Episodes

  • Tim O’Reilly on Open Source Alchemy: Shaping the Tech Landscape

    Tim O’Reilly on Open Source Alchemy: Shaping the Tech Landscape
    Dec 11 2023
    Tim O’Reilly is the founder, CEO, and Chairman of O’Reilly Media, a company that has profoundly impacted how generations of software engineers and computer hobbyists have learned programming. Tim is of course a luminary of the technology industry and hardly needs an introduction. It is difficult to overstate the importance of his contributions. Tim has been active in the open source and internet community for decades, providing the intellectual inspiration behind terms like open source software and web 2.0. Our conversation with Tim centers around open source. We discuss: the characteristics of open source software, which company has best executed on its open source strategy, and how the open source ethos has influenced the tech industry and beyond. We also cover Tim’s latest project around algorithmic rents. About and From Tim O’Reilly: Tim O’Reilly: Various Things I’ve Written Tim O’Reilly – Wikipedia Recommendations and References:
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    59 mins
  • Yochai Benkler on Tech’s True Forces: Capitalism, Institutions, and Ideological Impact

    Yochai Benkler on Tech’s True Forces: Capitalism, Institutions, and Ideological Impact
    Nov 6 2023
    Yochai Benkler is a professor of Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard Law School and co-director of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. Yochai is known for coining the term commons-based peer production which describes collaborative efforts or social production in the creation of information goods such as Apache server or Wikipedia. In 2012, he received a lifetime achievement award from Oxford University in recognition of his contribution to the study and public understanding of the Internet and information goods. Yochai has written a number of influential books, including The Wealth of Networks, Network Propaganda, and the Penguin and Leviathan. Our conversation with Yochai focuses on the role of capitalism, institutions, and ideology in shaping technology and societal outcomes. Yochai’s theory centers around the notion that it is not technology and software that shape change, but rather that the dynamics of power-seeking in capitalism h
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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • Jason Crawford on progress and the history of technology 

    Jason Crawford on progress and the history of technology 
    Oct 9 2023
    Jason Crawford is the founder of Roots of Progress and a prolific writer on all things technology and progress. Jason was previously a startup founder and engineering manager. His mission is to understand the causes of progress and help usher in a new era of human advancement via a philosophy of progress fit for the 21st century. You can find his essays on rootsofprogress.org. Our conversation with Jason centers around progress and the history of technology. We cover the relationship between human civilization and technology, assorted inventions, and lessons to consider in the development and implementation of future technologies. We also talk about why progress matters, how things went wrong in the 20th century, and Jason’s idea of a new philosophy of progress. Jason has encyclopedic knowledge of diverse topics which made this an especially rich conversation. About and From Jason Crawford: https://jasoncrawford.org/ https://rootsofprogress.org/ https://twitter.com/jas
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Noah Smith on digital technology adoption, energy, and economic progress

    Noah Smith on digital technology adoption, energy, and economic progress
    Sep 4 2023
    Noah Smith is a renaissance man, blogger, and commentator. Noah’s popular blog, Noahpinion, focuses on economics, technology, and current events. He was previously a columnist for Bloomberg and an assistant professor of Behavioral finance at Stony Brook University. Our wide-ranging conversation covers digital technology, economics, and energy. We discuss Noah’s framework for thinking about technology, digital technology adoption and its implications for economic activity, measures of technological advancement, opportunities and challenges for solar and nuclear energy, and the Noah Smith production function. About and From Noah Smith: Noah Smith (writer) – Wikipedia  Noahpinion Noah Smith (@Noahpinion) / Twitter   140 – The Future is Fiat | Noah Smith (Noahpinion) Interview: Tyler Cowen, economist and public intellectual   Globalization Is Narrowing the Wealth Gap, One Nation at a Time Recommendations and References:
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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • Carlota Perez on technological revolutions and capitalism 

    Carlota Perez on technological revolutions and capitalism 
    Aug 7 2023
    Carlota Perez is a pre-eminent multi-disciplinarian, scholar, and author. Carlota studies the nature of technological change and economic systems, and the lessons provided by the history of technological revolutions. Her book, Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital, is a landmark contribution to the study of technological innovation and change. She has received numerous awards and accolades including most recently an Honorary Doctorate by Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Our conversation with Carlota centers around her framework for studying technological change and the adoption of digital technologies. We discuss the ideas behind technology cycles, the role of capitalism in influencing change, the difference between the current digital paradigm and prior technology revolutions, the role government can play in accelerating the adoption of digital technologies, and get a preview of her upcoming book which features the role of governments in shaping technological revo
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    1 hr and 23 mins
  • Clay Shirky on value generation, ChatGpt, and education

    Clay Shirky on value generation, ChatGpt, and education
    Jul 10 2023
    Clay Shirky is the Vice Provost of Educational Technologies at New York University and an associate professor at the New York University Tisch school of arts. He is a prominent thinker on the social and economic effects of the Internet and the Web. Clay has authored a number of books, including Here Comes Everybody and Cognitive Surplus. Our conversation with Clay gravitates around models of value generation in the context of digital technologies and the impact of ai on education. We talk about the social and economic impact of digital technologies, the nature of the internet, and why distributed version control is a new and important form of arguing. We also touch on how the university model of education might co-evolve with the growth of digital technology. About and From Clay Shirky: Clay Shirky Clay Shirky: Wikipedia Clay Shirky (@cshirky): Twitter Clay Shirky: TED Speaker    Clay Shirky: Books Clay Shirky: Institutions vs. collaboration 
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    1 hr and 12 mins
  • Matt Clancy on innovation, policy, and Progress Studies 

    Matt Clancy on innovation, policy, and Progress Studies 
    Mar 13 2023
    Matt Clancy is a research fellow at Open Philanthropy and a senior fellow at The Institute for Progress, a think tank for accelerating scientific, technological, and industrial progress. He maintains New Things Under the Sun, a living literature review about innovation. Our conversation with Matt gravitates around the state of knowledge of technological innovation. We talk about inputs to innovation, models of innovation, the discipline of Progress Studies, and ways to measure technological progress. We also cover the relationship between policy and innovation. About and From Matt Clancy: Personal Website  What’s New Under the Sun: What academia knows about innovation  Are Technologies Inevitable?  Matt’s dissertation  References and Recommendations: Institute for Progress  Ned Gulley: Patterns of innovation, a web-based MATLAB programming contest  Anton Howes  William Nordhaus: Do Real-Output and Real-Wage
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Martin Gurri on the fifth wave, democracy, and technology

    Martin Gurri on the fifth wave, democracy, and technology
    Feb 6 2023
    Martin Gurri is the visiting research fellow at Mercatus Center and a former CIA analyst. Martin’s core interests center around politics, information, and media. His book The Revolt of the Public received notoriety for its cogent analysis of the effects of information on political change.  Our conversation with Martin centers around the societal and political implications of how information is organized and controlled. We launch into Martin’s thesis in The Revolt of the Public which tells the story of How insurgencies—enabled by digital devices and a vast information sphere—have mobilized millions of ordinary people around the world, and talk about what’s changed since it was last published in 2018. We discuss the evolution of technology and information structure and its implications for how societies are organized, the nature of the current political discord, and democracy. Martin also offers some practical advice for engaged citizens and aspiring politicians. About Marti
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    1 hr and 16 mins