Brave New World -- hosted by Vasant Dhar

What is liberal democracy and has it lost its way? Helena Rosenblatt joins Vasant  Dhar in episode 32 of Brave New World to add a historical perspective to this modern problem in our illiberal and polarized world. Useful resources : 1.  The Lost History of Liberalism  -- Helena Rosenblatt. 2.  Thinking with Rousseau: From Machiavelli to Schmitt  -- Helena Rosenblatt. 3.  Helena Rosenblatt  on Amaz...

Yogi Berra once said, "It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." Philip Tetlock joins  Vasant  Dhar in episode 31 of Brave New World to discuss what  superforecasters do consistently well -- and how we can improve our judgement and decision-making. Useful resources : 1.  Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction  -- Philip Tetlock and Dan Gardner. 2.  Expert Political...

Goodbye big banks. Hello crypto. The world of finance is in the process of changing forever, and David Yermack is your guide. Yermack joins Vasant Dhar in episode 30 of Brave New World to share his road map of, well, this brave new world! Useful resources : 1. David Yermack at  NYU Stern  and  Google Scholar . 2.  Nandan Nilekani on an Egalitarian Internet  -- Episode 15 of Brave New World. 3.  Li...

Capital is no longer a scarce resource. Attention is. Albert Wenger joins  Vasant  Dhar in episode 29 of Brave New World to discuss how the Industrial Age is past its expiry date, and what we need to do to prepare for the Knowledge Age.   Useful resources : 1. Albert Wenger at  Union Square Ventures  and  Continuations .  And  on Twitter . 2.  The World After Capital  -- Albert Wenger. 3.  Capital...

More and more, the digital world is being designed to turn us into addicts. Adam Alter joins Vasant  Dhar in episode 28 of Brave New World to describe the sinister ways in which this happens -- and what we can do about it. Useful resources : 1.  Irresistible  -- Adam Alter. 2.  Drunk Tank Pink  -- Adam Alter. 3.  Dopamine Nation  -- Anna Lembke. 4.  Anna Lembke on Beating Dopamine  -- Episode 26 o...

Andrew Yang supports some game-changing ideas, such as UBI and taxing robots, and they're rooted in a radical vision of what America's politics should be. Yang joins Vasant  Dhar in episode 27 of Brave New World to explain why the system is broken -- and how it can be changed. Useful resources : 1. Andrew Yang on  his website ,  Twitter ,  YouTube  and  Amazon . 2.  Forward: Notes on the Future of...

Are you addicted? You may be a slave to dopamine without realising it, whether in the substances you put into your body or the behaviors you adopt. Anna Lembke, author of  Dopamine Nation , joins Vasant Dhar in episode 26 of Brave New World to discuss how we can beat this. Useful resources : 1.  Anna Lembke's website . 2.  Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence  -- Anna Lembke....

There is a new religion in town. It has the best intentions, but it may harm those it claims to help. John McWhorter joins  Vasant  Dhar in episode 25 of Brave New World to talk about his book  Woke Racism  -- and on the dangers of this new social movement that could tear us apart. Useful resources : 1.  Woke Racism  -- John McWhorter. 2.  The Coddling of the American Mind  -- Greg Lukianoff and J...

Machine Learning can improve decision making in a big way -- but it can also reproduce human biases and discrimination. Solon Barocas joins Vasant Dhar in episode 24 of Brave New World to discuss the challenges of solving this problem.  Useful resources : 1.  Solon Barocas at  his website ,  Cornell ,  Google Scholar  and  Twitter . 2.  Fairness and Machine Learning  -- Solon Barocas, Moritz Hardt...

How do we pick the stocks we buy? What drives us to sell? How does new technology impact our attention and behavior? Terrance Odean joins Vasant  Dhar in episode 23 of Brave New World to share his learnings over a lifetime of studying behavioral finance. Useful resources : 1.  Terrance Odean's videos  on Investing. 2. Terrance Odean's video series on individual investor behavior . 3.  All That Gli...

Google and Facebook have an outrageous amount of market power, and that's dangerous for society. Dina Srinivasan joins Vasant Dhar in episode 22 of Brave New World to discuss the dangers, and how we can tackle them. Useful resources : 1. Dina Srinivasan's  homepage  and  Twit ter . 2.  The Antitrust Case Against Facebook  -- Dina Srinivasan. 3.  Why Google Dominates Advertising Markets  -- Dina Sr...

We overestimate our skill at decision making. We're pretty bad, and bias isn't the only reason. Daniel Kahneman joins  Vasant  Dhar in episode 21 of Brave New World to shed light on the problem of Noise, and what we can do about it. Useful resources : 1.  Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgement  -- Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein. 2.  Thinking, Fast and Slow  -- Daniel Kahneman. 3.  Dis...

It is a matter of time before machines outstrip humans in most capabilities. How can we possibly stop a more intelligent entity from taking control? Stuart Russell joins  Vasant  Dhar in episode 20 of Brave New World to explain why, despite the dangers, he remains optimistic about artificial intelligence and how to control it. Useful resources : 1.  Human Compatible  -- Stuart Russell. 2.  Artific...

Why do some nations fail in their lurch towards liberty while others succeed? James Robinson joins  Vasant  Dhar in episode 19 of Brave New World to explain why there is no simple answer to that question -- but the balance between the state and society is central to understanding it. Also discussed: the developing challenge of Big Tech. Useful resources : 1.  The Narrow Corridor: How Nations Strug...

The first machine age was about mechanical machines. We now live in a time of thinking machines. Erik Brynjolfsson joins  Vasant  Dhar in episode 18 of Brave New World to talk about the impact of AI on productivity and inequality -- and to explain why he remains optimistic about the prospects for humans in the AI era.   Useful resources : 1.  The Second Machine Age  -- Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew...

How do we come upon our morality? How much of our moral judgement is intuitive and how much is learned? Moral philosopher Peter Railton joins Vasant  Dhar in episode 17 of Brave New World to talk about his thinking in this area -- and also how the fields of ethics and AI are colliding. Useful resources : 1.  Facts, Values, and Norms: Essays toward a Morality of Consequence  -- Peter Railton.  2. ...

Is a humane war a contradiction in terms? Can rules be made and followed that limit the damage that wars do, or will that make conflict perpetual? Is it necessary and moral for the USA to continue to be the policeman of the world? Samuel Moyn joins Vasant Dhar in episode 16 of Brave New World to tackle the thorny ethical and practical questions around warfare and terrorism as technologies become m...

The internet began with an Age of Innocence, which gave way to the Age of Commerce, driven by the advertising model. Nandan Nilekani joins Vasant Dhar in episode 15 of Brave New World to describe how we have now entered the Age of Geopolitics, in which nation states are jostling for power with big tech companies, while tailoring regulation based on their needs and aspirations. They also discuss Na...

Is our democracy in peril? What role has the media played in this? What should we do about it? Ali Velshi joins Vasant Dhar in episode 14 of Brave New World to discuss the subtleties of bias, fake news, information consumption and what to do about social media. Useful resources : 1. Ali Velshi on  Twitter  and  Instagram . 2.  Understanding QE in the New World  -- Episode 10 of Brave New World (w...

As artificial intelligence gets more and more powerful, the need becomes greater to ensure that machines do the right thing. But what does that even mean? Brian Christian joins Vasant Dhar in episode 13 of Brave New World to discuss, as the title of his new book goes, the alignment problem. Useful resources : 1.  Brian Christian's homepage . 2.  The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Va...

Social media is changing human behavior. How and why are humans being transformed by algorithms? Molly Crockett joins Vasant Dhar in episode 12 of Brave New World to describe her work at the meeting place of technology and morality. Useful resources : 1. Molly Crockett at  Yale ,  Oxford Neuroscience ,  Google Scholar  and  Twitter . 2.  Crockett Lab . 3.  Moral outrage in the digital age  -- MJ C...

In these polarised times, what should the colleges of tomorrow look like? Michael S Roth, the president of Wesleyan University, joins  Vasant  Dhar in episode 11 of Brave New World to discuss his vision for liberal education. We should empower individuals, he says, by designing for serendipity. Useful resources : 1.  Safe Enough Spaces  -- Michael S Roth. 2.  Beyond the University  -- Michael S Ro...

Covid was a shock to the global economy. Policy makers have responded with Quantitative Easing. Paul Sheard joins  Vasant  Dhar in episode 10 of Brave New World to discuss the nuances of QE and its possible impacts. Also discussed: the role of monetary policy in this changing tech landscape, helicopter money and the big question of the 21st century. (Listen to find out!) Useful resources : 1.  Qua...

Artificial intelligence can transform healthcare -- and the medical profession may be behind the curve. Regina Barzilay joins Vasant Dhar in episode 9 of Brave New World to talk about how doctors, programmers and lawyers need to find a meeting point to make the revolution happen. Useful resources : 1. Regina Barzilay  at MIT CSAIL  and  MIT J-Clinic . 2.  A Deep Learning Approach to Antibiotic Dis...

The internet has changed our lives, mostly for the better. But there is a flip side. Jonathan Haidt joins  Vasant  Dhar in episode 8 of Brave New World to describe how social media is a threat to democracy and public discourse -- and to the mental health of a generation. Useful resources : 1.  The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion  -- Jonathan Haidt. 2.  The Codd...