Shows / Dwarkesh Podcast
Episodes
Dwarkesh PodcastNotes on China
I’m so excited with how this visualization of Notes on China turned out. Petr, thank you for such beautiful watercolor artwork. More to come!Watch on…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Satya Nadella — Microsoft’s AGI plan & quantum breakthrough
Satya Nadella on: Why he doesn’t believe in AGI but does believe in 10% economic growth; Microsoft’s new topological qubit breakthrough and gaming world…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Jeff Dean & Noam Shazeer — 25 years at Google: from PageRank to AGI
This week I welcome on the show two of the most important technologists ever, in any field.Jeff Dean is Google's Chief Scientist, and through 25 years at the…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Sarah Paine — How Mao conquered China (lecture & interview)
Third and final episode in the Paine trilogy!Chinese history is full of warlords constantly challenging the capital. How could Mao not only stay in power for…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Sarah Paine — Why Japan lost WWII (lecture & interview)
This is the second episode in the trilogy of a lectures by Professor Sarah Paine of the Naval War College.In this second episode, Prof Paine dissects the ideas…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Sarah Paine — The war for India (lecture & interview)
I’m thrilled to launch a new trilogy of double episodes: a lecture series by Professor Sarah Paine of the Naval War College, each followed by a deep Q&A.In…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Tyler Cowen — The #1 bottleneck to AI progress is humans
I interviewed Tyler Cowen at the Progress Conference 2024. As always, I had a blast. This is my fourth interview with him – and yet I’m always hearing new…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Adam Brown — Bubble universes, space elevators, & AdS/CFT
Adam Brown is a founder and lead of BlueShift with is cracking maths and reasoning at Google DeepMind and a theoretical physicist at Stanford.We discuss…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Gwern — Anonymous writer who predicted AI trajectory on $12K/year salary
Gwern is a pseudonymous researcher and writer. He was one of the first people to see LLM scaling coming. If you've read his blog, you know he's one of the most…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
@Asianometry & Dylan Patel — How the semiconductor industry actually works
A bonanza on the semiconductor industry and hardware scaling to AGI by the end of the decade.Dylan Patel runs Semianalysis, the leading publication and…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Daniel Yergin — Oil destroyed Hitler, fracking destroyed Putin
Unless you understand the history of oil, you cannot understand the rise of America, WW1, WW2, secular stagnation, the Middle East, Ukraine, how Xi and Putin…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
David Reich — How one small tribe conquered the world 70,000 years ago
I had no idea how wild human history was before chatting with the geneticist of ancient DNA David Reich.Human history has been again and again a story of one…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Joe Carlsmith — Preventing an AI takeover
Chatted with Joe Carlsmith about whether we can trust power/techno-capital, how to not end up like Stalin in our urge to control the future, gentleness towards…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Patrick McKenzie — Money laundering, big tech censorship, SBF & Japan
I talked with Patrick McKenzie (known online as patio11) about how a small team he ran over a Discord server got vaccines into Americans' arms: A story of…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Tony Blair — Why political leaders keep failing at major change
I chatted with Tony Blair about:- What he learned from Lee Kuan Yew- Intelligence agencies track record on Iraq & Ukraine- What he tells the dozens of world…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Francois Chollet — Why the biggest AI models can't solve simple puzzles
Here is my conversation with Francois Chollet and Mike Knoop on the $1 million ARC-AGI Prize they're launching today.I did a bunch of socratic grilling…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Leopold Aschenbrenner — 2027 AGI, China/US super-intelligence race, & the return of history
Chatted with my friend Leopold Aschenbrenner on the trillion dollar nationalized cluster, CCP espionage at AI labs, how unhobblings and scaling can lead to…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
John Schulman (OpenAI Cofounder) — Reasoning, RLHF, & plan for 2027 AGI
Chatted with John Schulman (cofounded OpenAI and led ChatGPT creation) on how posttraining tames the shoggoth, and the nature of the progress to come...Watch…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Mark Zuckerberg — Llama 3, $10B models, Caesar Augustus, & 1 GW datacenters
Mark Zuckerberg on:- Llama 3- open sourcing towards AGI- custom silicon, synthetic data, & energy constraints on scaling- Caesar Augustus, intelligence…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Sholto Douglas & Trenton Bricken — How LLMs actually think
Had so much fun chatting with my good friends Trenton Bricken and Sholto Douglas on the podcast.No way to summarize it, except: This is the best context dump…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Demis Hassabis — Scaling, superhuman AIs, AlphaZero atop LLMs, AlphaFold
Here is my episode with Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMindWe discuss:* Why scaling is an artform* Adding search, planning, & AlphaZero type training atop…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Patrick Collison — Why Silicon Valley's most talented should leave
We discuss:* what it takes to process $1 trillion/year* how to build multi-decade APIs, companies, and relationships* what's next for Stripe (increasing the…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Tyler Cowen — Hayek, Keynes, & Smith on AI, animal spirits, anarchy, & growth
It was a great pleasure speaking with Tyler Cowen for the 3rd time.We discussed GOAT: Who is the Greatest Economist of all Time and Why Does it Matter?…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Lessons from The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro [Narration]
This is a narration of my blog post, Lessons from The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro.You read the full post here…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Will scaling work? [Narration]
This is a narration of my blog post, Will scaling work?. You read the full post here: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/p/will-scaling-workListen on Apple…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Jung Chang (Wild Swans author) — Living through history's largest man-made famine
A true honor to speak with Jung Chang.She is the author of Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (sold 15+ million copies worldwide) and Mao: The Unknown…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Andrew Roberts — Why Hitler lost WWII, Churchill as applied historian, & Napoleon as startup founder
Andrew Roberts is the world's best biographer and one of the leading historians of our time.We discussed* Churchill the applied historian,* Napoleon the…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Dominic Cummings - COVID, Brexit, & Fixing Western Governance
Here is my interview with Dominic Cummings on why Western governments are so dangerously broken, and how to fix them before an even more catastrophic…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Paul Christiano — Preventing an AI takeover
Paul Christiano is the world’s leading AI safety researcher. My full episode with him is out!We discuss:- Does he regret inventing RLHF, and is alignment…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Shane Legg (DeepMind Founder) — 2028 AGI, superhuman alignment, new architectures
I had a lot of fun chatting with Shane Legg - Founder and Chief AGI Scientist, Google DeepMind!We discuss:* Why he expects AGI around 2028* How to align…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Grant Sanderson (@3blue1brown) — Past, present, & future of mathematics
I had a lot of fun chatting with Grant Sanderson (who runs the excellent 3Blue1Brown YouTube channel) about:- Whether advanced math requires AGI- What careers…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Sarah C. M. Paine — Why dictators keep making the same fatal mistake
I learned so much from Sarah Paine, Professor of History and Strategy at the Naval War College.We discuss:- how continental vs maritime powers think and how…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Dario Amodei (Anthropic CEO) — The hidden pattern behind every AI breakthrough
Here is my conversation with Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic.Dario is hilarious and has fascinating takes on what these models are doing, why they scale so…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Andy Matuschak — The reason most learning tools fail
A few weeks ago, I sat beside Andy Matuschak to record how he reads a textbook.Even though my own job is to learn things, I was shocked with how much more…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Carl Shulman (Pt 2) — AI Takeover, bio & cyber attacks, detecting deception, & humanity's far future
The second half of my 7 hour conversation with Carl Shulman is out!My favorite part! And the one that had the biggest impact on my worldview.Here, Carl lays…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Carl Shulman (Pt 1) — Intelligence explosion, primate evolution, robot doublings, & alignment
In terms of the depth and range of topics, this episode is the best I’ve done.No part of my worldview is the same after talking with Carl Shulman. He's the…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Richard Rhodes — The making of the atomic bomb
It was a tremendous honor & pleasure to interview Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Making of the Atomic BombWe discuss- similarities…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Eliezer Yudkowsky — Why AI will kill us, aligning LLMs, nature of intelligence, SciFi, & rationality
For 4 hours, I tried to come up reasons for why AI might not kill us all, and Eliezer Yudkowsky explained why I was wrong.We also discuss his call to halt AI…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Ilya Sutskever (OpenAI Chief Scientist) — Why next-token prediction could surpass human intelligence
I went over to the OpenAI offices in San Fransisco to ask the Chief Scientist and cofounder of OpenAI, Ilya Sutskever, about:* time to AGI* leaks and spies*…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Nat Friedman (Github CEO) — Reading ancient scrolls, open source, & AI
It is said that the two greatest problems of history are: how to account for the rise of Rome, and how to account for her fall. If so, then the volcanic ashes…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Brett Harrison — FTX US former president speaks out
I flew out to Chicago to interview Brett Harrison, who is the former President of FTX US President and founder of Architect.In his first longform interview…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Marc Andreessen — AI, crypto, 1000 Elon Musks, regrets, vulnerabilities, & managerial revolution
My podcast with the brilliant Marc Andreessen is out!We discuss:* how AI will revolutionize software* whether NFTs are useless, & whether he should be funding…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Garett Jones — Immigration, national IQ, & less democracy
Garett Jones is an economist at George Mason University and the author of The Cultural Transplant, Hive Mind, and 10% Less Democracy.This episode was fun and…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Lars Doucet — Progress, poverty, Georgism, & why rent is too damn high
One of my best episodes ever. Lars Doucet is the author of Land is a Big Deal, a book about Georgism which has been praised by Vitalik Buterin, Scott…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Holden Karnofsky — History's most important century
Holden Karnofsky is the co-CEO of Open Philanthropy and co-founder of GiveWell. He is also the author of one of the most interesting blogs on the internet…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Bethany McLean — Enron, FTX, 2008, Musk, frauds, & visionaries
This was one of my favorite episodes ever.Bethany McLean was the first reporter to question Enron’s earnings, and she has written some of the best finance…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Nadia Asparouhova — Tech elites, democracy, open source, & philanthropy
Nadia Asparouhova is currently researching what the new tech elite will look like at nadia.xyz. She is also the author of Working in Public: The Making and…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Byrne Hobart - FTX, Drugs, Twitter, Taiwan, & Monasticism
Perhaps the most interesting episode so far.Byrne Hobart writes at thediff.co, analyzing inflections in finance and tech.He explains:* What happened at FTX*…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Edward Glaeser - Cities, Terrorism, Housing, & Remote Work
Edward Glaeser is the chair of the Harvard department of economics, and the author of the best books and papers about cities (including Survival of the City…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Kenneth T. Jackson - Robert Moses, Hero of New York?
I had a fascinating discussion about Robert Moses and The Power Broker with Professor Kenneth T. Jackson.He's the pre-eminent historian on NYC and author of…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Brian Potter - Future of Construction, Ugly Modernism, & Environmental Review
It was a pleasure to welcome Brian Potter on the podcast! Brian is the author of the excellent Construction Physics blog, where he discusses why the…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Bryan Caplan - Feminists, Billionaires, and Demagogues
It was a fantastic pleasure to welcome Bryan Caplan back for a third time on the podcast! His most recent book is Don't Be a Feminist: Essays on Genuine…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Tyler Cowen - Talent, Collapse, & Pessimism of Sex
It was my great pleasure to speak once again to Tyler Cowen. His most recent book is Talent, How to Find Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Across the World.We…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Charles C. Mann - Americas Before Columbus & Scientific Wizardry
Charles C. Mann is the author of three of my favorite history books: 1491. 1493, and The Wizard and the Prophet. We discuss:* why Native American civilizations…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Austin Vernon - Energy Superabundance, Starship Missiles, & Finding Alpha
Austin Vernon is an engineer working on a new method for carbon capture, and he has one of the most interesting blogs on the internet, where he writes about…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Steve Hsu - Intelligence, Embryo Selection, & The Future of Humanity
Steve Hsu is a Professor of Theoretical Physics at Michigan State University and cofounder of the company Genomic Prediction.We go deep into the weeds on how…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Will MacAskill - Longtermism, Altruism, History, & Technology
Will MacAskill is one of the founders of the Effective Altruist movement and the author of the upcoming book, What We Owe The Future.We talk about improving…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Joseph Carlsmith - Utopia, AI, & Infinite Ethics
Joseph Carlsmith is a senior research analyst at Open Philanthropy and a doctoral student in philosophy at the University of Oxford.We discuss utopia…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Fin Moorhouse - Longtermism, Space, & Entrepreneurship
Fin Moorhouse is a Research Scholar and assistant to Toby Ord at Oxford University's Future of Humanity Institute. He co-hosts the Hear This Idea podcast…
- Dwarkesh Podcast
Alexander Mikaberidze - Napoleon, War, Progress, and Global Order
Alexander Mikaberidze is Professor of History at Louisiana State University and the author of The Napoleonic Wars: A Global History.He explains the global…