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PODCAST

CSPI Podcast

Discussions with CSPI scholars and leading thinkers in science, technology, and politics. www.cspicenter.com

science social sciences

All Episodes

101:04

The Le Pen Curse | Philippe Lemoine & Richard Hanania

CSPI Podcast ·

2022/04/25

Philippe Lemoine returns to the CSPI Podcast to discuss his prediction for the 2022 French Presidential election. This episode was recorded on April 22nd, two days before Macron’s victory on April 24th, because Philippe was so confident in his forecast that he didn’t think it was necessary to wait until after the election to discuss the results. He and Richard talk about the differences between French and American politics, right-wing ideology in France, class and age as predictors of voting for

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80:00

Towards an Anti-Woke Political Program | Gail Heriot...

CSPI Podcast ·

2022/04/11

Gail Heriot is a Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law and a member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. She joins the podcast to explain the connections between civil rights law and wokeness, how disparate impact criminalizes everything and leads to arbitrary government power, and the real-world consequences of these laws in corporate and university settings. She and Richard also discuss why Republicans are afraid to push back against civil rights law, the

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57:03

Is the West to Blame for Ukraine? | Noah Carl &...

CSPI Podcast ·

2022/03/28

Noah Carl is an independent researcher, writer, and free speech advocate. He invited Richard on his new podcast (which you can find at Noah’s Substack) to discuss whether the West is to blame for the conflict in Ukraine. We’re re-releasing that episode, which originally came out on March 1st. Although much has happened since then, the topics discussed in the conversation remain relevant for understanding the current war and how we got here. Noah and Richard talk about moralism and paranoia in

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114:12

"The Pressure to Conform is Enormous": Steve Hsu on...

CSPI Podcast ·

2022/03/14

Steve Hsu is a Professor of Theoretical Physics and Professor of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. He returns to the CSPI Podcast for a wide-ranging discussion of various personal, political, and technical topics, including his attempted cancelation from Michigan State, thoughts on Russia-Ukraine, affirmative action, macroeconomics, and why top physics talents prefer theoretical over practical pursuits (If you haven’t seen Steve’s first appearance on

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77:09

Vision, Beauty, and Creative Destruction in Silicon...

CSPI Podcast ·

2022/02/28

Jimmy Soni is a biographer and speechwriter. He joins the podcast to talk about his new book, “The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley,” which explores the early days, history, and legacy of PayPal. It also outlines the unique qualities, business savvy, and technological vision that led to the founders’ success at PayPal and elsewhere. Jimmy and Richard discuss the value of “founders,” the cultural impact of Elon Musk, and why so much high-level talent was

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98:13

The Future of Humanity Is IVF Babies and Chinese...

CSPI Podcast ·

2022/02/14

Stephen Hsu is a Professor of Theoretical Physics and Professor of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. He is also a serial entrepreneur and has published on genomics, in addition to blogging on a wide range of topics from econometrics and geopolitics to mixed martial arts. Hsu joins the Podcast, where he and Richard begin by talking about the Russia-Ukraine crisis and American military power relative to that of China and Russia. What would a Chinese

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69:06

Practical Progress in DC | Alec Stapp & Richard Hanania

CSPI Podcast ·

2022/01/31

Alec Stapp is co-CEO of the Institute for Progress, a new think tank that focuses on accelerating scientific, technological, and industrial progress. He joins Richard to talk about why he started his think tank and what policymaking looks like in DC behind the scenes. They also discuss the idea of Secret Congress, the backgrounds of DC staffers, meta-science, biosecurity and immigration as policy issues, and the pros and cons of state capacity.Sign up for CSPI’s Substack newsletter:

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68:19

Darwin and Marx: Friends or Foes? | Freddie deBoer &...

CSPI Podcast ·

2022/01/17

Freddie deBoer joins the podcast to talk about his book “The Cult of Smart,” which argues that many problems in the education system and American society are due to the failure to grapple with the fixed nature of individual differences in intelligence. He and Richard discuss the effectiveness of charter schools vs. public schools, how the economic value of traits changes over time, if American despair is a spiritual or economic issue, and whether college degrees have peaked in value. They also

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76:28

Underwhelmed by Academia (Year in Review) | Jonah...

CSPI Podcast ·

2022/01/03

Jonah Davids is CSPI’s director of communications. He joins Richard to talk about his essay on leaving academia, how social science is mostly storytelling, and what CSPI accomplished in 2021. They also discuss why reaching out to people is underrated, the recent study on racial discrimination in emailing, reasons to stay in or leave academia, the effectiveness of advertising, why CSPI has been successful so far, and wokeness as stupid vs. evil in the aftermath of the IDW.Sign up for CSPI’s Substack

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72:07

Wokeness and Civil Rights Law | Charles Fain Lehman,...

CSPI Podcast ·

2021/12/20

Charles Fain Lehman is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and contributing editor of City Journal. Gabriel Rossman is a sociologist at UCLA. They join Richard to debate the relationship between woke institutions, civil rights law, and corporate culture. Each has written a recent article on this topic: Richard’s “Woke Institutions is Just Civil Rights Law,” Charles’ “The Geneology of Woke Capital,” and Gabriel’s “Why Woke Organizations All Sound the Same.” They also discuss the history of

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91:03

Population Structure: What Epidemiology Has Gotten...

CSPI Podcast ·

2021/12/06

Philippe Lemoine is a Research Fellow at CSPI and a PhD candidate in philosophy at Cornell University. He returns to the podcast to discuss his new paper, “Have we been thinking about the pandemic wrong? The effect of population structure on transmission.” He and Richard discuss the role of networks in COVID transmission, the politics and sociology of the pandemic, the enforcement of mask mandates in LA County and French gyms, why we might want less genomic surveillance of new variants, and why the

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70:08

Is DEI Conquering Science? | Leif Rasmussen & Richard...

CSPI Podcast ·

2021/11/22

This week’s guest is Leif Rasmussen, a PhD candidate in computer science at Northwestern University, and the author of the new CSPI report, “Increasing Politicization and Homogeneity in Scientific Funding: An Analysis of NSF Grants, 1990-2020.” He discusses the report and critiques of it, along with his experiences in academia, and the growing bias against non-conformists in intellectual life. A tweet thread summarizing the report can be found here.Sign up for CSPI’s Substack newsletter:

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88:38

The Queen of the Human Sciences | Robert Plomin &...

CSPI Podcast ·

2021/11/08

Robert Plomin is a Professor of Behavioural Genetics at King’s College London and author of Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are. The conversation includes sections on the history of the field of behavioral genetics, and why we should not undersell what it tells us about why people turn out the way they do. Research involving twins, adoptees, and now looking directly at the genome, use a variety of methods to arrive at the same conclusion and all reveal that differences between individuals are

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54:19

What's Wrong with the West Coast? | Michael...

CSPI Podcast ·

2021/10/25

Michael Shellenberger is an activist and author. He joins the podcast to talk about his book San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities. He discusses debates around homelessness in San Francisco, the ideology driving the homelessness advocacy community, how the West coast differs from the rest of the world in its treatment of mental illness and addiction, and whether there is hope of political change.Sign up for CSPI’s Substack newsletter: https://cspi.substack.com.Follow CSPI on Twitter:

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93:10

History as Told Through Our Genes | Razib Khan &...

CSPI Podcast ·

2021/10/11

Razib Khan is a geneticist and Substacker. He joins the podcast to talk about what genetics can tell us about the human past and the progress made in his field over the last few decades. The conversation touches on population structures in Europe, India, China, and the Western Hemisphere, along with Neanderthal and Denisovan admixture among different races and how different fields define what it means to be human. Richard and Razib discuss questions including how Indian castes were able to remain

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94:02

Why Rationality Requires Incentives | Steven Pinker &...

CSPI Podcast ·

2021/09/27

Steven Pinker is a professor of psychology at Harvard University. The author of several books, his latest is Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters. He joins the podcast to talk about this work, and the discussion includes topics such as why voters make bad decisions, the appeal of conspiracy theories and the sense in which believing in them is rational, how to get more rational elites, and which statistical methods are better than others for establishing causation. In the

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81:40

How to Get Better Elites? | Robin Hanson & Richard...

CSPI Podcast ·

2021/09/13

Robin Hanson is a professor of economics at George Mason University. He joins the podcast to talk about futarchy, a system in which people would vote on values, but bet on beliefs. The conversation touches on the nature of rationality, why firms don't actually maximize profits, why betting markets are better than other forms of prediction or expertise, regulatory and psychological barriers to adopting new technologies, and why the rise of "Davos Man" and a global culture might be bad for innovation

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50:47

Embryo Screening and the Future of Reproductive...

CSPI Podcast ·

2021/08/30

Noor Siddiqui is a former Thiel Fellow who has taught at Stanford and the founder and CEO of Orchid (www.orchidhealth.com), a biotech company. She joins the podcast to talk about the science behind embryo selection, its potential to help improve people's lives, ethical objections, and the importance of reproductive rights.Sign up for CSPI’s Substack newsletter: https://cspi.substack.com.Follow CSPI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CSPICenterOrg.Subscribe to our YouTube for video podcasts:

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116:18

Flying X-Wings into the Death Star: On Investing and...

CSPI Podcast ·

2021/08/16

Marc Andreessen is a venture capitalist and the founder of Netscape. He joins the podcast to talk about what's the matter with science, the prerequisites for progress, and how tech has changed our lives and has the potential to disrupt stagnant institutions. Topics also include how the internet has changed dating, what venture capitalists actually do, and whether there is too much–or too little–money in politics.Sign up for CSPI’s Substack newsletter: https://cspi.substack.com.Follow CSPI on

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91:51

How to Think about Stats | Philippe Lemoine & Richard...

CSPI Podcast ·

2021/08/02

Philippe Lemoine is a Research Fellow at CSPI and a PhD candidate in philosophy at Cornell University. He recently wrote a blog post called "Lockdowns, econometrics and the art of putting lipstick on a pig," where he takes apart a paper on the effects of COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions. Richard and Philippe discuss what's wrong with this paper and what it reveals about academia and the incentives scholars face more generally. They also explore when and under what circumstances one should

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74 results

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