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Jeff Farrell 'Cocaine Diaries' My Substack (Subscribe)Jeff Farrell Website *Leave a review on Apple or Spotify* (nothing does more to help grow the show) Podcast Starter Packs Offshore Finance/Kleptocracy & Money LaunderingGeopolitics/Economics/Economic DevelopmentExplorers & AdventurersInvestigative Journalists--- When Irish journalist Jeff Farrell arrived in Venezuela during the Chávez years as a Latin American correspondent, he couldn't have chanced a more serendipitous encounter that lead to one of the most harrowing stories he'd ever tell. That encounter was with the Irish drug mule, Paul Keeney, and his story that followed became the bestselling book, 'Cocaine Diaries', which pulls back the curtain on the nightmarish reality of Venezuela's prison system: the corruption, the violence, the abuse and the absurdity. Jeff discusses the extraordinary risks facing foreign correspondents trying to report from Venezuela today, where journalists are turned back at the airport and armed civilian militias called 'colectivos' who patrol the streets. We discuss his forthcoming novel 'Last Call of Caracas', which he's been writing for eight years and life imitated art a bit early in this case because by sheer coincidence, the novel ruptures to a scene of the US attacking Venezuela  Throughout it all, Jeff reflects on a country he clearly loves but can no longer safely visit—and holds onto hope that one day, when the regime falls and the diaspora returns, he might get to write something positive about Venezuela for a change. Timestamps 00:00 Jeff Farrell & The Story 03:00 The Risks of Reporting from Venezuela 06:13 The Challenges of Foreign Correspondence 09:03 Life Under a Regime of Fear 11:59 The Complexities of Venezuelan Society 14:57 The Impact of Corruption and Socialism 18:12 The Beauty and Paradox of Venezuela 21:06 The Geography and Demographics of Venezuela 24:04 The Journey of a Foreign Correspondent 27:07 The Serendipitous Encounter with Paul Keeney 44:27 A Journey into the Venezuelan Prison System 51:47 Serendipity and the Book Deal 54:07 Paul Keeney's Life and Struggles 01:00:22 The Harsh Realities of Venezuelan Prisons 01:08:14 Escape from Venezuela 01:13:54 The Aftermath of the Book and Future Plans 01:18:04 Reflections on Journalism and Human Experience

International Intrigue - NewsletterMy Substack (Subscribe) *Leave a review on Apple or Spotify* (nothing does more to help grow the show) --- Previous guests on the podcast similar to this! Robert Kaplan - A World In CrisisPodcast Starter Packs Offshore Finance/Kleptocracy & Money LaunderingGeopolitics/Economics/Economic DevelopmentExplorers & AdventurersInvestigative Journalists--- Jeremy Dicker is a co-founder of International Intrigue, a daily geopolitics newsletter delivered to over 150,000 inboxes worldwide. Before entrepreneurship, Jeremy spent 14 years as an Australian diplomat, with postings in both Latin and North America, Peru, Mexico and LA specifically. International Intrigue was born during London lockdown when Jeremy and his co-founders (fellow former diplomats) jumped on the new media of newsletter’s nascent industry and decided to write to make geopolitics accessible, witty, and funny Jeremey boasts that the writers from ‘The Diplomat’ read the newsletter which is a huge flex given just how good that TV show is.  Jeremy and his team published a 25 predictions for 2026 article just a few weeks ago and that’s exactly what we go through on todays episode.  Timestamps 00:00 - Jeremy & International Intrigue 01:01 - Taiwan & Global Disorder 11:35 - Prediction 1: Europe's Reliance on the US 21:09 - Prediction 2: Cryptocurrency's Mainstream Adoption 28:22 - Prediction 3: Nuclear Energy and Tech Giants 33:13 - Prediction 4:AI and the Bubble Debate 39:59 - Prediction 5: Russia Ukraine 42:44 - Prediction 6: The Pink Tide: Shifts in Latin American Politics 58:24 Prediction 7: Climate Change 01:08:32 - Diplomacy and National Interests: Balancing Values and Policies 01:09:03 - Prediction 8: BRICS vs Quad 01:15:12 - US Foreign Policy and Global Dynamics 01:19:11 - Diplomatic Challenges Under Trump 01:26:12 - Prediction 9: The Future of the UN and Global Governance 01:30:02 - Prediction 10: China's Technological Ascendancy 01:34:53 - Australia's Role in Global Affairs

The Elements of Power - Nicolas NiarchosMy Substack (Subscribe) *Leave a review on Apple or Spotify* (nothing does more to help grow the show) --- Previous guests on the podcast similar to this! Nicolas Niarchos First Appearance On The PodTim Butcher - Blood River (CLASSIC EP)Adam Hochschild - King Leopold's GhostJon Lee Anderson - New Yorker Staff Writer, A Life Of AdventurePodcast Starter Packs Offshore Finance/Kleptocracy & Money LaunderingGeopolitics/Economics/Economic DevelopmentExplorers & AdventurersInvestigative Journalists--- In this episode, New Yorker journalist Nicolas Niarchos discusses the supply chains behind the clean energy transition from child miners and Chinese-owned mega-mines to the coming global scramble for critical minerals. I’ve been eagerly anticipating his new book, and I reckon it is tailor made for this podcast. It’s the history of cobalt it’s extraction and it’s applications and shows how a single mineral has reshaped geopolitics, powered the rise of China’s technological superiority, and further locked millions of Congolese into one of the most brutal extraction economies on earth. This is a story that begins with King Leopold the second the original plunder of the Congo but then runs through Cold War dictatorships and kleptocracy, and ends with Apple, Tesla, BYD, and the race to dominate the future of energy. It’s Nic’s second appearance on this podcast on a similar subject, therefore we avoided to go-over all the same ground as last time. The first episode was about his New Yorker piece on artisanal mining in the Congo, his arrest in the Congo and the foundations for his worldview in covering this issue. Today we go into his new book. Inside the mines of Katanga, inside the rise of China’s battery empire, inside the corruption that still governs Congo’s political system, and inside the coming resource wars that will define the next half-century. Eighty percent of the world’s cobalt now comes from the Congo.Most of it is controlled by Chinese companies.As much as 20% of it is still dug out of the ground by hand.Kinshasa, Congo’s capital, is expected to have 40,000,000 people by 2050.And the world is about to need more of what’s beneath their feet than ever before.

On The Trail Of Genghis Khan - Tim Cope (Book) My Substack (Subscribe) *Leave a review on Apple or Spotify* (nothing does more to help grow the show) --- Previous guests on the podcast similar to this! Jack Weatherford - Genghis Khan & The Making Of The Modern World Robyn Davidson - Australian Living Legend. Documenter Of Nomads. Jon Lee Anderson - New Yorker Staff Writer, A Life Of Adventure. --- Tim Cope underwent a three year journey traversing the entire Eurasian steppe, starting in Karakorum, the old Mongolian capital, westwards through Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine and finally Hungary until he reached the Danube river.  The journey took him three years to complete and 4 horses. He picked up a dog along the way, and his journey saw him robbed, threatened, welcomed and exposed to murderous heat and cold. I first wrote to Tim 4 years ago… so we’ve maintained a very spotty correspondence in anticipation for today.  Tim Cope is is an Australian adventurer, author, filmmaker, photographer, expedition guide - a fluent Russian speaker - a bloody good writer and someone generous enough to offer me their time and invite me into their home here in rural Victoria.  Timestamps. 00:00 - Tim Cope 02:50 - The Magic Of The Steppe 10:10 - Tim's Coma & Writing 13:15 - Tim's Backstory 24:50 - On The Trail Of Genghis Khan 33:01 - The Eurasian Steppe 37:41 - The Decline Of Nomadic Cultures 46:27 - Entering Into Kazakhstan & Finding A Dog 1:02:55 - Tim's Growing Reputation On The Steppe 1:10:50 - Alcoholism On The Steppe 1:19:12 - Abandoned Goldmine For The Winter 1:38:45 - Prostitution  1:50:00 - Tim's Father Passing Away 2:05:46 - Hungary 2:12:30 - The Problem Of Fitting Back In 2:24:50 - Success & Book Publishing 2:31:00 - How Mongolia Has Changed 2:44:10 - Tim's Evolving Thoughts On Both Russia & Ukraine

The Men Who Killed The News (Book) My Substack (Subscribe) * Consider leaving a review on Apple or Spotify * (nothing does more to help grow the show) --- Eric Beecher is a veteran journalist, editor and entrepreneur whose experienced first hand the dramatic evolution of the previous 40 years of media.  From broadsheet’s to TV to the internet to facebook, podcasts, now AI. Eric has been across all these, both an employee and employer as the business models were repeatedly shaken and recast.  And he asks, what is the cumulative damage when owners of journalism place profits and power over civic responsibility and decency.  That book is called, ‘The Men Who Killed The News’ and series a history of media moguldom, the perennial story of power and influence chipping away ever so gradually, the role good journalism esteems in helping us make sense of the world. It’s not nostalgia for the good old days, but rather an attempt to understand how we got here, and whether there is anything that can be done about it. Eric was formerly the youngest editor at the Sydney Morning Herald before being recruited by Murdoch himself to run at the time, his latest media acquisition, before resigning sighting ethical differences.  Eric runs today alongside his colleagues, Crikey, The Mandarin and SmartCompany. Eric is a major architect of modern Australian independent media, and it is my pleasure to welcome him to the podcast. 

Gareth Gore | Unveiling The Conspiracy Of Opus Dei (his first appearance) Gareth Gore - Opus (Amazon) Subscribe To The Curious Worldview Substack --- This is Gareth’s second appearance on the podcast.  It is the political fallout from everything covered in our first episode where he told the story for how he serendipitously uncovered Opus Dei’s hidden power and financial manipulation while investigating the ruins of the Spanish bank, Banco Popular.  It began as a routine story but evolved into the discovery of a global network of manipulation, coercive recruitment, psychological abuse, and enormous financial flows routed through myriad opaque foundations. Gareth spoke about how Opus Dei maintains a polished, benign public image, but secretly operates an inner core of numeraries—members bound by vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty—who are tightly controlled, isolated, and monitored. It’s systematic practices include corporal mortification, constant surveillance, abuse, both emotional and physical and the exploitation of vulnerable young women tantamount to human trafficking. Opus Dei used Banco Popular as a piggy bank for decades, funnelling money through shell foundations and offshore channels to fund their impressive global expansion. This is a Direct quote from Gareth’s first appearance… “This is an organisation that seeks to re-Christianize of the entire world… Opus Dei is informed by a warped, distorted, conservative, radical reading of the Bible. It embeds itself in key institutions, especially in the United States. and Despite its Vatican legitimacy, Opus Dei uses secrecy and corporate structures to evade accountability. 

A probe into Gideon Haigh's worldview, someone I've anticipated interviewing ever since this podcast began.  Some highlights from the podcast. On cricket: “Cricket marches backwards into the future — always haunted by its past.”On Warne: “He had perfect superficiality and the gift of putting everyone at ease.”On journalism: “Legacy media has become mindlessly negative. If they can’t own it, they destroy it.”On new media: “It’s amazingly empowering to write something and press publish — no intermediaries, no gatekeepers.”On India: “India has become the gravitational centre of world cricket — a nation full of gods, and some of them play cricket.”On memory: “Memory is a slippery thing — journalists are constantly trying to pin it down, trusting it when it suits us, interrogating it when it doesn’t.”Gideon is a veteran journalist, author and the most eclectic cricket writer alive today. He has prolific output. He’s published more than 50 books and thousands of articles scoping a gamut of topics. Work, bureaucracy, the office, Australian crime, banks, business, scandals, cricket, cricket history, cricket politics, media, journalism, biography, memoir, and too many more to rattle off.  Check out the video of this one (Spotify or Youtube). The decor is a very on the nose projection for Gideon's aforementioned interests. Lining opposite walls are two imposing floor to ceiling bookshelves eyeing each down for Gideons attention. Behind him a shrine to cricket and across from him a shrine to the rest.  Gideon is also the co-host, alongside Peter Lalor, the wonderful Substack and podcast - Cricket Et Al.  If you like Cricket than you’ll love Cricket Et Al. ... a few quotes from Gideon in the interview to leave you with. "I've always thought journalism was a great vehicle for curiosity"“Contemporaneous documentation — that which was created at the time — is the closest thing we have to truth.”“Part of the romance of archives is finding them — going to see the thing that no one else has looked at.”“We are too easily satisfied with low-hanging fruit. I believe strongly in delayed gratification.”“An inquest is like a lightning flash — it illuminates everything in its surroundings for a moment before vanishing.”“If the record spoke for itself, it wouldn’t need interpretation.”“A good historian has humility. They know they can’t tell the whole thing, but they do their best.”“It’s not imagination that’s rare, it’s perseverance.”“I’m interested in delighting readers, not just informing them.”“The minute I stop getting better, I’ll stop doing it.”“Journalism should be a vehicle for curiosity, not defensiveness.”“I’ve always thought the best journalism comes from knowing who really pulls the strings.”“The site, the Substack — it’s a hungry beast. It requires constant replenishment.”“I’m not just writing to be read. I’m writing to find out what I think.”“I dislike the term ‘non-fiction’ — defining something by what it’s not.”“Legacy media is in long-term decline. They can’t own new ideas — so they’d rather destroy them.”“The barriers to entry have never been lower. The barriers to making a living have never been higher.”“Cricket is a game that marches backward into the future — every feat echoes those that came before.”“Test cricket is romantic love; T20 is carnal love.”

I've anticipated this interview for 6 years.  Robyn Davidson has lived one of the most mythologised lives in Australian memory. She famously and unintentionally burst onto the scene with Tracks in 1988, which was a 2,700km camel trek across the Simpson desert. She'd never intended to write a book or document anything of it's kind from the journey, but was desperate for some money to gather supplies for the impending trip. She figured $1000 would do, and serendipitously met the National Geographic photographer who put her on the map whilst cleaning windows as a part time gig in Alice Springs.  He said that if she wrote to National Geographic telling them about the journey, then she might get what she needed. They paid her $4,000 which Robyn comments 'was a fortune', and from there, the rest is history. Robyn has since lived between India, London and Australia but travelled most elsewhere on the map. She was with Salman Rushdie while he wrote the 'Satanic Verses', has published a series of books and articles documenting the lives of nomads, lived an 'aristocratic life' with her partner Narendra Singh Bhati in the high Himalayas and most recently published an autobiography titled 'Unfinished Woman'. Robyn say's to me that 'memoir is the slipperiest genre'. I have waited 6 years to do this interview with Robyn. She has a dream guest of mine since before the podcast began. We recorded earlier this year in rural Victoria.  The interview is Robyn's life. What led up to tracks, and what happened after.  Robyn reflects on her lifelong resistance to labels. Not a “writer,” not a “traveller,” not a “feminist icon,” but simply, as she says, “a person.” We speak about memoir, the slipperiness of memory “in retrospect, memory is imagination”. She speaks candidly about solitude, beauty, and depression, her family, fame, about the distortion of the famous photographs “Rick made me look like a Vogue model, that wasn’t me”, and her uneasy relationship with literary celebrity in London alongside Doris Lessing, Salman Rushdie, Christopher Hitchens, Martin Amis and more. “Whenever you write in the first person, you are necessarily creating a character — a doppelgänger. She is me, but she’s not quite me.”“The truth is, memory is imagination.”“I worship the phrase ‘I don’t know.’ If you don’t have ‘I don’t know,’ you can’t learn anything.”“If you have a firm identity, you’re trapped in it.” In this podcast you can expect the following discussion.  The Performed Self & Identity “Whenever you use the first-person pronoun, you are necessarily creating a character.”The Narrative Fallacy “We invent neat, linear, emotionally satisfying stories to explain what happened… but the world is messy, chaotic and driven by chance.”Freedom, Nomadism & Refusal to Be Fixed Freedom and movement — literal and intellectual — define her resistance to labels like “travel writer” or “author.”Chance, Fate & Serendipity “On the tiniest turning point you can head off in a billion directions.”Depression, Nihilism & Meaning “It’s a terrible pain that hovers somewhere between the physical body and the mental body.”“To learn how to deal with a profoundly nihilistic view and to counter that view — that’s been the most formative moment of my life.”Beauty, Objectification & Subjecthood “If that journey was about anything, it was about being the subject of my own life, not an object.”Feminism, Rebellion & the 1968 Generation The spirit of the late-’60s counterculture — radical freedom, equality, and experimentation — shaped her worldview.Authenticity vs. Fame “What I was interested in was knowledge and whether people were genuine or

“I deserved whatever the opposite of a Pulitzer is.” Phil Elwood is the author of All the Worst Humans, a confessional memoir from the dubious world of public relations. As a PR operative. He helped Qatar win the 2022 World Cup. He spun the release of the Lockerbie bomber into a “positive headline.” Had the Gaddafi family, the Assad regime and plenty more among his clients.  Phil speaks with humility and incredible clarity about what he learned from that world. The moral grey zones, the craft behind the spin, and how media manipulation really works in practice. It’s a rare, honest window into an industry that prefers the shadows. How propaganda and PR actually get executed behind closed doorsThe mechanics of “first ink,” astroturfing, and reputation launderingThe moral compromises behind Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bidSportswashing, Liv Golf, and the new global game of influenceWhether the media is more easily manipulated than ever?Whether AI and independent creators can break the old PR machinery 00:00 — Who is Phil Elwood? 04:57 — Lockerbie bomber: how he manufactured “positive press” for Libya. 11:14 — “Opposite of a Pulitzer” treating the news like a solvable game. 12:30 — What a PR operative really does; “infect a newsroom.” 18:28 — First Ink masterclass: Antigua vs USA 27:44 — Qatar 2022: going negative on the US bid 40:15 — Is Sportswashing PR? Is it all bad? 49:57 — “Buy the printing press”: oligarch media ownership. 55:01 — News collapse, AI replacing reporters, and why that’s dangerous. 57:21 — Andrew Callaghan. Do gatekeepers still matter? 01:05:53 — “Digital fentanyl”; treat content as a public-health issue. 01:10:27 — Rebranding Zuckerberg; persona as PR product. 01:22:44 — Bots: PR firms pitching bot farms 01:34:30 — Practical playbook & media-literacy plus a nice close.

“In the next 25 years, the world will need more copper than in all of human history.” Amendment - I said 3.2 billion kg of copper in opening question, I should have said 320 million kg.  In this episode, journalist and author Vince Beiser returns to the podcast to discuss his book Power Metal, a sobering look at the metals that make modern civilization possible — and the extraordinary cost of extracting them. We cover the story of copper — the wire of empire. Beiser reveals why humanity will need more copper in the next 25 years than we’ve used in all of history, and how that quest is reshaping geopolitics, the environment, and our very ideas of progress. From Chile’s drought-stricken Atacama mines to the e-waste yards of Lagos, Nigeria, we follow the real people and places behind our “clean-energy” future — and the dirty truths that power it. We also unpack the rise of deep-sea mining, the billionaires behind it, and the tensions between state power, corporate ambition, and the planet’s limits. Along the way we meet Robert Friedland, Gerard Barron, Dan Gertler, and a cast of characters who prove that the world still runs on digging — and that the future will too. If you liked The World in a Grain or stories about how our material world shapes our moral one, this conversation will hit home. Topics: Resource wars, clean-tech paradox, deep-sea mining, copper shortage, China’s industrial strategy, EV economics, and how to reduce demand without going backwards. Guest: Vince Beiser - author of Power Metal and The World in a Grain Subscribe to his newsletter Power Metal Substack The World In A Grain (Vince's First Appearance on The Curious Worldview in 2021) - https://open.spotify.com/episode/7rf8QskOPtzvp2g8tm3lMk?si=zxA1ycpKRViBFt5S3XTCLg Timestamps. 00:00 – Intro: Vince Beiser & Power Metal 02:00 – Chile’s Copper Boom & the Atacama Water Crisis 07:00 – Congo’s Cobalt, U.S. Retreat, and Copper Geography 10:00 – The No-Free-Lunch of the Green Transition 12:30 – Lagos E-Waste Recyclers & the Hidden Cost of Recycling 19:10 – Deep-Sea Mining and the Billionaires Behind It 23:00 – The UN vs Trump: Who Owns the Ocean Floor? 33:00 – Robert Friedland, Steve Jobs & Congo’s Mining Empire 41:00 – Corruption, Crony Capitalism & Dan Gertler 47:00 – Commodity Volatility and State Intervention 52:00 – China’s Industrial Patience vs Western Myopia 55:00 – Rethinking Cars, Cities & Demand Reduction 58:00 – The Future of Resources — and Civilization Itself

Theoretical physicist and bestselling author Lawrence Krauss (A Universe from Nothing, The Known Unknowns) explores the biggest questions we can ask: How did the universe begin? Why is there something rather than nothing? What is consciousness? And what will remain when every star has burned out? Krauss moves seamlessly from the hard science of the Big Bang and dark energy to existential philosophy, arguing that our cosmic insignificance is precisely what makes life meaningful.  Along the way he shares personal stories—mentorship from Nobel laureates, serendipitous discoveries, his friendship with Christopher Hitchens—and explains how curiosity and rigorous science drive human progress. 🪐 What We Cover 0:00 Intro & Lawrence Krauss’s background1:40 Why cosmic insignificance makes life precious5:45 Serendipity, creativity & the joy of discovery13:00 Australia stories & reflections on public science16:20 Science as culture & the power of the scientific method24:30 Evidence for the Big Bang and the age of the universe (~13.8B years)29:15 How astronomers measure cosmic acceleration & dark energy36:00 The universe’s fate: heat death, black holes & ultimate nothingness40:45 Consciousness and the mystery of self-aware stardust44:40 Memories of Christopher Hitchens and Hitch’s final quip💡 Key Ideas & Quotes “We make our own meaning. The universe doesn’t care—and that’s liberating.”“Science is not just results; it’s the process of questioning and testing.”“Rare things happen all the time in a big, old universe.”Christopher Hitchens on existence: “Why is there something rather than nothing? Just wait... it won’t be for long.”📚 A Selection Of Books by Lawrence Krauss A Universe from NothingThe Known UnknownsThe Physics of Star Trek

Subscribe to Chris Arnade's Substack - https://walkingtheworld.substack.com/ Who is Chris Arnade! He started as a physicist, earning a PHD from Johns Hopkins and then took to Wall St spending two decades on an elite trading desk at CitiGroup before disillusioning his well dressed allies to engage in the photography, walking and writing of the great and forgotten cities of this world.  He is a best selling author, but as well… a best subscribed substacker! 'Chris Arnade Walks The World' is the publications name… And in it, Chris lives up to the title.  Japan, Europe, China, Australia, The Faroe Islands, Canada, the expansive US of A, Turkey, Korea, Indonesia even Uzbekistan (which gets a special mention in this podcast). Cities within all of these great nations and many more, Chris has trod and documented.  His format is slow and empathetic. Chris will embark on several 20-30km journeys at his location, take photos and then report on his walk.  I can’t remember how long I’ve been subscribed, although it feels like years, but the other day I woke up to an email which detailed Chris’s initial impressions of Sydney! I replied to the email right away, and just a few hours later was guiding him along the Malabar to Bondi trail. Steve and I - guiding Chris from the area I grew up to the most iconic beach in Australia.  That was a special serendipity which came out of no-where and furthermore, led to this podcast today... 00:00 Introduction to Chris Arnade — physicist, Wall Street trader, turned global walker/writer.02:00 First impressions of Sydney — “child of LA and London,” with beaches, pubs, suburbs, and good living.Sydney Observations 03:40 Sydney’s trains: efficient, sprawling, but designed to avoid beaches.06:00 Sydney friendliness vs. UK cynicism — “Australians are like puppy dogs, eager to please.”09:30 Suburbs as “democratized manors,” good life for the average person, housing affordability issues.13:00 Housing supply constraints, coastline beauty, and why Sydney isn’t as bad as people think.Walking & Method 16:30 From physics & Wall Street to walking: walks as stress relief, learning, meditation.20:30 Spreadsheet brain → toy models → refining worldview through walking.22:30 Cities that defied expectations: Tashkent & Jakarta.Global Perspectives 25:30 Africa’s challenges: Nigeria & Dakar as examples of dysfunction despite resources.29:00 Australia’s weak ties with Indonesia, lack of Indonesians in Sydney, food culture, overlapping economic models.33:30 Chinese-Indonesian business dominance — parallels to Jews, Lebanese, minorities elsewhere.36:00 High-trust vs. low-trust societies: Japan as the archetype.Culture & Writing 41:30 Why he avoids fame, prefers anonymity, but respects subscribers deeply.44:00 Pressure to deliver as a Substack writer — treating it like a job.47:00 Writing inspiration, uninspired cities (Bangkok), and the challenges of always producing.53:00 Strong opinions drive trafficDignity & Underclass 55:00 “Dignity” project in the US — underclass and addiction.Personal Life 56:20 Family and frugality58:50 Why he doesn’t read other travel writersPhilosophy & Serendipity 01:04:50 Serendipity? “I don’t believe in coincidence.” 01:07:00  Country he’s most bullish on01:09:00 Next destinations

Subscribe to Nicholas Gruen's Substack - https://nicholasgruen.substack.com/ I joined the Australian economist Nicholas Gruen recently in his Melbourne home to host his first 'long-form' podcast (although I'm not sure at what hour it goes from short to long) At the core of Gruen's worldview is the “un-seriousness” he levels at Australian politics, the media landscape, institutions and in a word... bureaucracies. From his creation of the HALE Index to his decades inside Australia’s public institutions, Nicholas continuously challenges orthodox thinking. The podcast covers the (in my opinion) radical yet (Nicholas's opinion) ancient idea of citizens’ juries as a second pillar of representation, the reasons bold policy rarely survives bureaucratic reality, and how lessons from the Toyota production system could help governments actually listen to people at the bottom of the hierarchy. Along the way, Gruen takes us from Australia’s superannuation system to pokies, from the mental health crisis to the subtle erosion of public-spiritedness inside organisations.  To be specific, these are all the topics covered in this chat. The HALE Index of Well-being – Why GDP misses the mark, how HALE works, and what it reveals about Australia’s progress.Measuring What Matters – The limits of subjective well-being metrics, correlations between indicators, and why faux indexes mislead policymakers.Indigenous Policy Contradictions – The tension between material “gap closing” and self-determination, and why policy rarely confronts it.Citizens’ Juries & Political Reform – Introducing random selection into governance and how it could act as a check on elected officials.Goodhart’s Law in Action – How turning measures into targets corrupts them, and the problem of gaming metrics in education and beyond.Internal vs External Goods – Alasdair MacIntyre’s framework and its relevance to public service, corporate culture, and motivation.Institutional Stagnation – Why promising initiatives stall, and how bottom-up programs could scale without being crushed by bureaucracy.Toyota Production System Lessons – Building respect for frontline workers into systems and how it transforms performance.Australia’s Superannuation System – Strengths, inefficiencies, unfair taxation, and misaligned regulation of self-managed super funds.Compulsory Voting & Preferential Systems – How they shape Australia’s political centre and guard against extreme populism.Universities Today – The shift from idea-driven discourse to metric-chasing careerism, especially in economics.Trade-offs vs Synergies – Why economics often overemphasises trade-offs, and examples of where quality and cost improve together.Timestamps 00:00 Introduction to Nicholas Gruen 05:41 The Limitations of GDP as a Measure 11:08 Inequality and Its Impact on Well-being 16:45 The Role of Metrics in Policy Making 22:10 The Importance of Community Engagement 41:48 Connecting Education to the Real World 47:24 Learning from Toyota's Success 56:52 The Flaws in Superannuation System 01:02:55 Reforming Auditing Practices 01:11:39 The Shift in University Education 01:20:59 Divergent Perspectives in Economics 01:32:49 Rethinking Representation in Democracy 01:48:25 The Role of Elite Consensus in Political Change 02:07:58 Understanding Domestic Violence in Indigenous Communities 02:21:55 The Role of New Media in Political Discourse 02:26:38 The Impact of Gambling on Australian Society 02:36:08 The Nature of Optimism and Serendipity in Life

Geothermal Energy Starter Pack (Geothermal Interviews On A Curious Worldview Podcast) Curious Worldview Newsletter - https://curiousworldview.beehiiv.com/subscribe ----- Quaise are on the other side of the most exciting week in their companies short history. They use millimeter wave energy from a gyrotron to vaporise rock and create boreholes for accessing deep geothermal energy, offering an alternative to costly traditional drilling methods for accessing those critically hot depths.  It is an extremely ambitious, exciting and unique ambition - and Quaise have now proven their technology is applicable outside of theoretical and controlled lab conditions. They have successfully dug to a depth of 100m with their technology at a sight just outside of Austin, Texas - and therefore, move one step closer to realising their goal for adding electrons at scale to the grid. Matt Houde is the Co-Founder of Quaise. This is the second time he's joined me on the podcast. In this interview today we discussed the success of Texas, the business model of Quaise, serendipity in innovation, politics and finance for Quaise and plenty more in between… 

Sam Roggeveen - The Echidna Strategy Curious Worldview Newsletter - https://curiousworldview.beehiiv.com/subscribe ----- Sam Roggeveen coined The 'Echidna Strategy' -  which is an on the nose metaphor for thinking about Australian Defence policy.  Echidna’s are a tiny, cute little animals native to Australia. They are essentially harmless, they only eat ants and termites but despite their size and vulnerability, they have evolved this incredible defensive system. Their bodies are covered in long, spiky thorns thereby making them immune to pretty much all types of attacks that might come from animals higher in the food chain.  So in a nutshell, Sam wants Australia to be more like echidna’s, a threat to nobody, but disastrous to anybody that should attack them.  In the podcast we discussed Australian defense policy in a changing global landscape. How Australia can become a self-reliant power, the implications of China's military rise, and the evolving role of the United States in the region.  Sam shares his thoughts on the importance of ambition in leadership, the potential for an Australian-Indonesian alliance, and the strategic mistakes of AUKUS. Sam worked as an intelligence analyst at Australia's Office of National Assessments before he joined the Lowy institute where he now serves as the Director of the International Security Program, where he leads Australia's defence strategy, US foreign policy and Chinas military development.  The opening few minutes of this are not the best audio, but after that it kicks into studio quality. This was recorded in person in Canberra, it is my pleasure to welcome Sam Roggeveen to the podcast…