Ep 17: Russ Roberts on the Curious Task of Epistemology
Russell Roberts, economist and philosopher of science, talks about his views on marketplaces, religion, and the importance of doubt. We also discuss about behavioral economics, rationality, rough...
View ArticleEp 18: Sandra Tsing Loh on a Tour of the American Class System
Sandra Tsing Loh, writer and performer, discusses Paul Fussell’s book “Class: A Guide through the American Status System”. Fussell’s book was first published in 1983, and reviewed by Sandra in in 2009...
View ArticleEp 19 Michael Shermer on Giving the Devil his Due
Author and intellectual Michael Shermer talks about his book, Giving the Devil his Due: Reflections of a Scientific Humanist. Shermer was the Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine and a long-time...
View ArticleEp 20: A.J. Jacobs on Humility, Omniscience, and the Perils of Polygamy
A.J. Jacobs spent a year reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica and published a book about the experience. In this episode of The Filter, we discuss his project generally and touch on cultural...
View ArticleEp 21: Sean Rife on the Uses and Abuses of Total Institutions
Sean Rife and I discuss the idea of the Total Institution, as originally described by sociologist Erving Goffman. We examine several Total Institutions in detail, and touch on the connection these have...
View ArticleEp 22: Scott Aaronson on the Hunt for Real Randomness
Scott Aaronson is a leader in the field of Quantum Computation. We discuss the idea that our universe contains "true randomness", and an experiment which indicates that no matter how well we understand...
View ArticleEp 23: Carl A.P. Ruck on Mushrooms, Mystery, and Drinking from the Dyonisain...
Carl A.P. Ruck is professor of classic studies at Boston University and an expert in the use of entheogens, or psychoactive substances, used in religious rituals. We discuss Dionysus, the Eleusinian...
View ArticleEp 24: Adam Kotsko on Fear, Sacrifice, and our Permanent State of Exception
Adam Kotsko is an American theologian, as well as a political and religious scholar. Adam and I discuss his work on Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben, with a focus on the idea of the State of...
View ArticleEp 25: Patrick French on the Military Tourism and Mysticism of Col. Younghusband
In this epic episode, Patrick French and I retrace the steps of imperial adventurer Francis E. Younghusband, from crossing of the Gobi Desert to assaults on Tibet and Mount Everest to a quest to unite...
View ArticleEp 26: Deborah Mayo on Error, Replication, and Severe Testing
Deborah G. Mayo is professor emerita in the department of philosophy at Virginia Tech, a research associate at the London School of Economics, and a pioneer of the "Error Stats" method for testing...
View ArticleEp 27: Kurt Andersen on Fantasyland Nation
Kurt Andersen is co-founder of Spy magazine and the author of several bestselling books, including Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire. We discuss the fantasy industrial complex, new urbanism, and...
View ArticleEp 28: Fantasyland Redux, a Deeper Dive into the Dark Complexities of Magical...
In this solo episode, I build on ideas from the previous episode with guest Kurt Andersen, author of Fantasyland: How Americans Went Haywire. I examine the and the relationship between spirituality and...
View ArticleEp 29: Black Box Thinking, UFOs, and a Fist Full of Dung
In this solo episode, I discuss black box thinking in the context of our current Dim Age of epistemology and the role of journalism. I unpack my previous thoughts on Occam's razor and discuss analyzing...
View ArticleCrossover Episode: LocoFoco with Timothy Wirkman Virkkala
What follows is my appearance on the LocoFoco podcast. In it, I discuss some of the ideas in my Black Box episode with host Tim Virkkala. Tim is one of the most interesting thinkers I've met, and I...
View ArticleEp 31: Our Glorious Future as Amish or Termites
In this solo episode, I explain why the future of the human race, if we have one at all, will look a lot like Amish life, or like one giant termite colony. I dive into the forces that push us in each...
View ArticleEp 32: Grant McCracken on Honor Codes, Artisanal Cultures, and Time Machines
In this episode of The Filter, I talk with Grant McCracken about his most recent book, The New Honor Code: A Simple Plan for Raising Our Standards and Restoring Our Good Names. We discuss the ways in...
View ArticleEp 33: Peter Godfrey-Smith on Sea Life and the Evolution of Consciousness
In this episode I talk with Peter Godfrey-Smith, author of Metazoa, a book which explores consciousness from an evolutionary perspective. We talk about octopus arms, impudent tongues, and theories of...
View ArticleEp 34: Jeff Deist on Magical Monetary Thinking, Doomsday Cults, and Decision...
My conversation with Jeff Deist, president of the Mises Institute. We talk about the political reaction to the pandemic, perverse monetary incentives, and the end of American as a single, unified...
View ArticleEp 35: Hamish Low on Building the World’s Largest Bog Oak Table
https://youtu.be/ZYpGLnWNggI I talk with Hamish Low, of Adamson and Low, about creating an enormous table out of ancient bog oak. See Mattasher.com for a video clip of Hamish showing off bog oak....
View ArticleEp 36: Tim Zimmermann on Death in a Deep Black Hole
I talk with writer Tim Zimmermann about a gripping story he wrote for Outside magazine. It involves deep diving in a freshwater cave and an attempt to recover a body at the bottom. Everything about the...
View ArticleEp 37: Brandy Schillace on Head Transplants and Soul Searching
Brandy Schillache and I talk about her new book, Mr. Humble & Dr. Butcher: A Monkey's Head, the Pope's Neuroscientist, and the Quest to Transplant the Soul. Brandy tell the extraordinary story of a...
View ArticleEp 38: Aubrey de Grey on the Quest to Reach Longevity Escape Velocity
I talk with the most iconic figure in the life extension movement, Aubrey de Grey. We discuss the current state of progress towards achieving “longevity escape velocity,” cryonics, and philosophical...
View ArticleEp 39: Wist‘u Vida
In this solo episode I answer a question from a listener, that question being, essentially, Who the hell are you? Instead of a proper reply, I tell a few stories from my past and digress a lot. Expect...
View ArticleEp 40: Jonathan Schooler on All Things META
I speak with UCSB professor and META lab director Jonathan Schooler about some of my favorite topics, including panpsychism, multiple minds, the filter that is consciousness, and how we understand the...
View ArticleEp 41: Michael Huemer on Social Contracts, War, and Pushing Fat People in...
Philosopher Michael Huemer and I discuss the idea that we are bound by a social contract, as well as other issues. We compare the state to the mafia, talk about ethical intuitionism, discuss who should...
View ArticleEp 42: Vaughn Scribner on the Uses and Abuses of Merpeople (Live Show)
This episode was recorded in front of a live studio audience at the Key West Theatre. Vaughn Scribner is a professor of history at the University of Central Arkansas. His book, Merpeople: A Human...
View ArticleEp 43: Jeremy Kauffman on the Odysee to Publishing Freedom
I speak with Jeremy Kauffman, CEO of Odysee, a video hosting service. Odysee is built on top of LBRY, a blockchain-based protocol and network for decentralized publishing. We discuss the current state...
View ArticleEp 44: A little Bit of Everything
In this solo show, I talk about what happens when our inherently restless and looping minds do battle against multinational, multibillion dollar companies intent on addicting us to their services....
View ArticleEp 45: Slice of Death
In this solo show, I respond to a listener email about why I didn't talk about 9/11 last episode, by talking about it way too much this episode. I reflect on my own slice of life during that moment of...
View ArticleEp 46: Robert A. Jensen on Life After Death
I talk with Robert A. Jensen, author of the new book Personal Effects: What Recovering the Dead Teaches Me About Caring for the Living. Over the past three decades Jensen has travelled to every major...
View ArticleEp 47: Betting Against Pascal
In this solo show I give my take on how to think about our world of tail risks, from asteroids to global warming to global pandemics to the existence of the afterlife. Also, I make the case for the...
View ArticleEp 48: The Best of Microcasting on YKYZ
This episode features many of the voices that made microcasting great in 2019 and early 2020. Topics include: Fattening rooms Famous lumberjacks Blood bread Disease and stigma Chinese Zodiac signs...
View ArticleEp 49: Reed Coverdale on Trucking, Memeing, and Making a Garand go BRRRRRRRR
In this episode I speak with Reed Coverdale, trucker, gun hacker, meme lord, podcast host, noted 9/11 conspiracy theory denier, and man with a moustache. We talk status among truckers, supply chains,...
View ArticleEp 50: Adam B. Levine on Irreversible Transactions
I talk with Adam B. Levine, managing editor at Coindesk, about decentralized finance startup Compound's very costly error and their CEO's ham-fisted attempt to fix it. We discuss ethereum,...
View ArticleEp 51: Martha Bueno on Cuba, Che, and Praying for Ice Cream
I talk with Martha Bueno about life in Cuban, the true nature of our embargo, Miami politics, the perils of foreign aid, and two-tiered systems. Related links: • Bueno for Miami • Martha Bueno on Twitter
View ArticleEp 52: John Picco on Life (and Death) as a Top Gun
I talk with John Picco about his military life, including an exercise that drowns you in dark waters, Colombian airstrips, dogfight training, landing planes with no margin for error, and the aftermath...
View ArticleEp 53: Walter Block on Blackmail, Suicide, and Voluntary Schmavery
I talk with economist and philosopher Walter Block. We discuss his series of books, Defending the Undefendable. The third and latest in that trilogy was recently released. Block defends the legality,...
View ArticleEp 54: Andrew Thurman on Absurd Art, Virtual Embassies, and Why Walken’s...
I talk with Coindesk reporter and entrepreneur Andrew Thurman about Non-Fungible-Tokens, what gives them value, and the history of absurd art. We also discuss the implication of Barbados opening a...
View ArticleEp 55: Mind the Gap
In this solo show I discuss the death of the middle class for services, and the ways in which complexity and social forces are splitting us into elites who get the white glove treatment, peasants who...
View ArticleEp 56: New Year Announcement
Happy New Year! In this brief episode I do some housekeeping and reflect on the year gone by and some big announcements. Related links: • Tim Zimmermann episode
View ArticleEp 57: Welcome to the Truman Show
In this solo episode I discuss the "Truman Show" conspiracy and the extent to which it is our reality. Along the way, I talk about conditions for a healthy society, Scooby Doo, log odds, Simulacra and...
View ArticleEp 58: David Gornoski on Girard and Mimetic Theory
I talk with writer and fellow Florida radio host David Gornoski about Rene Girard and Mimetic Theory. We talk about the nature of human desire, myths as cover stories for violence, and the role of the...
View ArticleEp 59: The Candles Blew and then Disappeared
In this solo episode I do a deep dive on the social and political implications of indefinite life span extension. This is a followup to my interview with Aubrey de Grey where we spoke about achieving...
View ArticleEp 60: Curtis Yarvin on Monarchy as the Way to Be
In this double episode, I talk with Curtis Yarvin, author, public intellectual, and the most prominent proponent of monarchy as the ideal form of government. Yarvin argues that every effective...
View ArticleEp 61: Clay Gulick on Healthcare Tech and the Code for Shark Bites
I speak with Clay Gulick, Chief Technology Officer at Telos Health Solutions, about the state of health care records, the promise and reality of blockchain tech in the field, and why everything needs a...
View ArticleEp 62: Richard Semelka on Bad Medicine
I talk with doctor and whistleblower Richard Semelka about his work to uncover the damage done by gadolinium, a heavy metal often added to a patient's bloodstream to make MRI's easier to read. In some...
View ArticleEp 63: Uncle Ted’s Manifesto with Pete and Bird
I'm joined in studio by Pete Quinones and Bird to discuss the manifesto by Ted Kaczynski, aka The Unibomber. Published in The Washington Post on the insistence of Kaczynski, it ultimately led to his...
View ArticleEp 64: Context Collapse and the Death of the Freak
This is an audio version of an article recently posted to my substack. It features an analysis of our cultural moment unlike anything you see from the left, the right, or even from libertarians. This...
View ArticleEp 65: Unfiltered in Amsterdam
Bridge episode for The Filter and brief note about The Mattasher Show season Two. Among the topics discussed are: * The Ikea monkey in the shearling coat * The Dress * Measuring the length of the...
View ArticleEp 66: Evolution and Entropy
This is my admittedly half-baked theory about evolution and entropy. I don't think I'm wrong though, and maybe by the end of this episode you'll agree with me. Among other things, you will find talk...
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