Win-Win with Liv Boeree

Can indigenous wisdom help us navigate these modern times? Fresh perspectives are in short supply these days, and it's not often you get to interview someone who has lived most of their lives entirely outside of modern society. So when I got the opportunity to speak to Txana Tuwe - elder of the Huni Kuin tribe, from deep in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, I jumped at the chance. We discuss his life in the Amazon, his thoughts on modern technology like AI, competition, shamanic warfare and so much more. Huge thank you to him and his translator Leah for taking the time for this recording. If you'd like to learn more, and support Tuwe's Mission of protecting his corner of the Amazon rainforest, visit here: https://www.kayaweiearth.org/Chapters00:00 Intro01:35 - His Mission in America03:30 - Ancestral Wisdom and Ayahuasca07:46 - Alternative Paths to Wisdom10:48 - Ancient Technologies15:19 - Talking to Plants, Animals & Spirits17:11 - Impact of Technology in the Amazon18:56 - Deforestation Pressures24:37 -…

Advanced AI is coming. Is it time for the government to step in and regulate? Or is it better in the hands of the market and tech CEOs? Or is there a more nuanced way to think about this topic entirely? Welcome to the ANTI-DEBATE. It's debating, but with a positive-sum twist! My guests today are two of the most qualified people on either side this topic: former Trump AI advisor Dean Ball, and OpenAI researcher-turned-whistleblower Daniel Kokotajlo. Can they find a way to bridge their differences and find a synthesis that satisfies all their concerns? What are their thoughts on the Anthropic vs Department of War & Pete Hegseth feud? Can they align on alignment? Chapters: 00:00 - Intro and Anthropic vs Department of War feud 3:42 - Daniel’s Story 4:34 - Dean’s Story 6:52 - Opening Statements 19:54 - Rebuttals 25:45 - Free Debate 36:32 - Steelmanning 45:40 - Red-teaming 51:38 - Synthesis 1:17:30 - Closing Statements This video was made in collaboration with Stephanie Lepp of ⁨@synthesis_media⁩ who is the brains…

Free speech is often treated as a political issue. But what if it’s the foundational technology that makes peaceful civilization possible in the first place? I sat down with Greg Lukianoff — free speech advocate, first amendment attorney, and longtime leader of FIRE.org — to explore why freedom of expression is humanity’s ultimate win-win innovation.Greg strongly believes free speech is at risk across the globe. It's under threat from government censorship, and from the attitudes of citizens themselves, who have become increasingly intolerant of opposing views. These pressures seem to only be increasing as we enter the AI era, which allows censorship, surveillance and other oppression tools at scale. At the same time, it also offers the democratization of potentially hazardous information to violent actors, only increasing the pressures on governing authorities to clamp down even harder on speech. So how do we navigate this tension? That's what this conversation seeks to answer.Huge thanks to @TheFIREorg for…

Which LLM is best at POKER? What about the social deception game Werewolf? This week I'm collaborating with ⁠ @googledeepmind ⁠ and ⁠ @kaggle ⁠ to explain their new “AI Game Arena” project, designed to test all the top LLMs at various games. The Game Arena is a massive research project to create new AI benchmarks, and understand what really makes these general-purpose AIs tick. It also helps us evaluate how far along the path to true AGI we are, NBD.So who better to speak to than Deepmind research engineer John Schultz, one of the main brains behind the project. We discuss why some LLMs are so much better than others, their internal understanding of the games (or lack of it!) and why games are a useful way to evaluate both capabilities and safety of frontier models.And friends - do please note that for the first time ever on this channel, this post is part of a paid partnership (woohoo I made it!). So while everything I said in this interview, is absolutely my own views, there are also direct financial…

Superintelligence is predicted to arrive within a decade. If that's true, then what comes AFTER? And how can we prepare for it?Which is why I sat down with one of the few people actively thinking about this: philosopher Will MacAskill. Will heads up Forethought, a research nonprofit focused on how to navigate the transition to a world with superintelligent AI systems. He’s also a former Oxford University professor, and a co-founder of the effective altruism movement. In this special Win-Win Live conversation, we discuss why “utopias” often fail, the growing risks of authoritarian lock-in, whether moral progress survives in a post-labor world,, and how the transition to a post-superintelligence world may be more crucial than the development AGI itself. Also, lots of chat about the sun, space and the high seas. Chapters: 00:01:10 — Intro00:04:11 — Frameworks For Thinking about The Future00:06:40 — Why We Need to Think About These Questions Now00:10:50 — Post AGI Worlds00:14:16 — Blockers of Positive…

What if the biggest risk from AI isn’t superintelligence gone rogue, but the inflexibility of our human institutions? My guest today, Tyler Cowen, thinks so. Tyler is a professor at George Mason university and one of the most celebrated economists in the world. And unlike many AI proponents, Tyler strongly challenges the idea that intelligence alone determines outcomes in society, and instead points to us humans as the real bottlenecks shaping our future, for better or worse. Together with my occasional co-host Igor Kurganov, we debate why he thinks diffusion and human adoption matter more than raw capability, and why markets remain one of the most under-appreciated signals in conversations about AI risk. Tyler also shares his views on economic growth, UBI, automation, persuasion, state capacity, why fears of mass unemployment and civilizational collapse are often overstated. And of course, we explore what it takes to design win-win systems that scale without collapsing under their own incentives. Oh and we…

What if the purpose of life is to find ways of harmonizing the forces of nature, including the nature of ourselves? My guest this week thinks so. I sat down with systems thinker and "True Human" author Samantha Sweetwater to talk about the metacrisis and the future of civilization in the age of AI. Samantha’s work bridges complexity science, indigenous wisdom, embodiment, and systems theory to explore how humans might transition from domination and extraction toward relationship, reciprocity, and long-term resilience. We discuss why modern institutions are struggling to adapt, how technology differs fundamentally from biological systems, and why aligning AI without accounting for the biosphere may be a category error. The conversation also explores kinship versus the hero’s journey, power over life versus the power of life, and what a truly win-win civilization might require. If you’re interested in AI alignment, systems change, ecology, or the deeper roots of the meta-crisis, this conversation offers a…

Britain was once a beacon of liberty, and the birthplace of the industrial revolution. So why is its economy floundering, while the USA is surging? Has a culture of extreme bureaucracy turned the former global powerhouse into a stagnant "nanny state"? My guest today is Katie Lam, a Member of Parliament willing to speak uncomfortable truths. From the grooming gangs scandal, to anarcho-tyranny, to an environmental planning system that prioritises newts over nuclear electricity, we learn how an inappropriate fear of risk is suffocating the British soul. We also tackle one of the most difficult conversations facing the West today: the failure of multicultural integration, and why the fear of being labeled "racist" has allowed unspeakable crimes like child grooming gangs to go unpunished for so long. Lastly, we hear her inside view on political rivalries (and friendships!), and how politicians can harness the power of competition and cooperation to generate real meaningful change. So if, like me, you’re concerned…

Capitalism has historically been our biggest blessing. But what if it's now turning into our biggest curse? Is it time to change the game? My guest today believes so. Jim Rutt is an early internet pioneer, complexity scientist, former chairman of the Santa Fe Institute, and co-founder of the Game B movement... and he has a lot to say about how our economic and technological systems have trapped us in addictive, self-reinforcing feedback loops. From smartphones engineered like slot machines to markets that manufacture desire rather than meet real needs, he argues that our current “Game A” world runs on a single signal — money-on-money return — and that this monoculture is quietly eroding both our agency, and planetary stability. Which is where “Game B” comes in: a post-capitalist operating system built on multidimensional value, regenerative economies, and what he calls "membranes" — local, self-governing communities that cooperate through trust, technology, and shared sensemaking rather than rivalry and…

Superintelligent AI is rapidly approaching, and humanity (specifically, the labs building it) is still a long way from proving it can be safely controlled. But what if that’s the wrong way of viewing the problem? Is there a way to instill values to the mutual benefit of both humans and machines? In this episode of the Win-Win Podcast, Liv sits down with Emmett Shear — Twitch co-founder, former interim CEO of OpenAI and founder of Softmax — for a groundbreaking conversation on the future of AI alignment. Emmett unpacks why the traditional “control alignment” approach, which tries to hard-code pre-determined values into AI, is destined to fail — and why “organic alignment,” inspired by nature, teamwork, and human societies, might be the only path forward for coexistence. From multicellularity to markets, he explains how collective identities form; why betrayal can sometimes be the moral choice; and how we might go about teaching AI to care for us as its own family, rather than see us as masters to obey (or…

Energy is the lifeblood of civilization. Is nuclear power the source of abundant clean energy that's been under our noses this whole time? In this episode of the Win-Win Podcast, Liv sits down with Isabelle Boemeke (founder of Isodope & energy expert) to tackle the debate between abundance and degrowth, sustainability, safety & energy infrastructure concerns, AI and emerging technologies, and why biomass “renewables” are a giant planet destroying scam. We also get into some history: story from Atoms for Peace to Three Mile Island and the China Syndrome effect, unpacks how the IAEA keeps power and proliferation apart, and explores the promise of small/modular and micro-reactors. Also, techno-pastoralism. You heard it here first! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro - Why Is Nuclear A Win-Win 1:06 - Isabelle's Backstory 7:08 - The Cognitive Impact Of Air Conditioning 10:13 - Renewables Vs Nuclear - Is It Really A Battle? 13:23 - Wind Energy 15:59 - Should America Lean Into Decentralised Energy Grids? 18:32 - The Problem…

Dominic Cummings is one of the most polarizing figures in Britain. He's a political strategist who masterminded the main campaign for Brexit. He was also Chief Advisor to Prime Minister Boris Johnson for some of his term, including through COVID. He even had Benedict Cumberbatch play him in a movie! He's also a student of systems, having worked in or around government and civil institutions all his life, which is why I wanted to talk to him, because he's someone who has seen the depth of systemic rot pervading not just the UK, but the whole West. In this wide-ranging, no-holds-barred conversation, Igor and I hear why our governments are collapsing under their own weight, the rise of algorithm-driven politics and civil service monopolies, and the general systemic dysfunctions hollowing out the West's institutions. We also explore whether scientific and technological leadership and a whole lot of radical transparency can save us — or if we’re already past the tipping point. So if you’re craving real talk about…

The world is having fewer babies than ever. But how bad is this, really? What's causing it? Is there a win-win solution out there that can help people have more babies, if they want them? In this special "Win-Win Live" event, I speak to Professor Dean Spears - a demographer and economist whose research examines the impact of population decline. He's the author of the book "After The Spike" which explores why people are choosing to have fewer babies, and the stark realities it would mean if the population continues on its current path. As you'll see, the latter half of this conversation opens up into a group discussion with many previous Win-Win guests who I invited to join because such a complex and sensitive topic requires as many perspectives as possible! What do you think is the solution? Let me know in the comments below. Chapters: 0:22 - Introduction to the Fertility Crisis 4:12 - Why Over-Population Isn’t A Thing 11:17 - What’s Causing It? 16:03 - Role of Social Trends 18:20 - Role of Biological…

Democracy is in deep trouble. Could replacing politicians with real data save it? In this episode Liv sits down with Jamie Joyce – founder of the Society Library — to explore one of the most urgent questions of our time: how do we make sense of complex issues in the age of misinformation, algorithmic bias, and AI slop?We hear what happens when you treat information not as content to consume, but as infrastructure to build. Jamie shares how her nonprofit is transforming fraught topics—from nuclear power to AI—into structured “libraries of reasoning” to help politicians, citizens, and even machines understand all perspectives more clearly and come to more informed conclusion.One of all you bibliophiles out there! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro 4:30 - Diablo Canyon Debate Map 14:26 - How To Evaluate Evidence? 16:18 - How To Minimize Bias? 19:06 - How To Handle Bad Faith & Fringe Perspectives 24:16 - What About Flat Earth Type Conspiracies? 28:37 - Cyber Attacks On Internet Archive 33:54 - Modernizing Government 41:01 -…

Humanity is in a race to build superintelligent AI gods. What happens if we create beings smarter than us—and can no longer steer them? In this special Win-Win IRL episode, Liv Boeree sits down with Anthony Aguirre (CEO of Future of Life Institute) and Malo Bourgon (CEO of MIRI) for a no-holds-barred conversation on finding alignment, avoiding power concentration and surveillance states, and the geopolitical implications of the race to AGI. Questions include: Why can’t the market be trusted to self-regulate AI? Why does power concentration in AI pose such a massive threat to democracy? And what happens when even well-meaning developers lose control of the systems they’ve built? We also explore win-win solutions—from compute governance and open-source safety measures, to collaborative international treaties and new models for responsible innovation. Also keep an eye out So buckle up for a provocative episode that challenges assumptions and asks what it will really take to keep the future human. Chapters: 0:00…

What if AI isn’t replacing us—but redefining what it means to be skilled? Liv talks with engineer and educator Harper Carroll about how AI is transforming education, leveling the playing field for creators, and reshaping how we build, learn, and make decisions. A grounded look at the tools, challenges, and surprising upsides of the AI era, as well as a personal exploration of the spirituality (or lack of it) in Silicon Valley. Chapters 01:04 - Intro & Harper’s Story 04:58 - Growing a Following 07:18 - AI vs Machine Learning 11:18 - Harper’s Mission 18:43 - Her Favorite Applications of AI 27:27 - Choosing Between AI Tools 29:46 - Integrating AI in Schools 33:11 - Regulation to Prevent Over-Financial Optimization 36:59 - Leveling the Playing Field with AI 46:40 - Should People Still Learn to Code? 51:05 - AI Therapists? 57:54 - AI & Spirituality 1:02:28 - Cultivating Intuition and Wisdom 1:09:23 - Silicon Valley, Tech Bros and Femininity 1:16:00 - AI Generated Scams 1:21:13 - The Cat-and-Mouse Game of Scammers…

Factory farming is one of the most universally loathed industries on Earth —so why is it still growing? Today I chat with Lewis Bollard, a leading researcher in farm animal welfare and global food policy, to understand the true scale and impact of industrial animal agriculture, and what we can do to improve it. We hear how corporate lobbying and political corruption have allowed the normalization of practices so harmful to both human and animal health they will take your breath away… including irresponsibility towards deadly pathogens like H5N1, intentional animal torture, massive antibiotic overuse and environmental contamination of large areas downstream of these giant intensive farms. On the more positive side, we explore the growing bipartisan support for animal welfare among voters, and how simple ballot measures could radically shift the future of our food back onto a healthier, more win-win path. So strap in for an intense episode—but one that’s packed with practical solutions and reasons for hope.…

AI is developing at breakneck speed—but are we properly prepared for what’s coming? To explore this question Igor and I grabbed leading AI researcher and forecaster Daniel Kokotajlo for a conversation about why he left OpenAI, what's right and wrong with their company culture, and how tabletop wargames are one of the best tools we have to prepare for AGI and superintelligence in the current hyper-competitive environment. Learn how these simulations—often used by militaries—can help us better forecast the geopolitical and technical dynamics of AI development, and why so many of them end with one person taking over the world. The gang also explore the challenges of AI alignment, incentive structures and reasons for hope. And of course, lots of predictions. Win-Win! Chapters 0:00 - Intro 01:06 - AI Wargame & Superintelligence 05:15 - Resigning from OpenAI 09:15 - That Non-Disparagement Clause & His Equity 12:50 - Could OpenAI's behavior be Justified? 20:50 - Governance in a world with AGI 23:49 - Grading…

Protests, lock-ins, encampments…the culture on university campuses is certainly fraught these days! As political discourse worsens among young people, I couldn’t think of anyone better to explore this issue with than Manu Meel. Manu is the founder and CEO of Bridge USA; a movement to help students and other young people engage in constructive dialogue and disagreement to improve the quality of politics and democracy, and in this conversation we hear his powerful journey from pre-med student to leading one of the most influential youth organizations in America. Chapters : 00:00 - Intro 01:35 - What Is Bridge USA0 7:19 - Understanding The Social Divide 19:03 - What A Classic Bridge Session Looks Like 25:35 - Who Attends Bridge Sessions 33:24 - Incentivizing Understanding 40:21 - Managing Bad Faith Actors 47:24 - Movement Building 52:23 - Where Zero Sum Can Be Positive 58:16 - Changes On Campuses Since Trump Election 01:02:35 - Ten Percent Problem 01:06:33 - What Would A Social Media Redesign Look Like 01:18:03…

In this episode of the Win Win Podcast, Liv and Igor sit down with Wait But Why creator Tim Urban to explore everything from his unexpected pet tortoise, Winston, to the mind-bending implications of superintelligent AI.We hear about his latest foray into book writing, and how he’s structured his workflow to overcome his damn procrastination monkey. The crew also discuss such classics as free will, parenthood and the current state of (un) freedom of speech in the UK. Fun stuff. Chapters:0:00 - Intro 1:27 - Book Writing 11:33 - Thoughts On Free Will 15:54 - Liv & Tim's Wager 34:26 - Systems for Work, Life and Progress 37:52 - Parenthood 43:02 - Picking the Right Life Partner 48:47 - That Bloody Heat Map 1:00:38 - Political Changes and Currents 1:15:07 - UK Political Degradation 1:22:40 - Surveillance and Government Overreach 1:33:17 - Rapid Fire Predictions Links: ♾️ Wait But Why Blog: https://waitbutwhy.com ♾️ What's our problem? Book: https://waitbutwhy.com/whatsourproblem ♾️ Heat Map study :…

A deep dive into the game theory and exponential growth underlying our modern economic system, and how recent advancements in AI are poised to turn up the pressure on that system -- and our wider environment -- in ways we have never seen before. Not a conversation for the faint hearted, but crucial nonetheless. Daniel Schmachtenberger is a founding member of The Consilience Project, a research organization aimed at improving public sense-making around global catastrophic risks and technology. This conversation is the first episode of the Win-Win Podcast, which explores healthier ways to harness the power of competition. Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction 02:17 - Moloch Framework 12:16 - Meta Crisis 26:48 - Bad People or Bad System? 31:09 - Capitalism & Moloch 40:08 - Misalignment 51:31 - Incentive Pressures Driving Misalignment 57:58 - Moloch Driving AI Development 01:00:50 - AI Risks Pre AGI 01:07:31 - AI Accelerates Existing Systemic Issues 01:15:35 - Social Media01:19:07 - Alternative Goals 01:23:56 -…

In this episode of the Win-Win podcast we are floating off the coast of Starbase, watching the live launch of Starship 6 with Bill Perkins. Bill is a founder of two satellite imaging companies that aim to address environmental issues by making satellite data—once inaccessible to the public—widely available, revolutionizing everything from climate monitoring to illegal fishing enforcement. We also see a rocket launch, and Liv cries (again). Something for everyone. Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 2:17 - Launch 4:30 - Short Term Benefits of Space 5:56 - Unleashing the hive mind 6:40 - Hyperspectral 8:57 - Restrictions and Regulations on Imaging 11:30 - Use Cases 13:59 - How to Preserve Privacy? 16:40 - The Future of Satellite Imaging 20:53 - Rapid Fire Predictions Credits: ♾️ Hosted by Liv Boeree ♾️ Edited and Mixed by Jackson Page ♾️ Produced by Luca de Vico The Win-Win Podcast: Poker champion Liv Boeree takes to the interview chair to tease apart the complexities of one of the most fundamental parts of human nature:…

Explore the future of cooperation and technology in this thought-provoking episode of the Win Win Podcast! Liv chats to Allison Duettman from the Foresight Institute about how to harness emerging technologies like AI, nanotechnology, and blockchain to create a freer, more coordinated world. They explore concepts like "existential hope," "multipolar active shields," and "Pareto-topia," along with strategies for fostering decentralized cooperation. Allison shares her insights on navigating Moloch traps, designing resilient systems, and imagining hopeful futures. If you're curious about creating a positive, thriving future, this episode is a must-watch! Chapters: 0:00 - Intro 2:18 - Existential Hope 5:45 - Utopian vs Dystopian Art 11:00 - The Story Circle 16:03 - Naturalistic Arguments vs Transhumanism 25:29 - Foresight Institute 27:46 - World-building Hackathons 33:20 - Pareto-topia 35:24 - Making Win-Wins More Visible 41:02 - The Role of Cooperation in Society 45:38 - The Danger of Over-Centralization 50:58 -…

n case you missed it, Liv just won a record-breaking $2,800,000 in the World Series of Poker last month In this episode, she and Igor discuss her victory, why it represents a win-win for both her and animals... how to fix social media... Magnus Carlsen's jeans drama, a drunken game of backgammon and much more. Chapters: 0:00 - Intro and Backgammon 2:45 - Liv’s World Series of Poker Win 10:19 - Liv’s Charity Pledge & Cultivating Win-Wins 14:15 - The Physics of Women’s Feet 17:06 - Addressing Insecurities 19:30 - The H1B Visa Debate 20:16 - How to Fix Social Media Algorithms 39:26 - Elon Musk and X.com 44:55 - Magnus Carlsen Jeans Chess Drama 49:15 - The Multiverse Poker Tour Credits ♾️ Hosted by Liv Boeree ♾️ Edited and Mixed by Jackson ♾️ Produced by Luca DeVico The Win-Win Podcast: Poker champion Liv Boeree takes to the interview chair to tease apart the complexities of one of the most fundamental parts of human nature: competition. Liv is joined by top philosophers, gamers, artists, technologists, CEOs,…

The Botez sisters are no strangers to competition. But how do they manage their competitive urges? How does it affect their relationship to one another, as sisters? These are just some of the many intimate topics we cover in today's Win-Win episode. Best known for their hilarious chess streaming videos, Andrea and Alexandra Botez are some of the world's most celebrated gamers - born into a household that demanded excellence, they both competed on the chess circuit to a high level before turning to streaming and launching themselves to gaming superstardom. Chess is obviously their main game, but they're starting to dominate so many other games too: Alex in poker, and Andrea in DJing! (links to those channels below). In this conversation with Liv Boeree we hear all the good, bad and ugly sides of life as women in the world of gaming. Chapters 01:19 - Who is More Competitive? 07:42 - Growing Up In Competitive Chess 15:00 - Why Games? 28:43 - Building a Youtube Audience 31:52 - Beauty Filters and Coordination…

How fast is the AI race really going? What is the current state of Quantum Computing? What actually *is* the P vs NP problem? - former OpenAI researcher and theoretical computer scientist Scott Aaronson joins Liv and Igor to discuss everything quantum, AI and consciousness. We hear about his experience working on OpenAI's "superalignment team", whether quantum computers might break Bitcoin, the state of University Admissions, and even a proposal for a new religion! Strap in for a fascinating conversation that bridges deep theory with pressing real-world concerns about our technological future. Chapters: 1:30 - Working at OpenAI 4:23 - His Approaches to AI Alignment 6:23 - Watermarking & Detection of AI content 19:15 - P vs. NP 27:11 - The Current State of AI Safety 37:38 - Bad "Just-a-ism" Arguments around LLMs 48:25 - What Sets Human Creativity Apart from AI 55:30 - A Religion for AGI? 1:00:49 - More Moral Philosophy 1:05:24 - The AI Arms Race 1:11:08 - The Government Intervention Dilemma 1:23:28 - The…

How do we escape Moloch’s trap for good? In this special Burning Man edition of Win-Win, Liv forgoes the usual purple chairs for dusty playa to chat with Kristian Rönn. Kristian is the CEO and co-founder of Normative, a platform for helping industries strive for net zero emissions. With intellectual roots in Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute and his own mission to create positive-sum solutions to climate change, Kristian has just launched a new book - The Darwinian Trap - and in this conversation, Liv and Kristian examine solutions to the short-term thinking and cost externalisation that traditional markets often produce. A conversation full of evolutionary biology, game theory and economics as they examine solutions to the world’s deadliest demon. Chapters (01:42)-The Darwinian Trap (03:42)-Why Is Coordination So Hard? (07:19)-Unstable Equilibriums: The Butterfly Effect of Game Theory (13:55)-Natural Selection: Capitalism's Ace In The Hole (20:16)-How Can A Market Model Anything At All? (22:10)-Betting…

Can we still accurately model elections in such chaotic times? Are prediction markets the future of news? Nate Silver thinks so - Nate is a renowned election analyst, author and former professional poker player. He's the founder of FiveThirtyEight, whose statistical models revolutionized election forecasting, earning him national acclaim. His two books "On The Edge: The Art of Risking Everything." and "Signal in Noise" are inspirations for today's Win-Win conversation with Liv and Igor. We discuss polling accuracy, the importance of prediction markets like Polymarket, poker thinking, solutions to political polarization, and of course his latest predictions on Trump vs Kamala. We also hear his theory on "The River" and "The Village" communities, defined by their opposing perspectives on risk - and how these contrasting worldviews shape approaches to everything from public health policy to technology. Chapters 00:01:34 - Predicting Elections 00:06:49 - Trump Assassination Attempt 00:11:45 - Prediction Markets…

Open-source movements have historically been a great source of collaboration. Can we harness the power of open source software, science or AI to help solve the world's coordination problems? Or could it just make everything worse? This is the main topic covered in today's episode of the Win-Win Podcast. Liv is joined by Peter Wang, a physicist, computer scientist, and founder of Anaconda, one of the most widely used open source platforms for Python development. Peter leads Anaconda’s AI Incubator, which focuses on advancing core Python technologies and developing new frontiers in open-source AI and machine learning, especially in the areas of edge computing, data privacy, and decentralized computing. In this wide-ranging conversation. we explore how these technologies, and their philosophies can potentially help us navigate the complexities of our informationally overloaded environment. Chapters: 00:00:00 - What is Open Source Software 00:10:29 - Peter's History with The Open Source Movement 00:35:06 -…

What are the key ingredients of successful long-term relationships? How can couples better navigate conflict? What about jealousy? In this very personal Win-Win episode, professional poker couple Liv and Igor discuss what they've learned from the ten years of dating each other. Prepare yourself for plenty of strategy, anecdotes and smack talk! Chapters 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:29 - Secret Ingredient? 00:04:26 - Dumbbell Theory 00:07:59 - The Power of Banter & Radical Honesty 00:11:22 - Dealing with Emotional Volatility 00:15:27 - Role of Forgiveness & Competitive Dynamics 00:18:23 - Igor Spirals about LLMs 00:19:41 - Quick Hacks for Reducing Arguments 00:21:23 - Dealing with Unbalanced Power Dynamics 00:25:57 - Handling Jealousy 00:30:57 - Soulmates and Stopping Algorithms 00:33:20 - Interviewer Switcheroo 00:33:40 - Stubbornness & the need to change your partner 00:37:38 - Effect of Money 00:41:18 - Balancing Time Together and Apart 00:42:24 - New Ten Year Prediction 00:48:29 - Outro Links ♾️ The Passion Trap…

Is complexity the new frontier of physics? How should we approach metaphysical uncertainty? What makes a great Physicist? These are just some of the questions covered in this Win-Win episode with the incredible Sean Carroll. Sean is a theoretical physicist and philosopher who specializes in quantum mechanics, cosmology, and philosophy of science. Chapters 00:01:59 - New Discoveries of the Webb Telescope 00:11:05 - Complexity The New Frontier in Physics 00:16:42 - How Physicists See The World 00:20:14 - Observing Trends in Complexity 00:26:21 - How To Approach Metaphysical (Un)certainty 00:30:41 - Quantum Measurement Problem 00:33:49 - Many Worlds vs Copenhagen Interpretation 00:40:35 - Emergence 00:44:40 - Information under Classical and Quantum Mechanics 00:50:20 - Democracy As A Physical System 00:56:35 - Decision Theory In Many Worlds 01:02:03 - Competition in Academia 01:07:20 - Academic Publishing 01:12:57 - The Problem with Superintelligence 01:23:59 - Computing and Theories of Mind 01:31:26 - Poetic…

Nihilism has become all too popular, and this man is on a mission to fix that! David is a philosopher and technologist focussed on understanding and healing what he calls the "Nihilism Crisis" - the crisis of meaning the world is currently suffering from, especially as it transitions into the AI age. If you're interested in AI alignment, game theory, incentive design, Moloch and competition, this is very much a conversation for you. 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:05 - Defeating Moloch 00:08:02 - The Meaning Crisis 00:14:39 - The Third Attractor 00:15:29 - Post-Nihilism 00:19:17 - The Four Abandonments 00:30:13 - Complexity Destruction & Extremism 00:36:40 - Radical Alignment & Body-First Living 00:44:30 - Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs 00:48:04 - Accelerationists & Self Abandonment 00:50:43 - Competition & Status Games 00:52:28 - AI & Why Silicon Valley's Vibe Seems Off 00:58:14 - Sam Altman as a High Priest? 00:59:02 - Summarizing Everything so Far 01:01:33 - Mythic Archetypes 01:07:50 - Liv's Favourite Axioms…

How literally should we take the US Constitution? What about the bible? Should we experiment with radical honesty with strangers? Those are just some of the questions human guinea pig A.J. Jacobs spends his life trying to answer. An author and journalist, he regularly immerses himself into extreme social experiments to understand the world better (and then usually writes a book about it). And this conversation does not disappoint -- we explore his discoveries on everything from love and relationships, competitive puzzling, US politics, health... one of my favourite conversations so far! Chapters: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:06 - Immersions 00:05:47 - Maximizing Health 00:11:14 - Living Biblically 00:19:17 - Living Constitutionally 00:49:50 - Gratitude Experiment 00:53:03 - Extreme Outsourcing 00:55:31 - Relationship Stuff 01:01:13 - Radical Honesty 01:10:43 - Choosing Projects 01:17:43 - Tips for Building Habits 01:22:51 - The Power of Puzzles 01:29:19 - Relationship with Competition Links: ♾️ AJ's Books…

Why did Rome fall? What can we learn from past civilization collapses to protect our own? How do we fix our Institutions? In this Win-Win episode I speak to Samo Burja - a leading geopolitical analyst and founder of the intelligence brief Bismarck Analysis. Samo is a prolific writer on nature of power, leadership, bureaucracy and governance. If you're worried about the health of our institutions and sense-making, this is the episode for you. Chapters 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:40 - Common Themes of Historical Civilizations 00:05:13 - Loss of Knowledge 00:13:38 - Impact of Demographic Collapse 00:17:06 - Indigenous Knowledge Loss 00:21:13 - Role of Institutions 00:24:01 - The Succession Problem & Knowledge Loss 00:38:34 - Bureaucracy and Goodhart's Law 00:45:52 - Democracy and Monarchy 00:50:44 - Sensemaking & AI 01:07:13 - Building New Civilizational Games 01:23:27 - Great Founder Theory 01:33:34 - What Makes a Great Founder? 01:38:53 - How to Avoid Getting Drunk on Power 01:44:50 - Democratization of Technology…

Polarization, echo chambers... how do we fix the problem of biased news? That's a problem today's Win-Win guest has dedicated her life to solving. Harleen Kaur is the founder of Ground News, a news aggregator platform that provides overviews of what different media outlets across the political spectrum report, so that consumers can get a clearer and more impartial perspective. We explore the deeper questions of WHY we’re so divided in the first place, and what are the most promising ways of healing that divide. An especially important topic as we head into the age of synthetic AI generated media! Chapters: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:55 - Harleen’s Background 00:09:10 - Ground News 00:22:07 - Advertising Model Leading to Polarization 00:31:30 - Positive Effects from Ground News 00:35:22 - Reaching GenZ and Boomers 00:40:15 - Other Solutions To the Media Moloch 00:48:22 - Role of AI to Combat Media Bias 00:52:46 - Jonathan Haidt Solutions for Social Media 01:03:22 - Win-Win News Links: ♾️ Ground News…

Is it possible to solve ocean pollution by turning the packaging industry into a closed-loop economy? Wes Carter thinks so. Wes is the Founder of a New Earth Project and President of Atlantic Packaging, on a personal mission to stop the significant pollution the packaging industry causes. In this episode we hear what it would take to close the loop on the economy via new types of biodegradable materials that could replace plastic and other common pollutants. We also discuss which types of recycling work, and which are rubbish. And of course, in true Win-Win Podcast style, we hear about what it would take to change the game so that companies (and their customers) are properly incentivized to account for the true environmental costs of the production and consumption. Chapters: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:35 - Wes's Story & the Packaging Industry 00:10:07 - Circular Economies 00:24:30 - Potential Solutions 00:31:11 - How to Align Incentives? 00:46:22 - Are Consumers Responsible? 00:51:41 - A New Earth Project…

Sustainability. It's a buzzword that gets lots of headlines, but what if our definition of it is incomplete? That's the view of Hannah Ritchie - Hannah is the lead Environmental Scientist at OurWorldinData.org - a leading data science organization that analyses data to find out the true state of our world. In today's conversation we explore her findings on the planet's biggest issues. We discuss which problems are over-hyped, which ones are under-hyped, and most importantly: How do we become sustainable AND keep the high quality of life we're used to? That would indeed be a Win-Win. Chapters: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:06 - Redefining Sustainability 00:09:12 - The Perception Gap 00:22:09 - Degrowth Movement 00:26:46 - Jevon's Paradox 00:31:38 - Carbon Tax & Rethinking Incentives 00:35:45 - Latest Climate Data 00:43:38 - Geoengineering Solutions 00:50:03 - Impact of Farming 00:59:42 - Environmental Success Stories 01:05:12 - Badly Behaving Businesses 01:18:33 - Most Surprising Fact on OWID 01:26:18 - Relationship…

What would life look like in a fully automated world? How would we derive meaning in a world of superintelligence? Today's Win-Win episode is all about utopias, dystopias and thought experiments, because I'm talking to Professor Nick Bostrom. Nick is one of the world’s leading philosophers - he's a leading thinker on the nature of consciousness, AI, catastrophic risks, cosmology… he’s also the guy behind the Simulation Hypothesis, the Paperclip Maximizer thought experiment, the seminal AI book Superintelligence... Off into the hypotheti-sphere we go! Chapters 0:00 - Intro 01:42 - Why a book on Utopia? 03:31 - Different types of Utopias 11:40 - How to find purpose in a solved world? 18:31 - Potential Limits to Technology 22:34 - How would Utopians approach Competition? 30:24 - Superintelligence 34:39 - Vulnerable World Hypothesis 39:48 - Thinking in Superpositions 41:24 - Solutions to the Vulnerable World? 46:34 - Aligning Markets to Defensive Tech 48:43 - Digital Minds & Uploading 52:25 - AI Consciousness…

What sacrifices does it take to be a pro tennis player? Is it possible to have a healthy mindset at the highest stakes? Marcus Daniell understands it all - he has played professional tennis for over 20 years, a career that has earned him an Olympic medal and a whole lot of wisdom around the nature of competition. He is also the founder of High Impact Athletes, a movement of professional athletes who donate to highly effective charities. Chapters 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:06:50 - Overlap of Tennis and Poker 00:13:56 - Dynamic Between Pro Tennis Players 00:22:00 - How competitiveness changes with age 00:29:08 - Strategies of Pro Players 00:31:11 - Competition As Young Athlete 00:31:57 - Playing Doubles 00:51:52 - Technology and Tennis 01:00:00 - Evolution of Tennis 01:05:44 - Moloch Traps in Tennis 01:11:10 - Enhanced Olympics 01:19:57 - Tennis Payout Structures 01:28:00 - High Impact Athletes and Philanthropy 01:49:43 - Kindest Things Someone Has Done 01:51:53 - Proudest Moment Links ♾️ High Impact Athletes…

What if we could harness the power of the internet to make kindness go VIRAL? That's the topic of this conversation with Chris Anderson -- Chris has run TED (of the famous TED talks) for the last twenty years, and recently wrote a book called "Infectious Generosity", which seeks to understand the nature of human kindness, and find ways to make it spread in the digital age. A crucial issue in these divisive times! Expect lots of evolutionary psychology, a dissection of why the media is broken, some deep internet history, and how to improve (and win at!) the attention game. Chapters: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:20 - Infectious Generosity 00:13:09 - How the Internet Has Changed 00:30:50 - Role of News Media 00:37:08 - Evolution of Generosity 00:50:04 - Effective Giving 00:53:28 - Intent vs Consequence 01:01:30 - Religion and Generosity 01:08:59 - The Audacious Project 01:22:41 - Giving What You Can Pledge 01:26:54 - Is Chris Competitive? 01:36:35 - Future of TED Links ♾️ Infectious Generosity by Chris Anderson…

The rate of AI progress is accelerating, so how can we minimize the risks of this incredible technology, while maximizing the rewards? Today I am speaking to leading AI researcher Dan Hendrycks — Dan is the founder of Center for AI Safety, and lead advisor to Elon Musk's X.AI. He was also the architect behind the "Mitigating Risks" letter that was signed by Demis Hassabis, Sam Altman, Bill Gates, Yoshua Bengio and many others. In this conversation we discuss everything from immediate issues like deepfakes, to upcoming risks like malicious use, centralisation of power, regulatory capture and more. In other words, how do we ensure AI ends up a win/win for humanity instead of a lose/lose. Chapters 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:14 - Are current laws sufficient? 00:09:41 - Types of AI Risk 00:23:30 - Arms Races 00:39:10 - What happens inside an AI? 00:46:39 - Rogue AI 00:52:22 - Sentient AI 01:07:36 - Risks from Centralization 01:14:45 - Open Source 01:23:02 - AI speeding up systemic risks 01:29:54 - Synthetic Data &…

Most people want to give their children the best start in life, but what if that "best start" could be determined *before* birth? That's what today's guest Noor Siddiqui believes -- her Mom progressively lost her vision due to a degenerative retinal condition, which made her determined to find a way to prevent her own children from the same fate. A computer scientist by training, Noor has since founded Orchid, the world's first full-genome sequencing platform for embryos conceived through IVF, that enables parents to screen and select the embryo with the highest probability of good health. So as you can imagine, this opens up a lot of fascinating questions, both technical and ethical, and as someone with prospective parenthood on my mind, this was a great opportunity to pick her brains about where the future of reproductive technology is going, and the ethical dilemmas it poses. Chapters: 00:02:14 - What is genetic testing? 00:09:30 - How IVF works 00:13:38 - How much genetic testing costs 00:19:33 - Genetic…

Magatte is an entrepreneur on a mission: to unleash the potential of Africa. She’s a well known speaker, author and researcher who has written extensively about economic structures in the developing world, and the urgent need to create fairer regulatory environments to give everyone on earth access to the power of markets. She is also the founder of various Senegalese companies including Adina drinks, Tiossan and SkinisSkin, and an advisor to various institutions including the Charter Cities Institute Chapters 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:20 - African poverty, and her personal story 00:22:01 - Over-Regulation and Corruption 00:27:42 - What is Ubuntu? 00:32:17 - Kritarchy vs centralized structures 00:37:20 - Why Socialism was bad for Africa 00:42:57 - Flavours of Capitalism 00:49:35 - Thoughts on Foreign Aid 01:02:48 - Special Economic Zones 01:10:21 - What Rules Should a Startup City Have 01:15:50 - Common Law vs Civil Law 01:28:16 - How people can get involved Links ♾️ Her website - https://www.magattewade.com/…

Today's Win-Win episode is with Boyan Slat. Boyan is the founder and CEO of the Ocean Cleanup, the famous organization that's trying to rid our waterways of plastic for good. I ask him why plastic has become such a problem, the difference between effective and ineffective regulation (ahem Plastic Straw Ban!), the importance of mindset when solving hard problems, and of course, his relationship with competition. Good stuff. 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:25 - Origin Story 00:07:52 - How the Ocean Cleanup Works 00:17:20 - Practical vs Ideological Solutions 00:38:01 - Role of Regulation in Fixing Incentives 00:45:14 - Plastic Straw Ban 00:52:30 - Personal plastic usage and Trade-offs 01:00:41 - Is Technology Values Neutral? 01:07:31 - Competition 01:13:10 - How to Solve Big Problems 01:20:45 - Long-term plans

In this Win-Win episode Liv chats to Tim Dodd a.k.a. the Everyday Astronaut about his upcoming mission to the Moon, the economies of space, the pros and cons of competition, rocketry, SpaceX, NASA and much more. We also hear his insights on what it takes to build a successful youtube channel in today’s hyper competitive creator environment. Not one to miss!

In this special Win-Win Podcast episode, Liv chats to Uma Valeti, founder and CEO of Upside Foods, about the meat industry and why cultivated meat may offer a solution to the growing environmental, health and ethical issues posed by current meat production methods.

In today's episode I chat with one of my favourite thinkers and writers: Jamie Wheal. I got to know Jamie through our mutual interest in, well, the hot mess that our civilization seems to be going through, and I knew he'd make a great guest for Win-Win because he's one of those rare folks who can combine both intellectual rigor and a deep love for physicality and nature. So as well as discussing game theory and the meaning crisis and all that good stuff, we also get into his discoveries studying human "flow states" - he's the co-founder of the Flow Genome Project, as well as the author of the bestselling books Stealing Fire and Recapture the Rapture. If you enjoy this episode, I highly recommend you check out his blog linked below. Chapters 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:30 - Childhood Games 00:03:23 - Flow States 00:18:24 - Flow Genome Project 00:23:27 - The Meaning Crisis 00:32:00 - Moloch 00:36:12 - Seeking Win-Win Games 00:48:51 - AI Concerns and Risks 00:53:24 - Protecting oneself from cynicism 01:12:51 -…

In this episode I speak with award-winning game designer Frank Lantz about the beauty of games and what we can learn from them. It goes without saying that games are an integral part of life and our personal development, but what is it that draws us to playing? And what role does playing games serve in society at large?

In this Win-Win Podcast Episode, Liv and Igor chat to one of the world’s most successful sports bettors: Haralabos ”Bob” Voulgaris. Revered for his hyper-analytical, data-driven approach to gambling, Bob soon became known as one of the most prolific NBA bettors in the history of the basketball, a reputation that even got him hired by Marc Cuban to run strategy for the Dallas Mavericks!

In this week’s Win-Win episode, I chat to legendary thinker and speaker Simon Sinek about the nature of competition in business, and in particular, the key ingredient of all enduring companies and leaders: The Infinite Mindset. We also explore the pros and cons of short-term goals, the power of enemies, Moloch Traps, how to be a better speaker, the need for optimism, and so much more. Not one to miss!