Podcasts about Synthetic

Co-Host Holly Nelson (https://mountaintoppodcast.com/holly) Think of it like aspartame is to real sugar. "Synthetic intimacy" may be sweet, but it's not the real thing. And when you get right down to it, you're not really even fooled. So why then are so many people falling for it nowadays? My first-time guest Holly Nelson is NOT a robot (she said so herself), but rather a sex therapist from Phoenix, AZ who has spent a lot of time thinking about this subject. We hit the ground running on this fast-paced discussion, talking about how "intimacy" isn't really intimate at all if it's one-sided and people are getting manipulated. How is AI already affecting our relationships with women, and what should we be watching out for both now and in the near future? Why is Claude.AI so convincing when pretending it cares about you? And why is it dangerous to "get close" to ChatGPT (even above and beyond the obvious)? In all fairness, has technology actually succeeded at connecting us...even while dividing us at the same time? There was clear evidence even at the dawn of the consumer internet that people were disengaging from each other. Why have we not done anything about that, even when it's only gotten worse over the last 30 years or so? Can an AI girlfriend actually bring some good into your life, or is any semblance of a Build-A-Bitch Workshop just a social disaster waiting to happen? Is this just for the incel community, pretty much, or will we all eventually get drawn in? It's not like we're actually out there pretending to literally fall in love with AI...are we? Will kids eventually have robot parents (or at least, full-time nanny-bots)? Hey, add it all up and there's a big difference between how we are hard-wired as humans and the limits to which technology will be able to satisfy us...especially when it comes to flat-out replacing relationships with women. Download Sticking Points Solved and get on the daily newsletter--both free--at: https://mountaintoppodcast.com === HELP US SEND THE MESSAGE TO GREAT MEN EVERYWHERE === The show is now available as a VIDEO version on YouTube. For some reason, the episodes seem funnier...if a bit more rough around the edges. If you love what you hear, please rate the show on the service you subscribed to it on (takes one second) and leave a review. As we say here in Texas, I appreciate you!

It’s actually a good thing that some books push you to the edge of your ability to understand. But there’s no doubting the fact that dense, abstract and jargon-filled works can push you so far into the fog of frustration that you cannot blame yourself for giving up. But here’s the truth: You don’t have to walk away frustrated and confused. I’m going to share with you a number of practical strategies that will help you fill in the gaps of your reading process. Because that’s usually the real problem: It’s not your intelligence. Nor is it that the world is filled with books “above your level.” I ultimately don’t believe in “levels” as such. But as someone who taught reading courses at Rutgers and Saarland University, I know from experience that many learners need to pick up a few simple steps that will strengthen how they approach reading difficult books. And in this guide, you’ll learn how to read challenging books and remember what they say. I’m going to go beyond generic advice too. That way, you can readily diagnose: Why certain books feel so hard Use pre-reading tactics that prime your brain to deal with difficulties effectively Apply active reading techniques to lock in understanding faster Leverage accelerated learning tools that are quick to learn Use Artificial Intelligence to help convert tough convent into lasting knowledge without worrying about getting duped by AI hallucinations Whether you’re tacking philosophy, science, dense fiction or anything based primarily in words, the reading system you’ll learn today will help you turn confusion into clarity. By the end, even the most intimidating texts will surrender their treasures to your mind. Ready? Let’s break it all down together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9HLbY4jsFg Why Some Books Feel “Too Hard” (And What That Really Means) You know exactly how it feels and so do I. You sit down with a book that people claim is a classic or super-important. But within a few pages, your brain fogs over and you’re completely lost. More often than not, through glazed eyes, you start to wonder… did this author go out of his or her way to make this difficult? Are they trying to show off with all these literary pyrotechnics? Or is there a deliberate conspiracy to confuse readers like me? Rest assured. These questions are normal and well worth asking. The difficulty you might feel is never arbitrary in my experience. But there’s also no “single origin” explanation for why some books feel easier than others. It’s almost always a combination of factors, from cognitive readiness, lived experience, emotions and your physical condition throughout the day. This means that understanding why individual texts resist your understanding needs to be conducted on a case-by-case basis so you can move towards mastering anything you want to read. Cognitive Load: The Brain’s Processing “Stop Sign” “Cognitive load” probably needs no definition. The words are quite intuitive. You start reading something and it feels like someone is piling heavy bricks directly on top of your brain, squishing everything inside. More specifically, these researchers explain that what’s getting squished is specifically your working memory, which is sometimes called short-term memory. In practical terms, this means that when a book suddenly throws a bunch of unfamiliar terms at you, your working memory has to suddenly deal with abstract concepts, completely new words or non-linear forms of logic. All of this increases your cognitive load, but it’s important to note that there’s no conspiracy. In Just Being Difficult: Academic Writing in the Public Arena, a variety of contributors admit that they often write for other specialists. Although it would be nice to always compose books and articles for general readers, it’s not laziness. They’re following the codes of their discipline, which involves shorthand to save everyone time. Yes, it can also signal group membership and feel like an intellectual wall if you’re new to this style, but it’s simply a “stop sign” for your brain. And wherever there are stop signs, there are also alternative routes. Planning Your Detour “Roadmap” Into Difficult Books Let me share a personal example by way of sharing a powerful technique for making hard books easier to read. A few years ago I decided I was finally going to read Kant. I had the gist of certain aspects of his philosophy, but a few pages in, I encountered so many unfamiliar terms, I knew I had to obey the Cognitive Load Stop Sign and take a step back. To build a roadmap into Kant, I searched Google in a particular way. Rather than a search term like, “Intro to Kant,” I entered this tightened command instead: Filetype:PDF syllabus Kant These days, you can ask an LLM in more open language to simply give you links to the syllabi of the most authoritative professors who teach Kant. I’d still suggest that you cross-reference what you get on Google, however. If you’re hesitant about using either Google or AI, it’s also a great idea to visit a librarian in person to help you. Or, you can read my post about using AI for learning with harming your memory to see if it’s time to update your approach. Narrowing Down Your Options One way or another, the reason to consult the world’s leading professors is that their syllabi will provide you with: Foundational texts Core secondary literature Commentaries from qualified sources Essential historical references Once you’ve looked over a few syllabi, look through the table of contents of a few books on Amazon or Google Books. Then choose: 1-2 foundational texts to read before the challenging target book you want to master 1-2 articles or companion texts to read alongside In this way, you’ve turned difficulty into a path, not an obstacle. Pre-Reading Strategies That Warm Up Your Reading Muscles A lot of the time, the difficulty people feel when reading has nothing to do with the book. It’s just that you’re diving into unfamiliar territory without testing the waters first. Here are some simple ways to make unfamiliar books much easier to get into. Prime Like a Pro To make books easier to read, you can perform what is often called “priming” in the accelerated learning community. It is also sometimes called “pre-reading” and as this research article discusses, its success has been well-demonstrated. The way I typically perform priming is simple. Although some books require a slight change to the pattern, I typically approach each new book by reading: The back cover The index The colophon page The conclusion or afterword The most interesting or relevant chapter The introduction The rest of the book Activate Prior Knowledge Sometimes I will use a skimming and scanning strategy after reading the index to quickly familiarize myself with how an author approaches a topic with which I’m already familiar. This can help raise interest, excitement and tap into the power of context-dependent memory. For example, I recently started reading Doubt: A History by Jennifer Michael Hecht. Since the Renaissance memory master Giordano Bruno comes up multiple times, I was able to draw up a kind of context map of the books themes by quickly going through those passages. Take a Picture Walk Barbara Oakley and Terence Sejnjowski share a fantastic strategy in Learning How to Learn. Before reading, simply go through a book and look at all the illustrations, tables, charts and diagrams. It seems like a small thing. But it gives your brain a “heads up” about upcoming visual information that you may need to process than prose. I used to find visual information like this difficult, but after I started taking picture walks, I’m now excited to read “towards” these elements. If still find them challenging to understand, I apply a tip I learned from Tony Buzan that you might like to try: Rather than struggle to interpret a chart or illustration, reproduce it in your own hand. Here’s an example of how I did this when studying spaced repetition: As a result, I learned the graph and its concepts quickly and have never forgotten it. Build a Pre-Reading Ritual That Fits You There’s no one-sized-fits-all strategy, so you need to experiment with various options. The key is to reduce cognitive load by giving your mind all kinds of ways of understanding what a book contains. If it helps, you can create yourself a checklist that you slip into the challenging books on your list. That way, you’ll have both a bookmark and a protocol as you develop your own pre-reading style. Active Reading Techniques That Boost Comprehension Active reading involves deliberately applying mental activities while reading. These can include writing in the margins of your books, questioning, preparing summaries and even taking well-time breaks between books. Here’s a list of my favorite active reading strategies with ideas on how you can implement them. Using Mnemonics While Reading On the whole, I take notes while reading and then apply a variety of memory techniques after. But to stretch my skills, especially when reading harder books, I start the encoding process earlier. Instead of just taking notes, I’ll start applying mnemonic images. I start early because difficult terms often require a bit more spaced repetition. To do this yourself, the key is to equip yourself with a variety of mnemonic methods, especially: The Memory Palace technique The Pegword Method The Major System The PAO System And in some cases, you may want to develop a symbol system, such as if you’re studying physics or programming. Once you have these mnemonic systems developed, you can apply them in real time. For example, if you come across names and dates, committing them to memory as you read can help you keep track of a book’s historical arc. This approach can be especially helpful when reading difficult books because authors often dump a lot of names and dates. By memorizing them as you go, you reduce the mental load of having to track it all. For even more strategies you can apply while reading, check out my complete Mnemonics Dictionary. Strategic Questioning Whether you take notes or memorize in real-time, asking questions as you go makes a huge difference. Even if you don’t come up with answers, continually interrogating the book will open up your brain. The main kinds of questions are: Evaluative questions (checking that the author uses valid reasoning and address counterarguments) Analytical questions (assessing exactly how the arguments unfold and questioning basic assumptions) Synthetic questions (accessing your previous knowledge and looking for connections with other books and concepts) Intention questions (interrogating the author’s agenda and revealing any manipulative rhetoric) One medieval tool for questioning you can adopt is the memory wheel. Although it’s definitely old-fashioned, you’ll find that it helps you rotate between multiple questions. Even if they are as simple as who, what, where, when, how and why questions, you’ll have a mental mnemonic device that helps ensure you don’t miss any of them. Re-reading Strategies Although these researchers seem to think that re-reading is not an effective strategy, I could not live without it. There are three key kinds of re-reading I recommend. Verbalize Complexity to Tame It The first is to simply go back and read something difficult to understand out loud. You’d be surprised how often it’s not your fault. The author has just worded something in a clunky manner and speaking the phrasing clarifies everything. Verbatim Memorization for Comprehension The second strategy is to memorize the sentence or even an entire passage verbatim. That might seem like a lot of work, but this tutorial on memorizing entire passages will make it easy for you. Even if verbatim memorization takes more work, it allows you to analyze the meaning within your mind. You’re no longer puzzling over it on paper, continuing to stretch your working memory. No, you’ve effectively expanded at least a part of your working memory by bypassing it altogether. You’ve ushered the information into long-term memory. I’m not too shy to admit that I have to do this sometimes to understand everything from the philosophy in Sanskrit phrases to relatively simple passages from Shakespeare. As I shared in my recent discussion of actor Anthony Hopkins’ memory, I couldn’t work out what “them” referred to in a particular Shakespeare play. But after analyzing the passage in memory, it was suddenly quite obvious. Rhythmical Re-reading The third re-reading strategy is something I shared years ago in my post detailing 11 reasons you should re-read at least one book per month. I find this approach incredibly helpful because no matter how good you get at reading and memory methods, even simple books can be vast ecosystems. By revisiting difficult books at regular intervals, you not only get more out of them. You experience them from different perspectives and with the benefit of new contexts you’ve built in your life over time. In other words, treat your reading as an infinite game and never assume that you’ve comprehended everything. There’s always more to be gleaned. Other Benefits of Re-reading You’ll also improve your pattern recognition by re-treading old territory, leading to more rapid recognition of those patterns in new books. Seeing the structures, tropes and other tactics in difficult books opens them up. But without regularly re-reading books, it can be difficult to perceive what these forms are and how authors use them. To give you a simple example of a structure that appears in both fiction and non-fiction, consider in media res, or starting in the middle. When you spot an author using this strategy, it can immediately help you read more patiently. And it places the text in the larger tradition of other authors who use that particular technique. For even more ideas that will keep your mind engaged while tackling tough books, feel free to go through my fuller article on 7 Active Reading Strategies. Category Coloring & Developing Your Own Naming System For Complex Material I don’t know about you, but I do not like opening a book only to find it covered in highlighter marks. I also don’t like highlighting books myself. However, after practicing mind mapping for a few years, I realized that there is a way to combine some of its coloring principles with the general study principles of using Zettelkasten and flashcards. Rather than passively highlighting passages that seem interesting at random, here’s an alternative approach you can take to your next tour through a complicated book. Category Coloring It’s often helpful to read with a goal. For myself, I decided to tackle a hard book called Gödel Escher Bach through the lens of seven categories. I gave each a color: Red = Concept Green = Process Orange = Fact Blue = Historical Context Yellow = Person Purple = School of Thought or Ideology Brown = Specialized Terminology Example Master Card to the Categorial Color Coding Method To emulate this method, create a “key card” or “master card” with your categories on it alongside the chosen color. Use this as a bookmark as you read. Then, before writing down any information from the book, think about the category to which it belongs. Make your card and then apply the relevant color. Obviously, you should come up with your own categories and preferred colors. The point is that you bring the definitions and then apply them consistently as you read and extract notes. This will help bring structure to your mind because you’re creating your own nomenclature or taxonomy of information. You are also using chunking, a specific mnemonic strategy I’ve written about at length in this post on chunking as a memory tool. Once you’re finished a book, you can extract all the concepts and memorize them independently if you like. And if you emulate the strategy seen on the pictured example above, I’ve included the page number on each card. That way, I can place the cards back in the order of the book. Using this approach across multiple books, you will soon spot cross-textual patterns with greater ease. The catch is that you cannot allow this technique to become activity for activity’s sake. You also don’t want to wind up creating a bunch of informational “noise.” Before capturing any individual idea on a card and assigning it to a category, ask yourself: Why is this information helpful, useful or critical to my goal? Will I really use it again? Where does it belong within the categories? If you cannot answers these questions, either move on to the next point. Or reframe the point with some reflective thinking so that you can contextualize it. This warning aside, it’s important not to let perfectionism creep into your life. Knowing what information matters does take some practice. To speed up your skills with identifying critical information, please read my full guide on how to find the main points in books and articles. Although AI can certainly help these days, you’ll still need to do some work on your own. Do Not Let New Vocabulary & Terminology Go Without Memorization One of the biggest mistakes I used to make, even as a fan of memory techniques, slowed me down much more than necessary. I would come across a new term, look it up, and assume I’d remember it. Of course, the next time I came across it, the meaning was still a mystery. But when I got more deliberate, I not only remembered more words, but the knowledge surrounding the unfamiliar terms also stuck with greater specificity. For example, in reading The Wandering Mind by Jamie Kreiner, memorizing the ancient Greek word for will or volition (Prohairesis) pulled many more details about why she was mentioning it. Lo and behold, I started seeing the word in more places and connecting it to other ancient Greek terms. Memorizing those as well started to create a “moat of meaning,” further protecting a wide range of information I’d been battling. Understanding Why Vocabulary Blocks Comprehension The reason why memorizing words as you read is so helpful is that it helps clear out the cognitive load created by pausing frequently to look up words. Even if you don’t stop to learn a new definition, part of your working memory gets consumed by the lack of familiarity. I don’t always stop to learn new definitions while reading, but using the color category index card method you just discovered, it’s easy to organize unfamiliar words while reading. That way they can be tidily memorized later. I have a full tutorial for you on how to memorize vocabulary, but here’s a quick primer. Step One: Use a System for Capturing New Words & Terms Whether you use category coloring, read words into a recording app or email yourself a reminder, the key is to capture as you go. Once your reading session is done, you can now go back to the vocabulary list and start learning it. Step Two: Memorize the Terms I personally prefer the Memory Palace technique. It’s great for memorizing words and definitions. You can use the Pillar Technique with the word at the top and the definition beneath it. Or you can use the corners for the words and the walls for the definitions. Another idea is to photograph the cards you create and important them into a spaced repetition software like Anki. As you’ll discover in my complete guide to Anki, there are several ways you can combine Anki with a variety of memory techniques. Step Three: Use the Terms If you happened to catch an episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast back when I first learned Prohairesis I mentioned it often. This simple habit helps establish long-term recall, reflection and establishes the ground for future recognition and use. Expand Understanding Using Video & Audio Media When I was in university, I often had to ride my bike across Toronto to borrow recorded lectures on cassette. Given the overwhelming tsunamis of complex ideas, jargon and theoretical frameworks I was facing, it was worth it. Especially since I was also dealing with the personal problems I shared with you in The Victorious Mind. Make no mistake: I do not believe there is any replacement for reading the core books, no matter how difficult they might be. But there’s no reason not to leverage the same ideas in multiple formats to help boost your comprehension and long-term retention. Multimedia approaches are not just about knowledge acquisition either. There have been many debates in the magical arts community that card magicians should read and not rely on video. But evidence-based studies like this one show that video instruction combined with reading written instructions is very helpful. The Science Behind Multi-Modal Learning I didn’t know when I was in university, or when I was first starting out with memdeck card magic that dual coding theory existed. This model was proposed by Allan Paivio, who noticed that information is processed both verbally and non-verbally. Since then, many teachers have focused heavily on how to encourage students to find the right combination of reading, visual and auditory instructional material. Here are some ideas that will help you untangle the complexity in your reading. How to Integrate Multimedia Without Overload Forgive me if this is a bit repetitive, but to develop flow with multiple media, you need to prime the brain. As someone who has created multiple YouTube videos, I have been stubborn about almost always including introductions. Why? Go Through the Intros Like a Hawk Because without including a broad overview of the topic, many learners will miss too many details. And I see this in the comments because people ask questions that are answered throughout the content and flagged in the introductions. So the first step is to be patient and go through the introductory material. And cultivate an understanding that it’s not really the material that is boring. It’s the contemporary issues with dopamine spiking that make you feel impatient. The good news is that you can possibly reset your dopamine levels so you’re better able to sit through these “priming” materials. One hack I use is to sit far away from my mouse and keep my notebook in hand. If I catch myself getting antsy, I perform a breathing exercise to restore focus. Turn on Subtitles When you’re watching videos, you can help increase your engagement by turning on the subtitles. This is especially useful in jargon-heavy video lessons. You can pause and still see the information on the screen for easier capture when taking notes. When taking notes, I recommend jotting down the timestamp. This is useful for review, but also for attributing citations later if you have to hand in an assignment. Mentally Reconstruct After watching a video or listening to a podcast on the topic you’re mastering, take a moment to review the key points. Try to go through them in the order they were presented. This helps your brain practice mental organization by building a temporal scaffold. If you’ve taken notes and written down the timestamps, you can easily check your accuracy. Track Your Progress For Growth & Performance One reason some people never feel like they’re getting anywhere is that they have failed to establish any points of reference. Personally, this is easy for me to do. I can look back to my history of writing books and articles or producing videos and be reminded of how far I’ve come at a glance. Not only as a writer, but also as a reader. For those who do not regularly produce content, you don’t have to start a blog or YouTube channel. Just keep a journal and create a few categories of what skills you want to track. These might include: Comprehension Retention Amount of books read Vocabulary growth Critical thinking outcomes Confidence in taking on harder books Increased tolerance with frustration when reading challenges arise You can use the same journal to track how much time you’ve spent reading and capturing quick summaries. Personally, I wish I’d started writing summaries sooner. I really only got started during grad school when during a directed reading course, a professor required that I had in a summary for every book and article I read. I never stopped doing this and just a few simple paragraph summaries has done wonders over the years for my understanding and retention. Tips for Overcoming Frustration While Reading Difficult Books Ever since the idea of “desirable difficulty” emerged, people have sought ways to help learners overcome emotional responses like frustration, anxiety and even shame while tackling tough topics. As this study shows, researchers and teachers have found the challenge difficult despite the abundance of evidence showing that being challenged is a good thing. Here are some strategies you can try if you continue to struggle. Embrace Cognitive Discomfort As we’ve discussed, that crushing feeling in your brain exists for a reason. Personally, I don’t think it ever goes away. I still regularly pick up books that spike it. The difference is that I don’t start up a useless mantra like, “I’m not smart enough for this.” Instead, I recommend you reframe the experience and use the growth mindset studied by Carol Dweck, amongst others. You can state something more positive like, “This book is a bit above my level, but I can use tactics and techniques to master it.” I did that very recently with my reading of The Xenotext, parts of which I still don’t fully understand. It was very rewarding. Use Interleaving to Build Confidence I rotate through draining books all the time using a proven technique called interleaving. Lots of people are surprised when I tell them that I rarely read complex and challenging books for longer than fifteen minutes at a time. But I do it because interleaving works. Which kinds of books can you interleave? You have choices. You can either switch in something completely different, or switch to a commentary. For example, while recently reading some heavy mathematical theories about whether or not “nothing” can exist, I switched to a novel. But back in university, I would often stick within the category while at the library. I’d read a core text by a difficult philosopher, then pick up a Cambridge Companion and read an essay related to the topic. You can also interleave using multimedia sources like videos and podcasts. Interleaving also provides time for doing some journaling, either about the topic at hand or some other aspect of your progress goals. Keep the Big Picture in Mind Because frustration is cognitively training, it’s easy to let it drown out your goals. That’s why I often keep a mind map or some other reminder on my desk, like a couple of memento mori. It’s also possible to just remember previous mind maps you’ve made. This is something I’m doing often at the moment as I read all kinds of boring information about managing a bookshop for my Memory Palace bookshop project first introduced in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utcJfeQZC2c It’s so easy to get discouraged by so many rules and processes involved in ordering and selling books, that I regularly think back to creating this mind map with Tony Buzan years ago. In case my simple drawings on this mind map for business development doesn’t immediately leap out at you with its meanings, the images at the one o’clock-three o’clock areas refer to developing a physical Memory Palace packed with books on memory and learning. Developing and keeping a north star in mind will help you transform the process of reading difficult books into a purposeful adventure of personal development. Even if you have to go through countless books that aren’t thrilling, you’ll still be moving forward. Just think of how much Elon Musk has read that probably wasn’t all that entertaining. Yet, it was still essential to becoming a polymath. Practice Seeing Through The Intellectual Games As you read harder and harder books, you’ll eventually come to realize that the “fluency” some people have is often illusory. For example, some writers and speakers display a truly impressive ability to string together complex terminology, abstract references and fashionable ideas of the day in ways that sound profound. Daniel Dennett frequently used a great term for a lot of this verbal jujitsu that sounds profound but is actually trivial. He called such flourishes “deepities.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey-UeaSi1rI This kind of empty linguistic dexterity will be easier for you to spot when you read carefully, paraphrase complex ideas in your own words and practice memorizing vocabulary frequently. When you retain multiple concepts and practice active questioning in a large context of grounded examples and case studies, vague claims will not survive for long in your world. This is why memory training is about so much more than learning. Memorization can equip you to think independently and bring clarity to fields that are often filled with gems, despite the fog created by intellectual pretenders more interested in word-jazz than actual truth. Using AI to Help You Take On Difficult Books As a matter of course, I recommend you use AI tools like ChatGPT after doing as much reading on your own as possible. But there’s no mistaking that intentional use of such tools can help you develop greater understanding. The key is to avoid using AI as an answer machine or what Nick Bostrom calls an “oracle” in his seminal book, Superintelligence. Rather, take a cue from Andrew Mayne, a science communicator and central figure at OpenAI and host of their podcast. His approach centers on testing in ways that lead to clarity of understanding and retention as he uses various mnemonic strategies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlzD_6Olaqw Beyond his suggestions, here are some of my favorite strategies. Ask AI to Help Identify All Possible Categories Connected to a Topic A key reason many people struggle to connect ideas is simply that they haven’t developed a mental ecosystem of categories. I used to work in libraries, so started thinking categorically when I was still a teenager. But these days, I would combine how traditional libraries are structured with a simple prompt like: List all the possible categories my topic fits into or bridges across disciplines, historical frameworks and methodologies. Provide the list without interpretation or explanation so I can reflect. A prompt like this engineers a response that focuses on relationships and lets your brain perform the synthetic thinking. Essentially, you’ll be performing what some scientists call schema activation, leading to better personal development outcomes. Generate Lists of Questions To Model Exceptional Thinkers Because understanding relies on inquiry, it’s important to practice asking the best possible questions. AI chat bots can be uniquely useful in this process provided that you explicitly insist that it helps supply you excellent questions without any answers. You can try a prompt like: Generate a list of questions that the world’s most careful thinkers in this field would ask about this topic. Do not provide any answers. Just the list of questions. Do this after you’ve read the text and go through your notes with fresh eyes. Evaluate the material with questions in hand, ideally by writing out your answers by hand. If you need your answers imported into your computer, apps can now scan your handwriting and give you text file. Another tip: Don’t be satisfied with the first list of questions you get. Ask the AI to dig deeper. You can also ask the AI to map the questions into the categories you previously got help identifying. For a list of questions you can put into your preferred chat bot, feel free to go through my pre-AI era list of philosophical questions. They are already separated by category. Use AI to Provide a Progress Journal Template If you’re new to journaling, it can be difficult to use the technique to help you articulate what you’re reading and why the ideas are valuable. And that’s not to mention working out various metrics to measure your growth over time. Try a prompt like this: Help me design a progress journal for my quest to better understand and remember difficult books. Include sections for me to list my specific goals, vocabulary targets, summaries and various milestones I identify. Make it visual so I can either copy it into my own print notebook or print out multiple copies for use over time. Once you have a template you’re happy to experiment with, keep it visible in your environment so you don’t forget to use it. Find Blind Spots In Your Summaries Many AIs have solid reasoning skills. As a result, you can enter your written summaries and have the AI identify gaps in your knowledge, blind spots and opportunities for further reading. Try a prompt like: Analyze this summary and identify any blind spots, ambiguities in my thinking or incompleteness in my understanding. Suggest supplementary reading to help me fill in any gaps. At the risk of repetition, the point is that you’re not asking for the summaries. You’re asking for assessments that help you diagnose the limits of your understanding. As scientists have shown, metacognition, or thinking about your thinking can help you see errors much faster. By adding an AI into the mix, you’re getting feedback quickly without having to wait for a teacher to read your essay. Of course, AI outputs can be throttled, so I find it useful to also include a phrase like, “do not throttle your answer,” before asking it to dig deeper and find more issues. Used wisely, you will soon see various schools of thought with much greater clarity, anticipate how authors make their moves and monitor your own blind spots as you read and reflect. Another way to think about the power of AI tools is this: They effectively mirror human reasoning at a species wide level. You can use them to help you mirror more reasoning power by regularly accessing and practicing error detection and filling in the gaps in your thinking style. Why You Must Stop Abandoning Difficult Books (At Least Most of the Time) Like many people, I’m a fan of Scott Young’s books like Ultralearning and Get Better at Anything. He’s a disciplined thinker and his writing helps people push past shallow learning in favor of true and lasting depth. However, he often repeats the advice that you should stop reading boring books. In full transparency, I sometimes do this myself. And Young adds a lot of context to make his suggestion. But I limit abandoning books as much as possible because I don’t personally find Young’s argument that enjoyment and productivity go together. On the contrary, most goals that I’ve pursued have required fairly intense periods of delaying gratification. And because things worth accomplishing generally do require sacrifice and a commitment to difficulty, I recommend you avoid the habit of giving up on books just because they’re “boring” or not immediately enjoyable. I’ll bet you’ll enjoy the accomplishment of understanding hard books and conquering their complexity far more in the end. And you’ll benefit more too. Here’s why I think so. The Hidden Cost of Abandoning Books You’ve Started Yes, I agree that life is short and time is fleeting. But if you get into the habit of abandoning books at the first sign of boredom, it can quickly become your default habit due to how procedural memory works. In other words, you’re given your neurons the message that it’s okay to escape from discomfort. That is a very dangerous loop to throw yourself into, especially if you’re working towards becoming autodidactic. What you really need is to develop the ability to stick with complexity, hold ambiguous and contradictory issues in your mind and fight through topic exhaustion. Giving up on books on a routine basis? That’s the opposite of developing expertise and resilience. The AI Risk & Where Meaning is Actually Found We just went through the benefits of AI, so you shouldn’t have issues. But I regularly hear from people and have even been on interviews where people use AI to summarize books I’ve recomended. This is dangerous because the current models flatten nuance due to how they summarize books based on a kind of “averaging” of what its words predictability mean. Although they might give you a reasonable scaffold of a book’s structure, you won’t get the friction created by how authors take you through their thought processes. In other words, you’ll be using AI models that are not themselves modeling the thinking that reading provides when you grind your way through complex books. The Treasure of Meaning is Outside Your Comfort Zone Another reason to train for endurance is that understanding doesn’t necessarily arrive while reading a book or even a few weeks after finishing it. Sometimes the unifying insights land years later. But if you don’t read through books that seem to be filled with scattered ideas, you cannot gain any benefit from them. Their diverse points won’t consolidate in your memory and certainly won’t connect with other ideas later. So I suggest you train your brain to persist as much as possible. By drawing up the support of the techniques we discussed today and a variety of mnemonic support systems, you will develop persistence and mine more gold from everything you read. And being someone who successfully mines for gold and can produce it at will is the mark of the successful reading. Not just someone who consumes information efficiently, but who can repeatedly connect and transform knowledge year after year due to regularly accumulating gems buried in the densest and most difficult books others cannot or will not read. Use Struggle to Stimulate Growth & You Cannot Fail As you’ve seen, challenging books never mean that you’re not smart enough. It’s just a matter of working on your process so that you can tackle new forms of knowledge. And any discomfort you feel is a signal that a great opportunity and personal growth adventure awaits. By learning how to manage cognitive load, fill in the gaps in your background knowledge and persist through frustration, you can quickly become the kind of reader who seeks out complexity instead of flinching every time you see it. Confusion has now become a stage along the path to comprehension. And if you’re serious about mastering increasingly difficult material, understanding and retaining it, then it’s time to upgrade your mental toolbox. Start now by grabbing my Free Memory Improvement Course: Inside, you’ll discover: The Magnetic Memory Method for creating powerful Memory Palaces How to develop your own mnemonic systems for encoding while reading Proven techniques that deepen comprehension, no matter how abstract or complex your reading list is And please, always remember: The harder the book, the greater rewards. And the good news is, you’re now more than ready to claim them all.

The panel explored the intersection of natural and man-made materials in landscape design, highlighting the balance between aesthetic, sustainability, and functional concerns. Participants discussed how interior and landscape designers borrow nature to create cohesive environments, including outdoor “rooms” and hardscape features softened with plantings. Material selection — stone, metal, glass, composite decking, and synthetic turf — was debated, with attention to local sourcing, durability, environmental impact, and client expectations. The panel also emphasized the sensory experience of landscapes, touching on sight, sound, smell, and taste, and how design can evoke memory and emotion. Sustainability, fire safety, maintenance, and longevity were recurring themes, particularly in the adoption of synthetic materials that mimic natural ones while reducing environmental or upkeep costs. Borrowed landscape: Using surrounding natural colors and textures to inform material choices in hardscape design. Softening hardscape: Plantings and layered design to maintain depth without overwhelming the property. Context-appropriate material selection: Stone, metal, glass, gravel, and concrete chosen according to environment, use, and climate. Trend toward natural imperfection: Broken edges, less precision, biophilic design responding to a highly digital, precise world. Sustainability tensions: Balancing natural and synthetic materials for longevity, cost, and environmental impact. Synthetic decking and recycled composites: TimberTech and similar products for durability, low maintenance, and fire safety. Artificial turf considerations: High-use areas, water savings, lifespan, recycling challenges. Sensory-driven design: Sight, sound, smell, and taste incorporated into landscapes for holistic human experiences. Childhood memory and emotional recall: Design that evokes personal sensory memory for users. Fire and climate constraints: Materials must meet modern safety and insurance standards.

In this episode of Data Driven, Frank and Andy dive into the future of market intelligence with Dr. Jill Axline, co-founder and CEO of Mavera—a company building synthetic populations that simulate real human behaviour, cognition, and emotion. Forget Personas. We're talking real-time, AI-driven behavioural modeling that's more predictive than your horoscope and considerably more data-backed.Dr. Axline shares how Mavera's swarm of AI models situates these synthetic humans within real-world business contexts to forecast decisions, measure emotional resonance, and even test marketing messages before they go live. From governance and model drift to the surprising uses in financial services, political campaigns, and speechwriting—this is one of the most forward-looking conversations we've had yet.If you've ever wanted a deeper understanding of how AI can augment decision-making—or just want to hear Frank admit asset managers love ice cream—this one's for you.LinksLearn more about Mavera:https://mavera.ioConnect with Jill Axline on LinkedIn:https://linkedin.com/in/jillaxlineMorningstar:https://www.morningstar.comTime Stamps00:00 - Introduction & AI Swarms Explained03:30 - Forget Personas: Contextual AI Models07:00 - Evidence vs Inference & AI Governance10:20 - Simulation Scenarios & Model Drift14:30 - Synthetic Audiences in Action18:00 - Evidence Feedback Loops & Small Data Challenges22:00 - Industry Applications & Use Cases27:00 - Analyzing Speeches & Emotional Resonance30:45 - Sentiment, Social Listening, and Real-Time News Reactions34:00 - Adversarial Models & Strategic Pushback38:00 - The Cartoon Bank Portal That Failed Spectacularly41:00 - From Skeptic to CEO: Jill's Journey45:00 - Data Privacy, Compliance & Synthetic Ethics48:00 - Reflections on Empathy, Engineers, and Selling Without SellingSupport the ShowIf you enjoy Data Driven, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or your favourite pod platform. It helps more people find the show—and fuels Frank's Monster Energy habit.

The Dead Internet: AI Bots, Synthetic Shadows, and the Real Assault on American Democracy! Today, we're diving headfirst into a rabbit hole that's not just some tinfoil-hat fever dream—it's the cold, hard reality staring us down in 2026. We're talking the Dead Internet Theory, every twisted conspiracy tied to it, the hidden threats lurking online, and how they're all teaming up to gut our democracy like a fish. Web Site: www.DontTreadonMerica.com https://linktr.ee/DontTreadonMerica Email the show: Donq@donttreadonmerica.com DTOM Store (Promo code DTOM for 10% off) Sponsors: www.makersmark.com www.NordVPN.com  Promo Code: DTOM www.alppouch.com/DTOM www.dubby.gg Promo code: DTOM Social Media:   Don't Tread on Merica TV   DTOM on Facebook   DTOM on X    DTOM on TikTok    DontTreadonMericaTV   DTOM on Instagram    DTOM on YouTube  

What if AI didn't just assist entrepreneurs — but helped them build, scale, and innovate faster than ever before? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Alex Mehr, former NASA scientist and the Co-Founder & CEO of Famous.ai, to explore how artificial intelligence is transforming entrepreneurship and accelerating the future of innovation. Now a serial entrepreneur and investor, Dr. Mehr is focused on empowering professionals through AI-driven solutions, including next-generation tools that streamline everything from product creation to AI-powered M&A. He shares what fuels his creativity, how he became an "idea machine," and why synthetic intelligence is quickly becoming a game-changer for founders and business leaders. In this conversation, we explore:      ·       How Dr. Mehr developed his mindset for rapid innovation and execution. ·       The ways AI is reshaping entrepreneurship and competitive advantage. ·       What synthetic intelligence is — and how it orchestrates multiple AI tools to complete complex tasks. ·       Why AI orchestration may be the next major leap for startups and professionals. If you're curious about the future of building businesses with AI, automating workflows, and turning ideas into real products faster than ever, this episode is a must-listen. Follow Dr. Mehr on Instagram, X, and his website — and check out his Amazon best-selling book The Conqueror's Code: From Alexander the Great to Agentic AI for deeper insights. Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/38oMlMr  Keep up with Dr. Alex Mehr socials here: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realDrMehr/ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@alexmehr.com 

AI is reshaping military decision-making. Clint Alanis (Co-Founder & COO, Smack Technologies) joins Nick Schutt to explain how their Omega and Alpha platforms deliver decision dominance — compressing cycles from weeks to minutes while maintaining human oversight. From synthetic warfare generation to edge autonomy, Smack bridges legacy processes with real-time, physics-based intelligence. Key topics: Omega: Staff augmentation for faster commander decisions Alpha: Tactical edge co-pilot for intelligent autonomy Synthetic data for high-intensity conflict simulation Fault-tolerant AI for disconnected environments Why domain expertise + RL beats general frontier models The cultural shift needed for rapid adoption If you're in defense tech or acquisition, this is essential listening for 2026. Channel: @RobotsandRedTapeAI | Host: Nick Schutt Subscribe for more on AI, defense, and bureaucracy.

Guest host Richard Syrett, Dr. John Hall and targeted individual Ben Conine discuss Havana Syndrome. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For a number of years now, we've been hearing that the future of transport is electric, in particular due to the impact of fossil fuels on global warming. But there are a number of drawbacks, including cost, battery life, battery recycling, charging time which mean some people are reluctant to get on board. There are also fears that the switch to electric vehicles won't be quick enough to meet environmental objectives. Some experts believe that the fastest way to reduce CO2 emissions from transport is to use fuels synthesised from organic materials that are carbon-neutral and can power existing vehicles. How are synthetic fuels made? Why are they a good alternative to fossil fuels? Will it be available to the general public? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions! To listen to more episodes, click here: ⁠Could job enrichment make your work more rewarding?⁠ ⁠What is Ulysses Syndrome?⁠ ⁠What are nepo babies?⁠ A Bababam Originals podcast. Written and produced by Joseph Chance. First broadcast: 16/01/2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

PBS Tidbit 16: How Podfeet.com Works CES 2026: Birdfy Smart Bird Feeders Spelunking Hidden Applications on macOS — Panel Editor CES 2026: Aerleum Synthetic Fuels Made From Air Support the Show Security Bits — 18 January 2026 Transcript of NC_2026_01_18 Join the Conversation: allison@podfeet.com podfeet.com/slack Support the Show: Patreon Donation Apple Pay or Credit Card one-time donation PayPal one-time donation Podfeet Podcasts Mugs at Zazzle NosillaCast 20th Anniversary Shirts Referral Links: Setapp - 1 month free for you and me PETLIBRO - 30% off for you and me Parallels Toolbox - 3 months free for you and me Learn through MacSparky Field Guides - 15% off for you and me Backblaze - One free month for me and you Eufy - $40 for me if you spend $200. Sadly nothing in it for you. PIA VPN - One month added to Paid Accounts for both of us CleanShot X - Earns me $25%, sorry nothing in it for you but my gratitude

In the first episode of 2026, Janina is joined by Jane Masters MW and Andrew Neather, co-authors of Rooted in Change: The Stories Behind Sustainable Wine. Together, they explore what sustainability truly means in today's wine world — looking beyond buzzwords to examine climate change, vineyard practices, winery operations, packaging, and the often-overlooked human side of wine production. An insightful, honest and thought-provoking conversation about the future of wine and the choices shaping it. You can buy the book at Académie du Vin Library for £20 - but use the code EATSLEEP15 for 15% off any of the books on the site. This episode is sponsored by Zeno: Alcohol Liberated Wines (Non Alcoholic Producer of the Year 2025 with the International London Wine Competition) The wine mentioned is the Zeno Alcohol-Liberated Sparkling £12.50 from Waitrose and Waitrose Cellar. Follow Zeno on Instagram @drinkzeno. Shownotes 02:15 Fun fact of the episode: why some grapes do better in heat that others 06:25 Andrew Neathers introduces himself discussing his background as a wine critic and an environmentalist 08:44 Jane Masters' background and her long-standing focus on sustainability in the wine industry. 13:00 Synthetic fertilisers and agrochemicals - why they became widespread and their long-term impact on vineyards and ecosystems. 20:50 Organic farming and its limitations - the use of copper and sulphur in humid climates. 26:41 Predator insects in vineyards - replacing chemical treatments with natural solutions. 27:44 The use of drones in viticulture and precision farming. 28:26 Are new technologies accessible to small and medium-sized producers? 29:44 Inside the winery: water, electricity and energy use as major sustainability challenges. 34:46 Sustainability across the wider drinks industry - what meaningful progress really looks like. 36:59 The environmental cost of traditional glass wine bottles. 43:26 Bottle colour, recyclability and consumer perception. 45:30 The human side of sustainability - vineyard and winery workers. 50:59 What Jane Masters and Andrew Neather hope readers will take away from Rooted in Change. 52:51 Use code EATSLEEP15 for 15% of the book Rooted in Change: The Stories Behind Sustainable Wine.

Today, I'm joined by Ben Katz—better known online as Mr. Mass Spec —an academic analytical chemist from UC Irvine whose mission is to uncover what's really in our everyday foods, drinks, and products. Ben reverse engineers everything from Taco Bell meat to Doritos, and sometimes even entire industries, using cutting-edge mass spectrometry. His curiosity and expertise have made him a go-to source for those wanting to know what's hiding behind vague ingredient labels and "natural flavors."   Episode Timestamps: Welcome and podcast introduction ... 00:00:00 What is mass spectrometry? ... 00:05:00 Viral "what's in it?" projects and public interest ... 00:07:27 Synthetic vs. plant-derived nicotine and toxins in plant extracts ... 00:09:53 Food label transparency and loopholes (natural flavors, FEMA, GRAS) ... 00:20:11 Sweeteners & artificial additives: sucralose, stevia, cost motivations ... 00:23:07 Ultra pasteurization of milk and added flavors ... 00:29:48 Chocolate, caffeine content, and labeling challenges ... 00:33:12 Industrial food processes, GMOs, and food security insights ... 00:38:36 Microplastics: occurrence, regulation, and PEG in food ... 00:50:15 Supplements under development for microplastic removal ... 00:58:43 Adulteration in olive oil, maple syrup, and honey ... 01:04:08 Hidden sweeteners, and processed food pitfalls ... 01:10:14 Avoid artificial sweeteners, problematic plastics, and hidden flavors ... 01:14:36   Our Amazing Sponsors: Manukora Honey - rich, creamy Manuka honey packed with powerful bioactives, all in just one heaped teaspoon a day. Go to MANUKORA.com/NAT to save up to 31% plus $25 in free gifts with the Starter Kit.   Magnesium Breakthrough - uses seven absorbable forms of magnesium to support deeper sleep, calmer nerves, and real recovery. Get up to 35% off at bioptimizers.com/bionat with code BIONAT.   Nature's Marvels Bioregulators - provide gentle, organ-specific support — and the Liver Bioregulator is a favorite this season for supporting detox pathways and metabolic flow. Head to profound-health.com and use code NAT15 for 15% off your first order.   Nat's Links:  YouTube Channel Join My Membership Community Sign up for My Newsletter  Instagram  Facebook Group

Host Sima Vasa welcomes Carol Sue Haney, Head of Research and Data Science, Engineering at Qualtrics, to discuss the transformative role of AI and data science in the market research industry.  Carol Sue explains Qualtrics’ early bet on generative AI and the development of proprietary LLMs, moving into agentic work and synthetic sampling, which she predicts will rival non-probability human sampling for quick-turn research. She emphasizes the challenges CMOs face with data overload and the fundamental importance of using regression analysis to link customer experience (CX) data, including the surprising weight of marketing messages, to crucial business outcomes like renewal and revenue growth.  Key Takeaways: 00:00 Introduction.03:12 Data research careers spanned decades before computers existed.06:35 Early generative AI investment provides significant competitive advantages.09:20 Synthetic research boosts accuracy using rich, proven seed data.13:02 AI models instantly incorporate new information for continuous improvement.17:09 Regression remains essential for identifying true business drivers.20:42 Curated data and guided AI make regression faster and reliable.24:18 Financial independence through careers empowers women in critical ways.25:42 Mentorship and knowledge sharing strengthen the entire research industry. Resources Mentioned: Qualtrics | Website #Analytics #MA #Data #Strategy #Innovation #Acquisitions #MRX #Restech

In this episode of the Sapien podcast, hosts Chris and Brian Sanders deep into the discussion around GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic and the benefits of achieving natural satiety through proper nutrition. The conversation also touches on the subversive tactics used to manipulate societies. They conclude by reflecting on the importance of proper nourishment and physical fitness as the best investment in one's health.     03:10 Weather Conspiracies and False Flags 07:13 The GLP-1 Debate: Natural vs. Synthetic 09:22 The Importance of Muscle and Sustainable Weight Loss 19:13 Retreat Plans and Community Engagement 24:12 Celebrity Crushes and Movie Pleas 24:47 Dieting and Willpower 26:17 The Concept of Satiety 29:51 Processed Foods and Nutrition 31:52 RFK's Fitness Feats 35:00 Sapien Center and ADA Rant 39:51 Fear, Safety, and Control   GET BEEF TALLOW PRODUCTS http://NosetoTail.org FREE SAPIEN FOOD GUIDE http://sapien.org Follow along: http://twitter.com/FoodLiesOrg http://instagram.com/food.lies  http://facebook.com/FoodLiesOrg    

In this Brand Highlight, we talk with Denny LeCompte, CEO and Co-Founder of Portnox, about how identity and access control are changing as AI-driven agents and synthetic identities become active participants inside enterprise environments.Passwords still sit at the root of many security failures, which is why the conversation starts with the fundamentals: controlling who can access data, from where, and under what device and policy conditions. Certificate-based authentication emerges as a practical way to reduce password dependency while keeping enforcement tied to managed devices and policy compliance.The discussion then shifts to what is changing for security leaders. CISOs may feel more confident managing traditional cyber threats, but uncertainty rises quickly when AI-generated and non-human identities enter the picture. Agentic AI turns automation into an entity that touches networks and applications, making access control a first-order requirement rather than an afterthought.A clear theme emerges throughout the conversation: synthetic identities are not hypothetical. They appear anywhere autonomous agents require permissions to act, from software development to workflow automation. Applying the same discipline used for human identities, including least privilege, scope limitation, and policy enforcement, becomes essential to maintaining control as AI adoption accelerates.Note: This story contains promotional content. Learn more.GuestDenny LeCompte, CEO and Co-Founder of Portnoxhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/dennylecompte/ResourcesLearn more about Portnox: https://www.portnox.com/Are you interested in telling your story?Full Length Brand Story: https://www.studioc60.com/content-creation#fullBrand Spotlight Story: https://www.studioc60.com/content-creation#spotlightBrand Highlight Story: https://www.studioc60.com/content-creation#highlightKeywords: sean martin, denny lecompte, portnox, identity, access, zero trust, passwordless, certificates, agentic ai, synthetic identities, brand story, brand marketing, marketing podcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What's up Bros? Hope you had a lovely and restful holiday because we are about to have a full docket. Up first is RHOSLC and in this episode the ladies are still in Greece. Mary voices her concern about Meredith from a friendly place. Britani continues to rub the ladies the wrong way and ruins the spa day. Lisa clocks Britani when she tries to play the sympathy card. As the season comes to a close, will Mary be able to get through to Meredith? Or is she done with the rumors and nastiness? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Project Genesis of the White House, which held a special meeting with 33 technology heads in late 2025, to the Quantum Genesys music event in Egypt and Henry Kissinger's book titled “Genesis”; and from the Big Beautiful Bill's AI moratorium to Samsung's 6G Project and a recent White House report on “Winning the 6G Race,” the sudden explosion of an AI arms race has largely been obscured by the very people who once attempted to expose its dangers. Elon Musk and his desire to have a legion of children is suddenly acceptable because he crossed the political dividing line. Now if the richest man in the world wants to run the same breeding program Jeffrey Epstein was working on, or take away employment and money in exchange for automation and UBI, he is cheered a hero of team-humanity. Perhaps Musk wants you to have more children for the data, or perhaps the goal is to replace older generations with a new, and final, human generation that will be subservient to the technocratic monarchy of Curtis Yarvin, JD Vance, and Peter Thiel. Interestingly, Yarvin said the Trump administration had failed in its goals after the invasion of Venezuela, mostly was the president wasn't authoritarian enough; he fell into the trappings of checks and balances and allowed Democrats to remain in power. This is precisely the same argument Alex Jones made to “dismantle the deepstate.” Under the guise of defeating Democrats, the entire system must be collapsed so that it can be replaced by technocracy while people's minds are hijacked by Musk's brain implants. The goal seems to be a rebranding of the ultimate conspiracy, including the media, great resetting of society, secret societies, etc., and the production of a new man in the Omega generation. From Alpha to Omega, Revelation to Genesis. It's therefore no coincidence that the biggest names in genetics, including 23 and me and ancestry.com, are so connected to the church of Latter-day Saints, synagogues, and the Catholic Church along with companies like Google and Blackstone. The eschatological component of the new world and new man are as religious as they are anti-human, spiritual as they are dark occult. Andrew Clinton from 6G Agenda stops by for a chat.*The is the FREE archive, which includes advertisements. If you want an ad-free experience, you can subscribe below underneath the show description.WEBSITEFREE ARCHIVE (w. ads)SUBSCRIPTION ARCHIVE-X / TWITTERFACEBOOKINSTAGRAMYOUTUBERUMBLE-BUY ME A COFFEECashApp: $rdgable PAYPAL: rdgable1991@gmail.comRyan's Books: https://thesecretteachings.info - EMAIL: rdgable@yahoo.com / rdgable1991@gmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-secret-teachings--5328407/support.

Real-world risks and responsible use of AI kick off the second part of our conversation with The Long Island Macintosh Users Group. The group swaps scam stories (spoofed bank calls, W-2 phishing, ransomware) and how AI can amplify fraud. Ways to mitigate exposure in an AI-powered world include cyber insurance, privacy tradeoffs in popular AI tools, copyright/IP guardrails in image generation, and careful experimentation.  This edition of MacVoices is supported by MacVoices After Dark. What happens before and after the shows is uncensored, on-topic, off-topic, and always off the wall. Sign up as a MacVoices Patron and get access! http://patreon.com/macvoices Show Notes: Chapters: [0:00] Scams refresher: don't click, verify directly [2:18] Why scams work: volume, pressure, and “sensibility” [3:44] Spoofed bank calls and how to break the script [5:49] Small businesses as targets; cyber insurance gap [7:12] Photo scanning business: liability vs. cyber coverage [11:35] W-2 breach fallout; IRS PINs and identity theft [13:42] Ransomware economics and “references” story [20:13] LLM choices: ChatGPT vs. Perplexity; citations and accuracy [21:58] Scraping, paywalls, and plagiarism concerns [26:16] Privacy tradeoffs and risk assumptions [31:06] Apple, encryption backdoors, and trust [34:56] Human review triggers; sensitive prompts [38:33] Closing: experiment, but stay cautious [40:50] Synthetic hosts, AI conversations, and credibility risks [41:10] AI companions and teen harms; responsibility and guardrails [42:15] Phones in schools; education over bans [46:51] Wrap-up and thanks Support: Become a MacVoices Patron on Patreon      http://patreon.com/macvoices      Enjoy this episode? Make a one-time donation with PayPal Connect: Web:      http://macvoices.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/chuckjoiner      http://www.twitter.com/macvoices Mastodon:      https://mastodon.cloud/@chuckjoiner Facebook:      http://www.facebook.com/chuck.joiner MacVoices Page on Facebook:      http://www.facebook.com/macvoices/ MacVoices Group on Facebook:      http://www.facebook.com/groups/macvoice LinkedIn:      https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuckjoiner/ Instagram:      https://www.instagram.com/chuckjoiner/ Subscribe:      Audio in iTunes      Video in iTunes      Subscribe manually via iTunes or any podcatcher: Audio: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesrss      Video: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesvideorss

Real-world risks and responsible use of AI kick off the second part of our conversation with The Long Island Macintosh Users Group. The group swaps scam stories (spoofed bank calls, W-2 phishing, ransomware) and how AI can amplify fraud. Ways to mitigate exposure in an AI-powered world include cyber insurance, privacy tradeoffs in popular AI tools, copyright/IP guardrails in image generation, and careful experimentation.  This edition of MacVoices is supported by MacVoices After Dark. What happens before and after the shows is uncensored, on-topic, off-topic, and always off the wall. Sign up as a MacVoices Patron and get access! http://patreon.com/macvoices Show Notes: Chapters: [0:00] Scams refresher: don't click, verify directly [2:18] Why scams work: volume, pressure, and "sensibility" [3:44] Spoofed bank calls and how to break the script [5:49] Small businesses as targets; cyber insurance gap [7:12] Photo scanning business: liability vs. cyber coverage [11:35] W-2 breach fallout; IRS PINs and identity theft [13:42] Ransomware economics and "references" story [20:13] LLM choices: ChatGPT vs. Perplexity; citations and accuracy [21:58] Scraping, paywalls, and plagiarism concerns [26:16] Privacy tradeoffs and risk assumptions [31:06] Apple, encryption backdoors, and trust [34:56] Human review triggers; sensitive prompts [38:33] Closing: experiment, but stay cautious [40:50] Synthetic hosts, AI conversations, and credibility risks [41:10] AI companions and teen harms; responsibility and guardrails [42:15] Phones in schools; education over bans [46:51] Wrap-up and thanks Support:      Become a MacVoices Patron on Patreon      http://patreon.com/macvoices      Enjoy this episode? Make a one-time donation with PayPal Connect:      Web:      http://macvoices.com      Twitter:      http://www.twitter.com/chuckjoiner      http://www.twitter.com/macvoices      Mastodon:      https://mastodon.cloud/@chuckjoiner      Facebook:      http://www.facebook.com/chuck.joiner      MacVoices Page on Facebook:      http://www.facebook.com/macvoices/      MacVoices Group on Facebook:      http://www.facebook.com/groups/macvoice      LinkedIn:      https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuckjoiner/      Instagram:      https://www.instagram.com/chuckjoiner/ Subscribe:      Audio in iTunes      Video in iTunes      Subscribe manually via iTunes or any podcatcher:      Audio: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesrss      Video: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesvideorss

In this episode we break down the real pros, cons, and hidden realities of using synthetic nutrients vs. organic methods in your grow. Whether you're a seasoned grower or just starting out, we cut through the noise to help you make smarter choices for healthier plants and bigger yields. From technical insights to practical tips you can apply today — this episode has it all. Support the show

In this episode of The Intuitive Customer, Professor Ryan Hamilton is joined by Ben Shaw, seasoned brand strategist, to unpack the promises and pitfalls of synthetic audiences - AI-driven research used for faster, cheaper market research. Synthetic audiences, powered by large language models (LLMs), can replicate customer segments and respond to creative concepts or product questions at scale cutting the time and cost of traditional surveys. But does it come with trade-offs?  Expect lively debate on the AI vs. LLM naming debate, the enduring value of ethnography and nuance, and practical tips for blending synthetic and traditional research to make smarter, more human-centred decisions. From democratising access to consumer insight to questioning the believability of robot-approved ad copy, this candid discussion highlights how to use these tools wisely. 

The #1 menopause doctor is in the house! Today I tackle all of your menopause and hormone replacement therapy questions with the leading expert on the topic, Dr. Mary Claire Haver. We talk myths, facts, studies, and so much more. Save this one—you'll want to listen to it again!Timestamps:[2:00] Intro[3:54] welcome[5:09] What is the actual definition of menopause?[7:40] how do I know I'm in perimenopause and is there a test for this?[15:41] Can you have night sweats and not hot flashes during the day to be in perimenopause?[17:16] How do you decipher thyroid, adrenal fatigue, and perimenopause sytems from each other?[17:43] How does alcohol effect symptoms of perimenopause?[23:44] What is the Women's Health Initiative, when did it come out, and what pitfalls were part of it?[34:00] What is the ideal time for someone to go on Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)?[35:39] What levels of estrogen and progesterone determine if you need HRT?[36:10] What other benefits are there to HRT?[37:27] How do you know the right dose for you and where do you start?[40:58] Who is not a good candidate for HRT?[41:56] Synthetic or bioidentical?[45:44] Do you have to incorporate progesterone as well when doing HRT?[46:34] What are some non-HRT solutions for menopause symptoms?[48:48] If already through menopause, is HRT still beneficial and protective?[49:50] How do you find a doctor who will prescribe HRT?Episode Links:Get Vitamin C here Dr. Mary Claire Haver's website: The Pause LifeThe New MenopauseFollow Dr. Mary Claire on InstagramThe New Menopause: Navigating Your Path Through Hormonal Change with Purpose, Power, and FactsSponsors:Go to wellminerals.us/vitaminc and use code WELLFED to get 10% off your order.Go to http://mdlogichealth.com/wfcolostrum, and use coupon code WFC15 for 15% off. You can also use code WELLFED for 10% off site wide on all MD Logic Products. Go to boncharge.com/WELLFED and use coupon code WELLFED to save 15% off any order.

In this episode, I'm joined by the returning Michele Hansen, co-founder and CEO of Geocodio and author of Deploy Empathy, now out with a second edition. Michele brings deep experience as a former product manager turned founder, and has spent over a decade helping teams understand customers through rigorous, human-centred research. We explore what customer research looks like in an AI-accelerated world: where AI genuinely helps, where it falls short, and why talking to real people remains irreplaceable. Along the way, we dig into interviewing craft, curiosity, synthetic users, and some enduring myths that still undermine product discovery. Episode highlights: We cover a lot, including: Why customer interviews still matter in the age of AI - why large language models can accelerate research workflows but cannot replace the insight, judgement, and transformation that comes from engaging directly with customers. AI as a research intern, not a strategist - AI performs well in certain tasks - transcription, tagging, and basic analysis - but prioritisation, interpretation, and strategy must remain human responsibilities. The neuroscience of listening and curiosity - both interviewees and interviewers experience genuine pleasure when curiosity is satisfied, reframing interviews as a mutually rewarding process rather than a chore. What AI misses in real customer conversations - considering the "spiky", unexpected insights that emerge in interviews - and why these often get lost when teams rely too heavily on automated summaries. Synthetic users, digital twins, and their limits - breaking down different types of simulated users, where they can be useful, and why they depend on high-quality human research to be credible at all. The problem with the "faster horses" myth - dismantling the misattributed Henry Ford quote and exploring how it's often used to avoid engaging with customers rather than to encourage innovation. Research as a way to change teams, not just products - how involving teams directly in research builds shared understanding, alignment, and better decision-making across organisations. Why AI accelerates confusion without product clarity - AI only compounds impact when a clear product vision and customer understanding already exist - otherwise, teams simply move faster in the wrong direction. Connect with Michele Learn more about Michele's company, Geocodio: https://www.geocod.io/ Check out the new edition of "Deploy Empathy": https://deployempathy.com/. Connect with Michele on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjwhansen/ Meet Michele at the pub in London! We'll be there on Jan 15th 2026: https://luma.com/xyqi9e2z

Homeless industrial complex and homelessness in minnesotaCanadian newspapers running cover for a collapsing healthcare system,Synthetic eggs??Short Squeeze on Silver Checklist for going live:Name of stream changedIntro songGood Morning, Everyone! Today is date#Cpd #lpc, #ppc, #ndp, #canadianpolitics, #humor, #funny, #republican, #maga, #mcga,Sign Up for the Full ShowLocals (daily video)Sample Showshttps://canadapoli2.locals.com/ Spotify https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/canadapoli/subscribePrivate Full podcast audio https://canadapoli.com/feed/canadapoliblue/Buy subscriptions here (daily video and audio podcast):https://canadapoli.cm/canadapoli-subscriptions/Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/c/CanadaPoli/videosMe on Telegramhttps://t.me/realCanadaPoliMe on Rumblehttps://rumble.com/user/CanadaPoli Me on Odysseyhttps://odysee.com/@CanadaPoli:f Me on Bitchutehttps://www.bitchute.com/channel/l55JBxrgT3Hf/ Podcast RSShttps://anchor.fm/s/e57706d8/podcast/rsshttps://LinkRoll.co Submit a link. Discuss the link. No censorship. (reddit clone without the censorship)

Bitcoin drops, ZCash pops, Synthetic stables lose their peg.

In this episode, Katherine Forrest and Scott Caravello return to their discussion of interactive deepfakes, highlighting state-of-the-art detection tools and techniques. From research frameworks such as the “GOTCHA” challenge and “active probing” via corneal reflections to commercial tools that can be integrated into popular video conferencing apps, they debrief the evolving tech landscape for spotting deepfakes. ## Learn More About Paul, Weiss's Artificial Intelligence practice: https://www.paulweiss.com/industries/artificial-intelligence

115. 5-MeO-DMT Experience ExplainedA grounded conversation on the 5-MeO-DMT experience—how it affects the nervous system, how it differs from DMT, and why safety and integration matter.Episode SummaryWhat is 5-MeO-DMT, and why do people describe it so differently from other psychedelics?In this episode, April Pride sits down with licensed clinicians and facilitators Roger and Dustin to explore the 5-MeO-DMT experience through both lived experience and emerging neuroscience. Often referred to as the God molecule psychedelic, 5-MeO-DMT is widely described as a non-visual psychedelic experience—one that quiets the nervous system rather than amplifying imagery, stories, or symbols.Together, they break down 5-MeO-DMT vs DMT, explain how this compound interacts with serotonin receptors in the brain, and discuss why many people report profound ego dissolution, nervous system regulation, and long-term shifts in how they experience safety and connection.This episode also centers women and psychedelics, examining why women—particularly those who have spent years in control, caretaking, or emotional labor—may feel especially drawn to this form of surrender-based medicine.If you're seeking grounded insight into psychedelic harm reduction, integration after 5-MeO-DMT, and what makes this medicine fundamentally different from other psychedelic experiences, this conversation is an essential listen.

We often think of Large Language Models (LLMs) as all-knowing, but as the team reveals, they still struggle with the logic of a second-grader. Why can't ChatGPT reliably add large numbers? Why does it "hallucinate" the laws of physics? The answer lies in the architecture. This episode explores how *Category Theory* —an ultra-abstract branch of mathematics—could provide the "Periodic Table" for neural networks, turning the "alchemy" of modern AI into a rigorous science.In this deep-dive exploration, *Andrew Dudzik*, *Petar Velichkovich*, *Taco Cohen*, *Bruno Gavranović*, and *Paul Lessard* join host *Tim Scarfe* to discuss the fundamental limitations of today's AI and the radical mathematical framework that might fix them.TRANSCRIPT:https://app.rescript.info/public/share/LMreunA-BUpgP-2AkuEvxA7BAFuA-VJNAp2Ut4MkMWk---Key Insights in This Episode:* *The "Addition" Problem:* *Andrew Dudzik* explains why LLMs don't actually "know" math—they just recognize patterns. When you change a single digit in a long string of numbers, the pattern breaks because the model lacks the internal "machinery" to perform a simple carry operation.* *Beyond Alchemy:* deep learning is currently in its "alchemy" phase—we have powerful results, but we lack a unifying theory. Category Theory is proposed as the framework to move AI from trial-and-error to principled engineering. [00:13:49]* *Algebra with Colors:* To make Category Theory accessible, the guests use brilliant analogies—like thinking of matrices as *magnets with colors* that only snap together when the types match. This "partial compositionality" is the secret to building more complex internal reasoning. [00:09:17]* *Synthetic vs. Analytic Math:* *Paul Lessard* breaks down the philosophical shift needed in AI research: moving from "Analytic" math (what things are made of) to "Synthetic" math [00:23:41]---Why This Matters for AGIIf we want AI to solve the world's hardest scientific problems, it can't just be a "stochastic parrot." It needs to internalize the rules of logic and computation. By imbuing neural networks with categorical priors, researchers are attempting to build a future where AI doesn't just predict the next word—it understands the underlying structure of the universe.---TIMESTAMPS:00:00:00 The Failure of LLM Addition & Physics00:01:26 Tool Use vs Intrinsic Model Quality00:03:07 Efficiency Gains via Internalization00:04:28 Geometric Deep Learning & Equivariance00:07:05 Limitations of Group Theory00:09:17 Category Theory: Algebra with Colors00:11:25 The Systematic Guide of Lego-like Math00:13:49 The Alchemy Analogy & Unifying Theory00:15:33 Information Destruction & Reasoning00:18:00 Pathfinding & Monoids in Computation00:20:15 System 2 Reasoning & Error Awareness00:23:31 Analytic vs Synthetic Mathematics00:25:52 Morphisms & Weight Tying Basics00:26:48 2-Categories & Weight Sharing Theory00:28:55 Higher Categories & Emergence00:31:41 Compositionality & Recursive Folds00:34:05 Syntax vs Semantics in Network Design00:36:14 Homomorphisms & Multi-Sorted Syntax00:39:30 The Carrying Problem & Hopf FibrationsPetar Veličković (GDM)https://petar-v.com/Paul Lessardhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-roy-lessard/Bruno Gavranovićhttps://www.brunogavranovic.com/Andrew Dudzik (GDM)https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-dudzik-222789142/---REFERENCES:Model:[00:01:05] Veohttps://deepmind.google/models/veo/[00:01:10] Geniehttps://deepmind.google/blog/genie-3-a-new-frontier-for-world-models/Paper:[00:04:30] Geometric Deep Learning Blueprinthttps://arxiv.org/abs/2104.13478https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIZB1hIJ4u8[00:16:45] AlphaGeometryhttps://arxiv.org/abs/2401.08312[00:16:55] AlphaCodehttps://arxiv.org/abs/2203.07814[00:17:05] FunSearchhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06924-6[00:37:00] Attention Is All You Needhttps://arxiv.org/abs/1706.03762[00:43:00] Categorical Deep Learninghttps://arxiv.org/abs/2402.15332

Mark Brocato built Mockaroo—the tool that taught millions of developers how to fake data. Now, as Head of Engineering at Tonic.ai, he's building the AI agent that's making his own creation obsolete. In this episode, we explore why static test data can't survive the AI era, what it means to "negotiate" datasets with an agent instead of scripting them, and whether we're heading toward a future where sandbox environments vanish entirely. From the hidden failures of legacy mocks to the security implications of agent-driven synthesis, Mark reveals what happens when data generation becomes a conversation—not a pipeline.   Sponsors   Tonic.ai Synthetic data solutions for software and AI development. Accelerate engineering velocity and ensure compliance with AI-powered data synthesis   This episode is brought to you by Statistical Horizons  At Statistical Horizons, you can stay ahead with expert-led livestream seminars that make data analytics and AI methods practical and accessible. Join thousands of researchers and professionals who've advanced their careers with Statistical Horizons. Get $200 off any seminar with code DATA25 at https://statisticalhorizons.com  

For thousands of years, diamonds have been among the most valuable substances on Earth.  Diamonds are not only the hardest substances known, but they are also incredibly hard to find.  However, in the last several decades, researchers have discovered ways to make diamonds in the lab, and they are now being made at scale. It has the potential to revolutionize multiple industries. Learn more about synthetic diamonds and how they are forever changing the use and value of diamonds on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Quince Go to quince.com/daily for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order! Mint Mobile Get your 3-month Unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/eed Chubbies Get 20% off your purchase at Chubbies with the promo code DAILY at checkout! Aura Frames Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/DAILY. Promo Code DAILY DripDrop Go to dripdrop.com and use promo code EVERYTHING for 20% off your first order. Uncommon Goods Go to uncommongoods.com/DAILY for 15% off! Subscribe to the podcast!  https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/ -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Austin Oetken & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/  Disce aliquid novi cotidie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thousands of Americans die each year after overdosing on illicit synthetic drugs, including synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Transnational criminal organizations have played a central role in fueling this health crisis here in the United States. In…

Gemini 3 was a landmark frontier model launch in AI this year — but the story behind its performance isn't just about adding more compute. In this episode, I sit down with Sebastian Bourgeaud, a pre-training lead for Gemini 3 at Google DeepMind and co-author of the seminal RETRO paper. In his first-ever podcast interview, Sebastian takes us inside the lab mindset behind Google's most powerful model — what actually changed, and why the real work today is no longer “training a model,” but building a full system.We unpack the “secret recipe” idea — the notion that big leaps come from better pre-training and better post-training — and use it to explore a deeper shift in the industry: moving from an “infinite data” era to a data-limited regime, where curation, proxies, and measurement matter as much as web-scale volume. Sebastian explains why scaling laws aren't dead, but evolving, why evals have become one of the hardest and most underrated problems (including benchmark contamination), and why frontier research is increasingly a full-stack discipline that spans data, infrastructure, and engineering as much as algorithms.From the intuition behind Deep Think, to the rise (and risks) of synthetic data loops, to the future of long-context and retrieval, this is a technical deep dive into the physics of frontier AI. We also get into continual learning — what it would take for models to keep updating with new knowledge over time, whether via tools, expanding context, or new training paradigms — and what that implies for where foundation models are headed next. If you want a grounded view of pre-training in late 2025 beyond the marketing layer, this conversation is a blueprint.Google DeepMindWebsite - https://deepmind.googleX/Twitter - https://x.com/GoogleDeepMindSebastian BorgeaudLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastian-borgeaud-8648a5aa/X/Twitter - https://x.com/borgeaud_sFIRSTMARKWebsite - https://firstmark.comX/Twitter - https://twitter.com/FirstMarkCapMatt Turck (Managing Director)Blog - https://mattturck.comLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/turck/X/Twitter - https://twitter.com/mattturck(00:00) – Cold intro: “We're ahead of schedule” + AI is now a system(00:58) – Oriol's “secret recipe”: better pre- + post-training(02:09) – Why AI progress still isn't slowing down(03:04) – Are models actually getting smarter?(04:36) – Two–three years out: what changes first?(06:34) – AI doing AI research: faster, not automated(07:45) – Frontier labs: same playbook or different bets?(10:19) – Post-transformers: will a disruption happen?(10:51) – DeepMind's advantage: research × engineering × infra(12:26) – What a Gemini 3 pre-training lead actually does(13:59) – From Europe to Cambridge to DeepMind(18:06) – Why he left RL for real-world data(20:05) – From Gopher to Chinchilla to RETRO (and why it matters)(20:28) – “Research taste”: integrate or slow everyone down(23:00) – Fixes vs moonshots: how they balance the pipeline(24:37) – Research vs product pressure (and org structure)(26:24) – Gemini 3 under the hood: MoE in plain English(28:30) – Native multimodality: the hidden costs(30:03) – Scaling laws aren't dead (but scale isn't everything)(33:07) – Synthetic data: powerful, dangerous(35:00) – Reasoning traces: what he can't say (and why)(37:18) – Long context + attention: what's next(38:40) – Retrieval vs RAG vs long context(41:49) – The real boss fight: evals (and contamination)(42:28) – Alignment: pre-training vs post-training(43:32) – Deep Think + agents + “vibe coding”(46:34) – Continual learning: updating models over time(49:35) – Advice for researchers + founders(53:35) – “No end in sight” for progress + closing

Louie ends the KY Racing Spotlight with Matthew DeSantis. They preview the late pick 5 at Turfway Park on Sunday.

PTF grabs Twinspires.com's Darin Zoccali to preview the Turfway Synthetic Championships this weekend and the $1500 Tournament on Twinspires.com. Mikee P. is back from the Symposium on Racing in enough time for the weekly JRA segment with Alex Henry to talk Hanshin Juvenile Fillies G1 over 1600m this Saturday night.

PTF grabs Twinspires.com's Darin Zoccali to preview the Turfway Synthetic Championships this weekend and the $1500 Tournament on Twinspires.com. Mikee P. is back from the Symposium on Racing in enough time for the weekly JRA segment with Alex Henry to talk Hanshin Juvenile Fillies G1 over 1600m this Saturday night.

EP.608Did pop music hit its high note in 1970 and start sliding downhill after? In this episode, we unpack James Perloff's deep dive into what he calls pop's “golden year.” From soulful ballads and lush orchestration to disco fever and corporate playlists, we look at how melody, meaning, and variety gave way to formula and repetition. Perloff connects the dots between music, media control, and cultural engineering asking whether the decline was just changing tastes or something more deliberate. Part nostalgia trip, part cultural postmortem, it's a fascinating look at how the soundtrack of our lives got standardized.

Friend-of-the-show J.D. Fox stops by to preview Turfway's late sequence on Saturday, which includes four stakes.

John reveals his least favorite candy and learns what beloved TV special killed the aluminum Christmas tree industry. Meanwhile, Jonnie has lunch with some comedian pals and tells the tale of the Pet Rock craze of the 1970s. Plus, a conversation about red flags, toxic people, and how weaponized “therapy talk” has led to a loneliness epidemic. Today's episode is NOT sponsored by Trail Mix: “It’s the healthiest way to eat a pound of M&M’s.” FOLLOW Jonnie W: https://jonniew.com FOLLOW John Driver: https://johndriver.com LISTEN, SUBSCRIBE, SEND MESSAGE, OR SUPPORT at http://talkaboutthatpodcast.com WATCH/SUBSCRIBE on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwjExy_jWIdNvGd28XgF2Dg Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

In this episode, Katherine Forrest and Scott Caravello examine how deepfakes have evolved from static clips to adaptive, real-time impersonation driven by identity engines and behavioral replication. They explain why sensor-consistent forensics are being spoofed, the implications of the zero-trust evidence era for courts and companies, and how regulators and insurers are responding—plus concrete steps on provenance controls and incident response. ## Learn More About Paul, Weiss's Artificial Intelligence practice: https://www.paulweiss.com/industries/artificial-intelligence

We enjoyed giving a virtual keynote for the Autonomous Summit on December 4, 2025, titled Becoming Synthetic: What AI Is Doing To Us, Not Just For Us. We talked about our research on how to maintain human agency & cognitive sovereignty, the philosophical question of what it means to be human, and our new(ish) approach to create better AI tools called unDesign. unDesign is not the absence of design nor is it anti-design. It's design oriented differently. The history of design has been a project of reducing uncertainty. Making things legible. Signaling affordances. Good design means you never have to wonder what to do.Undesign inverts this and uses "uns" as design material. The unknown. The unpredictable. The unplanned. These aren't bugs. They're the medium where value actually lives. Because uncertainty is the condition of genuine encounter. unDesign doesn't design outcomes—it designs the space where outcomes can emerge.You can watch the full keynote below. Check it out!

Sponsored By: → Cornbread Hemp | For an exclusive offer go to cornbreadhemp.com/drg and use promo code DRG and take advantage of holiday BOGO savings and enjoy free shipping on orders over $45!  → Puori | Go to puori.com/drg and use code DRG and save 32% on your first subscription order. If it's not your first, then get 20% off site wide. The code works on already discounted subscriptions. Get My Brand Masterlist ⁠https://drchristiangonzalez.com/best-brands-form-2-2/ Episode Description You trust the electrolyte label that says "clean hydration" and "pure minerals." But a shocking new investigation reveals most brands can't prove it. Dr. Christian Gonzalez reached out to 33 of the biggest electrolyte companies—including Liquid I.V., LMNT, Ultima, Nuun, and Trace Minerals—with one simple request: show proof your minerals are tested for heavy metals, PFAS, mold, and contaminants through Certificates of Analysis (COAs). The results? Twenty-five brands disappeared, dodged questions, or flat-out refused to respond. Only EIGHT companies could stand behind their claims with real data. This isn't about being picky—it's about protecting your cellular function, nervous system, and hormonal balance from daily toxic exposure. When you consume contaminated electrolytes multiple times a day, you're compounding exposure to chemicals that disrupt every electrical signal in your body, from mood regulation to heartbeat. The hidden contaminants lurking in popular electrolyte powders: • PFAS (Forever Chemicals) linked to hormonal imbalance, thyroid disruption, and immune dysfunction • Heavy metals including arsenic, lead, and cadmium that accumulate in tissues and impair detoxification • Mold and bacterial contamination from compromised mineral sourcing and manufacturing • Synthetic fillers like artificial sweeteners, colors, and flow agents that burden your liver • Toxic packaging that makes the container itself part of the contamination problem In this episode, Dr. Christian Gonzalez exposes the 2025 Electrolyte Purity Audit and reveals: • The full list of 33 brands tested—and which ones refused to respond or failed safety standards • The ONLY 8 electrolyte brands that passed with transparency, clean COAs, and verified testing • Why major names like Liquid I.V., Ultima, Nuun, Dr. Berg, and Thorne couldn't (or wouldn't) provide proof • The marketing manipulation behind "clean hydration" and "pure mineral" claims • How to identify truly clean electrolytes and protect yourself from daily mineral contamination • The cellular damage, hormonal disruption, and nervous system dysfunction caused by chronic electrolyte toxin exposure This episode goes beyond hydration—it's about understanding that electrolytes control your body's cellular electricity. It's about taking back control of what you put in your body every single day, and demanding transparency from an industry built on marketing hype, not real science. Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 1:34 - The Truth About Electrolytes & Nervous System Health 4:22 - What We Asked Every Company (Testing Criteria) 5:56 - Companies That Failed Transparency Standards 8:27 - How Sodium & Potassium Balance Affects Hydration 9:36 - Why Food-Based Formulas Need Heavy Metal Testing 10:43 - The Role of Magnesium in 300+ Body Functions 11:50 - High Sodium Without Potassium: The Cortisol Connection 12:58 - Why Whole Food Ingredients Absorb Heavy Metals 14:55 - How TMG Supports Your Methylation Cycle 16:07 - Potassium's Role in Preventing Anxiety & Heart Palpitations 16:52 - Fulvic & Humic Minerals: Ancient Soil vs Salt-Based 18:05 - Final Results: Only 8 Brands Passed Full Testing

Thank you to our Sponsor, Uniswap! Ethereum Fusaka is live, Infinex has embarked on its token sale, Hyperliquid is bolstering its HIP-3 markets and there is drama in Solana's DeFi land. In this episode of Uneasy Money, hosts Kain Warwick, Luca Netz and Taylor Monahan delve into the significance and implications of the Fusaka upgrade and the controversy surrounding Infinex's token sale. They also take a look at the promise and risks of Hyperliquid's buzzing perp futures markets on tokenized equities and Kamino's controversial response to competition from Jupiter. In addition, they touch on Anthropic's smart contract study and the recent Yearn Finance exploit. Hosts: Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins Kain Warwick, Founder of Infinex and Synthetix Taylor Monahan, Security at MetaMask Links: Unchained: Cheaper Fees and No More Free Lunch for Layer 2s? Inside Ethereum's Fusaka Upgrade Ethereum's Layer 1 Lacks a Perp DEX. Synthetix Intends to Change That HIP-3 Records $500 Million in Daily Volume Uneasy Money: Hyperliquid's Dilemma After 10/10: Protect Itself or Its Users? Uneasy Money: ICOs Are Back and Why Airdrops Are Instantly Dumped Timestamps:

326: Ever bite into a “healthy” snack and wonder what mystery vitamins are actually hiding in there? Today we're talking about all things betacarotene, why some versions are the real deal and others are basically dressed up imposters, and how to tell the difference without needing a chemistry degree... From spotting synthetic ingredients to getting your vitamin A naturally from foods that are not just carrots.  Topics Discussed: → Risks associated with synthetic Vitamin A → Benefits of NATURAL vitamin A → How synthetic vitamin A is produced → Names to look for on a label  → Foods containing natural vitamin A Show Links:  → Peak Performance Vitamin A As always, if you have any questions for the show please email us at digestthispod@gmail.com. And if you like this show, please share it, rate it, review it and subscribe to it on your favorite podcast app.  Sponsored By:  → Equip Foods | Code LILSIPPER gets you 20% off at https://equipfoods.com/lilsipper  → Ollie | Head to https://www.myollie.com/digest/ and use code DIGEST to get 60% off your first box and give your pup the digestive support they need.  → ARMRA | Use code DIGEST for 30% off at https://tryarmra.com/digest → Fatty15 | For 15% off the starter kit go to https://fatty15.com/digest → Pique Life | https://piquelife.com/digest for up to 20% OFF and a free starter kit Check Out Bethany: → Bethany's Instagram: @lilsipper → YouTube → Bethany's Website → Discounts & My Favorite Products → My Digestive Support Protein Powder → Gut Reset Book  → Get my Newsletters (Friday Finds) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are your vitamins actually working? Discover five critical red flags that could mean your multivitamin quality is low, poorly absorbed, or causing more harm than good. From synthetic ingredients to dangerous fillers, learn how to choose supplements that truly support your health—not drain your wallet. This episode reveals what to look for on labels and why bioavailability matters more than you think. 5 KEY TAKEAWAYS Bioavailability Matters Most – Not all vitamin forms are created equal. Cyanocobalamin (cheap B12) can trigger inflammation and anxiety, while methylcobalamin is properly absorbed and utilized by your body. Always check for methylated forms of B vitamins and quality mineral chelates. Artificial Dyes Are Dangerous – Red Dye 40 and other fillers serve no nutritional purpose and are linked to inflammation, digestive imbalances, ADHD symptoms, and potential colon cancer risk. Up to 83% of supplements on Amazon contain unexpected ingredients or lack what's promised on the label. Under-Dosing Is Widespread – Most store-brand multivitamins contain trace amounts that provide no therapeutic benefit. For example, 800 IU of vitamin D won't raise deficient levels—you need at least 5,000 IU daily with K2 for optimal absorption and immune function. Folic Acid vs. Methylfolate Is Critical – If you have MTHFR gene mutations (extremely common), synthetic folic acid can cause depression, fatigue, and digestive issues. Your body needs methylfolate—the active form that actually works, especially important for pregnant women and those with chronic health conditions. Amino Acids Are Non-Negotiable – A true multivitamin should include amino acids like choline, arginine, methionine, lysine, taurine, and N-acetylcysteine. These are the building blocks of DNA and protein that support detoxification, energy production, and overall cellular function. FEATURED PRODUCT Good Poops Protocol – Even the highest-quality vitamins won't work if your gut can't absorb them. The Good Poops Protocol is designed to repair and support your digestive tract, ensuring optimal nutrient absorption and breakdown.  Get it here: https://mswnutrition.com/pages/good-poops-org TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – START – Welcome and episode overview 02:15 – Introduction to MSW Nutrition and the importance of quality supplements 04:30 – Red Flag #1: Poor bioavailability and why methylcobalamin beats cyanocobalamin 08:45 – The magnesium problem: glycinate vs. oxide and how to choose 11:20 – Red Flag #2: Artificial colors, dyes, and dangerous fillers in supplements 14:40 – Why MSW Nutrition supplements aren't on Amazon 17:30 – Red Flag #3: Under-dosing and why most multivitamins fail 20:15 – The vitamin D3 deficiency crisis and the importance of K2 23:45 – Red Flag #4: Synthetic folic acid vs. methylfolate and MTHFR mutations 27:30 – How MTHFR testing changed everything for proper supplementation 30:20 – Red Flag #5: The absence of amino acids in most multivitamins 33:10 – Why glutathione in oral form is a game-changer 35:45 – Final thoughts: Don't waste money on inferior supplements RESOURCES Example of Low-Quality Multivitamin Label – Common store-brand showing cyanocobalamin and synthetic ingredients https://www.naturemade.com/products/advanced-multivitamin-gummies-for-her?variant=41844880539787#pid=2 Red Dye 40 Health Risks – Research on inflammation, allergies, and hyperactivity links https://www.health.com/red-dye-40-8610527 Safety Concerns with Amazon Supplements – Study showing 83% contain unexpected ingredients https://www.verywellhealth.com/safety-of-amazon-supplements-6500961 Hidden Dangers of Buying Supplements from Amazon – Counterfeit products and contamination risks https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/nutrition/the-hidden-dangers-of-buying-supplements-from-amazon/ar-AA1FF5vB MSW Nutrition Boost Multivitamin – High-quality example with methylated vitamins and amino acids https://mswnutrition.com/collections/best-sellers-1/products/boost?variant=29599579078728 CONNECT

The weather continues to deteriorate, Jonathan Greenard calls in and talks about the morale of his squad after some recent struggles

The weather continues to deteriorate, Jonathan Greenard calls in and talks about the morale of his squad after some recent strugglesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Johnny sits down with Pete Polis — a former Long Island baseball standout who went from MLB prospect… to becoming one of the largest dealers in Washington state history. Pete's story sounds like something ripped straight out of Breaking Bad. After a promising baseball career with stints in the Blue Jays and Yankees organizations, a series of self-sabotaging choices pushed him out of the sport he loved. Settling into small-town life in Washington, Pete lived straight — raising kids, running a furniture store, and even building a massive food bank that fed hundreds of thousands. Then one conversation in his garage changed everything. What started with OxyContin and fentanyl patches evolved into full-scale trafficking. Pete quickly found himself moving hundreds of pounds of meth and heroin weekly, working directly with suppliers tied to the Sinaloa cartel. He watched the early waves of America's fentanyl crisis from the inside — and unknowingly helped introduce the drug that would devastate the region. After a federal takedown and serious prison time, Pete is now fully legit, running sober-living homes and helping addicts rebuild their lives. This is a wild, emotional, and brutally honest look at how fast a normal life can turn criminal — and how redemption is still possible. Need help staying sober? Check out Pete's sober-living homes. https://www.seasonshousing.org/ This Episode Is #Sponsored By The Following: Mando! Control Body Odor ANYWHERE with @shop.mando and get 20% off + free shipping with promo code MITCHELL at https://shopmando.com ! #mandopod Ridge! Take advantage of Ridge's Biggest Sale of the Year and GET UP TO 47% Off by going to https://www.Ridge.com/CONNECT #ridgepod Join The Patreon For Bonus Content! https://www.patreon.com/theconnectshow 00:00 Pete's Early Life & Baseball Dreams 07:45 Growing Up Around Crime & Sports 13:00 Minor League Baseball: Challenges and Setbacks 23:00 Early Baseball Problems & Canada 26:03 Start Smelling Good With MANDO 28:16 Fight, Ejection & Minor League Life 32:45 Success in Sales, Setbacks, and the Road to Tri Cities 44:30 Falling Into Drug Circles and New Temptations 46:57 Get Up To 47% OFF At Ridge 48:43 First Steps Into Opioid Dealing 55:50 Prescription Pills and Fentanyl Patches 01:03:00 Cartel Connections & Expanding Operations 01:11:00 The Furniture Store Double Life 01:20:00 Rising Paranoia and Deeper Into the Game 01:31:30 Fentanyl Changes Everything: Addiction and Fallout 01:40:50 Addiction, Violence, and the Law Closing In 01:47:30 Getting Caught: Law Enforcement and Sentencing 02:03:00 Withdrawal, Consequences, and Reflection 02:09:30 Building a New Life After Prison 02:13:50 Seasons Housing and Redemption 02:15:30 Conclusion and Bonus Content Announcement Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are multivitamins bad for you? How could that be? In this video, I'll share the truth about the multivitamin scam. Find out about the vitamins you should never take, supplements that don't work, and the harmful ingredients in your supplements. 0:00 Introduction: Multivitamins truth0:19 Harmful ingredients in supplements 1:45 Synthetic vs. natural vitamins 3:38 Do multivitamins really work?9:32 Natural vitamins and minerals11:17 Fake vitamins exposed! Many multivitamins are made with the cheapest, synthetic ingredients which could be doing more harm than good.The first ingredient in many multivitamins is often calcium carbonate, which is limestone! The first ingredient usually makes up the majority of the product. Magnesium oxide, another common ingredient, is very cheap and has the lowest absorption rate compared to other forms of magnesium. The term “natural” isn't regulated, so ingredients derived from sources such as petroleum and coal tar can be labeled as natural. In nature, vitamins don't exist alone; they are combined with other nutrients and cofactors, which are often missing when you take synthetic vitamins. Biochemistry can not work without cofactors. Although there are nutrients that are difficult to obtain in sufficient amounts from food, that doesn't mean they should be replaced with synthetic multivitamins.Maltodextrin is commonly used as a filler in vitamins and minerals. It's a highly refined industrial starch, classified as a complex carbohydrate, and spikes blood sugar more than sugar. Ascorbic acid is a synthetic part of the vitamin C complex. Approximately 90% is made in China from GMO corn and sulfuric acid. Many people have a genetic issue converting cyanocobalamin, a synthetic form of B12, and folic acid, a synthetic form of B9, into their active forms. This can cause negative side effects in 40% of the population.Almost all of the popular multivitamins are owned by Big Pharma, Big Food, Big Chemical, or large investment groups. For example, Centrum Silver is owned by Pfizer, and One a Day is owned by Bayer. Nature Made is owned by the same company that sells Abilify!Dr. Eric Berg DC Bio:Dr. Berg, age 60, is a chiropractor who specializes in Healthy Ketosis & Intermittent Fasting. He is the Director of Dr. Berg Nutritionals and author of the best-selling book The Healthy Keto Plan. He no longer practices, but focuses on health education through social media.Disclaimer: Dr. Eric Berg received his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1988. His use of “doctor” or “Dr.” in relation to himself solely refers to that degree. Dr. Berg is a licensed chiropractor in Virginia, California, and Louisiana, but he no longer practices chiropractic in any state and does not see patients, so he can focus on educating people as a full-time activity, yet he maintains an active license. This video is for general informational purposes only. It should not be used to self-diagnose, and it is not a substitute for a medical exam, cure, treatment, diagnosis, prescription, or recommendation. It does not create a doctor-patient relationship between Dr. Berg and you. You should not make any change in your health regimen or diet before first consulting a physician and obtaining a medical exam, diagnosis, and recommendation. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

When the thyroid gland stops working efficiently, the effects resound throughout the entire body. That's because this little gland controls metabolism in all our tissues. Before there was a treatment, thyroid disease was sometimes deadly. Doctors started prescribing natural desiccated thyroid derived from animals 130 years ago. This worked well. Synthetic levothyroxine (a thyroid hormone) […]