Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ economist–philosopher dialogues • culture wars, woke, cancel culture • activism, protest, elites vs experts • argument, persuasion, disagreement • politics, socialism, war • rituals, modernism, literature/pop culture references • demography, fertility, prediction markets
This podcast centers on extended conversations between an economist and a philosopher who approach questions from different intellectual traditions. Across episodes, they use that contrast to examine how people form beliefs, justify arguments, and navigate disagreement, often treating the conversation itself as an object of analysis. Topics frequently return to the norms and pathologies of discourse—bullshitting, persuasion, fighting versus arguing, evidence and bias, expertise and elites, and why certain debates become socially fraught.
A major throughline is culture and politics: the show explores contemporary controversies and collective phenomena such as activism, protest, cancel culture, “woke” politics, internet culture, multiculturalism, and consumerism, as well as broader claims about cultural evolution and cultural crisis. These discussions often connect social incentives and institutional dynamics to philosophical questions about legitimacy, power, and moral motivation.
The podcast also ranges into classic texts and intellectual history, using literature and philosophy as springboards for present-day concerns. Works associated with Plato, Orwell, Kafka, and modernist thought appear alongside reflections on “two cultures” divides between different modes of knowing and reasoning. Some episodes focus on concepts central to philosophy and psychology—ritual, resentment, respect, inspiration, psychoanalysis, theoretical versus practical reason—aiming to clarify what these terms mean and how they function in ordinary life.
In addition, the show sometimes uses popular culture and personal relationships as case studies for broader ideas, touching on romance, validation, love triangles, nostalgia, and celebrity narratives. Science- and futurism-adjacent themes also surface, including cryonics and prediction markets, reflecting an interest in how formal models and speculative scenarios interact with human values. Occasional guests join to deepen specific topics, but the consistent format is a cross-disciplinary dialogue that tests assumptions from both economics and philosophy.
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Episodes:
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Can We Change Values? (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2026-Feb-01
57 minutes
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Continuing Education (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson, with Arnold Brooks)
2026-Jan-25
67 minutes
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War (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2026-Jan-18
59 minutes
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The Crisis of Culture (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2025-Oct-23
61 minutes
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The World of Yesterday (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2025-Sep-28
61 minutes
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Taylor Swift's Engagement (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2025-Sep-11
62 minutes
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Orwell and Socialism (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2025-Aug-10
54 minutes
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Weird (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2025-Jul-31
61 minutes
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Plato's Republic (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with Arnold Brooks)
2025-Jul-24
72 minutes
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Ritual (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2025-Jul-17
62 minutes
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Bullsh*t (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2025-Apr-03
57 minutes
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Kafka's 'The Castle' (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2025-Mar-20
61 minutes
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Fertility again (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with Lyman Stone)
2025-Feb-27
72 minutes
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On woke (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson, with Werner Zagrebbi)
2025-Feb-20
67 minutes
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Two Cultures again (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with Alok Singh)
2025-Feb-13
68 minutes
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Open Socrates (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2025-Jan-30
65 minutes
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Perfection vs. greatness (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2025-Jan-23
59 minutes
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Fighting vs. arguing (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-Dec-05
61 minutes
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Activism (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-Nov-21
63 minutes
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Potential vs. achievement (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-Nov-07
60 minutes
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Polls vs. prediction markets (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with Arnold Brooks)
2024-Oct-31
63 minutes
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Modernism (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-Oct-10
60 minutes
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Fear of persuasion (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-Sep-12
63 minutes
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Cancel culture (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-Aug-28
59 minutes
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Romantic validation (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-Aug-08
63 minutes
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Cryonics (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-Jul-31
65 minutes
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Taylor Swift (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-Jul-24
63 minutes
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Love triangles (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-Jul-17
53 minutes
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Color (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-Jul-03
57 minutes
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Power (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-Jun-26
65 minutes
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Experts vs. elites [Revisited] (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-Jun-19
62 minutes
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Protest (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-Jun-12
64 minutes
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Internet culture (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with Katherine Dee)
2024-Jun-05
69 minutes
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Meta (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-May-29
59 minutes
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The Two Cultures (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-May-02
67 minutes
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Multiculturalism (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-Apr-24
66 minutes
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Cultural evolution (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-Apr-17
60 minutes
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3 Body Problem (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson, with Arnold Brooks)
2024-Apr-11
64 minutes
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Corpses (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-Apr-03
63 minutes
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Nostalgia (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-Mar-27
61 minutes
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Resentment (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-Mar-20
60 minutes
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Social miracles (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-Mar-14
66 minutes
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Consumerism (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-Mar-07
59 minutes
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Disagreement and alienation (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson, with Berislav Marušić)
2024-Feb-28
67 minutes
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Evidence order bias (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-Feb-21
63 minutes
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Theoretical vs. Practical Reason (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson, with Laura Deming)
2023-Nov-16
66 minutes
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Psychoanalysis (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with Jamieson Webster)
2023-Nov-09
55 minutes
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Inspiration (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2023-Nov-02
59 minutes
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Respect (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2023-Oct-12
62 minutes
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Fighting (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2023-Oct-05
61 minutes
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Contrarians (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with Aella)
2023-Sep-28
62 minutes
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Robin's Birthday (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson, with Arnold Brooks)
2023-Sep-21
62 minutes
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Fertility (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2023-Sep-13
62 minutes
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Advice (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2023-Aug-30
58 minutes
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Interpretation (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with Arnold Brooks)
2023-Aug-24
62 minutes
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vibecamp (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2023-Jun-21
55 minutes
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God (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2023-Jun-14
55 minutes
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Moore's Paradox (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2023-Jun-07
66 minutes
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AI Risk (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with David Duvenaud)
2023-May-31
68 minutes
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Partiality (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2023-May-24
57 minutes
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Alignment and Competition (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2023-May-17
75 minutes
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The Urge to Rebel (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2023-May-10
60 minutes
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The Etiquette of Equality (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2023-May-03
50 minutes
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Transformative Choices (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2023-Apr-26
59 minutes
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Edgelord Energy (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with Rory from The Violet Hour)
2023-Apr-19
69 minutes
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Management (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2023-Mar-30
62 minutes
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Apology (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2023-Mar-22
65 minutes
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Experts vs. Elites (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2023-Mar-15
63 minutes
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Sarcasm (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2023-Mar-08
57 minutes
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Who Must Be Persuaded By Explanations (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2023-Jan-04
70 minutes
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Utopia (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2022-Dec-29
56 minutes
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The Intellectual vs. The Social (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2022-Dec-21
66 minutes
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Passion (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with Joshua Fox)
2022-Dec-15
73 minutes
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Intellectuals (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2022-Dec-07
66 minutes
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Wanting to be Wanted (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2022-Dec-01
64 minutes
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For Its Own Sake (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2022-Nov-23
61 minutes
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Why is Truth Good? (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with William Eliot)
2022-Nov-16
75 minutes
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The Sacred (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson, with Arnold Brooks)
2022-Nov-09
75 minutes
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Is Life Worth Living? (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with William Eliot)
2022-Nov-02
62 minutes
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What is Sex? (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson, with Audrey Pollnow)
2022-Oct-26
76 minutes
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Human Sacrifice
2022-Jul-17
62 minutes
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Glory
2022-Jul-17
69 minutes
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Frontstage / Backstage
2022-Jul-17
79 minutes
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Free Speech
2022-Jul-17
61 minutes
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Fraud
2022-Jul-17
64 minutes
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William James vs William Clifford
2022-Jul-17
71 minutes
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Belief Constraints
2022-Jul-17
67 minutes
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'Inadequate Equilibria'
2022-Jul-17
63 minutes
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'The Sentiment of Rationality'
2022-Jul-17
71 minutes
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Asceticism
2022-Feb-01
66 minutes
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Autodidact
2022-Feb-01
58 minutes
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Rot
2022-Feb-01
60 minutes
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Foreplay
2022-Feb-01
60 minutes
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Reform
2022-Feb-01
57 minutes
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Aliens
2022-Feb-01
62 minutes
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Purposes
2022-Feb-01
60 minutes
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Curiosity
2022-Feb-01
64 minutes
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Distant Signals
2021-Nov-09
48 minutes
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Hidden Motives
2021-Nov-09
65 minutes
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Prediction Markets
2021-Nov-09
62 minutes
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Aspiration
2021-Nov-09
65 minutes
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Pink and Purple
2021-Nov-09
66 minutes
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Punishment
2021-Nov-09
69 minutes
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Paternalism
2021-Nov-09
68 minutes
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Future Generations
2021-Nov-09
63 minutes
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Plagiarism
2021-Nov-09
60 minutes
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Paradox of Honesty
2021-Nov-09
70 minutes
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