Books & Booze

Guest: Evan Sandhoefner (blogger, Effective Altruist, and alum of Microsoft & Harvard) Book: Famine, Affluence, and Morality by Peter Singer Booze: Ballast Point Sculpin IPA 0:00:00 - Evan and Ballast Point Sculpin https://sandhoefner.com/ https://twitter.com/EvanSandhoefner?lang=en 0:03:49 - Brian Tomasik, who inspired Evan’s website https://briantomasik.com/ https://reducing-suffering.org/ 0:05:21 - How does Evan handle discussing ethics without sounding like a dick? 0:08:00 - Famine, Affluence, and Morality and the Effective Altruism movement https://www.utilitarian.net/singer/by/1972----.htm https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_singer_the_why_and_how_of_effective_altruism?language=en https://www.centreforeffectivealtruism.org/blog/understanding-cause-neutrality/ 0:17:42 - Direct work vs Working to Give https://80000hours.org/articles/earning-to-give/ https://80000hours.org/career-guide/ https://80000hours.org/2015/07/80000-hours-thinks-that-only-a-small-proportion-of-people-should-earn-to-give-long-term/ 0:26:28 - The Most Effective Cocaine Dealer https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/3DGYg2RxXHgekLGeG/to-save-the-world-don-t-get-a-job-at-a-charity-go-work-on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem 0:30:57 - Utilitarian calculus: Quantifying fuzzy concepts like suffering, happiness, well-being, etc. 0:33:09 - Consciousness, consciousness meters, and aliens https://www.iep.utm.edu/hard-con/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speciesism https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html 0:42:19 - Moral tug-of-war: The demandingness objection to utilitarianism and Effective Altruism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demandingness_objection 0:49:53 - Bugs in our brains: Grappling with our flawed moral minds https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/how-risky-is-it-really/201108/statistical-numbing-why-millions-can-die-and-we-don-t-care https://fs.blog/2017/05/confirmation-bias/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-group_favoritism https://www.theverge.com/2017/3/27/15077864/elon-musk-neuralink-brain-computer-interface-ai-cyborgs 0:56:58 - Is ethics self-limiting? Can ethical people be successful? 1:02:11 - Self-deception, and The Elephant in the Brain by Robin Hanson and Kevin Simler https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-serving_bias https://www.amazon.com/Elephant-Brain-Hidden-Motives-Everyday/dp/0190495995 1:03:56 - Wild animal suffering, selection theory, and cats wearing bells https://reducing-suffering.org/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R/K_selection_theory https://www.birdsbesafe.com/ 1:17:57 - Domestic animal suffering, unhappy cows, and reducing vs eliminating meat from your diet https://animalcharityevaluators.org/ https://www.givewell.org/ 1:26:53 - Existential risk and the “expected value” of the far future https://concepts.effectivealtruism.org/concepts/existential-risks/ https://concepts.effectivealtruism.org/concepts/the-long-term-future/ https://www.effectivealtruism.org/articles/ea-global-2018-far-future-of-life/ 1:30:42 - Epic Givewell spreadsheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xBKlshqbu6H-uByB2INEaDNPpj_Ulz0WrrFwgrnkXfk/edit#gid=1537947274 1:31:59 - Open philanthropy, hit-based giving, and The Man Who Fed the World https://www.openphilanthropy.org/blog/hits-based-giving https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Fed-World-Laureate/dp/1930754906 1:41:04 - Slow vs fast Artificial intelligence, giving now vs giving later, the time value of money, and John’s personal reasons for (mostly) giving later https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/7uJcBNZhinomKtH9p/giving-now-vs-later-a-summary https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/timevalueofmoney.asp https://fs.blog/2013/02/the-psychology-of-human-misjudgement/ 1:53:01 - Effective Altruism’s “popularity problem”, growing the movement, and caring vs counting https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/pcygusgiy6ZabnB93/how-valuable-is-movement-growth 2:06:10 - An opportunity to be a real superhero

Guest: Kim Ukura, bookish blogger & podcaster Book: Knocking on Heaven’s Door by Katy Butler Boozes: Gin & Tonic Main topics: End of life care, physician assisted suicide, reading, reviewing “bad books”, podcasting, blogging, being a “dork”, and more. Find more Kim & John: Follow on Twitter: @kimthedork & @booksandbooze_ And check out our websites: https://bookriot.com/author/kimukura/ https://newsletters.riotnewmedia.com/category/true-story/ https://www.sophisticateddorkiness.com/ https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/for-real/id1353587430?mt=2 https://booksandboozepodcast.com/ https://www.johnleven.com/ Books mentioned/recommended in this Episode Knocking on Heaven's Door: The Path to a Better Way of Death by Katy Butler Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atwul Gawande Show Notes: 0:00:00 - Introduction and making the perfect Gin & Tonic 0:05:42 - Knocking on Heaven’s Door by Katy Butler and why it’s important Article mentioned: What Broke My Father’s Heart: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/magazine/20pacemaker-t.html 0:11:16 - The medical industry and its incentives 0:17:22 - The squishiness of measuring “quality of life” 0:20:43 - Other possible obstacles to improving end of life care including: medical malpractice, religious traditions, and family guilt. 0:26:20 - A generational shift in end-of-life care preferences? 0:32:17 - “Medical innovation costs money” 0:35:04 - Physician-assisted suicide vs euthanasia and three very different cases: 104 year old David Goodall from Australia to Switzerland https://www.vox.com/2018/5/21/17360978/right-to-die-assisted-dying-suicide-david-goodall 29 year old Brittany Maynard - “I do not want to die. But I am dying. And I want to die on my own terms.” http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/07/opinion/maynard-assisted-suicide-cancer-dignity/ 29 year old Aurelia Brouwers from the Netherlands https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/mar/17/assisted-dying-euthanasia-netherlands 0:48:39 - Do Not Resuscitate orders and other personal takeaways from the book 0:54:41 - Kim’s bookish background and how it led to her blog and podcast 0:58:38 - How has Kim’s approach to content generation evolved over the past decade? 1:03:08 - How do you define and handle reviewing “Bad Books?” 1:09:39 - How do you find time to read so much? What about diminishing returns to reading? 1:13:47 - Being a “dork” and embracing a “nerdy” identity 1:16:58 - Kim’s lowbrow taste in TV and music 1:19:05 - Kim & John’s experiences serving on Library Boards and John’s new library “Quality Hours” metric

Guests: Stefani Manard & Big Dev from the Shot of History podcast Boozes: Bourbons: Elijah Craig, Jim Beam, and Bulleit Main topics: Nazi’s & drugs, history, podcasting, reading recommendations, and Dr. John Harvey Kellogg’s views on sex, masturbation, and circumcision. Find more Stef, Dev & John: Follow on Twitter: @DrunkDorksStef , @PodmadBigDev , and @booksandbooze_ And check out our websites: http://www.shotofhistory.com/ http://www.stefanimanard.com/ http://www.booksandboozepodcast.com/ http://www.johnleven.com/ Books/podcasts mentioned or recommended: Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich by Norman Ohler https://www.amazon.com/Blitzed-Drugs-Third-Norman-Ohler/dp/1328663795 Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History podcast https://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/ The People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn https://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States/dp/0060838655 H.P. Lovecraft https://www.amazon.com/H.P.-Lovecraft/e/B000AQ40D2 The Comic Book Story of Beer: The World's Favorite Beverage from 7000 BC to Today's Craft Brewing Revolution by Jonathan Hennessey https://www.amazon.com/Comic-Book-Story-Beer-Revolution/dp/1607746352 HP Lovecraft: The Mysterious Man Behind the Darkness by Charlotte Montague https://www.amazon.com/HP-Lovecraft-Mysterious-Behind-Darkness/dp/0785832696 The Times Complete History of the World by Richard Overy https://www.amazon.com/Times-Complete-History-World/dp/0008150265 The Lessons of History by Will & Ariel Durant https://www.amazon.com/Lessons-History-Will-Durant/dp/143914995X Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond https://www.amazon.com/Guns-Germs-Steel-Fates-Societies/dp/0393317552 Show Notes 0:00:00 - Introduction 0:03:35 - Bourbon choices and Shot of History Rothschild episode http://www.podcastdetroit.com/audio/shot-of-history-episode-121-the-rothschild-conspiracies/ 0:05:57 - Blitzed (sponsored by Audible?) and how meth made the Blitzkrieg physically possible 0:17:05- Dev’s and Stef’s history backgrounds 0:18:27 - How do they choose topics for Shot of History episodes? 0:23:17 - What’s the best thing about having a podcast? 0:25:40 - Do you have any advice for new podcasters? 0:27:28 - Starting a podcast on a budget 0:32:40 - Nootropics and performance enhancing drugs 0:44:28 - The power of alcohol 0:46:57 - What are the most neglected parts of history? (Enlighten your shit, man!) 0:53:16 - Stef & Dev’s reading recommendations 01:02:21 - Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, circumcision/masturbation, dick jokes (coming up, as they do), and flying dildos.

Guest: Brian Portnoy Boozes: Noah’s Mill bourbon and Bulleit bourbon Main topics: Money, meaning, reality vs expectations, investing, and reading (plus recommendations) Find more Brian & John: Follow on Twitter: @brianportnoy & @booksandbooze_ And check out our websites: https://www.virtus.com/ https://shapingwealth.com/ https://booksandboozepodcast.com/ https://www.johnleven.com/ Books mentioned or recommended: Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Steven Pinker You Are Here: Discovering the Magic of the Present Moment by Thich Nhat Hanh Courage Under Fire: Testing Epictetus's Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human Behavior by James Stockdale The Obstacle is The Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert Putnam Coming Apart: The State of White America by Charles Murray The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt Show Notes: 0:00:00 - Introduction 0:03:22 - Bourbons: Noah’s Mill & Bulleit 0:04:28 - On the Geometry of Wealth 0:07:35 - Money, happiness, and funded contentment vs “being rich” 0:13:43 - The Four C’s: Connection, Control, Competence, and Context 0:21:15 - Gaining competence and learning effectively 0:26:26 - Optionality and symmetry 0:29:17 - Ask not what your civilization can do for you... 0:32:03 - Information overload: Seeking simplicity in investing 0:38:30 - Automated investing vs human discretion 0:41:19 - The current investing environment 0:46:07 - Expectations vs reality in modern capitalism/politics 0:51:40 - “A past that never happened vs a future that will never occur” 0:56:46 - The Portnoy Secret Sauce aka how to help your children succeed in a rapidly changing world. 1:01:56 - On meditation, stoicism, Buddhism, and investing 1:12:34 - On reading in general, authors you read but disagree with, and reading vs writing 1:32:04 - What will Brian write about next? 1:34:04 - What do you always say “yes” to? What do you always say “no” to? 1:36:52 - Destroying your own ideas

Episode #13 - Civilization and Its Discontents by Sigmund Freud Guest: Tom Beck Booze: Lagunitas Aunt Sally Main topics: Sigmund Freud, religion, morality, and civilization Part 1 - Freud (~23 mins) 0:00:00 - Intro - Tom Beck 0:03:27 - Why Freud? 0:07:29 - This episode’s booze: Lagunitas Aunt Sally 0:09:09 - What did Freud get right and what did he get wrong? 0:11:40 - Sigmunda Freud’s Vagina Envy 0:13:56 - Id, Ego, Superego 0:18:58 - Psycho sexual stages of development Part 2 - Religion and God (~38 mins) 0:22:48 - Religion, childhood, magic mushrooms, self-awareness, and breasts 0:29:36 - Why is religion so much more popular than atheism? The promised link: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/shortcuts/2017/aug/08/in-god-we-trust-why-americans-wont-vote-in-an-atheist-president 0:34:25 - Does the fear of death drive religion? 0:35:37 - Extending the concept of religion to politics, philanthropy, and other causes. 0:37:58 - Politics filling the “meaning vacuum” left by the decline of religion, and the difficulty of having good-faith debates online. 0:41:54 - The importance of religion in worldview formation 0:46:59 - How John lost his faith 0:56:21 - Wishing religion was actually true 0:56:55 - Tom’s openness towards a God and John’s openness to an unknown “force” that lit the fuse on the Big Bang Part 3 - Meaning and Morality (~33 mins) 1:01:28 - Does it matter is there’s a God? Can there meaning in life without a God/afterlife? 1:05:50 - Objective morality vs subjective morality 1:14:30 - Moral luck, free will, religious judgement, and politics 1:25:13 - Freedom, omnibenevolence, and fish bowls Part 4 - Civilization (48 mins) 1:33:05 - Modernity and Its Discontents 1:40:45 - Tribe 1:46:24 - Happiness Part 1 1:51:20 - Great expectations and WWII 2:01:36 - Happiness Part 2 2:07:50 - Power, leadership, and social pressure More episodes at: booksandboozepodcast.com More from John at: johnleven.com Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/booksandbooze_

CEO of Toujours Planning and co-host of the Worth It! Podcast, Dustin Granger, joins the show to sip Maker’s Mark bourbon and discuss The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz. Topics include: Thinking big, finding meaning, confidence, goal setting, risk taking, social relationships, dealing with setbacks, and more. http://www.theworthitpodcast.com Twitter: @DRGranger https://twitter.com/drgranger Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introducing Dustin Granger, his business (Toujours Management), and his podcast (Worth It!) 00:03:27 - The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz (Attempt #1) https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Thinking-Big-David-Schwartz/dp/0671646788/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528501689&sr=8-1&keywords=magic+of+thinking+big 00:06:53 - Maker’s Mark and other favorite alcohols 00:14:30 - The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz (Attempt #2) 00:23:25 - Momento mori: Designing your life from your own deathbed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_mori 00:31:00 - Relationships 00:33:19 - True goals vs fuel goals (John really thinks this part is critical) 00:37:00 - Confidence 00:50:05 - Risk taking, poker, investing 00:55:00 - How John failed out of his major, but was saved by Warren Buffett, and spun off Buffett-like habits into this podcast. The book that changed the course of John’s life: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Rules-Successful-Stock-Investing/dp/1501261894 01:08:37 - Risk taking again https://www.johnleven.com/blog/moonshot 01:11:42 - The Power of No 01:21:25 - Social relationships and Dustin’s Junto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junto_(club) 01:33:26 - Setbacks, resilience 01:42:00 - John’s reading process Find more cool stuff at johnleven.com and booksandboozepodcast.com Thanks for listening and supporting us!

Ron McIntire from the Grasping at Beers blog joins the show for a second visit to share four different kinds of booze and to discuss Drinking in America by Susan Cheever. Topics include: the history of alcohol in the United States, John's & Ron's own alcohol histories, and more. https://www.graspingatbeers.com/ 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:04:42 - Graspingatbeers.com and John & Ron’s mutual passion for booze. https://www.graspingatbeers.com 00:06:27 - Drink #1 Jim Beam Black Bourbon and John’s Top 3 Bourbons under $35 00:09:22 - The Mayflower and alcohol consumption in Colonial America 00:15:24 - The ubiquity of alcohol in human society 00:18:20 - Bridging gaps between different people by sharing alcohol 00:22:26 - Drink #2 Dad’s Hat Pennsylvania Rye Whiskey and Ron’s whiskey heritage 00:28:32 - U.S. Alcohol Consumption Data from 1620 to 2018 00:33:43 - Universal Basic Income 00:41:15 - Origins of human alcohol consumption and Drunken Monkey Hypothesis 00:46:30 - Drink #3 Troegs Perpetual Double IPA (John’s Favorite Beer) 00:47:40 - Craft beer bubble? 00:51:45 - Prohibition: How did such a drunk country force sobriety on its citizens? 00:59:40 - Uber saving lives by reducing incentives to drive drunk 01:00:58 - Alcohol and the Secret Service https://www.ranker.com/list/drunk-richard-nixon-stories/stephanroget?page=2 https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/06/richard-nixon-watergate-drunk-yom-kippur-war-119021 http://www.businessinsider.com/drunk-richard-nixon-nuke-north-korea-2017-1 01:06:05 - Drink #4 Southern Tier Choklat Orange 01:10:51 - John’s first time drunk 01:13:42 - Ron’s first ever drink 01:21:10 - Ron’s drunk story 01:23:19 - Our favorite and least favorite alcohol varieties: IPAs, stouts, whiskeys, red wine, etc

Author and traveling winemaker Amira Makansi joins the podcast to discuss 50 Shades of Grey. Topics include: Power dynamics in relationships, sexual taboos, wine and writing, politics, and more. The Sowing (Seeds Trilogy #1): https://www.amazon.com/Sowing-Seeds-Trilogy-1/dp/0989867110/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1524779418&sr=1-1&keywords=the+sowing+makansi Literary Libations: What to Drink with What You Read https://www.amazon.com/Literary-Libations-What-Drink-Read/dp/1510736581 Amira’s Blog: https://thezaxis.co Subscribe and Rate us on itunes. (Please!) https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/books-booze/id1257563945?mt=2 booksandboozepodcast.com johnleven.com Show Notes: 0:00:00 - Introducing Amira Makansi and 50 Shades of Grey 0:05:47 - Boozes: Dailance Cabernet Sauvignon (John) and Ridgecrest Merlot (Amira) 0:07:18- Amira’s wine industry expertise 0:09:30 - Amria’s literary work 0:15:45 - Christian Grey the super-hero? 0:17:56 - The allure of power and a Sexual Batman 0:29:54 - Christian Grey as a model of good? 0:32:31 - Power and consent 0:38:36 - Why is this book so popular? 0:42:11 - Anastasia’s quirks 0:47:20 - Genitalia terms: medical vs erotica 0:50:16 - BDSM vs Vanilla 0:55:01 - Are large information asymmetries between sexual partners problematic? 0:57:16 - Why John can’t be the Christian Grey apologist 0:58:11 - Honesty in relationships 1:00:22 - The taboos of negotiating sex and power 1:10:36 - Hegel’s Master-Slave dialect 1:16:42 - On Birds & Rocks, or How to Squash Your Inner Nerd 1:25:12 - Wine tasting notes 1:32:01 - Do you think the world is getting better? 1:37:42 - Is it okay to acknowledge progress? 1:42:36 - Presentism, morality, and one giant historical asterisk 1:50:52 - Nuance, tribalism, and compromise

Rich Young joins the podcast to split a bottle of Green Spot Irish Whiskey and discuss I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb. Topics include: Mental illness, self-delusions, bullying, masculinity, denial. Subscribe and Rate us on iTunes. (Please!) https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/books-booze/id1257563945?mt=2 See more episodes at booksandboozepodcast.com See John's other projects at johnleven.com 0:00:00 - Intro and super long summary of the book (Feel free to skip this part) 0:36:53 - Dominick’s fear of becoming mentally ill like his twin brother. 0:45:03 - Personal hero myths, living in your own movie, and The John Show 0:53:13 - The four-star General, and practicing for angry interactions. 0:58:14 - Grappling with early versions of yourself 1:03:42 - Violence and bullying 1:19:24 - Toxic Masculinity and manhood in the 21st century 1:32:04 - John tries to pour his whiskey without opening it 1:32:43 - Denial, hyperfocus, and hair loss 1:48:20 - St. Patrick's Day arrives and the best part of the drinking process

Retired politician, current entrepreneur, author, and world traveler Elliot Killian sits down to discuss a variety of interesting topics including: How Elliott ran for elected office at age 19 (and won), Elliott’s two short stories that peaked at #6 and #1 respectively on the Amazon short read Sci-Fi & Fantasy charts. We also talk about the Japanese classic Book of Five Rings, entrepreneurship, invention & innovation, career advice, world travel, and community service. Subscribe and Rate us on itunes. (Please!) https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/books-booze/id1257563945?mt=2 booksandboozepodcast.com johnleven.com 0:00:00 - Elliot Killian Introduction 0:03:38 - Running for office http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archives/article_ac5ad21a-c888-5f50-8355-3bc7d9d79a15.html http://onwardstate.com/2014/03/07/elliott-killian-student-by-day-politician-by-night/ 0:16:52 - What we’re drinking and where you can find more Elliott 0:20:17 - Last of the Unanswered Questions by Elliot Killian https://www.amazon.com/Last-Unanswered-Questions-Insufficient-Meaningful-ebook/dp/B075J2N2HF 0:33:20 - Charles Darwin, the Wright Brothers, Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak 0:39:37 - The 1800s farmer (fail) 0:44:24 - Grappling with privilege and tribalism 0:58:59 - John switches to beer and they discuss Elliott’s allergy again 1:01:17 - Another’s Sacrifice by Elliott Killian https://www.amazon.com/Anothers-Sacrifice-their-Feathered-Snakes-ebook/dp/B075J2QT95/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 1:06:13 - Local politics and community service: the good, the bad, & the ugly 1:12:51 - Five Rings https://www.amazon.com/Book-Five-Rings-Miyamoto-Musashi/dp/1935785974/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1516039850&sr=8-1&keywords=the+five+ring 1:25:30 - Entrepreneurship https://www.amazon.com/Anura-Temperature-Drinking-Hydroponic-Resolution/dp/B073WYGFHF 1:35:30 - Elliott travels the world 1:43:07 - Family loyalty vs opportunity chasing 1:48:42 - What do you want? Curing plant diseases 1:51:20 - John’s career advice 1:55:29 - John’s library board experience 2:00:34 - What is community? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number

John read 100 books in 2017, and narrowed them down to 4 books that you should read. The top 4 are: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari, Tribe by Sebastian Junger, War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges, and Doing Good Better by William MacAskill. Topics include: History, fictive language, tribalism, community, alienation, war, meaning, and effective altruism.

Ron McIntire joins the podcast to discuss Saint of Auschwitz, a biography of Catholic saint Maximilian Kolbe, who sacrificed himself in a Nazi concentration camp. Despite John’s initial trepidation due to his rejection of Catholicism, the pair enjoy and interesting conversation about Kolbe’s inspiring sacrifice. 0:00 - A lengthy, but heartfelt introduction 8:51 - Ron brings a 2015 Wycombe Chamberson http://www.wycombevineyards.com/ 10:35 - Kolbe’s background and his religious vision 15:32 - The most biased biography John’s ever read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_Kolbe 19:00 - The ROTC for Jesus 22:19 - The SuperCatholic Kolbe Family and the Steve Jobs of friars 29:32 - Hitler spoils all the fun https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Poland 32:25 - Free media/Religion vs Totalitarian states, but first, more wine! 38:48 - #16670 https://www.amazon.com/Night-Elie-Wiesel/dp/0374500010 40:28 - Collective punishment in world history http://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-56-kings-of-kings/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_punishment 43:30 - Sainthood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint 46:00 - “I would like to take this man’s place” 47:45 - The martyrdom debate 50:25 - Starvation and sacrifice 55:00 - The ultimate good guy, the ultimate modern day Saint 57:38 - A first ballot Sainthood Hall of Famer 1:00:10 - John’s childhood memory fails him miserably 1:02:53 - Secular martyrs? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_Socrates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Mahatma_Gandhi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Martin_Luther_King_Jr. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Benazir_Bhutto 1:09:45 - Pat...if there is a Pat. 1:10:12 - Wrap up

Billy Ray Taylor joins the podcast to discuss Doing Good Better by William MacAskill and drink Lagavulin 16 year scotch. Topics include: Effective Altruism, moral philosophy, problems of loyalty, leadership organizations, and how to make the world better. 0:00:00 - Introduction 0:03:02 - Episode dedication 0:04:09 - Billy Ray Taylor and Lagavulin 16 introduction 0:05:37 - Disclaimer about the difficulty of talking about charity without sounding like a d-bag. 0:07:44 - A free beer offer, John’s natural selfishness, and discovering altruism by process of elimination. 0:14:00 - How Effective Altruism appealed to a certain, young Warren Buffett wanna-be. 0:16:54 - Emotion vs rationality in charity, and using passion (an emotion) to avoid burnout 0:22:25 - The magic #13 and planned gifts 0:24:36 - The Play Pump vs Deworm the World - Part 1 0:30:15 -  Nonprofits = no regulations?, Gates/Buffett, and EA leadership 0:33:48 - Effective altruists as effective leaders 0:36:03 - The Play Pump vs Deworm the World - Part 2 0:40:09 - QALY’s and effectiveness benchmarks in US Public Health vs developing countries. 0:42:34 - Emotion, charity research, and Boy Scout Popcorn 0:45:33 - 3 great sites for evaluating charity: givewell.org, givingwhatwecan.org, and thelifeyoucansave.org 0:47:50 - Peter Singer: the “evil” moral philosopher 0:51:00 - The problem of loyalty 0:57:00 - How effective is donating to Boy Scouts, or to leadership organizations, in general? 1:01:17 - Opportunity costs for the global 1% (aka you, probably.) 1:04:28 - Heroic bankers and admirable yeyo dealers 1:12:49 - Quick recap of book and Billy Ray’s life advice 1:17:24 - Hard to quantify “goodness” and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs 1:22:28 - Policy changes 1:24:01 - Depression and/or friendship in the developed world as Effective Altruism 1:30:20 - Strangers Drowning: How do we balance loyalty and morality? 1:49:02 - Humans are assholes or How effective altruism can be an act of rebellion against an imperfect world. 1:52:47 - Some is better than none. Take some action. Be a hero. See more at booksandboozepodcast.com https://www.givewell.org/ https://www.thelifeyoucansave.org/ https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/

John's first solo episode is a deep dive into Hammurabi's Code and its relevance in today's society. 00:00 - Introduction: Why try a solo episode? 03:30 - Low-carb boozin’ 04:47 - What makes Hammurabi's Code so unique and fascinating? 10:42 - Who were the Babylonians? 14:30 - Values and value systems 17:51 - Part 1 - “Tough on Crime” - Death penalties, Restitution multiples, Property laws, Assault crimes. 31:08 - Part 2 - “Crimes Against King and Government” 33:11 - Part 3 - “Selling your wives and children to pay off debt” 34:08 - Part 4 - “Women as Property” 42:02 - Part 5 - “Family, Inheritance, Adoption, and Love (or lack thereof)” 49:43 - Part 6 - “Babylonian Slavery, fugitive slave laws, and “maid-servants” that have born children” 56:03 - Part 7 - “Jerry Springer Style Babylonian Love Triangles” 1:00:36 - Recap & Summary of Hammurabi's Code 1:04:55 - Wrap Up and Grappling with Modern Demons See more episodes at https://booksandboozepodcast.com/

Bridget McNeela joins the podcast to discuss The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot and share 3 local wines. Topics include: scientific advancement, medical ethics, informed consent, scientific education, individualism vs collectivism, and whether or not you should have the right to be an asshole. See more episodes at https://booksandboozepodcast.com/

Geek culture writer, and host of the Blurbing It podcast, Monica Piluso joins the show to drink copious quantities of Pinot Grigio and discuss Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Topics include: geek culture, escaping reality, serial killers, cults, virtual reality, social identity, video game addiction, mythology, and being a woman in the geek culture dominated by men.

Pawel Bogdanowicz joins the program to drink a bottle of Tito's Vodka and talk Hunger Games, sort of. Major topics include: Political protests, reality TV, schadenfreude, the morality of nuking alien puppies, poop problems, North Korea, and rebellion strategy.

Host John Leven discusses his show's premise, inspiration from Steven Johnson, John's background, and what to expect in future episodes.