Penn Jillette Interview

Here is an hour interview with Penn Jillette that is wonderful because it covers a lot of ground. I've always loved Penn & Teller. I like his character and I like his ideas...



I like his discussion about his religious experiences and his atheism.

I like his discussion about drugs and his abstinence.

I like his discussion of libertarianism. I especially like his sympathetic feelings.

Kary Mullis and the Human Immune Response

Here's an interview with Kary Mullis on the Edge website. When I read his book Dancing Naked in the Mind Field in the late 1990s, I became fascinated with him. He is a strange fellow. Smart, but wonky.

In this clip he talks about his new research to speed up the human immune response. As you watch you get a nice introduction to some biology:



What is wonderful about his research is the promise to find a way to deal quickly and effectively with MRSA. It sounds like a great idea. It is the same kind of "what if" thinking that got him the Nobel prize in chemistry for his PCR invention.

I get a kick out of his honesty. About 28:00 minutes into his talk Kary says that he has given half ownership in his company to a British firm because he knows he doesn't have the managerial skills needed to run it. Then as an aside he states "I rely on my wife as my hard drive". In other words, he knows he is "spaced out" and needs an anchor in his life, and his wife it the one who keeps him focused and grounded. And he is honest enough to admit it without any hesitation.

Kary Mullis is a bit of an acquired taste, but if you find you can put up with his oddball mannerisms, you might enjoy this presentation of his ideas before a college audience.

An Honest Look at Chess

Here's a bit from a very interesting interview with Magnus Carlsen who is ranked #1 in the world in chess:

SPIEGEL: Mr Carlsen, what is your IQ?

Carlsen: I have no idea. I wouldn’t want to know it anyway. It might turn out to be a nasty surprise.

SPIEGEL: Why? You are 19 years old and ranked the number one chess player in the world. You must be incredibly clever.

Carlsen: And that’s precisely what would be terrible. Of course it is important for a chess player to be able to concentrate well, but being too intelligent can also be a burden. It can get in your way. I am convinced that the reason the Englishman John Nunn never became world champion is that he is too clever for that.

SPIEGEL: How that?

Carlsen: At the age of 15, Nunn started studying mathematics in Oxford; he was the youngest student in the last 500 years, and at 23 he did a PhD in algebraic topology. He has so incredibly much in his head. Simply too much. His enormous powers of understanding and his constant thirst for knowledge distracted him from chess.

SPIEGEL: Things are different in your case?

Carlsen: Right. I am a totally normal guy. My father is considerably more intelligent than I am.

He comes off as a guy with his feet on the ground and an all around normal guy. That is pleasant news since the media loves to present the idea that people with talent and genius are twisted, selfish, crazed, or in some other way tortured souls.

Keynes vs Neo

Here is an interview looking at pro and anti Keynes views:



I enjoy the point at which Skidelsky jumps in and points out that the "self-correction" of free markets fail because:

1. The market punishes mistakes to create its automatic "self correction" but Skidelsky points out that it punishes lots of people -- such as the 15 million unemployed -- who had no role in the risky Wall Street behaviour. So relying on the market to "self correct" is to inflict punishment on innocent bystanders.


2. The "corrections" of free markets happen in the long run, but as Keynes pointed out: we are all dead in the "long run".

The American Banking System

Here is a very good interview by James Surowiecki speaking with Congressman Barney Frank:



I like Frank's optimism. He is "very confident" that the US can fix the financial problems:

• Teddy Roosevelt/Woodrow Wilson regulation changes: Federal Trade Commission, Anti-Trust Act, and the Federal Reserve system.


• Franklin Roosevelt regulation changes: Securities Exchange Commission and FDIC.

I like the way Barney Frank comes down hard on Alan Greenspan as an ideologue who simply didn't accept that regulation was necessary. This is comic because the key role of the Federal Reserve is to regulate the financial system!

I think Barney Frank will be viewed by history as a great legislator. I especially enjoy the part 17:00 into the video where he points out that the cost of the Iraq war would have paid for health care twice over. Nobody on the right got excited about the cost of the Iraq war, but these same people are beating to death the attempt to improve health by talking about the "costs".

Freeman Dyson

I was wandering about looking up Robert Wright on Wikipedia because I'm reading his latest book, The Evolution of God, when I ran across this:

Wright has also ventured into video-on-Internet with his MeaningofLife.tv website, in which he interviews a number of scholars, theologians, scientists and cosmic thinkers about their ideas and opinions regarding religion and spirituality.

Wow... something else to go noodle around in. And sure enough, right away, I find lots of interesting stuff. I immediately fell in love with this interview with Freeman Dyson:



This is an excellent example of how an academic dances around tantalizing you with evasive answers. From the academic's viewpoint he is being precise. But unless you understand the language and the qualifications, Dyson comes across as maddeningly evasive. But that is exactly why I find it so interesting. It is a kind of dance with text and sub-text and nuance. Lots of fun.

And then there is the actually content. I quite like Dyson's viewpoint. He is a straight-up guy in my books. I like his answers. I like his belief system. I like his intellectual honesty.

I find it humourous that Wright is trying to get Dyson to elaborate on a "religious" view and Dyson plays reluctant. It is obvious that for Dyson this is clearly a personal issue, he is not dogmatist, he seems opposed to theologies but he likes the community and the meaning. I personally don't go this far. I only admit to the sense of mysterium tremendum. This is a point at which I connect with Dennett, Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens.

Visions of the Future

Here is a nice interview of Marc Andreessen (co-author of Mosaic, and founder of Netscape, co-founder and chairman of Ning and an investor in several startups including Digg, Plazes, and Twitter).

Charlie Rose interviews him:

Macolm X Charlie

I always enjoy reading Malcolm Gladwell's writings. Here you can watch the extended version in the flesh where he does an interview with Charlie Rose on Gladwell's new book "Outliers"...


For those who can't wait to dig into Gladwell's writings, here is his latest from New Yorker Magazine, an essay entitled "Most Likely to Succeed". And here is a follow-up by Malcolm Gladwell in a blog entry with additional comments about this New Yorker article.