We share the 10 best mental models about innovation from tech titan Jeff Bezos. This episode covers the story of Amazon and some of the incredible shifts it has created on the planet. From the obvious online shopping wave to things like the e-reading industry and audiobooks, web-servers giving us Uber and Netflix, devices like Alexa. We also learn about their failures like the Fire Phone and other things you probably haven't even heard of, Amazon Destinations, anyone? Lessons to think like an in...
Jul 01, 2025•37 min•Season 10Ep. 1
Every investment plan under the sun is, at best, an informed speculation of what may happen in the future, based on a systematic extrapolation from the known past. Same as Ever reverses the process, inviting us to identify the many things that never, ever change. Morgan Housel wrote this to be a master class on optimizing risk, seizing opportunity, and living your best life. But does he achieve it? We break down the best ideas and mental models he shares and how they could be applied in your lif...
Mar 28, 2025•44 min•Season 9Ep. 11
A philosophical discussion on part 2 of the Three-Body Problem series, The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin. We ponder different answers to Fermi's paradox and how we'd deal with different levels of intelligence in the Universe. This of course requires pondering how different levels of intelligent beings might deal with us. We also ponder at large adaptions of books into screenplays, why writers change the races of original characters and a lot of interesting stuff about aliens, the Universe and the spa...
Mar 14, 2025•37 min•Season 9Ep. 10
How to have difficult conversations, for meaningful change. We break down Gina Martin's book addressing how to navigate some of the worst conversation-stoppers and poor thinking in our culture today. It also features chapters from other widely recognized speakers on the topics of equality and diversity. Labeled as "An empowering guide to navigating difficult conversations from climate naysayers to the #notallmen brigade, featuring chapters from brilliant writers and activists like Cathy Reay, Be...
Mar 06, 2024•44 min•Season 9Ep. 9
Making good predictions is tough. We think we know more than we do and let emotions and biases creep in. How do some forecasters beat the odds? Our hosts, Nico and Sam, chat about the book "The Signal and the Noise" by Nate Silver exploring why predictions fail and uncovering practical insights. A little statistical training can go a long way! We geek out on Bayes' Theorem, discuss why poker develops useful reasoning skills, and tackle investing decisions using probabilities. Improving predictio...
Feb 02, 2024•36 min•Season 9Ep. 8
The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene are described as amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive. This multi-million-copy New York Times bestselling book brand s itself as the definitive manual for anyone interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control. 50 Cent loved the book so much that he reached out to the author to work with him. But what can we learn from this book about power, society, and morality and what are its limits? Hosts Sam Webster Harris and Nicolas Vere...
Aug 09, 2023•39 min•Season 9Ep. 7
From legendary investor Ray Dalio, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Principles, who has spent half a century studying global economies and markets, Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order examines history’s most turbulent economic and political periods to reveal why the times ahead will likely be radically different from those we’ve experienced in our lifetimes—and to offer practical advice on how to navigate them well. He discusses how nations that control the world have ...
Jun 27, 2023•39 min•Season 9Ep. 6
Review of the Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, one of the most impactful hard-science fiction books this century. Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt,...
May 03, 2023•28 min•Season 9Ep. 5
In False Alarm, Bjorn Lomborg examines how climate change panic costs us trillions, hurts the poor, and fails to fix the planet. This is a divisive book and even had us as hosts disagreeing on subjects. Bjorn Lomborg proposes to debunk the myths and hype surrounding climate change, revealing the true costs and benefits of our response to this global challenge. Lomborg argues that our current approach to climate change is doing more harm than good, and offers a bold and pragmatic alternative that...
Apr 07, 2023•32 min•Season 9Ep. 4
Teamwork is renowned for being the key to success. The practicalities of making it happen to rely on building a brilliant culture. But what does that mean? This book breaks down some memorable and thought-provoking examples leading to some actionable lessons. In our view, it is a perfect book for anyone in management or trying to bring out the most in their teams. - - - Contact the hosts Wiser pod website Nico's projects Being a VC - Bitkraft.vc Future of Gaming podcast - Website - YouTube Sam's...
Mar 21, 2023•36 min•Season 9Ep. 3
4000 weeks is a productivity book that is anti-productivity. We are all going to die and optimising our day for every last morsel of work is not the way to be happy or effective. We break down the biggest lessons from the book which are practical to adopt in your life. We also discuss what the opportunities are economically and philosophically. - - - Contact the hosts Wiser pod website Nico's projects Being a VC - Bitkraft.vc Future of Gaming podcast - Website - YouTube Sam's projects Youtube - ...
Mar 09, 2023•33 min•Season 9Ep. 2
What we do if most of civilization collapsed to survive as a species? What human knowledge is most important to preserve and use to rebuild society as quickly as possible? Lewis Dartnell assesses the most important actions to take during an apocalypse to survive. He then cherry-picks the most important inventions to teach us how to rebuild everything we need from modern society to survive and thrive. - Why read? -This is a great book for the inner geek learning about the history of human inventi...
Feb 24, 2023•20 min•Season 9Ep. 1
What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence. We break down our main lessons from the book and open our own minds to a new way of thinking. About Could psychedelic drugs change our worldview? One of America's most admired writers takes us on a mind-altering journey to the frontiers of human consciousness When LSD was first discovered in the 1940s, it seemed to researchers, scientists and doctors as if the world might be on t...
Feb 08, 2023•24 min
Body Keeps the score is a book that you keep hearing about especially as mental health and trauma become more and more relevant. Bessel Van Der Kock explains what we experience in the brain, mind and body whilst healing from trauma. Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Even if you haven't experienced trau...
Jan 16, 2023•24 min
We had a long hiatus since the summer of 2022. The mind series rather dragged and we realised we needed to sort out a better system for things. We also had a few big life updates as Sam went on a long cycling trip and Nico's job became a little overwhelming along with launching his own podcast on the Future of Gaming. Back on track with a schedule and if you're intrigued you can hear about some of Sam's world-record ideas and Nico's gaming obsessions here. Nico's projects Being a VC - Bitkraft.v...
Jan 12, 2023•6 min
In this book, neurologist Oliver Sacks, describes the case histories of some of his patients. Sacks chose the title of the book from the case study of one of his patients who has visual agnosia, a neurological condition that leaves him unable to recognize faces and objects. Sacks wrote the stories of 24 patients and their neurological conditions which was split into four sections – ‘Losses’, ‘Excesses’, ‘Transports’, and ‘The World of the Simple’ each dealing with a particular aspect of brain fu...
May 11, 2022•31 min
The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success In this engrossing journey into the lives of psychopaths and their infamously crafty behaviors, the renowned psychologist Kevin Dutton reveals that there is a scale of "madness" along which we all sit. Incorporating the latest advances in brain scanning and neuroscience, Dutton demonstrates that the brilliant neurosurgeon who lacks empathy has more in common with a Ted Bundy who kills for pleasure than w...
Apr 06, 2022•27 min
NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity By Steve Silberman What is autism? A lifelong disability, or a naturally occurring form of cognitive difference akin to certain forms of genius? In truth, it is all of these things and more—and the future of our society depends on our understanding it. Wired reporter Steve Silberman unearths the secret history of autism, long suppressed by the same clinicians who became famous for discovering it, and finds surprising answers to t...
Mar 23, 2022•30 min
Faster Than Normal: Turbocharge Your Focus, Productivity, and Success with the Secrets of the ADHD Brain By Peter Shankman In Faster Than Normal, Shankman shares his hard-won insights and daily hacks for making ADHD a secret weapon for living a full and deeply satisfying life. Both inspiring and practical, the book presents life rules, best practices, and simple but powerful ways to: Harness your creative energy to generate and execute your ideas Direct your hyperfocus to get things done Identif...
Mar 02, 2022•39 min
Thoughts and Learnings in InvestingEveryone should be thinking about investing.Every money decision you make is an investment decision.All investments are broadly equal on the risk/reward spectrum.Only actively make investment decisions when you have an edge.Your investment strategy will depend on your situation (your age, tolerance for downturns, goals, etc.)Compounding is key in investing and in lifeDownturns are the price you pay for being invested.Think positive-sum (put your money in positi...
Feb 16, 2022•41 min
Art of the Deal: Contemporary Art in a Global Financial MarketBy Noah HorowitzArt today is defined by its relationship to money as never before. Prices of living artists' works have been driven to unprecedented heights, conventional boundaries within the art world have collapsed, and artists now think ever more strategically about how to advance their careers. Artists no longer simply make art, but package, sell, and brand it.Noah Horowitz exposes the inner workings of the contemporary art marke...
Feb 02, 2022•36 min
Decentralized Finance or DeFiDecentralized Finance offers financial instruments without relying on intermediaries such as brokerages, exchanges, or banks. Instead, it uses smart contracts on a blockchain. DeFi platforms allow people to lend or borrow funds from others, speculate on price movements on assets using derivatives, trade cryptocurrencies, insure against risks, and earn interest in savings-like accounts. DeFi uses a layered architecture and highly composable building blocks. Some appli...
Jan 19, 2022•54 min
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and HappinessBy Eric JorgensonGetting rich is not just about luck; happiness is not just a trait we are born with. These aspirations may seem out of reach, but building wealth and being happy are skills we can learn.So what are these skills, and how do we learn them? What are the principles that should guide our efforts? What does progress really look like?Naval Ravikant is an entrepreneur, philosopher, and investor who has captivated the world w...
Jan 05, 2022•52 min
The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and HappinessBy Morgan HouselDoing well with money isn’t necessarily about what you know. It’s about how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach, even to really smart people.Money―investing, personal finance, and business decisions―is typically taught as a math-based field, where data and formulas tell us exactly what to do. But in the real world people don’t make financial decisions on a spreadsheet. They make them at the dinner tabl...
Dec 29, 2021•43 min
The Education of a Value Investor: My Transformative Quest for Wealth, Wisdom, and EnlightenmentBy Guy SpierWhat happens when a young Wall Street investment banker spends a small fortune to have lunch with Warren Buffett? He becomes a real value investor. In this fascinating inside story, Guy Spier details his career from Harvard MBA to hedge fund manager. But the path was not so straightforward. Spier reveals his transformation from a Gordon Gekko wannabe, driven by greed, to a sophisticated in...
Dec 22, 2021•48 min
Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups—Timeless Advice from an Angel Investor Who Turned $100,000 Into $100,000,000By Jason CalacanisOne of Silicon Valley’s most successful angel investors shares his rules for investing in startups.There are two ways to make money in startups: create something valuable—or invest in the people that are creating valuable things.Over the past twenty-five years, Jason Calacanis has made a fortune investing in creators, spotting and helping build and fund a numb...
Dec 15, 2021•44 min
NFTs (Non-Fungible Token), explainedA non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique and non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a digital ledger (blockchain). NFTs can be associated with easily-reproducible items such as photos, videos, 3D models, audio, and other types of digital files as unique items (analogous to a certificate of authenticity). NFTs use blockchain technology to provide a public proof of ownership. Copies of the original file are not restricted to the owner of the NFT, and can be co...
Dec 08, 2021•40 min
The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central BankingBy Saifedean AmmousThe Bitcoin Standard analyzes the historical context to the rise of bitcoin, the economic properties that have allowed it to grow quickly, and its likely economic, political, and social implications. While Bitcoin is a new invention of the digital age, the problem it purports to solve is as old as human society itself: transferring value across time and space. Ammous takes the reader on an engaging journey t...
Dec 01, 2021•51 min
The Intelligent InvestorBy Benjamin GrahamThe Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham, first published in 1949, is a widely acclaimed book on value investing. The book provides strategies on how to successfully use value investing in the stock market. Historically, the book has been one of the most popular books on investing and Graham’s legacy remains. Key TakeawaysInvestment is not gambling or speculatingAn investment is going to protect the principal and provide an adequate return. Anything t...
Nov 24, 2021•44 min
Talking To My Daughter About The Economy: A Brief istory of CapitalismBy Yanis VaroufakisIn this letter to his teenage daughter, one of the world's most famous economists uses vivid stories to explain what economics is and why it is so dangerous. What is money and why does debt exist? Where do wealth and inequality come from? How come economics has the power to shape and destroy our lives? Economics is not a technical science, it is an epic drama: a battleground of ideas, a war between the power...
Nov 19, 2021•45 min
