Epsilon Theory Podcast

Matt Zeigler joins Notes on Notes to discuss his Epsilon Theory Unplugged essay Nobody Wants To Earn Their Shit and what it says about AI, creativity, writing, music and earned opinions. This conversation explores why AI can be a powerful creative tool, why lazy content feels so empty, and how real craft comes from practice, reading, curiosity and doing the work.

Ritavan joins The Intentional Investor for a powerful story about family history, identity, idealism, and how the lives we inherit shape the people we become. In this Story Time episode, Matt Zeigler revisits one of the most unforgettable Intentional Investor conversations, tracing Ritavan’s family story from social reform in India to a village doctor on horseback, deep friendship, tragedy, resili...

Dave Nadig joins Notes on Notes to discuss his Epsilon Theory Unplugged essay Paying Attention: A Case for Contemplative Autonomy and why thinking for yourself matters even more in the age of AI. This conversation explores writing, research, introspection, AI assistants, and the importance of sitting with your own thoughts before outsourcing your opinions.

Craig Wilson joins Matt Zeigler on The Intentional Investor for a conversation about anxiety, ambition, identity, faith, work, and what happens when a life built on performance finally breaks. Craig traces his path from a Tennessee farm to Harvard Business School, banking, family office leadership, the redevelopment of San Antonio’s Pearl Brewery, four months without sleep, and the transformation...

In this episode of Notes on Notes, Matt Zeigler talks with Adam Butler about the writing process behind The Neurometaphysics of Ruin and how big ideas move from frustration to research to narrative. They discuss AI-assisted writing, Claude as a research partner, Ian McGilchrist’s left brain right brain framework, world-building, reductionism, legibility, and why modern society may have lost sight...

Rusty Guinn joins Matt Zeigler to discuss The Almanac and the Ambulance, AI, writing, creativity, and the productivity problem with large language models. They explore how writers can use AI as a thinking partner without losing the human judgment, metaphor, and meaning that make good writing work.

Joseph S. Moore joins The Intentional Investor to discuss his journey from working class South Carolina to historian, professor, entrepreneur, and author of How to Get Rich in American History. In this conversation, Matt Zeigler and Joseph explore the personal stories behind money, ambition, education, rejection, faith, family, risk taking, and the long path from a 2008 financial wake-up call to a...

In this episode of Epsilon Theory Unplugged, Matt Zeigler talks with Brent Donnelly about his essay I Want It, But I Don’t Like It and the hidden costs of smartphones, Twitter, social media addiction, and attention capture. They discuss why phones can create a “dark zone” similar to gambling addiction, how boredom can be useful, and how Brent structures his writing process without letting AI take...

Epsilon Theory Unplugged launches with Ben Hunt and Matt Zeigler discussing why human writing matters more in an age of AI-generated content, thought leadership, and endless digital noise. Ben explains the idea behind the new series, why he is returning to direct human-to-human writing, and how his process for writing Contact: AI and the Semantic Dimension reflects a deeper commitment to craft, or...

Taylor Schulte joins The Intentional Investor to talk about the life experiences that shaped his path from skateboarding and punk rock to financial planning, entrepreneurship, marketing and building a business on his own terms. This conversation explores the people, setbacks and lessons that helped Taylor develop confidence, competitiveness, resilience and a lifelong drive to keep getting better a...

In this episode of The Intentional Investor, Matt Zeigler sits down with Mat Cashman to explore the path from classical saxophone to options trading, market making, education, and career reinvention. The conversation covers music, perfectionism, teaching, the CBOE trading floor, risk, failure, identity, and what it means to keep learning after life forces you to change direction.

This episode explores the career, mindset, and investing philosophy of Marc Rubinstein, tracing his journey from equity research in the 1990s through the Global Financial Crisis and into his current thinking on markets, optionality, and decision-making. Through personal stories and market insights, the conversation examines how experience, temperament, and historical awareness shape long-term succ...

In this episode of The Intentional Investor, Matt Zeigler sits down with Gary Mishuris to explore his journey from the Soviet Union to becoming a successful investor and founder. The conversation blends investing philosophy with deeply personal stories about resilience, integrity, and the long-term mindset required to succeed in both markets and life.

In this episode of The Intentional Investor, Matt Zeigler sits down with bestselling author, humorist, and essayist Michael Perry to explore the life experiences that shaped his writing and worldview. Perry shares stories from growing up on a dairy farm in rural Wisconsin, the lessons he learned from sports and hard work, and the powerful influence of his parents’ humility and charity. The convers...

Roger Mitchell joins The Intentional Investor to share the improbable journey from a working class upbringing in Scotland to the upper tiers of global finance, music, media, and sport. Along the way, he reflects on the formative lessons that shaped him, from navigating rough public schools and working late nights in a family fish and chip shop to flying across Europe for high stakes meetings and i...

In this episode of The Intentional Investor, Matt Zeigler sits down with Ted Merz to explore how careers, ideas, and communities are shaped less by optimization and more by immersion. Drawing on stories from Ted’s early life, his time at Bloomberg, and his post corporate reinvention, the conversation weaves together lessons on curiosity, communication, and why showing up in person still matters in...

In this episode of Intentional Investor, Matt Zeigler sits down with Ritavan to explore how a life shaped by loss, curiosity, and self-directed learning produced a distinctive way of thinking about mastery, ambition, and purpose. From a remarkable family history to an unconventional educational path, the conversation traces how early experiences with adversity, mentorship, and intellectual indepen...

In this episode of Intentional Investor, Matt Zeigler sits down with Tony Greer for a wide-ranging conversation about markets, risk, identity, and the experiences that shape how we operate under pressure. From growing up on Long Island in a tight-knit Italian family to trading precious metals at global banks, Tony shares the formative moments that defined his relationship with money, risk, competi...

In this special year-end episode of Intentional Investor, Matt Zeigler and Ben Hunt reflect on the stories, turning points, and formative moments that shaped the most memorable conversations of 2025. Rather than market calls or forecasts, this episode focuses on identity, risk, mentorship, reinvention, and the experiences that quietly redirect a life. Through a countdown of the top ten clips from...

Greg Larkin joins The Intentional Investor to explore the wild arc of his life: from feral 1980s–90s New York City, to punk rock basements, to microfinance in Scotland, to predicting the subprime crisis, to becoming a leading voice on innovation, courage, and community-building. This episode blends personal history with market insight, crisis leadership, creativity, and what it means to build a me...

Dave Nadig joins us for a wide-ranging conversation on intentional investing, creativity, career detours, near-death experiences, and building a meaningful life. From growing up as a “no-lock kid,” to working on live TV in Los Angeles, to the early days of ETFs, to a traumatic climbing accident that changed his worldview, Dave shares a remarkable story filled with lessons about ambition, humility,...

Pablos Holman is a legendary hacker, inventor, and investor whose career spans from rural Alaska to Blue Origin and beyond. In this episode of The Intentional Investor, Matt Zeigler explores how curiosity, creativity, and relentless experimentation shaped Pablos’s journey — from hacking onstage and pioneering early web development to building inventions that shoot mosquitoes with lasers and invest...

Adam Butler joins The Intentional Investor with Matt Zeigler for an honest, funny, and deeply reflective conversation that traces the origins of one of investing’s most thoughtful minds. From a Dungeons & Dragons-playing kid in Newfoundland to the CIO of Resolve Asset Management, Adam’s story is about curiosity, overconfidence, failure, reinvention, and finding purpose through markets. Along the w...

Tyrone Ross joins The Intentional Investor with Matt Zeigler for a conversation that goes far beyond markets — a story of grit, purpose, pain, and love. From growing up in the projects of New Jersey to becoming an elite athlete and mission-driven financial leader, Tyrone shares how the people who filled the gaps in his life helped shape his identity and purpose. This episode explores how embracing...

In this episode of Intentional Investor, Matt Ziegler sits down with Danielle Strachman, co-founder and general partner of 1517 Fund, former director at the Thiel Fellowship, and lifelong supporter of unconventional paths. Danielle shares her journey from a New England upbringing and music-filled childhood to starting a charter school during the financial crisis, building 1517 to back “dropouts, r...