Stephen Wolfram — Constructing The Computational Paradigm The Joe Walker podcast

1:54:31

This episode is the sixth instalment of my Australian policy series, recorded live in Sydney on February 26, 2025. I speak with Sam Roggeveen—Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program, and a former senior analyst at the Office of National Assessments—about why the United States won’t fight China for dominance in Asia, and what that means for an Australia long reliant on American protection. We explore the limits of America’s resolve in Asia, why an alliance with Indonesia should be the top priority of Australian statecraft, whether new technologies like drones are reversing the long-held advantage of the defender, the possibility that Australia might one day acquire nuclear weapons, and how Sam’s “echidna strategy” could let us defend ourselves from a major Asian power without substantially boosting defence spending. Video available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq9n62A07mE Transcript available here: https://josephnoelwalker.com/sam-roggeveen-aus-policy-series/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Peter Tulip — What Will It Actually Take to Solve the Housing Crisis? [Aus. Policy Series - LIVE] 1:45:01

28天之前1:45:01

1:45:01

This episode is the fifth instalment of my Australian policy series, recorded live in Sydney on February 12, 2025. I speak with Peter Tulip—Chief Economist at the Centre for Independent Studies, and a former senior researcher at both the Reserve Bank of Australia and the US Federal Reserve. We go deep into what's driving Australia's housing crisis, the problems with heritage rules and height restrictions, critiques of both NIMBY and YIMBY thinking, the sobering 10–20-year timeframe that even an “extremely ambitious” supply plan might require, and the cultural shift needed to reach a new equilibrium where housing is truly abundant. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Judith Brett — How a Benthamite Political Culture Shaped Australia's Electoral System [Aus. Policy Series - LIVE] 1:25:55

6 weeks之前1:25:55

1:25:55

Australia stands alone among English-speaking democracies with its compulsory, preferential voting system. But why? This episode is the fourth instalment of my Australian policy series. It was recorded in Melbourne on March 6, 2025. I speak with Judith Brett—Emeritus Professor of Politics at La Trobe University and author of the canonical history of Australia's electoral system, From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage —about how Australia became an electoral trailblazer. We trace the accidental adoption of near-universal manhood suffrage in the 1850s, the political calculations that led to compulsory voting and preferential voting, and why bureaucratic efficiency is so deeply woven into our electoral culture. Along the way, we explore how Benthamite thinking and low taxation in the colonial era combined to create a voting system that is unique among English-speaking democracies. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Richard Holden & Steven Hamilton — How Australia Gets It Done [Aus. Policy Series - LIVE] 1:57:40

7 weeks之前1:57:40

1:57:40

This episode is the third of my live policy salons. It was recorded in Sydney on February 5, 2025. We explore the concept of state capacity—the ability of governments to achieve their policy goals—and ask why Australia outperforms almost every other country in the world in this domain. For the conversation, I'm joined by two of Australia's great public policy economists. Richard Holden is professor of economics at UNSW Business School and president of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. Steven Hamilton is assistant professor of economics at The George Washington University in Washington DC, and a former Australian Treasury official. If you’d like to attend an upcoming salon, you can get tickets here . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Andrew Leigh — Inequality and Egalitarianism [Aus. Policy Series - LIVE] 1:29:23

10 weeks之前1:29:23

1:29:23

This episode is the second of my live policy salons. It was recorded in Sydney on January 29, 2025. What is the relationship between economic equality and egalitarianism in the cultural sense? Where does Australia's egalitarian tradition come from? Are we too egalitarian? Is economic inequality increasing? What's been driving it? And does it even matter? We sit down with Andrew Leigh to discuss these questions and more. Dr. Andrew Leigh MP is Australia’s Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, and Treasury, and Assistant Minister for Employment. An economist by training, he was previously Professor of Economics at the Australian National University and earned his PhD from Harvard. The main theme of his academic research has been inequality. If you’d like to attend an upcoming salon, you can get tickets here: https://josephnoelwalker.com/events/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Abul Rizvi — Inside Immigration Policy [Aus. Policy Series - LIVE] 1:42:05

11 weeks之前1:42:05

1:42:05

This episode is the first of my live policy salons. It was recorded in Melbourne on January 23, 2025. In this salon, we go deep into Australia's immigration policy with Abul Rizvi, former Deputy Secretary of the Department of Immigration. Abul managed Australia’s migration program from 1995 to 2007 and played a crucial role in the 2001 policy changes that massively increased the intake of skilled migrants—most notably by expanding pathways for overseas students. If you’d like to attend an upcoming salon, you can get tickets here: https://josephnoelwalker.com/events/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Behind the Scenes of My Interview Research Process — Andy Matuschak Crashes My Crib 1:42:51

12 weeks之前1:42:51

1:42:51

This episode is a little different: I’m the one being interviewed—and my interlocutor is Andy Matuschak , an independent applied researcher focused on "tools for thought" (ways to augment human intelligence). Andy founded and led Khan Academy’s Research and Development Lab, and prior to that, he was a senior engineer at Apple where he helped build iOS. I first discovered Andy’s work in 2021, and it was a game changer for me and the podcast. We spoke on the show in 2022 . In 2024, I recorded some podcast interviews in the US, and had the pleasure of hanging out with Andy while I was in San Francisco. In October, Andy dropped by my place in SF to go behind the scenes of my podcast research process and interview me while I prepared for a conversation with Larry Summers . This is an unvarnished, unfiltered look at my tech stack and how I prepare for my interviews. I'm very grateful to Andy for suggesting the idea and for so thoughtfully drawing out my current strategies, tactics and tools. I support Andy's research. If you'd like to do so too, go here . If you'd like to access my interview research notes for podcast interviews, you can support to access here . Watch this episode on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTI69kKeaC4 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Eugene Fama — For Whom Is The Market Efficient? 55:18

16 weeks之前55:18

55:18

Eugene Fama is a 2013 Nobel laureate in economic sciences, and is widely recognised as the "father of modern finance." He is currently the Robert R. McCormick Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago. Full transcript available at: https://josephnoelwalker.com/eugene-fama-156/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Richard Butler — Nuclear Diplomacy at the End of History 2:31:33

21 weeks之前2:31:33

2:31:33

Richard Butler AC is a retired Australian diplomat. He served as Australia's first Ambassador for Disarmament (1983-1988), Australian Ambassador to the United Nations (1992-1997), and Chair of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) to inspect Iraq for weapons of mass destruction (1997-1999). He also served as Chair of the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. Earlier in his career, he was Chief of Staff to Leader of the Opposition, and former Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam (1975-1977). Butler played a crucial role in both the permanent extension of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1995 and the adoption of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in 1996. His work helped establish the framework through which we still manage nuclear weapons risks today. This is his first ever podcast interview. Full transcript and research materials available here: https://josephnoelwalker.com/richard-butler-160/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Larry Summers — AGI and the Next Industrial Revolution 48:52

26 weeks之前48:52

48:52

Larry Summers is a former US Treasury Secretary (1999-2001), Chief Economist at the World Bank (1991-1993), and Director of the National Economic Council under President Obama (2009-2010). He also served as President of Harvard University (2001-2006). Currently, he is the Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard University, and he sits on the board of directors at OpenAI, one of the fastest-growing companies in history. Full transcript and video available at: https://josephnoelwalker.com/larry-summers-159/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Nassim Taleb — Meditations on Extremistan 2:05:05

31 weeks之前2:05:05

2:05:05

Nassim Taleb is trader, researcher and essayist. He is the author of the Incerto , a multi-volume philosophical and practical meditation on uncertainty. Full transcript available at: https://josephnoelwalker.com/nassim-taleb-158/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Robert Boyd & Peter Richerson — How Ice Age Climate Chaos Made Humans Cultural Animals 2:23:59

36 weeks之前2:23:59

2:23:59

Robert Boyd and Peter Richerson are anthropologists based in America. Their partnership was central to the development of Dual-Inheritance Theory , a framework that applies Darwinian evolution to culture and explains how genes and culture have intertwined to shape our species. This is their first ever joint interview. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/boyd-and-richerson/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Lucy Turnbull — Urbanism, YIMBYism, and Solutions to Australia's Housing Crisis (Bonus Live Episode) 46:43

47 weeks之前46:43

46:43

Lucy Turnbull is an urbanist, businesswoman and philanthropist. She was the first female Lord Mayor of Sydney, from 2003-4. From 2015-20, she was the inaugural Chief Commissioner of the Greater Sydney Commission, tasked with delivering strategic planning for the whole of metropolitan Sydney. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Bryan Caplan — The Economics of Housing Abundance 1:50:14

49 weeks之前1:50:14

1:50:14

Bryan Caplan is Professor of Economics at George Mason University. A bestselling author, his books include The Case Against Education , Open Borders , and Build, Baby, Build: The Science and Ethics of Housing Deregulation . Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/bryan-caplan-155 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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2023 Retrospective — A Listener Interviews Me 1:47:48

1 year之前1:47:48

1:47:48

In this special episode, the tables are turned as I'm interviewed by a listener of the show, DJ Thornton from Sydney. We reflect on the progress of the show in 2023, what I learned from this year's guests, and what's in store for 2024. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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David Deutsch & Steven Pinker (First Ever Public Dialogue) — AGI, P(Doom), & The Enemies of Progress 1:55:40

1 year之前1:55:40

1:55:40

At a time when the Enlightenment is under attack from without and within, I bring together two of the most thoughtful defenders of progress and reason, for their first ever public dialogue. Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. I think of him as providing the strongest empirical defence of the Enlightenment (as seen in his book Enlightenment Now ). David Deutsch is a British physicist at the University of Oxford, and the father of quantum computing. I think of him as having produced the most compelling first principles defence of the Enlightenment (as seen in his book The Beginning of Infinity ). Full transcript available at: https://josephnoelwalker.com/153-deutsch-pinker-dialogue. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Shruti Rajagopalan — On Spotting Talent, And Making Sense of Rising India 2:45:00

1 year之前2:45:00

2:45:00

Shruti Rajagopalan is an Indian-American economist. She leads the Indian political economy research program and Emergent Ventures India at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She also hosts the Ideas of India podcast. Full transcript available at: jnwpod.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Raghuram Rajan — Debt, Monetary Policy, and Unintended Consequences 1:51:50

1 year之前1:51:50

1:51:50

What were the deep causes of the global financial crisis and great recession? Has unconventional monetary policy in the wake of the crisis done more harm than good? And should monetary policy target financial stability? I discuss these questions and more with Indian economist and Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Raghuram Rajan. Raghuram Rajan was chief economist at the IMF from 2003 to 2006, and from 2013 to 2016 he was Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. As RBI Governor, he notably introduced India's inflation-targeting scheme, among many other achievements. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/151-raghuram-rajan See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Peter Singer — Moral Truths and Moral Secrets 1:54:39

2 years之前1:54:39

1:54:39

Peter Singer is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. He is widely regarded as the world's most influential living philosopher. Full transcript available at: jnwpod.com Episode recorded on 26 April 2023. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Peter Turchin — Why Societies Fall Apart (And Why the US May Be Next) 1:41:45

2 years之前1:41:45

1:41:45

Peter Turchin is a complexity scientist and one of the founders of cliodynamics — a new, cross-disciplinary field that applies mathematics and big data to test historical theories. Full transcript available at: jnwpod.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Stephen Wolfram — Constructing the Computational Paradigm 4:24:06

2 years之前4:24:06

4:24:06

Stephen Wolfram is a physicist, computer scientist and businessman. He is the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research, the creator of Mathematica and Wolfram Alpha, and the author of A New Kind of Science . Full transcript available at: jnwpod.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Katalin Karikó — Forging the mRNA Revolution 2:03:50

2 years之前2:03:50

2:03:50

Katalin Karikó is a Hungarian-American biochemist. She is one of the inventors of mRNA technology. Full transcript available at: thejspod.com. Episode recorded on 15 February 2023. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Richard Rhodes — The Making of the Atomic Bomb 3:42:20

2 years之前3:42:20

3:42:20

Richard Rhodes is an American historian and the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb . Full transcript available at: thejspod.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Ken Henry — An Economic Odyssey 4:35:09

2 years之前4:35:09

4:35:09

Dr Ken Henry is an Australian economist who served as Secretary of Australia's Treasury from 2001 to 2011. He was instrumental in helping Australia avoid recession during the 2008 Global Financial Crisis — Australia was the only major advanced economy to do so. Full transcript available at: thejspod.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Palmer Luckey — Science (Non)fiction 1:39:19

2 years之前1:39:19

1:39:19

Palmer Luckey is an American tech entrepreneur and billionaire. He has founded two companies: Oculus VR (acquired by Facebook for $2 billion in 2014), and Anduril (recently valued at $8.5 billion). He has been described as the real-life Tony Stark. Full transcript available at: www.thejspod.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Daniel Kahneman — Dyads, And Other Mysteries 1:13:07

2 years之前1:13:07

1:13:07

Daniel Kahneman is widely regarded as the most influential psychologist alive. He won the Nobel Prize in Economics (2002) for his work on judgment and decision-making under uncertainty, much of it done jointly with his late collaborator Amos Tversky. He is the author of the bestselling books Thinking, Fast and Slow and Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment (written with Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein). Full transcript available at: thejspod.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Talent Is That Which Is Scarce — Tyler Cowen 48:21

2 years之前48:21

48:21

In the long run, talent allocation is almost everything. But as a society, we're not actually very good at it. The question of how to reliably match people with jobs they are well suited for is one of the big unsolved problems of our times. Joe catches up with return guest Tyler Cowen to discuss the art of identifying talent. Tyler is a professor of economics at George Mason University and host of the podcast Conversations with Tyler . He is also the co-author of a new book, Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World . Full transcript available at: thejspod.com Episode recorded: 18 May 2022. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Intellectual Exoskeletons — Andy Matuschak 2:08:54

2 years之前2:08:54

2:08:54

From language and writing to the Hindu-Arabic numeral system, computers and Adobe Photoshop, our species has a history of inventing tools for augmenting our own intelligence. But what comes next? Andy Matuschak is a developer and designer. He helped build iOS at Apple, founded and led Khan Academy's R&D lab, and now works as an independent researcher investigating 'tools for thought' — that is, technologies that can transform human cognition and creativity. Full episode transcript available at: thejspod.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Rationality And Its Opposite — Steven Pinker 52:32

2 years之前52:32

52:32

How rational are we? How can a species smart enough to set foot on the moon also be prone to conspiracy theories that the moon landing was fake? Joe speaks with Steven Pinker to discuss rationality — and its opposite. Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, an elected to the National Academy of Sciences and one of Time ‘s 100 Most Influential People . Full episode transcript available at: thejspod.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Against Bayesianism — David Deutsch 1:39:02

3 years之前1:39:02

1:39:02

Bayesianism, the doctrine that it's always rational to represent our beliefs in terms of probabilities, dominates the intellectual world, from decision theory to the philosophy of science. But does it make sense to quantify our beliefs about such ineffable things as scientific theories or the future? And what separates empty prophecy from legitimate prediction? David Deutsch is a British physicist at the University of Oxford, and is widely regarded as the father of quantum computing. He is the author of The Fabric of Reality (1997) and The Beginning of Infinity (2011). Full episode transcript available at: thejspod.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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The Lessons Of Afghanistan — William Dalrymple 58:12

4 years之前58:12

58:12

William Dalrymple is an acclaimed historian and writer. Show notes available at: josephnoelwalker.com/138-afghanistan See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The Race That Stopped The Nation — Richard Holden & Steven Hamilton 1:55:17

4 years之前1:55:17

1:55:17

Richard Holden is Professor of Economics at UNSW. Steven Hamilton is an Assistant Professor of Economics at The George Washington University. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/holden-hamilton See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Ergodicity — Ole Peters 2:09:23

4 years之前2:09:23

2:09:23

Ole Peters is a physicist and a Fellow at the London Mathematical Laboratory. Show notes available at: josephnoelwalker.com/136-ergodicity See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The Tyranny Of Merit — Michael Sandel 1:04:50

4 years之前1:04:50

1:04:50

Michael Sandel teaches political philosophy at Harvard University, where he is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government Theory. His course “Justice” is the first Harvard course to be made freely available online and on television and has been viewed by tens of millions of people around the world. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/michael-sandel See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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The Spectre Of Havoc — Graham Allison 52:58

4 years之前52:58

52:58

Graham Allison is an American political scientist and the Douglas Dillon Professor of Government Harvard University. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/graham-allison See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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A General Theory Of Catastrophe — Niall Ferguson 1:08:37

4 years之前1:08:37

1:08:37

Niall Ferguson is one of the world's most renowned historians. He is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a senior faculty fellow of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard. He is the author of sixteen books, including most recently Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe . Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/niall-ferguson See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Policy In An Age Of Politics — John Hewson 2:10:07

4 years之前2:10:07

2:10:07

John Hewson is a former Australian politician and was leader of the Liberal Party from 1990 to 1994. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/john-hewson See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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A Practical Guide To Coping With Uncertainty — John Kay 35:04

4 years之前35:04

35:04

John Kay is one of Britain's leading economists. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Is Science Reaching Its Limits? — John Horgan 1:21:06

4 years之前1:21:06

1:21:06

John Horgan is a science journalist and Director of the Center for Science Writings at the Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey. He was senior writer at Scientific American from 1986-1997 and is the author of the bestselling book The End of Science . Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/horgan See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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Marvellous Melbourne And Australia's Darkest Depression — Graeme Davison 1:08:44

4 years之前1:08:44

1:08:44

Graeme Davison is Australia's most eminent urban historian. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/graeme-davison See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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A Forgotten Genius — Cheryl Misak 1:11:57

4 years之前1:11:57

1:11:57

Cheryl Misak is a Canadian philosopher and the author of Frank Ramsey: A Sheer Excess of Powers . Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/misak See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Progress And Planet — Malcolm Turnbull 1:00:20

4 years之前1:00:20

1:00:20

Malcolm Turnbull was the 29th Prime Minister of Australia. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/malcolm-turnbull See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The Craft Of Comedy And The Art Of A Lasting Partnership — Andy Lee 1:36:08

4 years之前1:36:08

1:36:08

Andy Lee is one half of iconic Australian comedy duo Hamish & Andy. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/andy-lee See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The Reign Of Keynes, Part II — Lord Robert Skidelsky 1:25:14

4 years之前1:25:14

1:25:14

Robert Skidelsky, FBA is a British economic historian. He is the author of a three-volume award-winning biography of British economist John Maynard Keynes. Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/skidelsky See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Recollections Of A Wild Man In The Wings — Noam Chomsky 1:02:55

4 years之前1:02:55