Interesting Times

Afleveringen

1. ‘A Golden Age of Science’ Brought to You by the White House

   22 oktober 2026 · 46 min

   Afspelen
   The Trump administration wants to accelerate the use of artificial intelligence for scientific discovery. But can its plan succeed without prioritizing universities? Lees meer

   Guest host Tyler Cowen speaks with Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s top science and technology adviser, about the White House’s new blueprint for American innovation and what it means for the next generation of scientists.

   00:00 Intro

   00:54 The model for scientific research today

   02:49 What's the scientific evidence that science has been broken?

   04:38 What are the administration’s science funding priorities?

   10:55 What's the role of universities in training scientists?

   16:31 Science and immigration policy: are we getting it wrong?

   18:55 Who has the final say over what gets funded?

   24:43 Should political appointees have the ability to block particular grants?

   28:29 Longevity science vs. a man on the moon

   29:16 Why is Trump calling it superintelligence vs. artificial intelligence?

   30:46 Does the White House think AI safety concerns are a "hoax"?

   34:50 Should the federal government fund a lot more AI safety research?

   39:07 How much could scientific discovery be turbocharged in the next five years?

   41:00 A.I. regulation & preventing backlash

   Note: As we work on relaunching “Interesting Times,” the show will feature a series of guest hosts in the coming months.

   (A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)

   Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times.

   Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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2. What the Frontier Labs Know That We Don’t

   15 oktober 2026 · 50 min

   Afspelen
   Dwarkesh Patel is one of the most important voices in the artificial intelligence world. Deeply embedded in San Francisco’s tech community, he has interviewed nearly every tech chief executive at length. Lees meer

   This week’s guest host, Tyler Cowen, a professor of economics at George Mason University, sits down with Mr. Patel to discuss why researchers are resigning, whether A.I. could become conscious and if he’ll ever get an A.I. girlfriend.

   Note: As we work on relaunching “Interesting Times,” the show will feature a series of guest hosts in the coming months.

   00:00 Intro

   01:31 What Inspired the “Dwarkesh Podcast”

   02:47 Documenting Wild Human History

   04:18 What The Public Doesn’t Understand About A.I.

   06:25 The Mood in San Francisco

   06:51 Dwarkesh Didn’t See This Coming

   09:08 Should More A.I. Researchers Resign?

   11:09 Unreleased Frontier Models

   13:26 Pausing A.I.

   15:45 A.I. Psychosis & Consciousness

   21:14 What Tech Bros Do for Fun

   23:50 Bay Area Culture

   24:06 A.I. Boyfriends v. Girlfriends

   26:02 Are A.I. Therapists Good?

   26:54 What Dwarkesh Got Wrong

   27:44 What’s The Next Big Thing?

   29:13 Robot Predictions

   30:26 What Jobs Are Safe?

   35:21 The Speed of A.I. Adoption

   37:12 Milestones To Watch

   42:58 What If 2035 Looks Normal?

   44:39 Dwarkesh In 2045

   46:27 Skepticism On A.I. Revenue

   48:01 How Podcasting Has Changed Dwarkesh

   (A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)

   Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times.

   Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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3. That Daily Brain Rot Break Is Taking Us Back to the Dark Ages

   8 oktober 2026 · 49 min

   Afspelen
   Literacy is declining sharply across the West. In the era of vertical video, who has the time or concentration to read a long article — let alone a whole book? Lees meer

   As we lose the ability to read long-form text, we might also be losing the capacity for democratic deliberation and self-governance. That’s the argument this week’s guest, the Times of London columnist James Marriott, makes in his recent book, “The New Dark Ages.” He sits down with guest host Mary Harrington to discuss our return to oral culture, the political consequences and what we can learn from the medieval era about storing information in a digital world.

   Note: As we work on relaunching “Interesting Times,” the show will feature a series of guest hosts in the coming months.

   00:00 Intro

   00:52 What Is Post-Literacy

   02:05 The Data Behind the Decline

   05:21 The Shift Toward Video

   09:44 Why Reading Is Hard

   10:45 Walter Ong on Oral vs. Literate Cultures

   14:27 Tribal Politics and Emotion

   18:21 The Reading Revolution

   21:14 Literacy as an Engine for Democracy

   25:15 Medieval Literary Culture

   27:27 What We Can Learn the Medieval Era

   30:13 Remembering Everything and Nothing

   33:49 How Bukele Communicates Visually

   37:04 Monarchy vs. Dictatorship

   41:38 Is Postliteracy a Right-Wing Phenomenon?

   43:29 Can We Resist the Slide?

   46:33 Closing

   (A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)

   Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times.

   Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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4. We Are Clueless About What’s Coming

   1 oktober 2026 · 51 min

   Afspelen
   Nick Bostrom rose to prominence for predicting artificial intelligence doom more than a decade ago — garnering support from figures like Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Bill Gates. But now he’s retreating from those warnings, focusing his attention on a more complex question: What if A.I. succeeds beyond humanity’s wildest imaginations? Will we be bored out of our minds? Are we too infantile to understand what’s coming? Lees meer

   Guest host Spencer Klavan, the associate editor at the Claremont Review of Books, presses Bostrom on the potential uses and abuses of superintelligence, rationalist ethics and what makes us human.

   Note: As we work on relaunching “Interesting Times,” the show will feature a series of guest hosts in the coming months.

   00:00 Intro
   01:07 What is P(doom)?
   04:44 Bostrom’s Doomsday Scenarios
   06:14 Vulnerable World Hypothesis
   08:27 The Best-Case Scenario of Superintelligence
   12:37 The Problems We Can’t Solve in Utopia
   14:47 Paths to Superintelligence
   17:02 What Kind of Utopia Do We Want to Live In?
   21:56 The Values Worth Keeping in Utopia
   32:42 Bostrom’s Influence on Effective Altruism
   38:04 Are Existential Warnings Helpful?
   43:52 The Trajectory of Humanity
   46:51 Why Bostrom Wants Utopia

   (A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)

   Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times.

   Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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5. How Worried Should We Be About the Midterm Elections?

   24 september 2026 · 45 min

   Afspelen
   Many Americans are losing faith in elections. Proposed solutions from across the political spectrum to restore faith in the process — early voting, mail-in ballot restrictions and voter ID laws — seem to have the opposite effect. Lees meer

   But lack of trust in elections is a symptom of a broader problem: America is living through an era of democratic dissatisfaction. That’s what the New York University law professor Richard Pildes argues on this episode of “Interesting Times.” He and the guest host, Sarah Isgur, the editor of SCOTUSblog, discuss why Americans are so worried about the midterms and how to fix our electoral system and restore trust.

   00:00 Existential Election Anxiety
   02:38 Era of Democratic Dissatisfaction
   04:21 Were Recent Election Reforms a Mistake?
   06:09 Campaign Finance Reform
   09:22 SCOTUS and Trump’s Mail-In Ballot Executive Order
   13:57 Why Did Trump Target Absentee Ballots?
   20:32 Should There Be a National Voter Database?
   23:58 Proof Of Citizenship Debate
   29:48 What Should SCOTUS Do?
   35:47 Partisan Manipulation in Elections
   42:24 Can the Midterms Be Stolen?
   44:51 Closing Thoughts

   (A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)

   Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.

   Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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6. Trump Is Getting Even Richer. Is That a Crime?

   10 september 2026 · 43 min

   Afspelen
   President Trump made more than $2 billion last year — far exceeding his presidential salary of $400,000. His growing fortunes are raising questions about his allegiance to investors, particularly foreign ones, as he makes policy decisions and shapes the direction of the country. Lees meer

   The contributing Opinion writer Christopher Caldwell and the Harvard law professor Jack Goldsmith discuss how the president has amassed this fortune, whether it’s legal and if the United States is becoming a kleptocracy.

   Note: As we work on relaunching 'Interesting Times,' the show will feature a series of guest hosts in the coming months.

   00:00 Why Trump’s Wealth Is Unusual
   01:30 Presidential Ethics Before Trump
   02:28 Trump’s Crypto and Foreign Money Flows
   06:12 Is It a Kleptocracy?
   07:36 What’s Unconstitutional About Trump’s Finances
   10:43 The U.A.E. and Trump’s Foreign Policy
   13:41 How Trump’s Weaponization Is Changing Government
   16:42 What Congress Could Do
   18:59 The Tit for Tat Weaponization
   24:13 Can Trump Pardon Himself?
   26:57 The “Deep-State” Crackdown
   36:59 Oversight Norms and Voter Verdict
   42:46 Closing Thoughts

   (A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)

   Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times.

   Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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7. Ross Douthat and Ezra Klein on the Art of Persuasion

   27 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 14 min

   Afspelen
   “Interesting Times” is on a brief hiatus. Before we return next month, we’re bringing you an interview from “The Ezra Klein Show” with Ross Douthat about his 17 years as a conservative columnist at The New York Times. But Ross and Ezra go back even further, to the nascent days of political blogging. They talk about the seismic changes they’ve witnessed in the media industry over the years and the art of changing minds. Lees meer

   (A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website here.)

   Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times.

   Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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8. Bryan Johnson’s Blueprint for a 150-Year Life: Is It Worth It?

   13 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 5 min

   Afspelen
   For my final episode as host of “Interesting Times,” I wanted a fitting finale — a conversation that encapsulates the ambition of this show: examining how seemingly radical ideas are steadily entering the mainstream of American politics, technology and culture. Few ideas are as radical as the hope of significant life extension and the quest to live forever. Lees meer

   My guest today thinks he can outrun death. After selling his tech company for hundreds of millions of dollars and experiencing a profound religious crisis, Bryan Johnson turned his own body into the ultimate science project, centered on an explicit mission: Don’t die.

   But why does Johnson want to live forever, and what lessons can his algorithmically driven lifestyle bring to the rest of us?

   It’s been an honor hosting this podcast and navigating these strange waters with you. “Interesting Times” will be back with new episodes and new hosts in the fall.

   0:00 Why Bryan Johnson Wants to Defeat Death

   1:18 The Core Premise of "Don't Die" vs. Immortality

   3:26 Selling Braintree/Venmo & Personal Collapse

   6:33 Leaving the Mormon Church & Searching for Meaning

   7:45 Launching Project Blueprint: Body as Philosophy

   11:35 Bryan Johnson’s Daily Longevity Routine & Biological Age Metrics

   15:06 How AI Builds "Autonomous Health" for the Human Body

   17:58 The Best Habits to Optimize Health: Sleep & Heart Rate

   21:32 Blueprint Products, Supplements, & Testing

   23:46 Reversing Biological Aging: Saunas & HBOT

   25:24 Can Psychedelics Extend Lifespan? Psilocybin Longevity Trials

   31:07 How Falling in Love Has Changed His Perspective

   34:06 Diagnosed with an Incurable Autoimmune Disease

   35:51 The Risk of Gerontocracy

   53:53 Can Humanity Defeat Death? Societal & Philosophical Impacts

   (A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)

   Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.

   Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or …

9. Scott Galloway: America Abandoned Its ‘Unremarkable’ Young Men

   6 augustus 2026 · 43 min

   Afspelen
   What does a liberal solution to the masculinity crisis look like? As men fall behind in the American educational system and the economy, they’re looking for meaning — and often find it in the wrong places. Lees meer

   My guest today is Scott Galloway, a professor at N.Y.U.’s Stern School of Business. Galloway is an unlikely masculinity guru — he’s a liberal academic, a business founder and a married father.

   He had a lot to say about the social and economic reasons young men seem to be struggling, but he’s still optimistic about the future.

   Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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10. How Older Americans Hoard the Future

    30 juli 2026 · 53 min

    Afspelen
    American leaders are staying in office past their prime. Boomers are reluctant to relinquish control — from political offices to corner offices — to the detriment of their juniors. In a society where the elderly hold so much power, should younger generations revolt? Lees meer

    My guest today is Samuel Moyn, a professor at Yale Law School, and he argues that American democracy is distorted by the power of the old. We discuss how seniors have hoarded wealth and influence and how Americans can renew an intergenerational compact.

    0:00 The Tyranny of the Elderly

    2:01 From Joe Biden to Mitch McConnell

    4:19 Europe's Anti-Gerontocracy

    5:15 Politicians are the ‘Tip of the Iceberg’

    7:07 The Dark Side of Longevity

    9:40 How Age Impacts Policy

    15:10 The Age Wealth Gap

    20:21 How About Millennials?

    23:28 Age Limits and Youth Power

    38:14 Care Hoarding and Family Burdens

    44:54 The Assisted Suicide Debate

    50:14 Personal Stakes

    (A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)

    Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat.

    Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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