Dwarkesh Patel — Podcasting, Talent & Innovation (EP.147)

Dwarkesh Patel is the host of The Lunar Society podcast, where he interviews scientists, historians, economists, intellectuals, & founders about their ideas. He also writes about tech, progress, talent, science, and the long-term over at his Substack. Dwarkesh has been described as “one of the best young podcasters alive”, and his Substack has been praised by the likes of Jeff Bezos, Paul Graham and Tyler Cowen. Important Links:

• The Lunar Society
• Dwarkesh’ Twitter
• The Mystery of the Miracle Year
• Popularizers are intellectual market makers
• Scouting talent as buying options

Show Notes:

• How to become a better podcaster
• The importance of curiosity
• Disagreement & problem solving
• “Computer programs are written by humans for other humans to read, and only incidentally for computers to execute”
• The difference between podcasting & essay writing
• Investing in public and private companies; human OS
• Premeditation & decision-making
• The mystery of the miracle year
• How much innovation is baked into the cake?
• How to cultivate young talent
• AI & education
• The importance of intellectual market makers
• Scouting talent as buying options
• Interviewing Sam Bankman-Fried
• Effective altruism & virtue signalling
• If you do everything, you will win

Books Mentioned:

• The Years of Lyndon Johnson; by Robert Caro
• What Works on Wall Street: A Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All Time; by Jim O’Shaughnessy
• Little Soldiers: An American Boy, a Chinese School, and the Global Race to Achieve; by Lenora Chu
• Outliers: The Story of Success; by Malcolm Gladwell
• One Summer: America, 1927; by Bill Bryson
• The Lessons of History; by Will & Ariel Durant
• The Story of Civilization; by Will & Ariel Durant
• Fallen Leaves: Last Words on Life, Love, War, and God; by Will Durant