Infinite Loops
Every Thursday, join Jim O'Shaughnessy and his favorite people as they arm you with the tools & fresh perspectives required to upgrade your HumanOS and thrive in our messy, probabilistic world. Visit our Substack at newsletter.osv.llc for full transcripts, highlights, weekly doses of timeless wisdom, and a bounty of other goodies designed to make you go, "Hmm that’s interesting!"
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Julie Fredrickson - The Right to Compute: AI Agents, Nuclear Power & Human Data (Ep. 330)
10/01/2026
Julie Fredrickson - The Right to Compute: AI Agents, Nuclear Power & Human Data (Ep. 330)
Julie Fredrickson, Managing Partner of Chaotic Capital, rejoins Jim O'Shaughnessy on Infinite Loops to talk about Montana's Right to Compute Act, why verified human data may become one of the most valuable assets online, what nuclear power and the encryption wars teach about regulating AI, why chatbots keep recommending the same sunscreen, and what 2,089 days of daily public writing taught her about being wrong. It is her second Infinite Loops conversation, three years after Episode 181. Show Notes Julie Fredrickson & Jim O'Shaughnessy Julie Fredrickson: Managing Partner of Chaotic Capital, an early-stage venture fund, and a former founder in e-commerce and beauty. Julie on X: Julie's preferred way to be reached. Julie's daily writing: More than 2,000 consecutive days of public writing, started January 1, 2021. Jim O'Shaughnessy: Host of Infinite Loops, founder and CEO of O'Shaughnessy Ventures, and author of the New York Times bestseller What Works on Wall Street. Full transcripts: Transcripts and highlights from every Infinite Loops conversation. Julie's Work & Projects Montana's Right to Compute Act: The first state law protecting people's right to own and use computers and AI tools, which Julie advocated for. Valar Atomics: The small modular reactor company founded by Isaiah Taylor, where Julie invested. Julie's first Infinite Loops episode: Episode 181, "Circumstances change. Humanity doesn't. Plan accordingly." Books & Ideas Mentioned The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch: Jim's reference for why no one in 1900 could have predicted the internet. Carlota Perez: The economist whose work on technology booms and build-outs shapes Julie's view that AI is still in its invention phase. Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge: The novel Julie cites for a future where people earn a living doing small tasks only humans can do. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson: Julie's reference for how ideas spread like a virus through programmers. Fall; or, Dodge in Hell by Neal Stephenson: The novel Julie describes, in which Americans mourn victims of a nuclear attack that never happened. The WEIRDest People in the World by Joseph Henrich: Jim's reference on how long cultures take to adapt to new technology. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell: Jim's starting point for cognitive security and invented history. From Googlebot to GPTBot: Cloudflare's report on the rise in AI crawler traffic that Julie cites. The Vesuvius Challenge: The project reading the Herculaneum scrolls, subject of a documentary from Infinite Films. Agrippa's trilemma: Jim's reference for why chasing a claim to its source often ends in sand.
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Derek Sivers - Living Many Lives: Parenting, Moving Countries & AI (Ep. 329)
09/24/2026
Derek Sivers - Living Many Lives: Parenting, Moving Countries & AI (Ep. 329)
Derek Sivers, author, entrepreneur, TED speaker, and founder of CD Baby, joins Jim O'Shaughnessy on Infinite Loops to talk about parenting a teenager who is ready to leave home, why he moves countries on purpose and plans to live in Bangalore and Shanghai next, the certainty slider, and how AI can make you less dependent on big tech, not more. It is his first podcast after more than a year of saying no to every request. Show Notes Derek Sivers & Jim O'Shaughnessy Derek Sivers: Author, entrepreneur, and TED speaker, and founder of CD Baby, once the largest seller of independent music online. Derek on X: Where Derek shares his writing. Derek's TED talks: Including "How to Start a Movement," his most popular talk. Jim O'Shaughnessy: Host of Infinite Loops, founder and CEO of O'Shaughnessy Ventures, and author of the New York Times bestseller What Works on Wall Street. Full transcripts: Transcripts and highlights from every Infinite Loops conversation. Derek's Books & Projects Useful Not True: Derek's book on skepticism and choosing beliefs because they are useful, not because they are true. How to Live: 27 conflicting answers on how to live, which Derek calls his masterpiece. Hell Yeah or No: Simple mental models for deciding what's worth doing. Anything You Want: Derek's bestselling book of 40 lessons from starting, building, and selling CD Baby. Tech Independence: Step-by-step instructions and a setup script for running your own server and email instead of depending on big tech. Books & Ideas Mentioned Personal Development for Smart People by Steve Pavlina: The book whose idea about seeking surprise sent Derek around the world. China's World View by David Daokui Li: Derek's pick for understanding the Chinese government's point of view. Maverick by Ricardo Semler: The book behind Derek's short-lived profit-sharing plan at CD Baby. Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned by Kenneth O. Stanley and Joel Lehman: Jim's reference on why new vantage points change where you want to go. The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch: The book Jim calls a definitive look at how he sees the world. Nothing & Everything by Val N. Tine: The book on nihilism Derek recommends, with his advice to read only the first half.
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Brent Seales - How AI Is Reading the Only Library That Survived Antiquity (Ep. 328)
09/17/2026
Brent Seales - How AI Is Reading the Only Library That Survived Antiquity (Ep. 328)
Dr. Brent Seales, computer scientist at the University of Kentucky and co-founder of the Vesuvius Challenge, joins guest host Nick Tawil on Infinite Loops to explain how synchrotron X-rays and machine learning are making unopenable ancient scrolls readable, and why the work has now shifted from engineering to reading. This summer in Naples, his team presented results from three sealed Herculaneum scrolls, including the first read end to end. Show Notes Brent Seales & Nick Tawil Dr. Brent Seales: Stanley and Karen Pigman Chair of Heritage Science at the University of Kentucky and co-founder of the Vesuvius Challenge. Vesuvius Challenge: The open competition Brent co-founded with Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross to read the carbonized Herculaneum scrolls. The June 2026 breakthrough: The announcement in Naples of new texts, titles, and authors recovered from the scrolls. Nick Tawil: Guest host and head of Infinite Films. The Scrolls & the Discoveries The Herculaneum library: Roughly 1,800 scrolls carbonized by Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, the only library from antiquity that survived. Philodemus, On Gods, Book 8: A title and author read from a sealed scroll, establishing that the work ran to at least eight books. The En-Gedi scroll: The burned Torah scroll Brent's team read without opening, containing one of the oldest known copies of the first two chapters of Leviticus in the canonical Masoretic text. The $1 million prize: The open competition to fully unroll and read one of the remaining sealed scrolls. Films & Coverage Mentioned The Vesuvius Challenge: The upcoming documentary from Infinite Films and Scott Free, in partnership with Calliope Pictures, narrated by Guy Pearce. Secrets of the Dead: The Herculaneum Scrolls: The PBS episode following Brent inside the Villa of the Papyri. Cost of Glory: The Roman history podcast Brent and Nick reference while discussing what might still be buried. Dead Poets Society: The source of "carpe diem," one of the two ideas Brent would give the world.
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Ryan Resch - How Data Changed the NBA and What AI Changes Next (Ep. 327)
09/10/2026
Ryan Resch - How Data Changed the NBA and What AI Changes Next (Ep. 327)
Ryan Resch, former Assistant General Manager and VP of Basketball Operations for the Phoenix Suns, joins guest host Jimmy Soni on Infinite Loops to explore what happens to competitive advantage when every team has the same data, and why the real edge comes from the questions you ask of it. Ryan traces his path from a cold email to Baylor coach Scott Drew to nearly a decade in the Suns front office and his current work leading data and AI in private equity. Show Notes Ryan Resch & Jimmy Soni Ryan Resch on LinkedIn: Former Suns Assistant GM and VP of Basketball Operations, now leading data and AI at 1949 Capital Partners. Beyond the Dashboard: Ryan's Harvard Business School interview with Boris Groysberg on optical tracking, dashboards, and AI. Shore Capital Partners: The private equity firm founded by Justin Ishbia, where Ryan helped roll out AI tools. Jimmy Soni on X: Guest host, bestselling author, and editor-in-chief of Infinite Books. Teams, Leaders & Data Discussed James Jones: The 2020-21 NBA Executive of the Year, whose Suns rebuild started with raising the floor. Scott Drew: The Baylor head coach who answered Ryan's cold email and later had him build lineup data. SportVU: The camera system that brought optical tracking to every NBA arena in 2013-14. Second Spectrum: The machine learning platform that turned tracking data into tagged plays and dashboards teams across the league use. Hawk-Eye: Sony's 3D tracking system, used across the NBA since 2023-24. Books, Shows & AI Tools Mentioned Moneyball by Michael Lewis: The 2003 book on the Oakland A's that frames how analytics moved from baseball into basketball. Hyperion by Dan Simmons: The first book in the sci-fi series Ryan is reading, and a window into how earlier writers imagined AI. The Founders by Jimmy Soni: Jimmy's history of PayPal and Silicon Valley, which Ryan handed out at the Suns. TBPN and Dwarkesh Podcast: Two of the tech shows Ryan wishes he had more hours for. | Claude Code and Codex: The coding agents Ryan uses in a workspace built for agents to read. |
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Brian Chau - How AI is Reinventing Investigative Journalism (Ep. 326)
09/03/2026
Brian Chau - How AI is Reinventing Investigative Journalism (Ep. 326)
Brian Chau, founder of Effort News, joins Infinite Loops to explore how AI could fundamentally reshape investigative journalism—not by writing articles, but by searching, analyzing, and connecting millions of legal, financial, and government records that humans could never examine manually. Show Notes Brian Chau & Effort News Effort News — Brian Chau’s document-led investigative journalism publication, using AI to search and analyze large datasets while keeping the reporting and final writing human-reviewed. About Effort News — More on Brian’s approach to AI-assisted investigative reporting and the publication’s editorial principles. Effort’s Null Results — Investigations where Effort searched the available evidence but found no newsworthy result. Brian Chau on X — @brianchau57. Investigations Discussed The $1.2B Refugee Services Program that Funds Pro-Asylum Religious Groups — Effort’s investigation into federal refugee-resettlement grants and the organizations receiving them. The 19th-Century Family Fortunes Funding Degrowth — Effort’s investigation tracing funding for Partners for a New Economy through donor-side disclosures and the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation. Partners for a New Economy (P4NE) — The philanthropic fund discussed in Brian’s explanation of tracing obscured donor funding. Swiss Philanthropy Foundation — The organization that hosts P4NE’s pooled philanthropic fund. How to Go Viral on the New X Algorithm — Effort’s analysis of X’s open-source recommendation algorithm, which Jim references near the end of the conversation. Freedom Fuel Network — Brian discusses Effort’s then-upcoming investigation into the mysterious network of discounted gas stations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Effort has since published its findings, Who Supplies Freedom Fuel?, on its site. Books, Essays & Projects Mentioned Vesuvius Challenge — The project using machine learning, computer vision, and advanced scanning to read carbonized scrolls from Herculaneum without physically opening them. The Camp of the Saints — Jean Raspail — The 1973 novel Brian and Jim discuss while talking about how AI-generated writing has changed the way readers perceive older literary styles. Influence — Robert Cialdini — Cialdini’s work on persuasion, referenced during the discussion of why large language models can be effective persuaders. What the Tortoise Said to Achilles — Lewis Carroll — Carroll’s 1895 dialogue about logic and infinite regress, discussed alongside Agrippa’s trilemma. On Liberty — John Stuart Mill — Mill’s defense of liberty and free expression, which Brian critiques during the episode’s discussion of classical liberalism, consensus, and free speech.
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Julian Gough — The Egg and The Rock (Infinite Loops Classics)
08/27/2026
Julian Gough — The Egg and The Rock (Infinite Loops Classics)
We're digging out some of our favorite conversations from the archive. This one is from January 2025, with Julian Gough. Enjoy. Julian Gough sums up his career as follows: “I just sit in my room and write.” Well, I think being an acclaimed children’s author, novelist, stage playwright, poet and top-ten Irish musician is a little more impressive than he’s letting on… Oh, and I didn’t even mention that he wrote the ending to the computer game Minecraft! His current project, The Egg and The Rock, puts all of this to shame. This book, which Julian is writing in public on Substack, seeks to do no less than redescribe the universe, arguing that is not some random, dead, purposeless sack of chemicals, but instead a living, evolving organism. Julian joins me to discuss why the arc of human evolution bends towards man-made black holes, the hidden catastrophe at the heart of materialist science, the strange life of subterranean ice aliens, and MUCH more! This was such an interesting conversation - I can’t wait for you to hear it. For the full transcript, episode takeaways, and bucketloads of other goodies designed to make you go, “Hmm, that’s interesting!”, check out our . Important Links: Show Notes: “I just sit in my room and write” Why write a book in public? Materialism & science’s hidden catastrophe “The scientific method is in conflict with human nature” The faulty assumption at the heart of cosmology Big bangs, supermassive black holes & Darwinian evolution: A ~30 minute masterclass in cosmological natural selection “I'm predicting very, very large amounts of life in this universe” The strange life of subterranean ice aliens Could we spot man-made black holes? Bringing consciousness into physics Pulling back the curtain Julian as World Emperor MORE! Books & Articles Mentioned: The New Inquisition: Irrational Rationalism and the Citadel of Science; by Robert Anton Wilson Against Method: Outline of an Anarchistic Theory of Knowledge; by Paul Feyerabend What the Tortoise Said to Achilles; by Lewis Carroll The Life of the Cosmos; by Lee Smolin What Is Life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell; by Erwin Schrödinger Isis Unveiled: A Master-Key to the Mysteries of Ancient and Modern Science and Theology; by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky The Bhagavad Gita ; by Lee Smolin ; by Robin Hanson
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Dr. Julie Gurner — Ultra Successful (Infinite Loops Classics)
08/20/2026
Dr. Julie Gurner — Ultra Successful (Infinite Loops Classics)
Hi everyone, Jim here. We’re taking a short pause on new episodes through the end of August. In the meantime, we’re digging out some of our favorite conversations from the archive. This one is from August 2023, with Dr. Julie Gurner. Enjoy. Dr. Julie Gurner is a doctor of psychology and executive performance coach to top percentile executives, primarily in finance and technology. She is also the proprietor of the Ultra Successful newsletter, which delivers a weekly challenge pulled from global business leaders and designed to ”help you unleash your power.” Dr. Gurner joins the show to discuss the merits of being unreasonable, why your business should not be your identity, why niceness is overrated, and more! Important Links: - Substack - - Twitter - - Website - Show Notes: 0:00:00 Intro 0:01:24 Main podcast 0:02:20 Dr. Gurner’s origin story 0:05:07 How forensic psychology experience can help executive coaching 0:07:11 Leaning into the 1% 0:15:23 Why psychological tests are flawed 0:19:26 The common traits of successful founders 0:29:12 High performance & bottlenecks 0:30:38 Why your business should not be your identity 0:41:01 How Dr. Gurner applies her strategies in her own life 0:44:17 Don’t be nice 0:46:48 Be unreasonable 0:51:18 Social validation is not important 0:56:22 How can you improve someone’s communication skills 1:01:43 How Dr. Gurner would teach executive coaching 1:03:36 The “no Plan B” mentality 1:06:48 Can high energy be detrimental? 1:10:21 How to unpack charisma 1:15:57 How to turn down work 1:20:01 Dr. Gurner’s greatest satisfaction 1:22:31 How has leadership changed in the last 20 years? 1:25:40 Dr. Gurner as Empress of the World 1:31:18 End screen Books Mentioned: - The Art of War; by Sun Tzu
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Lulu Cheng Meservey — Going Direct: What Founders can learn from K-Pop, Crypto, and the Early Christians (Infinite Loops Classics)
08/13/2026
Lulu Cheng Meservey — Going Direct: What Founders can learn from K-Pop, Crypto, and the Early Christians (Infinite Loops Classics)
Hi everyone, Jim here. We're taking a short pause on new episodes through the end of August. In the meantime, we're digging out some of our favorite conversations from the archive. This one is from November 2022, so a few of our references (and jobs!) are out of date, but the ideas have only gotten better. Enjoy this conversation with Lulu Cheng Meservey. Lulu Cheng Meservey is the Chief Communications Officer and Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Activision Blizzard. She joins Infinite Loops to provide us with a masterclass in communications for startups. A must-listen for current and aspiring founders. Important Links: • • • Show Notes: • Why people write hit pieces • The insurgency framework • How to access your audience’s neural real estate • How to develop a spontaneous elevator pitch • Tips for becoming better at reading the room • Speak directly and take the hits • Defining business objectives • Learning from other industries • Personalising your message • Overcoming resistance to the unknown, what Christianity can teach us about comms • Escaping corporate jargon • How comms resembles rugby • Taking ownership of comms • Moving to a new model of comms • “Don’t let things happen to you. Go and happen to things.” Books Mentioned: • The Network State: How To Start a New Country; by Balaji S. Srinivasan • The Hero with a Thousand Faces; by Joseph Campbell
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Jesse Michels — American Alchemy (Infinite Loops Classics)
08/06/2026
Jesse Michels — American Alchemy (Infinite Loops Classics)
Hi everyone, Jim here. We're taking a short pause on new episodes through the end of August. In the meantime, we're digging out some of our favorite conversations from the archive. This one is from February 2023, so a few of the references have aged since (mine included), but the ideas have only gotten better. Enjoy this one with the wonderfully heretical Jesse Michels. Jesse Michels is an investor at Thiel Capital and the creator and host of ‘American Alchemy’, a Youtube channel dedicated to highlighting the most heretical thinkers and ideas of our time. He joins the show to discuss the transmission theory of consciousness, whether mushrooms are aliens, the reawakening of the Boomers and MUCH more! Important Links: - American Alchemy - - Jesse’s Twitter - Books Mentioned: - The Half-Life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date; by Samuel Arbesman - The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down to Size; by Tor Norretranders - Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid; by Douglas Hofstadter - The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World; by David Deutsch - The Immortality Key : The Secret History of the Religion with No Name; by Brian C. Muraresku - The New Inquisition: Irrational Rationalism and the Citadel of Science; by Robert Anton Wilson - How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression and Transcendence; by Michael Pollan - Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties; by Tom O’Neill - Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon: Laurel Canyon, Covert Ops & the Dark Heart of the Hippie Dream; by David McGowan - Prometheus Rising; by Robert Anton Wilson - Quantum Psychology: How Brain Software Programs You & Your World; by Robert Anton Wilson - The Cosmic Trigger trilogy; by Robert Anton Wilson - Communion: A True Story; by Whitley Strieber
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Nat Eliason - The High School That Guarantees You'll Make $1 Million (Ep. 325)
07/30/2026
Nat Eliason - The High School That Guarantees You'll Make $1 Million (Ep. 325)
Nat Eliason joins guest host Jimmy Soni to discuss Founders School, a new high school for entrepreneurs that guarantees students will generate $1 million in gross profit by graduation or get their tuition refunded. We explore how AI is changing what teenagers can build, why traditional entrepreneurship education falls short, and what happens when we take young people seriously. Important Links: Learn more about Founders School: Read more from Nat here:
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Philip Howard - How to Bring Common Sense Back to America (Ep. 324)
07/23/2026
Philip Howard - How to Bring Common Sense Back to America (Ep. 324)
Philip Howard joins Infinite Loops to explain how America’s legal and regulatory system became too complicated to function effectively—and how we can rebuild it around judgment, accountability, and human agency. We discuss why government has become unmanageable, how thousand-page rulebooks discourage individual judgment, why infrastructure projects can take decades to approve, and how public institutions end up costing more while delivering less.
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Sangeet Choudary - How AI Will Reshape the Knowledge Economy (Ep. 323)
07/16/2026
Sangeet Choudary - How AI Will Reshape the Knowledge Economy (Ep. 323)
Sangeet Choudary joins Infinite Loops to explain why AI’s greatest impact will not be automating today’s work, but rebuilding the structures beneath it. They discuss AI-native companies, the future of knowledge work, the American and Chinese AI models, creative “exhaust,” changing career paths, and how to compete when the rules of the game are constantly being rewritten. Important Links: Learn more about Sangeet and Reshuffle here: Read more about the Platform Revolution here:
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Jameson Olsen - Becoming the Main Character (Ep. 322)
07/09/2026
Jameson Olsen - Becoming the Main Character (Ep. 322)
What if the great stories were more than just stories? Jameson Olsen, host of Becoming the Main Character, joins guest host Liberty to explore fiction as a kind of operating system for life — a way to study agency, ambition, empathy, failure, courage, and change without having to live every consequence yourself. Through Hamlet, Frankenstein, Sherlock Holmes, Lord of the Rings, training montages, NPCs, and the Hero’s Journey, they discuss what it means to stop drifting through life and start holding the pen of your own story. Important Links: Listen to Jameson's podcast here:
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David Gelles - The Stories that Shape Business (Ep. 321)
07/02/2026
David Gelles - The Stories that Shape Business (Ep. 321)
David Gelles joins guest host Jimmy Soni to discuss his career covering business for The New York Times. They talk about his books - Mindful Work, The Man Who Broke Capitalism, and Dirtbag Billionaire - and the reporting behind major stories on Bernie Madoff, Jack Welch, Boeing's 737 Max crashes, and Patagonia's Yvon Chouinard. David explains how he broke a front-page story five weeks into journalism school, how he convinced Bernie Madoff to grant him a prison interview, and his process for writing books while working full-time. They also discuss raising kids who read for hours every day and why meditation helps him stay sane.
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Gretchen Rubin - How Curiosity Becomes a Calling (Ep. 320)
06/25/2026
Gretchen Rubin - How Curiosity Becomes a Calling (Ep. 320)
Gretchen Rubin joins guest host and Infinite Books CEO Jimmy Soni to discuss her journey from Supreme Court clerk to bestselling author, the creative obsessions that shaped her career, and the daily habits that fuel her work. They cover her transition from law to writing Power Money Fame Sex, why she often ends up writing the book before the proposal, the art of editing until the final hour (even during pass pages), her 5:30 AM writing routine, and why "know thyself" remains the foundation of all her books - from 40 Ways to Look at Winston Churchill to Life in Five Senses. Important Links: Learn more about Gretchen: Read more of Gretchen’s work: Listen to Gretchen’s podcast:
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Ben Cohen - The Hidden Art of Making Things Better (Ep. 319)
06/18/2026
Ben Cohen - The Hidden Art of Making Things Better (Ep. 319)
Wall Street Journal columnist Ben Cohen joins guest host Jimmy Soni, CEO of Infinite Books, to explore the hidden art of making things better. They explore the hot hand phenomenon in basketball, why Moneyball shaped a generation of journalists, the peanut butter and jelly crisis in the Warriors locker room, why ASML is the most important company you’ve never heard of, the strange story of Driscoll's tastiest berries, and the troubled development of The Princess Bride. Important Links: Learn more about Ben here: Read The Science of Success: Read The Hot Hand:
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Revan Lazarus - How AI is Rebuilding the Creator Economy (Ep. 318)
06/11/2026
Revan Lazarus - How AI is Rebuilding the Creator Economy (Ep. 318)
AI is no longer just a tool creators use to make content faster. It is beginning to reshape the entire creator economy. Revan Lazarus is the founder of Jamie, an AI platform for podcast networks and digital sales teams. He joins Infinite Loops, guest-hosted by Nick Tawil, to discuss how AI is changing podcasting, media sales, audience analytics, creator monetization, brand deals, and the future of content itself. Important Links: Learn more about Jamie AI:
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Brian London, Marisa Adler & Eric Stubin - The Hidden Economy of Recycled Clothes (Ep. 317)
06/04/2026
Brian London, Marisa Adler & Eric Stubin - The Hidden Economy of Recycled Clothes (Ep. 317)
What actually happens after you donate a bag of clothes? Most people assume it gets sold locally to someone in need, but the reality is much bigger, stranger, and more global. In this episode of Infinite Loops, hosted by OSV’s , we sit down for a roundtable on the hidden global economy of secondhand textiles with , , and , all experts in the field. We discuss how the industry works, why fast fashion has made the problem harder, why 70% of the world uses secondhand clothing, what AI can and can’t solve, and why turning an old shirt into a new shirt is still much harder than it sounds. Substack:
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Jason Buck - Faith, Failure, and Finance (Ep. 316)
05/28/2026
Jason Buck - Faith, Failure, and Finance (Ep. 316)
Jason Buck, founder and CIO of Mutiny Funds, joins Infinite Loops to tell the painful and darkly funny story of how the 2007–2008 crash destroyed his real estate business, wiped out his paper wealth, and taught him one of the hardest lessons in markets: being right is not the same thing as making money. Jason explains how he went from real estate developer to volatility trader and eventually built his philosophy around survival, resilience, and the “Cockroach Portfolio.” He and Jim explore why true diversification always feels uncomfortable, why human behavior is the most persistent source of market mistakes, and why investing beliefs often resemble religion. Important Links: Learn more about Mutiny Fund here: Listen to more from Jason here:
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Chelsea Follett - Why Progress Is the Exception, Not the Rule (Ep. 315)
05/21/2026
Chelsea Follett - Why Progress Is the Exception, Not the Rule (Ep. 315)
Chelsea Follett joins Infinite Loops to explain why the “good old days” were far darker than most people imagine — and why progress should never be taken for granted. Chelsea is the managing editor of Human Progress and author of Centers of Progress and the forthcoming The Grim Old Days. We discuss why humans are so drawn to nostalgia, what life was really like in the preindustrial past, why doomsday predictions keep failing, and how freedom, innovation, and open inquiry helped create the modern world. Important Links: Learn More about Chelsea’s upcoming book here: Read more of Chelsea’s Human Progress work here:
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Mykhailo Marynenko - AI Tools That Give Creators More Control (Ep. 314)
05/15/2026
Mykhailo Marynenko - AI Tools That Give Creators More Control (Ep. 314)
Mykhailo Marynenko joins Infinite Loops for for a fascinating conversation about the future of AI, creative tools, privacy, and data ownership. From growing up in his father’s phone repair shop in Ukraine to building experimental AI systems today, Mykhailo has spent his life taking things apart, figuring out how they work, and rebuilding them in unexpected ways. We explore how AI can help creators without replacing them, why privacy and data ownership matter, and what it means to design tools that give people more control over complex information. Important Links More about Misha:
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Danielle Crittenden - Dispatches from Grief (Ep. 313)
05/07/2026
Danielle Crittenden - Dispatches from Grief (Ep. 313)
On a February morning, Danielle Crittenden’s world cleaved in two: the life before her daughter Miranda was found dead in her Brooklyn apartment, and the life after. Two years and three months later, Danielle joins Infinite Loops to discuss her luminous memoir, Dispatches from Grief, which unflinchingly traces the strange afterlife of grief with precision, restraint, and unexpected humor. This conversation explores what grief really feels like. With extraordinary honesty and grace, Danielle shares the physical pain, the loneliness of loss, and the slow work of carrying her daughter’s memory forward. Dispatches from Grief is out now: | Danielle’s Substack:
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Saloni Dattani - The Hidden Bottleneck Holding Back the Future of Medicine (Ep. 312)
04/30/2026
Saloni Dattani - The Hidden Bottleneck Holding Back the Future of Medicine (Ep. 312)
Saloni Dattani, author of the Scientific Discovery Substack and founding editor of magazine, joins Infinite Loops to discuss why medical innovation is often much slower than it needs to be. We explore why so much research still begins in animal models, how poor data distorts our understanding of disease, why clinical trials are one of the biggest bottlenecks in medicine, and how better systems could help promising treatments reach patients faster. Important Links: Read more from Saloni here: And here: And listen to Saloni's podcast "Hard Drugs" here:
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Brian Potter - How to Fix America’s Building Problem
04/23/2026
Brian Potter - How to Fix America’s Building Problem
Why has America become so bad at building housing, infrastructure, and major projects? Brian Potter, author of The Origins of Efficiency and writer of Construction Physics, explains why prefab housing keeps failing and why there are no easy fixes to America’s building problem. We discuss Katerra, California’s anti-growth turn, and the deeper logic behind local opposition to growth: concentrated harms and diffuse benefits. Important Links: Read Brian's newsletter Construction Physics here: Read Brian's book The Origins of Efficiency here: Learn more about Brian here:
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Alex Petkas - What Ancient Greece Can Teach Us About AI and the Future (Ep. 310)
04/16/2026
Alex Petkas - What Ancient Greece Can Teach Us About AI and the Future (Ep. 310)
What can Aristotle, Plato, Prometheus, and the Greek city-states teach us about AI, innovation, and the future of human flourishing? Alex Petkas joins the show to explore how old myths still matter in a world shaped by technology. We talk about Prometheus as the foundational myth of tech, Plato’s fear that writing would become a tool for forgetting, the real lesson of Icarus, why decentralization creates cultural power, and what it means to remain fully human in the age of AI. Important Links: Learn More about The Cost of Glory: Check out Alex's Youtube Channel: Alex's Twitter: The Cost of Glory Substack:
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Sam Arbesman - Why Future Belongs to Curious People (Ep. 309)
04/09/2026
Sam Arbesman - Why Future Belongs to Curious People (Ep. 309)
Scientist and writer Sam Arbesman joins us for a wide-ranging conversation on AI, optimism, science, education, archives, science fiction, and why the history of computing still has so much to teach us. We talk about why pessimism is often mistaken for sophistication, why AI may reward open-mindedness more than intelligence, why science works even though scientists are imperfect, and why the future may depend on revisiting forgotten ideas from the past. Important Links: Learn more about Sam here: Read Sam's latest book: Sam's Substack: Neal Stephenson's Innovation Starvation: David Deutsch's The Beginning of Infinity:
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Johnathan Bi - Why the Best Founders Might Need a Little Delusion (Ep. 308)
04/02/2026
Johnathan Bi - Why the Best Founders Might Need a Little Delusion (Ep. 308)
Johnathan Bi returns to Infinite Loops for a conversation about founders, delusion, America, religion, mysticism, and the strange tension between truth and action. We explore why some of the most effective builders may be the least introspective, why societies often run on useful fictions, how America encourages megalomania, what happens when materialism starts to feel incomplete, and why the “seeker” may matter even more in the age of AI. The episode moves from Plato and Caesar to founders, mystics, near-death experiences, and the future of human creativity. Important Links: Johnathan's Youtube Channel: Johnathan's Substack:
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Polina Pompliano - What Truly Drives Successful People (Ep. 307)
03/26/2026
Polina Pompliano - What Truly Drives Successful People (Ep. 307)
Polina Pompliano studies some of the most successful people in the world—and what she’s found challenges how we think about success, creativity, and human behavior. In this episode of Infinite Loops, we explore the mental models behind high performers, why we misunderstand people (including ourselves), and what it really takes to see the world differently. From creativity and rationality to identity, media bias, and the hidden motivations driving success, this conversation is a deep dive into how great thinkers actually operate. Important Links: Check out Polina's new book: More from Polina Pompliano — The Profile:
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Adam Mastroianni - Why Creativity Feels Like It's Dying (Ep. 306)
03/19/2026
Adam Mastroianni - Why Creativity Feels Like It's Dying (Ep. 306)
In this episode of Infinite Loops, we speak with Adam Mastroianni—experimental psychologist and sharp critic of modern culture and science. We ask, why does creativity feel like it’s fading? From endless remakes to cultural sameness, Adam argues that as society becomes more stable and risk-averse, we may be unintentionally reducing the “deviance” that drives originality and breakthrough thinking. We also discuss why science should get weirder, how to fight credentialism, and the dangers of professionalization. Important Links: To learn more about Adam Mastroianni: Adam's Piece on the Decline of Deviance: Slime Mold Time Mold: Our Conversation with Julian Gough:
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Arkady Kulik - The Psychology of Self-Deception (Ep. 305)
03/12/2026
Arkady Kulik - The Psychology of Self-Deception (Ep. 305)
In this episode of Infinite Loops, we sit down with venture capitalist and physicist Arkady Kulikov to explore the psychology behind founders, responsibility, and self-deception. Kulik discusses why the hardest problems in business are almost always human problems, how great founders deal with stress, and why the biggest lie entrepreneurs tell is often to themselves. He also explains how investors evaluate founder psychology, why difficult conversations are essential in business, and why resilience is more about adaptability than stubbornness. Important Links: Listen to our last conversation with Arkady here: Arkady’s deep tech venture fund, rpv global:
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