Modern Wisdom

Andy Stumpf is a former U.S. Navy SEAL, extreme sports enthusiast, public speaker, podcaster, and author. What will the future of war actually look like? As AI accelerates and warfare rapidly evolves, the stakes feel higher than ever, but how worried should we really be? Sponsors: See discounts for all the products I use and recommend: ⁠⁠⁠https://chriswillx.com/deals⁠⁠⁠ Sign up for a one-dollar-pe...

Oz Pearlman is a mentalist, magician, endurance athlete, and keynote speaker. Can someone actually read your mind? Oz has built a 30-year career on making you believe the answer is yes, but what's really happening when he guesses your PIN code, your card, or a memory you've never shared with anyone? Is it psychology, body language, or something science can barely explain? Expect to learn how menta...

Richard Reeves is a writer, researcher and the Founder of the American Institute for Boys & Men. What is the current state of men and boys? As social movements have focused on supporting historically marginalised groups, Richard has led the march on whether men’s challenges have been overlooked. So what is the current state of men and boys, and are we finally moving toward meaningfully addressing...

Adam Aleksic is a linguist, content creator, and author, best known online as the Etymology Nerd. What’s happening to language right now? Words like “rizz” and “skibidi” can make it feel like you’re out of the loop, but are you actually getting older, or has the internet transformed language into something entirely new? What does the science of linguistics say about this shift? Expect to learn why...

Alex Petkas is a historian, writer, and podcaster. What can one of history's greatest empires, and its most notorious leaders, teach us about the modern world? We all know the story of Julius Caesar and his famous assassination... but what really happened? And what lessons from Ancient Rome still shape our lives today? Expect to learn why learning about Roman history is useful or instructive at he...

David Friedberg is an entrepreneur, investor, and podcaster. What will the future actually look like? With AI dominating the conversation, cutting through the noise matters more than ever. So what’s really coming, and what will it cost us? Expect to learn why the future if going to be epic even if the cost is high, why the future of tech and AI might be overblown, why we should care about the moon...

Michael Smoak is a mindset coach, entrepreneur, and podcaster. What does it actually cost to live a great life? From the outside, top performers seem to have everything we want, but the story isn’t that simple. Behind every extraordinary life is a series of trade-offs, sacrifices, and unseen costs. So what is the true price of ambition, and are you willing to pay it? Expect to learn what high-perf...

Eric Jorgenson is an investor, entrepreneur, and author. How does Elon Musk actually think? You can analyse him from first principles, but the closest thing to a blueprint is Eric Jorgenson’s The Book of Elon. So what’s really going on in his mind, and what makes him so extraordinary? Expect to learn what the most misleading narrative about Elon’s success is, why Elon decides to move so fast and h...

Erica Komisar is a psychoanalyst, parenting expert, and author. Why do we assume kids will be okay after divorce? As separation becomes more common, the long-term impact on a child’s development is often overlooked. So what actually happens, and can divorce ever be done without damage? Expect to learn what most adults misunderstand about how deeply divorce affects kids, why constant parental confl...

Robert Pantano is a writer, creator, and the founder of the Pursuit of Wonder YouTube channel. At what point does self-awareness become self-sabotage? The more you analyze yourself, the easier it is to get stuck overthinking. So how do you improve your life without ruining it? Expect to learn why self-awareness is a problem and the paradox of being too self-aware, if there is a way to be self-awar...

Tristan Harris is a tech ethicist, entrepreneur, and a speaker. Are we sleepwalking into disaster? AI is unlocking massive progress, but the dangers hiding beneath the surface are exactly what experts fear most. So what’s coming… and could it spiral beyond our control? Expect to learn why AI is distinct from other kind of technologies, what the Ali Baba rogue AI catastrophe that should scare every...

Welcome to the new Studio! To celebrate, I put together a new episode style. In this launch episode, we explore: The world’s worst phone call of all time If the act of self-improvement is problematic Tom Cruise stops by the new set and much more… Guests: Michael Smoak is a podcast host, entrepreneur, and investor. Shaan Puri is an entrepreneur, former CEO, podcaster and an angel investor. George M...

Chris Bailey is a productivity expert, speaker, and author. How do you make goals actually stick? We all want better for ourselves, but most goals fade. So how do you set goals that excite you—and actually follow through? Expect to learn why some goals feel effortless and others feel like a chore, how the role of intentions plays into goal setting and how to stack them, what the practical differen...

Will Guidara is a restaurateur, hospitality expert, and author. What does it take to become the world’s best restaurant? In an era of extravagant dining and over-the-top experiences, the answer might be simpler than you think. So what actually separates the best from the rest? Expect to learn the biggest differences between service and hospitality, how Will went from #50 in the world to #1, how to...

Roy Baumeister is a psychologist, professor, and researcher. Are men inherently more expendable from an evolutionary standpoint—and if so, has that dynamic helped drive innovation? If risk-taking outliers are often responsible for progress, what does that say about the role men play in shaping civilisation? And does this tradeoff come at the cost of higher failure, instability, and sacrifice along...

Nir Eyal is an author, behavioural design expert, and investor. What does it mean to truly hold a belief you endorse? Maybe some of what we believe isn’t true. But more interesting is how beliefs are formed, and how they can be reshaped. So how do you update your beliefs in a way that actually serves you, rather than holds you back? Expect to learn why beliefs are so important and why they are jus...

Gurwinder Bhogal is a programmer and a writer. Gurwinder is one of my favourite X follows. He’s written yet another megathread exploring human nature, cognitive biases, mental models, status games, crowd behaviour and social media. It’s fantastic, and today we go through some of my favourites. Expect to learn what the Oxytocin paradox is, why anxiety is now the most common mental health condition...

Dr Debra Soh is a neuroscientist, sex researcher, political commentator, and author. Why are we more connected than ever—but having less sex? Technology promised endless connection, but many people feel more isolated than ever. With sexlessness increasing, what’s causing the modern “sex recession,” and what can be done about it? Expect to learn if people having less sex is a big deal or not, what...

Bill Gurley is a venture capitalist, general partner at Benchmark, and a former Wall Street analyst. How do you find work you actually enjoy? So many people warn about the jobs they hate and the dreams they never chased. But turning passion into a career is harder than it sounds. So how do you reinvent yourself and build a life where work feels meaningful instead of miserable? Expect to learn why...

Louis Theroux is a journalist, documentary filmmaker, broadcaster, and author. What is it really like inside the Manosphere? Online spaces for men have exploded in influence, shaping how millions of young men think about success, relationships, and masculinity. Supporters say it helps men improve their lives. Critics say it’s dangerous and toxic. So what’s the truth, and is the manosphere as harmf...

Dr. Max Butterfield is an experimental psychologist and professor who studies relationships and decision-making. Why does love make us do crazy things? Rom-coms make relationships look easy, but real love is far more complicated. So what actually makes a relationship work—and why does love make us act irrationally? Expect to learn what science says about what people should do to recover from a bre...

Dr Peter Salerno is a social psychologist, professor, and researcher. Why are narcissists so manipulative? At some point in your life, you’ve probably encountered a narcissist. They can take control of a situation so subtly that before you realize it, you’re caught under their influence. So how can you spot a narcissist early, and what can you do to protect yourself from their manipulation? Expect...

Cal Newport is a computer science professor at Georgetown University, a productivity expert and an author. Has AI “workslop” damaged our ability to focus? When AI entered the workplace, many thought it would replace knowledge workers. Instead, we’re flooded with AI-generated noise that feels productive but often isn’t. In this new era, is the real competitive advantage simply the ability to focus?...

Dr. Kathryn Paige Harden is a psychologist and behavioural geneticist, Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and an author. Are people born evil, or does evil emerge from circumstance? While we tend to blame genetics for humanity’s darkest behaviors, science and psychology suggest a far more complicated picture. If biology, environment, and experience all shape behavior, how...

Scott Solomon is an evolutionary biologist, professor, and author. Since the earliest days of science fiction, we’ve wondered what it would mean to live on Mars. Today, that question is no longer hypothetical. As humanity moves closer to becoming an interplanetary species, a new question emerges: what happens when humans are born and raised on another world? How would Mars change our bodies, our m...