The Joe Walker Podcast - podcast cover

The Joe Walker Podcast

Joe Walker hosts refreshingly in-depth conversations with founders, scientists, scholars, economists, and public intellectuals.

(Formerly 'The Jolly Swagman Podcast'.)

Episodes

Intellectual Exoskeletons — Andy Matuschak

From language and writing to the Hindu-Arabic numeral system, computers and Adobe Photoshop, our species has a history of inventing tools for augmenting our own intelligence. But what comes next? Andy Matuschak is a developer and designer. He helped build iOS at Apple, founded and led Khan Academy's R&D lab, and now works as an independent researcher investigating 'tools for thought' — that is, technologies that can transform human cognition and creativity. Full episode transcript available ...

Dec 23, 20222 hr 9 minSeason 6Ep. 141

Rationality And Its Opposite — Steven Pinker

How rational are we? How can a species smart enough to set foot on the moon also be prone to conspiracy theories that the moon landing was fake? Joe speaks with Steven Pinker to discuss rationality — and its opposite. Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, an elected to the National Academy of Sciences and one of Time ‘s 100 Most Influential People . Full episode transcript available at: thejspod.com See omnystudio....

Dec 14, 202253 minSeason 6Ep. 140

Against Bayesianism — David Deutsch

Bayesianism, the doctrine that it's always rational to represent our beliefs in terms of probabilities, dominates the intellectual world, from decision theory to the philosophy of science. But does it make sense to quantify our beliefs about such ineffable things as scientific theories or the future? And what separates empty prophecy from legitimate prediction? David Deutsch is a British physicist at the University of Oxford, and is widely regarded as the father of quantum computing. He is the a...

Apr 24, 20221 hr 39 minSeason 6Ep. 139

The Lessons Of Afghanistan — William Dalrymple

William Dalrymple is an acclaimed historian and writer. Show notes available at: josephnoelwalker.com/138-afghanistan See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sep 05, 202158 minSeason 5Ep. 138

The Race That Stopped The Nation — Richard Holden & Steven Hamilton

Richard Holden is Professor of Economics at UNSW. Steven Hamilton is an Assistant Professor of Economics at The George Washington University. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/holden-hamilton See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aug 30, 20211 hr 55 minSeason 5Ep. 137

Ergodicity — Ole Peters

Ole Peters is a physicist and a Fellow at the London Mathematical Laboratory. Show notes available at: josephnoelwalker.com/136-ergodicity See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aug 23, 20212 hr 9 minSeason 5Ep. 136

The Tyranny Of Merit — Michael Sandel

Michael Sandel teaches political philosophy at Harvard University, where he is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government Theory. His course “Justice” is the first Harvard course to be made freely available online and on television and has been viewed by tens of millions of people around the world. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/michael-sandel See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jun 22, 20211 hr 5 minSeason 5Ep. 135

The Spectre Of Havoc — Graham Allison

Graham Allison is an American political scientist and the Douglas Dillon Professor of Government Harvard University. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/graham-allison See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jun 14, 202153 minSeason 5Ep. 134

A General Theory Of Catastrophe — Niall Ferguson

Niall Ferguson is one of the world's most renowned historians. He is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a senior faculty fellow of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard. He is the author of sixteen books, including most recently Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe . Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/niall-ferguson See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

Jun 06, 20211 hr 9 minSeason 5Ep. 133

Policy In An Age Of Politics — John Hewson

John Hewson is a former Australian politician and was leader of the Liberal Party from 1990 to 1994. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/john-hewson See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

May 24, 20212 hr 10 minSeason 5Ep. 132

Is Science Reaching Its Limits? — John Horgan

John Horgan is a science journalist and Director of the Center for Science Writings at the Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey. He was senior writer at Scientific American from 1986-1997 and is the author of the bestselling book The End of Science . Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/horgan See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

May 10, 20211 hr 21 minSeason 5Ep. 130

A Forgotten Genius — Cheryl Misak

Cheryl Misak is a Canadian philosopher and the author of Frank Ramsey: A Sheer Excess of Powers . Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/misak See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Apr 28, 20211 hr 12 minSeason 5Ep. 128

Progress And Planet — Malcolm Turnbull

Malcolm Turnbull was the 29th Prime Minister of Australia. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/malcolm-turnbull See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Apr 12, 20211 hrSeason 5Ep. 127

The Reign Of Keynes, Part II — Lord Robert Skidelsky

Robert Skidelsky, FBA is a British economic historian. He is the author of a three-volume award-winning biography of British economist John Maynard Keynes. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/skidelsky See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mar 22, 20211 hr 25 minSeason 5Ep. 125

Recollections Of A Wild Man In The Wings — Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky is the father of modern linguistics and one of the most cited scholars in modern history. He is also one of the most influential public intellectuals in the world, having written more than 150 books. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/chomsky See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mar 17, 20211 hr 3 minSeason 5Ep. 124

There Is Such A Thing As Society — Sir Paul Collier

Sir Paul Collier is a British development economist. He is currently a professor of economics at the University of Oxford and was the Director of the Development Research Group at the World Bank between 1998 and 2003. Paul has authored numerous books, including The Bottom Billion , The Plundered Planet , and The Future of Capitalism . His latest book, co-authored with John Kay, is Greed is Dead: Politics After Individualism . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

Mar 08, 20211 hr 9 minSeason 5Ep. 123

The Reign Of Keynes, Part I — Zach Carter

Zach Carter is a senior reporter at The Huffington Post and the author of the New York Times bestseller The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy and the Life of John Maynard Keynes . Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/zach-carter See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 28, 20211 hr 29 minSeason 5Ep. 122

The Republic Is In Peril — Jack A. Goldstone

Jack A. Goldstone is an American sociologist and is widely regarded as one of the world's leading experts on the subject of revolutions. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/jack-goldstone See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 16, 20211 hr 46 minSeason 5Ep. 120

The Wisdom Of Frank Wilczek

Frank Wilczek won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004 and is considered one of the world’s most eminent theoretical physicists. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/frank-wilczek See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jan 31, 20211 hr 50 minSeason 5Ep. 118

The Moral Causes And Consequences Of Economic Growth — Benjamin M. Friedman

Benjamin M. Friedman is widely recognised as one of the world's leading macroeconomists. He is currently the William Joseph Maier Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University. Read the full transcript at: josephnoelwalker.com/ben-friedman See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jan 24, 20211 hr 25 minSeason 5Ep. 117

Deaths Of Despair And The Future Of Capitalism — Angus Deaton

Sir Angus Deaton is a Nobel Prize-winning economist and coauthor of Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism . Read the full transcript at: josephnoelwalker.com/deaton See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jan 11, 20211 hr 26 minSeason 5Ep. 115

What I Learned In 2020 - John Hempton

John Hempton is co-founder and Chief Investment Officer at Bronte Capital. Show notes Selected links Follow John: Blog | Twitter 'Approaches to Studying Policy Representation', paper by David Broockman 'Indebted Demand', paper by Atif Mian, Ludwig Straub and Amir Sufi Topics discussed Lessons from past market cycles. 4:51 Astarra-Trio. 10:43 Retail investors: Welcome to the party. 24:14 When John met Jim (Simons). 28:13 Can you predict market tops? 33:00 Are there any good reasons for believing ...

Dec 21, 20201 hr 46 minSeason 4Ep. 113

Rational Minds Part 5: Heuristics Make Us Smart - Gerd Gigerenzer

Gerd Gigerenzer is a German psychologist and director emeritus of the Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dec 21, 20201 hr 48 minSeason 4Ep. 112
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