena that challenge our fundamental assumptions about how the brain works. We dive deep into why the scientific establishment reacts so emotionally to consciousness research, her fascinating work with autistic savants, and why she believes the brain functions as a navigation tool for...
info_outline
Todd Rose — Are We Living in the Truman Show? (EP.270)
Infinite Loops
Todd Rose, co-founder and CEO of Populace and author of books including "Collective Illusions" and "The End of Average," joins the show to discuss the science behind collective illusions and their impact on society. We explore why so many Americans self-silence, the dangers of conformity, and how one person can spark change. Todd and I are simpatico on… pretty much everything! So this was a fun one. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did. For the full transcript, episode takeaways, and bucketloads of other goodies designed to make you go, “Hmm, that’s interesting!,” check...
info_outline
Charles Beames — Welcome to the Second Space Race (EP.269)
Infinite Loops
Aerospace investor and York Space Systems chairman Chuck Beames joins me for a fascinating discussion on the commercial space revolution and the future of satellite security. A retired Air Force colonel with over 20 years experience as a space and intelligence officer, Chuck brings unparalleled expertise to our conversation about what many are calling "the second space race”. We explore how America can leverage her free-market strengths, why ‘zero trust’ protocols could revolutionize cybersecurity, the military origins of GPS, and why Space Force needs a streamlined procurement approach....
info_outlineShopify Product Director Alex Danco returns for his NINTH appearance on the show — and he comes in hot. As you’ll hear, I didn’t even get a chance to introduce him before he launched into his take on what everyone gets wrong about Citizen Kane.
We also unpack the performance art of parenting, why dinner parties are the new status signals, the difference between meme and slop culture and MUCH more.
Unsurprisingly, this was a fun one. For the full transcript, episode takeaways, and bucketloads of other goodies designed to make you go, “Hmm, that’s interesting!”, check out our Substack.
Important Links:
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alex_Danco
- Substack: https://danco.substack.com
- Website: https://alexdanco.com/
- Previous episode: https://newsletter.osv.llc/p/finding-method-in-the-madness?utm_source=publication-search
Show Notes:
- What EVERYONE gets wrong about Citizen Kane
- Jim’s hardest interview question
- Elon & Lutnick: clash of the cartoons
- The status hierarchy of baby strollers
- What happened to Yuval Noah Harari? (With a diversion via digital girlfriends and North Korean crypto hackers)
- Dinner parties as status signals
- Parenting as performative art
- History’s greatest memers
- Infinite Jest: the sequel (an Alex Danco & Jim O’Shaughnessy production)
- GIF culture vs AI slop
- From “code is capital” to “code is labour”
- “Did I mention that I dropped out of Stamford?”
- From Clint Eastwood to Cloud Atlas
- MORE!
Books, Articles & Films Mentioned:
- Two Thoughts: A Timeless Collection of Infinite Wisdom; by Jim O'Shaughnessy and Vatsal Kaushik
- Finnegans Wake; by James Joyce
- Invest Like the Best; by Jim O'Shaughnessy
- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind; by Yuval Noah Harari
- Underwriters of the United States: How Insurance Shaped the American Founding; by Hannah Farber
- The Magic Mountain; by Thomas Mann
- The Gervais Principle; by Venkatesh Rao
- Scarcity & Abundance in 2025; by Alex Danco
- Cloud Atlas; by David Mitchell
- Citizen Kane; directed by Orson Welles
- F for Fake; directed by Orson Welles
- My Dinner with Andre; directed by Louis Malle
- Letters from Iwo Jima; directed by Clint Eastwood
- Million Dollar Baby; directed by Clint Eastwood
- Fawlty Towers (TV show)
- Absolutely Fabulous (TV Show)