Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ cross-disciplinary economist–philosopher debates • culture, modernism, multiculturalism, internet/cancel/woke politics • values, persuasion, disagreement • power, protest, war, socialism • rituals, education • love, romance, pop culture • forecasting, markets
This podcast stages extended conversations between economist Robin Hanson and philosopher Agnes Callard, who approach shared questions with different disciplinary habits, standards of argument, and intuitions about what counts as an explanation. Across the episodes, they use that contrast to probe how people form beliefs, justify values, and coordinate with others in modern social life.
Much of the discussion centers on culture and politics: public activism and protest, “woke” and cancel-culture dynamics, multiculturalism, elites and expertise, internet culture, and broader worries about cultural crisis and social change over time. Related conversations examine persuasion and disagreement—why arguments turn into fights, how alienation emerges, and what makes certain ideas feel taboo, “weird,” or esoteric.
Another recurring thread is moral psychology and practical life. The hosts analyze concepts such as respect, resentment, power, ritual, inspiration, and romantic validation, as well as questions about potential versus achievement and perfection versus greatness. They also consider whether and how values can change, and what kinds of education or self-cultivation matter after formal schooling.
The show often draws on canonical texts and recognizable cultural objects to ground abstract issues, engaging with figures like Plato, Orwell, and Kafka and with contemporary pop-cultural phenomena. It also sometimes branches into speculative or future-oriented topics, including prediction markets, fertility, cryonics, psychoanalysis, and the relationship between theoretical and practical reason. Transcripts are provided for episodes, supporting close reading of the arguments.
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Episodes:
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Seeing Like A State (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2026-Jun-14
62 minutes
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Esotericism (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson, with Oliver Traldi)
2026-May-31
64 minutes
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Can We Change Values? (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2026-Feb-01
57 minutes
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Continuing Education (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson, with Arnold Brooks)
2026-Jan-25
67 minutes
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War (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2026-Jan-18
59 minutes
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The Crisis of Culture (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2025-Oct-23
61 minutes
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The World of Yesterday (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2025-Sep-28
61 minutes
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Taylor Swift's Engagement (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2025-Sep-11
62 minutes
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Orwell and Socialism (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2025-Aug-10
54 minutes
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Weird (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2025-Jul-31
61 minutes
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Plato's Republic (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with Arnold Brooks)
2025-Jul-24
72 minutes
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Ritual (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2025-Jul-17
62 minutes
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Bullsh*t (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2025-Apr-03
57 minutes
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Kafka's 'The Castle' (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2025-Mar-20
61 minutes
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Fertility again (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with Lyman Stone)
2025-Feb-27
72 minutes
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On woke (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson, with Werner Zagrebbi)
2025-Feb-20
67 minutes
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Two Cultures again (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with Alok Singh)
2025-Feb-13
68 minutes
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Open Socrates (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2025-Jan-30
65 minutes
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Perfection vs. greatness (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2025-Jan-23
59 minutes
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Fighting vs. arguing (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-Dec-05
61 minutes
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Activism (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-Nov-21
63 minutes
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Potential vs. achievement (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-Nov-07
60 minutes
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Polls vs. prediction markets (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with Arnold Brooks)
2024-Oct-31
63 minutes
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Modernism (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-Oct-10
60 minutes
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Fear of persuasion (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-Sep-12
63 minutes
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Cancel culture (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-Aug-28
59 minutes
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Romantic validation (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-Aug-08
63 minutes
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Cryonics (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-Jul-31
65 minutes
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Taylor Swift (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-Jul-24
63 minutes
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Love triangles (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-Jul-17
53 minutes
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Color (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-Jul-03
57 minutes
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Power (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-Jun-26
65 minutes
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Experts vs. elites [Revisited] (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-Jun-19
62 minutes
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Protest (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-Jun-12
64 minutes
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Internet culture (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with Katherine Dee)
2024-Jun-05
69 minutes
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Meta (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-May-29
59 minutes
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The Two Cultures (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-May-02
67 minutes
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Multiculturalism (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-Apr-24
66 minutes
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Cultural evolution (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-Apr-17
60 minutes
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3 Body Problem (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson, with Arnold Brooks)
2024-Apr-11
64 minutes
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Corpses (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-Apr-03
63 minutes
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Nostalgia (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-Mar-27
61 minutes
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Resentment (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-Mar-20
60 minutes
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Social miracles (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2024-Mar-14
66 minutes
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Consumerism (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-Mar-07
59 minutes
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Disagreement and alienation (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson, with Berislav Marušić)
2024-Feb-28
67 minutes
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Evidence order bias (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2024-Feb-21
63 minutes
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Theoretical vs. Practical Reason (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson, with Laura Deming)
2023-Nov-16
66 minutes
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Psychoanalysis (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with Jamieson Webster)
2023-Nov-09
55 minutes
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Inspiration (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2023-Nov-02
59 minutes
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Respect (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2023-Oct-12
62 minutes
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Fighting (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2023-Oct-05
61 minutes
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Contrarians (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with Aella)
2023-Sep-28
62 minutes
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Robin's Birthday (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson, with Arnold Brooks)
2023-Sep-21
62 minutes
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Fertility (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2023-Sep-13
62 minutes
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Advice (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2023-Aug-30
58 minutes
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Interpretation (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with Arnold Brooks)
2023-Aug-24
62 minutes
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vibecamp (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2023-Jun-21
55 minutes
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God (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2023-Jun-14
55 minutes
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Moore's Paradox (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2023-Jun-07
66 minutes
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AI Risk (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with David Duvenaud)
2023-May-31
68 minutes
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Partiality (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2023-May-24
57 minutes
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Alignment and Competition (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2023-May-17
75 minutes
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The Urge to Rebel (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2023-May-10
60 minutes
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The Etiquette of Equality (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2023-May-03
50 minutes
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Transformative Choices (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2023-Apr-26
59 minutes
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Edgelord Energy (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with Rory from The Violet Hour)
2023-Apr-19
69 minutes
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Management (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2023-Mar-30
62 minutes
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Apology (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2023-Mar-22
65 minutes
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Experts vs. Elites (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2023-Mar-15
63 minutes
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Sarcasm (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2023-Mar-08
57 minutes
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Who Must Be Persuaded By Explanations (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2023-Jan-04
70 minutes
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Utopia (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2022-Dec-29
56 minutes
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The Intellectual vs. The Social (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2022-Dec-21
66 minutes
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Passion (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with Joshua Fox)
2022-Dec-15
73 minutes
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Intellectuals (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2022-Dec-07
66 minutes
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Wanting to be Wanted (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard)
2022-Dec-01
64 minutes
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For Its Own Sake (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson)
2022-Nov-23
61 minutes
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Why is Truth Good? (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with William Eliot)
2022-Nov-16
75 minutes
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The Sacred (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson, with Arnold Brooks)
2022-Nov-09
75 minutes
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Is Life Worth Living? (Robin Hanson & Agnes Callard, with William Eliot)
2022-Nov-02
62 minutes
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What is Sex? (Agnes Callard & Robin Hanson, with Audrey Pollnow)
2022-Oct-26
76 minutes
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Human Sacrifice
2022-Jul-17
62 minutes
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Glory
2022-Jul-17
69 minutes
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Frontstage / Backstage
2022-Jul-17
79 minutes
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Free Speech
2022-Jul-17
61 minutes
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Fraud
2022-Jul-17
64 minutes
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William James vs William Clifford
2022-Jul-17
71 minutes
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Belief Constraints
2022-Jul-17
67 minutes
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'Inadequate Equilibria'
2022-Jul-17
63 minutes
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'The Sentiment of Rationality'
2022-Jul-17
71 minutes
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Asceticism
2022-Feb-01
66 minutes
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Autodidact
2022-Feb-01
58 minutes
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Rot
2022-Feb-01
60 minutes
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Foreplay
2022-Feb-01
60 minutes
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Reform
2022-Feb-01
57 minutes
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Aliens
2022-Feb-01
62 minutes
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Purposes
2022-Feb-01
60 minutes
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Curiosity
2022-Feb-01
64 minutes
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Distant Signals
2021-Nov-09
48 minutes
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Hidden Motives
2021-Nov-09
65 minutes
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Prediction Markets
2021-Nov-09
62 minutes
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Aspiration
2021-Nov-09
65 minutes
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Pink and Purple
2021-Nov-09
66 minutes
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Punishment
2021-Nov-09
69 minutes
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Paternalism
2021-Nov-09
68 minutes
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Future Generations
2021-Nov-09
63 minutes
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Plagiarism
2021-Nov-09
60 minutes
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Paradox of Honesty
2021-Nov-09
70 minutes
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