The Filter Podcast with Matt Asher

I talk with doctor and whistleblower Richard Semelka about his work to uncover the damage done by gadolinium, a heavy metal often added to a patient's bloodstream to make MRI's easier to read. In some patients this leads to Gadolinium Deposition Disease (GDD). We talk more broadly about the ways in which modern medicine is failing, and Semelka's legal battles after calling out another doctor for operating while drunk. Related links: • Richard Semelka homepage • Docpanel radiologist profile • GADTTRAC nonprofit  

I speak with Clay Gulick, Chief Technology Officer at Telos Health Solutions, about the state of health care records, the promise and reality of blockchain tech in the field, and why everything needs a code, even shark bites. Related links: Clay Gulick on LinkedIn Telos Health Solutions Seeing like a State by James C. Scott

In this double episode, I talk with Curtis Yarvin, author, public intellectual, and the most prominent proponent of monarchy as the ideal form of government. Yarvin argues that every effective organization is effectively ruled by one person or one family. Along the way we discuss China, Argentina, American presidents, and the disastrous Justin Trudeau. Related links: • Gray Mirror Substack by Curtis Yarvin • Curtis's Writings as Mencius Moldbug

In this solo episode I do a deep dive on the social and political implications of indefinite life span extension. This is a followup to my interview with Aubrey de Grey where we spoke about achieving "escape velocity" and people become effectively immortal. I suggested that eternal life this might have negative consequences at a broader level, Aubrey dismissed these concerns. I go through probable scenarios and the game theory implications if we begin to see a realistic chance of this happening. Related links: • My discussion with Aubrey de Grey

I talk with writer and fellow Florida radio host David Gornoski about Rene Girard and Mimetic Theory. We talk about the nature of human desire, myths as cover stories for violence, and the role of the scapegoat. I explain how I almost purchased a boat with an extraordinary history. Related links: A Neighbor's Choice radio show and podcast David Gornoski's work at the Mises Institute

In this solo episode I discuss the "Truman Show" conspiracy and the extent to which it is our reality. Along the way, I talk about conditions for a healthy society, Scooby Doo, log odds, Simulacra and Simulation, kayfabe, Potemkin Villages, and your lying parents. Related links: • Episode with Jesse Walker, author of The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Reader

Happy New Year! In this brief episode I do some housekeeping and reflect on the year gone by and some big announcements. Related links: • Tim Zimmermann episode

In this solo show I discuss the death of the middle class for services, and the ways in which complexity and social forces are splitting us into elites who get the white glove treatment, peasants who get the AI-driven voice-mail hell. Along the way I talk about Hobarts, house calls, and happy endings. Related links: • Nobody works for you

I talk with Coindesk reporter and entrepreneur Andrew Thurman about Non-Fungible-Tokens, what gives them value, and the history of absurd art. We also discuss the implication of Barbados opening a virtual embassy in the Metaverse. Related links: • Andrew Thurman on Coindesk • Follow Andrew on Twitter • Article by Matt Asher about the Metaverse as dystopia

I talk with economist and philosopher Walter Block. We discuss his series of books, Defending the Undefendable. The third and latest in that trilogy was recently released. Block defends the legality, and sometimes the morality, of a variety of generally maligned practices and people. We talk about these, as well as libertarian punishment theory, how to handle hostage takers, and the infamous flagpole problem. Related links: • Walter Block page at Loyola University • Defending the Undefendable III • Walter Block author page at alibris  

I talk with John Picco about his military life, including an exercise that drowns you in dark waters, Colombian airstrips, dogfight training, landing planes with no margin for error, and the aftermath of reducing your enemies to rubble. Related links: John Picco at his current job with Edward Jones

I talk with Martha Bueno about life in Cuban, the true nature of our embargo, Miami politics, the perils of foreign aid, and two-tiered systems. Related links: • Bueno for Miami • Martha Bueno on Twitter

I talk with Adam B. Levine, managing editor at Coindesk, about decentralized finance startup Compound's very costly error and their CEO's ham-fisted attempt to fix it. We discuss ethereum, immutability, fungibility, and what constitutes a hack in the context of code as law. Related links: • Adam B. Levine Homepage • Compound sends out extra COMP • Adam's author page at Coindesk  

In this episode I speak with Reed Coverdale, trucker, gun hacker, meme lord, podcast host, noted 9/11 conspiracy theory denier, and man with a moustache. We talk status among truckers, supply chains, lolberts, border walls, John McAfee, Dom/Sub twitter, and why Reed's Garand goes BRRRRRRRR. Related links: • Reed on Twitter • Natural Capitalist Podcast

This episode features many of the voices that made microcasting great in 2019 and early 2020. Topics include: Fattening rooms Famous lumberjacks Blood bread Disease and stigma Chinese Zodiac signs Hanging midgets Indoor gardening Epic coffee runs Related links: ykyz microcasts

In this solo show I give my take on how to think about our world of tail risks, from asteroids to global warming to global pandemics to the existence of the afterlife. Also, I make the case for the earth disaster genre, hot pockets optional.

I talk with Robert A. Jensen, author of the new book Personal Effects: What Recovering the Dead Teaches Me About Caring for the Living. Over the past three decades Jensen has travelled to every major disaster you've heard of, and many you haven't, to help recover bodies and the personal effects of the deceased. We discuss the importance of recovering “fragments”, the role played by local customs in his work, the politics of dead bodies, and why the British Empire buried their citizens wherever they died. Related links: • Jensen's former company, Kenyon International Emergency Services • Robert A. Jensen homepage • Personal Effects for sale at Barns & Noble

In this solo show, I respond to a listener email about why I didn't talk about 9/11 last episode, by talking about it way too much this episode. I reflect on my own slice of life during that moment of death, talk about freedom, tally up costs, and tell a story about an extreme tailgater. I promise you it all fits together, somehow.

In this solo show, I talk about what happens when our inherently restless and looping minds do battle against multinational, multibillion dollar companies intent on addicting us to their services. Also, I discuss the milk crate challenge because I have a theory about it. This show was aired on September 11, 2021, the twentieth anniversary of  the beginning of the modern era of terror as political tool.  

I speak with Jeremy Kauffman, CEO of Odysee, a video hosting service. Odysee is built on top of LBRY, a blockchain-based protocol and network for decentralized publishing. We discuss the current state of social media, the challenges of starting an alternative publishing platform, and why the SEC won't them be. Odysee Jeremy Kauffman profile at LBRY My own channel on Odysee  

This episode was recorded in front of a live studio audience at the Key West Theatre. Vaughn Scribner is a professor of history at the University of Central Arkansas. His book, Merpeople: A Human History looks at the role played by mermaids and tritons over centuries, from ancient artifacts to Christian icons (of danger) to modern controversy about mermaid movies. The show also included music from Myles Mancuso, which you'll hear during the breaks. Related links: Vaughn Scribner Homepage Merpeople: A Human History Myles Mancuso

Philosopher Michael Huemer and I discuss the idea that we are bound by a social contract, as well as other issues. We compare the state to the mafia, talk about ethical intuitionism, discuss who should get to vote, and debate whether it's actually possible to be a vegan. Related links: Micael Huemer's homepage Micael Huemer's blog Michael Huemer's page at the University of Colorado Author page at Amazon  

I speak with UCSB professor and META lab director Jonathan Schooler about some of my favorite topics, including panpsychism, multiple minds, the filter that is consciousness, and how we understand the world. Related links: META lab page Jonathan Schooler profile at the META lab

In this solo episode I answer a question from a listener, that question being, essentially,  Who the hell are you? Instead of a proper reply, I tell a few stories from my past and digress a lot. Expect caffeine talk, recipes for alcoholic beverages, suggestive imagery of mountains, and in the podcast-only extra, a highly inappropriate tale that ends with a hasty exit from quasi-legal establishment.

I talk with the most iconic figure in the life extension movement, Aubrey de Grey. We discuss the current state of progress towards achieving “longevity escape velocity,” cryonics, and philosophical issues related to efforts to expand human life indefinitely. Related links: SENS Research Foundation Writings and research links TED talk from Aubrey

Brandy Schillache and I talk about her new book, Mr. Humble & Dr. Butcher: A Monkey's Head, the Pope's Neuroscientist, and the Quest to Transplant the Soul. Brandy tell the extraordinary story of a doctor's quest to transplant organs, including an entire body. Along the way we discuss Russian scientists, two headed dogs, naked brains, and the nature of consciousness itself. Related links: + Mr. Humble & Dr. Butcher Book + Brandy Schillache Homepage + Previous The Filter discussion about panpsychism

I talk with writer Tim Zimmermann about a gripping story he wrote for Outside magazine. It involves deep diving in a freshwater cave and an attempt to recover a body at the bottom. Everything about the story is extraordinary, including how it ends. Related links: * The original story at Outside Magazine * Tim Zimmermann's website  

https://youtu.be/ZYpGLnWNggI I talk with Hamish Low, of Adamson and Low, about creating an enormous table out of ancient bog oak. See Mattasher.com for a video clip of Hamish showing off bog oak. Related links: Adamson and Low The Fenland Black Oak Project

My conversation with Jeff Deist, president of the Mises Institute. We talk about the political reaction to the pandemic, perverse monetary incentives, and the end of American as a single, unified nation. This was the first in-person interview done at The Filter's new Moray Bay studio. Related links: Jeff Deist at the Mises Institute Book La Guerra Del Fin Del Mundo

In this episode I talk with Peter Godfrey-Smith, author of Metazoa, a book which explores consciousness from an evolutionary perspective. We talk about octopus arms, impudent tongues, and theories of consciousness, including panpsychism. Related links: Peter Godfrey-Smith homepage Metazoa on Amazon Other Minds on Amazon My discussion with Tam Hunt about panpsychism  

In this episode of The Filter, I talk with Grant McCracken about his most recent book, The New Honor Code: A Simple Plan for Raising Our Standards and Restoring Our Good Names. We discuss the ways in which our culture relates to the concept of value. We talk about various examples of honor codes, the role of hazing rituals, creating a marketplace for good behavior, the rise of artisanal cultures, and how one might get a sneak preview into the future. Related links: The New Honor Code Grant McCracken homepage My discussion with Tim Virkkala (includes discussion of the topic of honor)  

In this solo episode, I explain why the future of the human race, if we have one at all, will look a lot like Amish life, or like one giant termite colony. I dive into the forces that push us in each of these directions, and how the conflict between these two possibilities might play out. Along the way I blow up the pyramids, trigger an all-out bee attack, look for bleeding predators, and check in on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. You can find a transcript of this episode at https://mattasher.substack.com/p/our-glorious-future-as-amish-or-termites

What follows is my appearance on the LocoFoco podcast. In it, I discuss some of the ideas in my Black Box episode with host Tim Virkkala. Tim is one of the most interesting thinkers I've met, and I still remember some of his comments from 25 years ago, including his observation that I should call risk a transaction cost in an article I was writing at the time. It took me a day of pondering the idea to go from strong disagreement, to the realization that in the context of my article, this was the only way to look at risk. Tim's personal blog can be found at Wirkman.com.

In this solo episode, I discuss black box thinking in the context of our current Dim Age of epistemology and the role of journalism. I unpack my previous thoughts on Occam's razor and discuss analyzing the contents of boxes you cannot open, with examples drawn from politics and the pandemic. Finally, I explain the self-coined Asher principle, which connects black boxes, labels and power. Related Links: The Filter Episode with Vin Armani The Filter Episode on the New Colonists Pat Tillman and the Pentagon's Black Boxes

In this solo episode, I build on ideas from the previous episode with guest Kurt Andersen, author of Fantasyland: How Americans Went Haywire. I examine the and the relationship between spirituality and politics he presents. I also clarify some earlier thoughts and go farther down the rabbit hole that his book has opened for me. I discuss fantastical thinking in politics and pandemics, the relationship between individualism and accurate beliefs, and discuss the effect our modern clerisy has on suppressing truth. Related Links: The Filter Episode with Kurt Andersen Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire by Kurt Andersen (2018) The Filter Episode with Jesse Walker The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Theory by Jesse Walker (2013) Image adapted from Follow the White Rabbit by David Álvarez

Kurt Andersen is co-founder of Spy magazine and the author of several bestselling books, including Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire.  We discuss the fantasy industrial complex, new urbanism, and the draw of comforting explanations. We also discuss the relationships between science and fantasy, conspiratorial thinking, links between spirituality and politics, and the cultural legacy of Spy magazine. Related Links: Kurt Andersen's Website Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America The Filter episode with Jesse Walker Spy Magazine Archive The Half-life of Facts and What if we're wrong

Deborah G. Mayo is professor emerita in the department of philosophy at Virginia Tech, a research associate at the London School of Economics, and a pioneer of the "Error Stats" method for testing scientific claims. We discuss the history of the problem of induction, her developed approach to scientific claims, and ideas from her most recent book, “Statistical Inference as Severe Testing”. Related links: Error Statistics Blog PhilStatWars Deborah Mayo's publications My analysis of the global warming data Statistical Inference As Severe Testing by Deborah G. Mayo (2018) Error and Inference: Recent Exchanges on Experimental Reasoning, Reliability, and the Objectivity and Rationality of Science by Deborah G. Mayo & Aris Spanos (2009)

In this epic episode, Patrick French and I retrace the steps of imperial adventurer Francis E. Younghusband, from crossing of the Gobi Desert to assaults on Tibet and Mount Everest to a quest to unite the world's religions. We talk colonialism, mysticism, The Great Game, and why Lhasan Lamas have extra long sleeves. Related links: Patrick's Author Page at Random House India and Tibet by Francis Younghusband (1985) Younghusband: The Last Great Imperial Adventurer by Francis Younghusband (2004) The Epic of Mount Everest: The Historic Account of Mallory's Expeditions (2000) The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham (2003) Modern Mystics (2013) The Heart Of A Continent: A Narrative Of Travels In Manchuria, Across The Gobi Desert, Through The Himalayas, The Pamirs, And Chitral, 1884 1894

Adam Kotsko is an American theologian, as well as a political and religious scholar. Adam and I discuss his work on Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben, with a focus on the idea of the State of Exception. Adam gives his interpretation of several Agamben quotes, and I give my own thoughts on something Agamben said about the use of lockdowns in response to the Covid epidemic. Agamben's anti-lockdown stance has made him unpopular with many on the political left in recent times. Related links: Adam Kotsko Homepage Agamben's Philosophical Trajectory (2020) Awkwardness (2010) Žižek and Theology (2008) Agamben's Philosophical Lineage (2007)

Carl A.P. Ruck is professor of classic studies at Boston University and an expert in the use of entheogens, or psychoactive substances, used in religious rituals. We discuss Dionysus, the Eleusinian Mysteries, and evidence for the fungus ergot as a key part of these rites. We talk about Ruck's collaboration with Gordon Wasson, who believed the Fly Agaric (Aminita Muscaria) was in the Vedic mystery drink of Soma, and Albert Hofmann's synthesis of LSD from ergot. Carl A.P. Ruck's Faculty Profile Entheogens, Myth, and Human Consciousness Persephone's Quest: Entheogens and the Origins of Religion The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality

Scott Aaronson is a leader in the field of Quantum Computation. We discuss the idea that our universe contains "true randomness", and an experiment which indicates that no matter how well we understand our world, there will always be a level of unpredictability we cannot overcome. We also discuss the simulation hypothesis and our possible role as human dice, and the idea that the field of computer science is built on a foundation of uncertainty that's unique to the field. Related links: Scott Aaronson's homepage. Shtetl-Optomized blog. Pascal and Probability theory. Types of randomness. The CHSH game as a Bell test thought experiment. (Highly technical)

Sean Rife and I discuss the idea of the Total Institution, as originally described by sociologist Erving Goffman. We examine several Total Institutions in detail, and touch on the connection these have with religion and purity cults. We also discuss Thomas Szasz and his ideas about mental illness and the ways in which entire societies can come to resemble a total institution. Related links: Sean Rife's homepage Erving Goffman's book Asylums. Thomas Szasz: The Myth of Mental Illness. Statistics Blog: Dumb Arguments by Smart People. Jonathan Haidt's Moral Foundations. Scite.ai citation analysis.

A.J. Jacobs spent a year reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica and published a book about the experience. In this episode of The Filter, we discuss his project generally and touch on cultural complexity, what counts as history, Pascal's wager, the decay of knowledge over time, polyamory, humility, and why you might want a skull on your desk. Related links: A.J. Jacobs homepage. The Know-it-All (Main book we discussed). Other books we discussed: The Half-Life of Facts, But What If We're Wrong?, Beyond Fate, Do Humankind's Best Days Lie Ahead? My analysis of the date behind climate change and one skeptical take on the 97% consensus claim. Other Filter episodes discussed in this one: Jesse Walker, Sandra Tsing Loh, Russ Roberts.

Author and intellectual Michael Shermer talks about his book, Giving the Devil his Due: Reflections of a Scientific Humanist. Shermer was the Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine and a long-time contributor to Scientific American. In our conversation, we discuss enlightenment values in an era of mob rule, cancel culture, the history of human rights, and the limits of social media's power over us. Related links: Erica Chenoweth (Violence in political movements) Kurt Anderson (How America Lost Its Mind) Jean Twenge (iGen book) Hugo Mercier (Not Born Yesterday book) The Filter episode with Russ Roberts (Behavioral Economics).

Sandra Tsing Loh, writer and performer, discusses Paul Fussell's book “Class: A Guide through the American Status System”. Fussell's book was first published in 1983, and reviewed by Sandra in in 2009 in The Atlantic, but the ideas from it are as relevant as ever. As Sandra writes, “The experience of reading (and re-reading) Class is akin to wiping goggles one didn't know were fogged. Fussell's methodology settles into the brain like a virus; one soon cannot stop nanocategorizing one's world.” In this highly entertaining, conversational episode, we talk about the constraints of the class structure, the challenges of opting-out, the value of useless degrees, and what your living room furniture says about how likely you are to go on a Carnival Cruise.

Russell Roberts, economist and philosopher of science, talks about his views on marketplaces, religion, and the importance of doubt. We also discuss about behavioral economics, rationality, rough heuristics, and black box problems. I make the case that we may never have consensus about Covid data or the measures taken in the name of stopping the spread of the disease. Russ explains why you might not want to carry empty suitcases across a border for attractive ladies.

Zvi Mowshowitz comes on The Filter to discuss a series of blog posts he wrote about “Immoral Mazes”, or pathological institutions that incentive perverse behaviors. We also talk about levels of meaning in language and the arc towards more complex and indirect forms of communication, the many uses and abuses of the college system, and the magic of Magic the Gathering. Related links: Zvi Mowshowitz Official Blog Zvi Mowshowitz - Immoral Mazes Articles Zvi Mowshowitz – Unifying the Simulacra Definitions (Aug 2020) Zvi Mowshowitz – Magic Articles I've Written (Mar 2011) Magic: The Gathering Official Website Jean Baudrillard - Simulacra and Simulation (1981) Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs  

We are in a new era of colonization: cultural colonists have taken over our institutions, and the result is every bit as dramatic, if not yet as violent, as the colonial expansion into the New World that took place centuries ago. In this solo episode, I develop an extended analogy between the conflict of natives and settlers, and the current fight for ideological, and sometimes literal, dominance. This episode elaborates on an analogy mentioned at the beginning of the interview with Katie Herzog. See Episode 10 of The Filter for that interview. Much of the material here is based on talk I gave about a year ago. Hope you enjoy. Related links: Radiolab Podcast - For Whom the Cowbell Tolls (Mar 2019) Useful Idiots Podcast – Matt Taibbi, Katie Halper, and Glenn Greenwald on Russiagate and Mainstream Media (Jan 2020) NY Times – “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Likens $10,000 Debate Offer by Conservative Columnist to Catcalling” (Aug 2018) National Post - “ABC has cancelled Roseanne after comedian's racist tweet” (May 2018) Transcript (rough): If you want to understand what's happening in our society right now, you have to look back in time. I'm not the only one to suggest we are reliving some version of the past. Others are pointing to parallels with the rise of communism and struggle sessions, or the disintegration of U.S. into violet partisan hatred so strong it might lead to another civil war. I see value in these other parallels, however imperfect. But if you want to understand what's happening to our society, culture, and institutions I think you need to go back and look at what happened on the north American continent from the early colonial period to the triumph of manifest destiny. What I'm going to present is, in effect, an extended analogy, or elaborate model for our current moment. There's a famous saying that all models are wrong, but some of them are useful. In my view this particular model, whatever it's simplifications and failings, does a better job than any other framework in explaining our current moment. Hopefully you'll agree. The theory came to me while listening to an episode of the Radio Lab podcast, titled "For Whom the Cowbell Tolls". It tells the story of Nancy Holten, a Dutch woman who moves to a small Swiss village, and immediately begins complaining about the local style of life. Holten is annoyed by the morning church bells. She's disgusted by all meat eating. She hates having to wear shoes. She even hates the cowbells, the very symbol of her new home in the Swiss countryside. She hates all these things so strongly, that she tries to get everyone around her to give them up. Her new Swiss community, as might be expected, pushes back. It turns out that in Switzerland, the community you settle in gets to vote on your citizenship. It's a throwback to the country's roots as a highly decentralized democracy. In return for aggressively insulting her new community, her community votes No on her citizenship petition. Twice. Holten's story, as told by the highly capable team at Radiolab, is fascinating. More than fascinating, though, I think it's revealing of something deeper about our present moment. While certainly not told in a one-sided way, reporter Kelly Prime clearly wants us to see Holten as the victim of closed-minded, xenophobic yokels. Holten a powerless immigrant, a barefooted, free-spirit minority who Swiss are cruelly trying to deny citizenship to. But she's not an immigrant. Not really. She's a colonist. The analogy I want to make here, the thing that's becoming clear, is that those who oppose the cultural left, those who resist the Resistance, are now in the position that Native Americans were in a couple hundred years ago. This is my theory, and I understand that it may seem like a stretch, but hear me out. Let's start by recognizing that the dominant narrative,

Pete Quiñones, host of Free Man Beyond the Wall, talks about the decline of the American empire, whether we should cheer on collapse, and how to prepare for life in the coming dim age. Among other things, we discuss: The pros and cons of collapsitarianism, which failed state will we most closely resemble, and chaos vs uncertainty during the zombie apocalypse. Related links: Free Man Beyond the Wall Podcast Unloose the Goose Podcast Pete Quiñones on Twitter Samuel Edward Konkin III - New Libertarian Manifesto (1980) Murray N. Rothbard - For a New Liberty (1973) Robert P. Murphy – Chaos Theory (2002) Vin Armani on The Filter (May 2020) James Corbett on The Filter (Jun 2020) Seattle Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ)

The Filter interview with Matt Welch. Matt is a journalist, author, and podcaster. He's an editor at large at Reason Magazine, the author of a book about Libertarian Politics and one about the not-so-libertarian John McCain, and he's part of the thoroughly entertaining Fifth Column podcast. Topics discussed in this episode: ~ Staying sane in a time of panic ~ Learning as we learn, and consequence free living ~ Why you should always blame New York ~ The narrow space for non-partisan thought Related links: The Fifth Column Podcast Matt Welch at Reason Matt Welch - Denalist Democrats (Sep 2012) Matt Welch - Brooklyn School Zoning Plan (Sep 2019) Matt Welch - Pandemic School "Pods" (Jul 2020) Watership Down by Richard Adams (1972) “Tharn” Analysis Ibrahim X Kendi - How To Be An Antiracist (Aug 2019) Wesley Lowery - Moral Clarity (Jun 2020) Bari Weiss Resignation Letter (Jul 2020) The Fence Interview with NYT Correspondent Jack Shafer - The Surprising Reason the Right Doesn't Trust the News (Sep 2018) Nikole Hannah-Jones – The 1619 Project (Aug 2019)