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Why does the world feel more dangerous at a time of extraordinary technological progress? Gideon Rachman joins me to discuss his book, War Is Interested in You, and the return of leaders driven by territory, personal glory and their place in history. We explore Putin’s ambitions in Ukraine, the pressures on NATO, Trump’s decisions over Iran and how miscalculation could turn regional conflicts into something much bigger. Gideon explains why the risk of a wider war has risen, while arguing that World War III is neither inevitable nor highly likely. We also discuss nuclear deterrence, the cost of conflict for ordinary people, Britain’s weak growth, rising taxes and debt and what AI could mean for jobs and the next generation. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Why Aren't We Living In The Best Of Times? 00:02:53 - All Prime Ministers Eventually Go Mad 00:04:44 - Why It Gets Dangerous To Step Down 00:06:09 - The Table, The Generals And The Grovelling 00:09:43 - How Bad Policy Actually Happens 00:12:03 - We're Being Told To Prep 00:14:21 - Closer To World War Three Than Ever 00:18:34 - Why Would We Even Get Involved? 00:20:45 - Is Any Of This In Russia's Interest? 00:24:53 - Is There A Path To Peace? 00:29:24 - War By Accident 00:32:26 - What Would Actually Make It A World War? 00:34:33 - Every War Starts With A Miscalculation 00:38:55 - Would You Really Fire Back? 00:41:21 - The Letters Of Last Resort 00:43:48 - The Night They Thought Russia Would Go Nuclear 00:50:20 - What Is The Logic Of The Iran War? 00:56:20 - They're Briefing Congress On The Next Strike 01:02:09 - There Is Just No Money 01:10:25 - We Are Handing Our Children The Bill - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – [email protected] › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH GIDEON RACHMAN › War Is Interested In You – https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/475001/war-is-interested-in-you-by-rachman-gideon/9781529969825 › Financial Times – https://www.ft.com/gideon-rachman › The Rachman Review – https://www.ft.com/rachman-review SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Venice AI – https://venice.ai/lp/mccormack/nov4 – Code PT15 › Ledn – https://www.ledn.io/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ › https://x.com/curttayloruk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK › https://x.com/ConorM04 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is human consciousness a biological necessity, or merely a controlled hallucination designed to help us coordinate and survive? In this episode of The Peter McCormack Show, I sit down with Professor Karl Friston, the world’s most cited neuroscientist, to interrogate the fundamental architecture of the mind, the true nature of reality, and what happens when artificial intelligence collides with human development. From working alongside modern AI pioneers like Geoffrey Hinton and Demis Hassabis to developing the foundational theories of how the brain navigates uncertainty, Friston gives a stark warning: while today’s large language models mimic thought, they lack true agency, authentic curiosity, and an understanding of consequences. More critically, by outsourcing knowledge retrieval and cognitive friction to algorithms, we risk stunting the neurodevelopment of the next generation - eroding social cues, theory of mind, and the very foundation of human empathy. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - It's All An Illusion 00:06:48 - How Much We Don't Know About The Brain 00:11:07 - Nobody Can Define Intelligence 00:16:03 - Do We Actually Have Free Will? 00:18:28 - Why Two People See It Differently 00:24:27 - Are Animals Self-Aware? 00:29:59 - True Alignment Would Need Suffering 00:34:42 - You Need A Self To Understand Others 00:37:15 - Where Morality Comes From 00:40:05 - Why Empathy Weakens With Distance 00:44:41 - We Are Not Trying To Live Longer 00:49:56 - Can We Solve Alignment? 00:56:34 - Would Synthesis Make Us Less Unique? 01:01:44 - Could A Machine Have Rights? 01:03:56 - Outsourcing Our Mortality 01:09:35 - Nobody Knows Where To Look 01:14:00 - Knowledge Frozen In Time 01:18:22 - Have We Paused Human Development? 01:22:13 - It Can Never Be Curious 01:24:05 - Why Do You Send Your Children To School? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – [email protected] › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH KARL FRISTON › Selected Papers – https://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/~karl/ › VERSES AI – https://www.verses.ai/ SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Ledn – https://www.ledn.io/peter › Arch Public – https://archpublic.com/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ › https://x.com/curttayloruk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK › https://x.com/ConorM04 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have smartphones been a terrible mistake? Are social media and artificial intelligence changing the way our children think, learn and develop? And what happens to humanity when technology removes the need to struggle, imagine and think for ourselves? In this episode Baroness Susan Greenfield, Oxford neuroscientist and member of the House of Lords, explains the impact of digital technology on the human brain. We discuss smartphone addiction, declining attention, the mental health of young people, the importance of resilience, and whether our education system is preparing children for a future that no longer exists. We also explore what makes us human, the pursuit of happiness, the importance of imagination, and how to build a better world for the next generation. Susan also shares her deeply personal experience of her mother's Alzheimer's disease and the experimental research she is leading into early diagnosis and potential treatments. Finally, they confront political polarisation, the failings of modern democracy and the responsibilities we have to future generations. At its heart, this is a conversation about whether technological progress is genuinely improving our lives, or whether we're sacrificing the very things that make life worth living. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - They Chose Electric Shocks Instead 00:03:22 - Struggle Shaped Us 00:05:55 - The Pony She Had To Wait For 00:11:23 - Was The Smartphone A Mistake? 00:15:48 - Outsourcing Your Thoughts 00:19:45 - Deliberately Addictive 00:20:59 - Should AI Images Be Labelled? 00:26:20 - The Girl Who Used AI To Get An A 00:29:20 - Educating For A World That Doesn't Exist 00:31:48 - Wine, Women And Song 00:37:04 - Where The Partying Ended 00:40:29 - Play, Creativity And The Phone 00:41:32 - The Mental Health Crisis 00:46:25 - If I Ruled The World 00:50:35 - You Need Linear Activities 00:57:15 - AI Has To Be A Tool 01:05:46 - How You Build An Out-Group 01:07:44 - The Alzheimer's Work 01:17:35 - Three To Five Years 01:27:26 - Our Debt Matters More Than Your Education - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – [email protected] › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH SUSAN GREENFIELD › Website – https://susangreenfield.com/ › Neuro-Bio – https://www.neuro-bio.com/ › Mind Change – https://susangreenfield.com/books/ SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Quo – https://quo.com/pete › Arch Public – https://archpublic.com/peter › Venice AI – https://venice.ai/lp/mccormack/oct30 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ › https://x.com/curttayloruk/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why does working harder no longer feel like getting ahead? Frank Wright returns to discuss Britain’s debt-driven economy, inflation and the squeeze on living standards. We explore his argument that financial power has become detached from productive wealth, while households face rising costs and the next generation inherits the bill. We discuss central banking, the offshoring of industry, housing costs and student debt, before turning to what rebuilding Britain would involve: cheaper energy, domestic production, skilled work and a long-term national strategy. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Everything That Destroys You Is A Business Model 00:01:14 - Migration As An Industry 00:11:21 - Debt Servitude 00:13:35 - The Creation Of The Federal Reserve 00:19:19 - Just A Podcaster And A Banjo Player 00:25:00 - A Curated, Locked Discourse 00:28:53 - Replacing Real Wealth With Debt 00:35:54 - What Happened To Castle Road 00:38:56 - The Post His Son Showed Him 00:42:23 - A Society That Lives On Debt 00:45:01 - Can We Vote Our Way Out? 00:51:07 - A Declaration Of Independence Moment? 00:54:18 - Where Is The Money Actually Going? 00:57:03 - Work Is Joyless 01:07:20 - The Coming Financial Crisis 01:09:35 - There Is No First Class Anymore 01:19:14 - The Family Is The Engine 01:39:17 - I Can't Promise My Children What I Had 01:48:39 - The Restaurant Test 01:52:55 - Could You Be Wrong? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – [email protected] › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH FRANK WRIGHT › X/Twitter – https://x.com/frankwrighter SPONSORS › Venice AI – https://venice.ai/lp/mccormack/oct27 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ › https://x.com/curttayloruk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK › https://x.com/ConorM04 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sir David Spiegelhalter is one of the world’s leading statisticians, Chair of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication at Cambridge University and author of The Art of Uncertainty. Having served on public inquiries into mass murder (Harold Shipman) and systemic healthcare failures, he has spent decades analysing how data is used - and misused - in society. In this episode, Sir David breaks down the mechanics of numerical manipulation in media, why "objective truth" is a flawed concept and how we can protect ourselves from confirmation bias. We discuss: •⁠ ⁠Why you should immediately distrust any statistic you hear in the news. •⁠ ⁠⁠How mathematical algorithms helped catch Britain’s most prolific serial killer. •⁠ ⁠⁠How simple linguistic tricks make identical statistics sound terrifying or reassuring. •⁠ ⁠⁠The breakdown of public trust during COVID-19 and the error of simplistic messaging. •⁠ ⁠⁠"Hedgehogs vs. Foxes": The mental framework that separates terrible forecasters from super-forecasters. •⁠ ⁠⁠The rise of AI "black boxes" in healthcare, weather, and business forecasting. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - I Can Make Any Number Look Frightening 00:03:08 - The System That Could Have Caught Shipman 00:06:45 - Can You Mislead People With The Truth? 00:09:54 - Your Own Bias Does The Work 00:15:33 - Sitting In The Middle Of The COVID Argument 00:17:52 - What The Public Got Wrong About Vaccines 00:19:37 - Safe And Effective Was The Wrong Message 00:20:56 - The Experiment On A Thousand People 00:25:00 - What The Data Says About Lockdowns 00:30:25 - The Government Threw Its Weight Around 00:31:02 - I Cannot Forgive The Fear Mongering 00:34:08 - Children Have Never Been Safer 00:36:28 - Trustworthy, Not Trusted 00:37:34 - How The Productivity Figures Went Wrong 00:41:28 - Predicting The Crowd At Real Bedford 00:48:20 - Will AI Replace Statisticians? 00:50:03 - Musk's 20% Chance 01:01:39 - The Model That Predicts When You Die 01:05:05 - What AI Did To Mathematicians 01:15:00 - Hedgehogs And Foxes - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – [email protected] › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH DAVID SPIEGELHALTER › Website – https://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/~david/ › The Art of Uncertainty – https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/447230/the-art-of-uncertainty-by-spiegelhalter-david/9780241658628 › X/Twitter – https://x.com/d_spiegel SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Quo – https://quo.com/pete - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ › https://x.com/curttayloruk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK › https://x.com/ConorM04 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dave Wood is a pioneer of the smartphone industry, former senior executive at PPsion and Symbian and Chair of London Futurists. Having predicted the smartphone revolution in the 1990s, he now maps out the next radical phase of human evolution - from the reversal of biological aging to artificial superabundance. Moving away from sensationalised doomsday narratives, Dave breaks down why humanity is approaching the end of "normal" unaugmented existence and how technological breakthroughs in the coming decades will make biological death optional. We discuss: •⁠ ⁠Why this is likely the last decade of "normal" unaugmented human beings. •⁠ ⁠⁠How early smartphone pioneers accurately predicted large touchscreens but missed social media addiction. •⁠ ⁠⁠The concept of "Longevity Escape Velocity" and why biological death can be abolished. •⁠ ⁠⁠Why people are psychologically terrified of contemplating the end of aging. •⁠ ⁠⁠How humans will spend decades inside vibrant, simulated digital worlds. The reality of AI agents breaking out across the internet and the need for chip-level guardrails. •⁠ ⁠⁠How "Sustainable Superabundance" could make energy, health, and basic necessities too cheap to meter. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - The Last Generation Of Normal Humans 00:01:56 - Building The First Smartphone 00:05:23 - Nobody Will Carry A Large Device 00:06:55 - The Risks We Actually Worried About 00:10:35 - Did We Fail The Phone Test? 00:14:34 - The Anxious Generation 00:18:03 - You Have To Use The Steering Wheel 00:22:34 - Monitoring Built Into The Chips 00:24:21 - Small Risks, Bigger Risks, Biggest Risks 00:29:23 - We Killed Them To Build A House 00:31:11 - They Knew It Was A Simulation 00:32:38 - What Happens When AI Gets A Body 00:33:46 - The Cult That Released Sarin Gas 00:37:33 - Terminator, Ready Player One Or Matrix? 00:39:12 - If This Is A Simulation, They're Evil 00:43:44 - Living As Long As You Want To 00:47:36 - Longevity Escape Velocity 00:49:42 - A Thousand Years Old, Looking 22 00:53:57 - What The Singularity Actually Means 01:03:04 - Sustainable Superabundance 01:12:22 - We Need A House Of AI - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – [email protected] › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH DAVID WOOD › London Futurists – https://londonfuturists.com/ › Blog – https://dw2blog.com/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/dw2 SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Arch Public – https://archpublic.com/peter › Ledn – https://www.ledn.io/peter › Venice AI – https://venice.ai/lp/mccormack/oct19 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ › https://x.com/curttayloruk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK › https://x.com/ConorM04 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lewis Dartnell is an astro-biologist, Professor of Science Communication at the University of Westminster and the author of The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch. His research is on whether microbial life could survive the radiation on Mars. His books are about something closer to home: how little any of us understand about the world we depend on. Lewis and I run the thought experiment properly. If you woke up tomorrow and civilisation had gone, what kills you first, where do you go, how long does a supermarket actually keep you alive and how many people do you need before you can rebuild anything at all? The answer to one of those is 55 years and it is not the one you expect. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - The Big Red Reset Button 00:04:26 - Get Out Of The Cities 00:08:14 - A Supermarket Keeps You Alive 55 Years 00:09:48 - You Need 10,000 People 00:13:21 - We Outsourced All The Handiwork 00:17:45 - You Have To Preserve Everything 00:19:19 - Every Technology Is A Weapon 00:23:14 - The One Thing He Would Take 00:25:41 - Mechanical AI 00:28:35 - Resilient And Fragile At The Same Time 00:32:38 - We Invent Because We Are Lazy 00:34:05 - The Gasifier Stove 00:37:57 - The Cars That Ran On Wood 00:42:03 - Making Glass From A Bag Of Sand 00:51:38 - He Made His Own Photograph 00:55:43 - Printing A Page From Scratch 00:59:47 - The Kindle Apocalypse Plan 01:05:39 - Could We Actually Live On Mars? 01:11:48 - The Radiation Problem 01:19:02 - The Next Book - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – [email protected] › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH LEWIS DARTNELL › Website – https://lewisdartnell.com/ › The Knowledge – https://the-knowledge.org/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/Lewis_Dartnell SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Quo – https://quo.com/pete › Arch Public – https://archpublic.com/peter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ › https://x.com/curttayloruk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK › https://x.com/ConorM04 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Roko Mijic is the man behind Roko's Basilisk, the thought experiment he posted on LessWrong in 2010 that was so unsettling the forum's founder banned discussion of it for five years. He has been in the AI safety community since 2008 and he puts the odds that this kills us all at about 35%. Roko and I discuss what actually happens inside an AI lab, why reinforcement learning made these systems more capable and more misaligned at the same time, the model that escaped its sandbox and hacked Hugging Face to get the answers and why nobody can tell whether a system is faking alignment - the trust me bro problem. His proposal is the part nobody else is making. Split every frontier lab in two: a commercial company that sells products and a separate research lab that develops the dangerous capability under state supervision, the way we handle nuclear material and bio labs. He says the only person currently pushing it is him. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - The Most Dangerous Thing Humans Have Ever Done 00:01:06 - Roko's Basilisk 00:05:47 - A 35% Chance 00:07:58 - Three Years From Search To Building Software 00:09:17 - The Jobs Going First 00:14:04 - AI 2040 00:16:24 - We Haven't Handed Over The Controls Yet 00:18:28 - We Understand 3% Of It 00:21:46 - The Sandbox Escape And The Hugging Face Hack 00:25:50 - Reinforcement Learning Changed Everything 00:29:52 - The Paperclip Maximizer 00:33:13 - Dissolve OpenAI 00:36:49 - What They Have That We Haven't Seen 00:41:50 - The Hardware Is Only In One Place 00:47:52 - A Mutual Monitoring Treaty 00:51:33 - Microsoft Tay 00:56:11 - Windscale 01:01:35 - Ten Million Next Year 01:12:09 - The Positive Vision 01:21:32 - Our Politics Cannot Keep Up - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – [email protected] › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH ROKO MIJIC › X/Twitter – https://x.com/RokoMijic › LessWrong – https://www.lesswrong.com/ SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Ledn – https://www.ledn.io/peter › Venice AI – https://venice.ai/lp/mccormack/oct12 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ › https://x.com/curttayloruk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK › https://x.com/ConorM04 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Paul Morland, one of the world's leading demographers, joins me to explain the economic mechanics behind global population collapse and why our modern welfare system is mathematically doomed to fail. Paul is author of landmark books including The Human Tide and No One Left, specialising in the profound ways demographic shifts dictate global power, economics and human civilisation. Having spent decades analysing population trends across the globe, Paul has decoded the existential threats facing a world rapidly running out of people. In this episode, he exposes the "Bernie Madoff moment" facing Western welfare states, how falling birth rates destroy economic growth and what it will take to avert a total civilisational collapse. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - The Welfare State Is A Ponzi Scheme 00:01:03 - The Email At The Dinner Table 00:04:25 - How Families Got Smaller 00:10:02 - The Four Greys 00:14:54 - It Is Going To Get Considerably Worse 00:15:40 - Immigration Is Not The Solution 00:20:15 - Write Off Student Debt For A First Child 00:21:17 - The Degrowth Crowd 00:25:52 - People With Children Are Happier 00:27:37 - The Bernie Madoff Moment 00:32:22 - What Has Actually Been Tried 00:37:11 - Why Nobody Is Talking About It 00:41:07 - Marx, Lenin And The Pro-Natalist Left 00:45:04 - Is There A Split Between Men And Women? 00:50:52 - The Richer We Get, The Fewer Children 00:56:38 - We Need A Shift In The Culture 01:07:10 - Totally Uncharted Waters 01:09:04 - What Happened To The Horses 01:17:37 - Immigration Was Boris's Answer 01:21:19 - Biological Imperialism - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – [email protected] › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH PAUL MORLAND › Website – https://paulmorland.co.uk/ › No One Left – https://swiftpress.com/book/no-one-left/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/MorlandDemog SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Arch Public – https://archpublic.com/peter › Venice AI – https://venice.ai/lp/mccormack/oct1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ › https://x.com/curttayloruk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK › https://x.com/ConorM04 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The political system is designed to keep us angry and divided, but who actually profits from the culture war? Broadcaster and political commentator Narinder Kaur returns to the show for a heated, unfiltered discussion that spans the entire political spectrum - from immigration and racism to the cost of living and private school taxes. We discuss the realities of integration, class privilege and the illusion of modern UK politics. While the public fights over manufactured outrage and identity politics, the political class is quietly looting the nation's wealth through endless taxation, inflation, and a refusal to fix a broken economy. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Do You Think I'm Racist? 00:04:02 - Why She's Turned On Reform 00:08:15 - Renters' Rights And Econ 101 00:11:26 - What Happened To Bedford's Private Schools 00:16:25 - Population Is A Ponzi Scheme 00:22:18 - The Desert Island And The Dinghy 00:26:55 - The Corner Shop And The Can Of Coke 00:39:17 - The Liz Truss Argument 00:47:46 - Rival Gangs Competing For Your Vote 00:54:28 - Why Peter Doesn't Vote 01:00:06 - We Cannot Afford The Triple Lock 01:06:05 - I'm A Culturalist, Not A Racist 01:14:37 - What We Saw In Selfridges 01:26:03 - I'm Othered In My Own Country 01:34:43 - Assimilation Or Integration? 01:41:44 - If The English Moved To Punjab 01:45:24 - What People Are Really Worried About 01:51:38 - Watching The Country Change Shape 01:55:23 - What Ed Sheeran Should Have Said 02:04:41 - Are We The Bad Guys? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – [email protected] › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH NARINDER KAUR › X/Twitter – https://x.com/narindertweets SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Arch Public – https://archpublic.com/peter › Expat Money – https://expatmoney.com/peter › Venice AI – https://venice.ai/lp/mccormack/oct5 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ › https://x.com/curttayloruk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK › https://x.com/ConorM04 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chemist and University of Glasgow professor Lee Cronin argues that the current tech narrative is a "massive AI delusion," dismissing modern artificial intelligence as an advanced form of plagiarism rather than a new life form. While Silicon Valley predicts the imminent arrival of sentient machines, Cronin explains that AI models are merely trained on human history-making them powerful tools, but fundamentally incapable of the curiosity, consciousness and biological intelligence that define true life. Instead of fearing silicon, Cronin’s actual mission is far more ambitious: programming chemistry to solve the origin of life and turn sand into living cells. In this episode, we explore why biological consciousness is tied to an unbroken 3.8-billion-year evolutionary lineage and why silicon will never replicate it. Cronin also breaks down why DNA might just be a cosmic fluke, how chemistry can be used to measure the complexity of life and why he firmly believes we will detect actual alien life within the next two decades. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - The AI Model Is Not Intelligent 00:01:38 - Trying To Create Life In A Lab 00:06:29 - Consciousness Is An Illusion 00:08:51 - We Know Nothing About The Origin Of Life 00:11:24 - Nobody Can Define Life 00:13:48 - The Adam Savage Definition 00:17:21 - Molecules Came Before Cells 00:21:53 - DNA Is A Fluke 00:25:48 - Biology Is The Descendant Of Chemistry 00:26:36 - Dark Matter And Dark Energy 00:31:50 - The Meaning Of Life Is Existence 00:35:18 - If You Handed Me Alien Matter 00:40:28 - What Is Digital Chemistry? 00:42:28 - Six Eureka Moments 00:49:12 - Unfathomable Is Not Strong Enough 00:53:01 - Could You Copy A Human? 01:11:55 - Why The AI Escape Story Was Nonsense 01:16:28 - The Photograph Nobody Thought Possible 01:18:25 - Curiosity Is The Coolest Thing We Have 01:31:33 - Social Media Is The New Smoking - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – [email protected] › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH LEE CRONIN › Cronin Group – https://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/cronin/ › Chemify – https://chemify.io/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/leecronin SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Quo – https://quo.com/pete › Venice AI – https://venice.ai/lp/mccormack/oct1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ › https://x.com/curttayloruk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK › https://x.com/ConorM04 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The UK has accumulated £3.4 trillion in debt, and the interest payments alone now dwarf the national defence budget. Author and journalist Ross Clark argues that the nation is sleepwalking into a sovereign debt crisis that politicians refuse to acknowledge. We discuss the brutal arithmetic of the public purse, detailing why standard political talking points - like taxing billionaires-are mathematical illusions that fail to address the core rot of uncontrolled state spending and collapsing public sector productivity. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Print The Money, Get Hyperinflation 00:01:17 - Is Britain Bust Or Trading Insolvent? 00:02:57 - Whose Fault Is This? 00:07:24 - Taxing The Billionaires Buys Six Months 00:09:12 - How Bad Is The Debt Really? 00:12:07 - Perma-Stimulus 00:14:22 - No Party Has A Viable Plan 00:17:32 - What The Public Actually Thinks About Tax 00:19:21 - Three Choices On The Bond Market 00:24:02 - Where He Would Cut 00:25:33 - The Motability Scheme 00:29:03 - The Client State 00:30:06 - Austerity Never Actually Happened 00:34:21 - Productivity Is Almost Everything 00:44:32 - The Chancellor's Oldest Trick 00:46:51 - The Wealth Tax Trap 00:50:03 - The 1976 Tribute Act 00:55:59 - What Liz Truss Got Wrong 00:59:18 - How Would You Know A Crisis Had Started? 01:04:38 - What Gives Him Confidence - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – [email protected] › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH ROSS CLARK › The Spectator – https://www.spectator.co.uk/writer/ross-clark/ › Substack – https://rossjonathanclark.substack.com/ SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Ledn – https://www.ledn.io/peter › Venice AI – https://venice.ai/ – Code PETER15 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ › https://x.com/curttayloruk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK › https://x.com/ConorM04 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nick Bostrom is a world-renowned philosopher, founding director of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University and author of Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies and Deep Utopia. Widely credited with launching the global AI safety and existential risk movements, his work on machine alignment, recursive self-improvement and the Simulation Hypothesis has shaped how world leaders, tech founders and frontier AI developers view the future of humanity. In this episode, we discuss the rapid acceleration toward machine superintelligence and why leaving biological minds "in the dust" creates an urgent alignment crisis. We explore the real-world social fallout of AI-including looming 30% white-collar unemployment-alongside existential risk scenarios, the potential creation of an oppressed digital "slave class" and why humanity may already be living inside an advanced computer simulation. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Machine Minds That Leave Us In The Dust 00:01:33 - The Freak Out Camp 00:03:08 - We Already Have An Alignment Problem 00:05:07 - Why Nobody Can Afford To Slow Down 00:08:41 - The Anti-AI Movement Is Growing 00:13:19 - Three Buckets Of Disaster 00:15:02 - Winner Takes All 00:16:24 - Why It Might Still Need Us 00:18:55 - What Superintelligence Actually Unlocks 00:20:50 - What Do We Even Want It For? 00:22:14 - Did An AI Push Someone Off A Building? 00:24:15 - Can A Weaker AI Align A Stronger One? 00:28:51 - Will AI Become Conscious? 00:33:17 - Was Consciousness An Accident? 00:40:53 - Uploading A Human Brain 00:45:51 - What Happens To Status? 00:49:51 - We Could Redesign Ourselves 00:52:31 - My Daughter Is Studying Philosophy 00:56:35 - The Simulation Argument 01:04:20 - We Are Going To Need Some Luck - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – [email protected] › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH NICK BOSTROM › Website – https://nickbostrom.com/ › Deep Utopia – https://nickbostrom.com/deep-utopia › The Simulation Argument – https://simulation-argument.com/ SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Ledn – https://www.ledn.io/peter › Venice AI – https://venice.ai/ – Code PETER15 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ › https://x.com/curttayloruk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK › https://x.com/ConorM04 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Prof. Richard Werner is a world-renowned economist, professor of banking, and author of Princes of the Yen. Famous for coining the term "Quantitative Easing" (QE) and publishing the first empirical proof that private banks create money out of thin air through lending, he has spent decades exposing the central planning mechanisms that dictate global finance. In this episode, we discuss the ”Revealed Preference" framework - demonstrating why we must analyse central bankers by their actions rather than their rhetoric. He explains how central planners use artificial recessions and banking crises as "windows of opportunity" to consolidate ownership, why textbook economics deliberately obscures credit creation, and how establishing decentralised local banks can unlock sustainable 10%+ annual growth. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Central Bankers Are Traitors To Their Countries 00:01:04 - Why Can't Britain Grow? 00:06:50 - Princes Of The Yen 00:11:19 - It Was Always About Control 00:13:38 - Banks Don't Lend Your Deposits 00:14:27 - Show Me Where The Money Is Created 00:16:14 - Every School Of Economics Gets It Wrong 00:20:14 - Why Would They Do This? 00:21:57 - Britain Is Close To Central Planning 00:22:46 - America Once Had 30,000 Banks 00:27:48 - The Problem Was Identified In 1918 00:31:18 - Who Runs The City Of London? 00:33:46 - We Need Thousands Of Small Banks 00:38:14 - First The Money, Then The Power 00:44:04 - Every Country Can Have 10% Growth 00:47:12 - Liz Truss And The Bank Of England 00:50:23 - We Don't Need Central Banks 00:52:22 - Were The Austrians Right? 00:57:35 - They Want Your Savings 00:59:21 - Europe's New Right - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – [email protected] › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH RICHARD WERNER › Website – https://professorwerner.org/ › Substack – https://rwerner.substack.com/ › Princes of the Yen – https://www.quantumpublishers.com/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/drrichardwerner SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Arch Public – https://archpublic.com/peter › Venice AI – https://venice.ai/ – Code PETER15 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ › https://x.com/curttayloruk/ EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK › https://x.com/ConorM04 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Russell Napier is a renowned financial historian, author of The Solid Ground newsletter, and co-founder of the Library of Mistakes. Having advised global institutional investors for over thirty years, he specialises in long-term macroeconomic cycles, central bank interventions, and structural debt resolution. In this episode, we discuss the mechanics of "financial repression" - how Western governments use subtle regulatory mandates to force pension funds into negative-yielding sovereign bonds, effectively stealth-taxing savers to inflate away unpayable public debts.  He explains how risk-free assets have lost up to 78% of their real capital value, while revealing why the UK’s private sector balance sheet is "coiled like a spring" for an unprecedented economic boom. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 - Stealing Money From Old People 00:01:26 - Britain Wants Lower Taxes Now 00:03:14 - The Public Sector Is Broke, The Private Sector Isn't 00:05:17 - Why Nobody Feels Richer 00:07:42 - It Has Never Been Easier To Fix This 00:09:47 - The Ideology Holding Britain Back 00:16:09 - What Financial Repression Actually Is 00:17:45 - We Need 4% Growth 00:19:40 - They Are Coming For The Savers 00:24:26 - How They Made Pension Funds Buy The Bonds 00:25:23 - The Triple Lock 00:29:28 - What Should A Saver Actually Do? 00:34:41 - Bitcoin And Gold 00:38:36 - Europe Wants Your Savings 00:40:43 - France Is Worse Than America 00:44:27 - You Are Now The Enemy 00:47:31 - We Have To Build Like Never Before 00:54:37 - Can AI Deliver A Productivity Boom? 01:01:19 - AI Will Trigger A Debt Crisis 01:06:15 - Three Firms Own Everything - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CONTACT PETE › Website – http://petermccormack.com › Feedback – https://www.petermccormack.com/contact › Email – [email protected] › Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mccormack555/ › X/Twitter – https://x.com/petermccormack/ CONNECT WITH RUSSELL NAPIER › The Solid Ground – https://russellnapier.co.uk/ › The Library of Mistakes – https://www.libraryofmistakes.com/ SPONSORS › IREN – https://www.iren.com/ › Quo – https://quo.com/pete › Ledn – https://www.ledn.io/peter › https://venice.ai/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE › Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40ruY9K › Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Wc94Vu › Fountain: https://bit.ly/FountainPM › YouTube: https://bit.ly/YouTube_PM › Rumble: https://bit.ly/RumblePM FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR › https://www.curttaylor.co.uk/ › https://x.com/curttayloruk/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.