Random Talkers Podcast
1) E26: Nassim Taleb's Skin In The Game
This week we review Skin In The Game: Hidden Asymmetries In Daily Life by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Taleb may hate (professional) book reviewers, but we both really enjoyed this book: the man is never du...Show More
2) E25: Blockchain Basics: Mechanics, Flaws, And Applications
This week we review "Blockchain Basics: A Non-Technical Introduction in 25 Steps" by Daniel Drescher. Blockchain hype may have waned, but we're still aboard the blocktrain destined for untold crypto r...Show More
3) E24: Cathy O'Neil's Weapons Of Math Destruction Reviewed
This week we review "Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy" by Cathy O'Neil. From terrible teacher evaluations to dodgy credit decisions, algorithms ma...Show More
4) E23: The Singularity Is Near(ish)
This week your Random Talkers Matt and Adam review Ray Kurzweil's epic 2004 treatise, “The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology.” This book has everything, from nanobot-fueled virtual re...Show More
5) E22: Can Universal Basic Income Ever Work?
This week we delve into the universal basic income debate. As machine learning and artificial intelligence disrupt entire industries and automate jobs away, will a no strings attached guaranteed incom...Show More
6) E21: The Master Algorithm by Pedro Domingos Reviewed
This week Matt and Adam review THE MASTER ALGORITHM by Pedro Domingos, a book about a universal algorithm capable of extracting ALL KNOWLEDGE from data. Seems useful, right? Your hosts are not convinc...Show More
7) E20: China’s Social Credit System, “The Gray Rhino” Reviewed
This week’s episode is focused on China. First, we discuss China’s burgeoning social credit system, whereby citizens can be rated on their ability to pay bills, their college degrees, and even their c...Show More
8) E19: Blockchain Applications, “American Kingpin” Reviewed
It’s a crypto special! With our BTC holdings crashing, your hosts instead turn to the blockchain. Are there many practical applications for this new technology, and might it even return us to the dece...Show More
9) E18: The Innovator’s Solution
This week we breakdown "The Innovator's Solution," the 2003 follow-up to Clayton Christensen's business classic “The Innovator's Dilemma." Fifteen years on, do Christensen’s theories on growth and dis...Show More
10) E17: The Hard Thing About Hard Things
The show has returned! This week we review “The Hard Thing About Hard Things” by Ben Horowitz. Ben is a founding partner at Andreessen Horowitz, one of Silicon Valley’s most renowned venture capital f...Show More