The Hope Axis by Anna Gát

The dearest Tyler Cowen joins The Hope Axis for a fun and wide ranging conversation. We talk about hope for insiders and outsiders, the competitive and the obsessed, immigrants and hard workers, talent and luck, why America is so special, whether Internet Utopia is over, GenZ and rebellion — and Jack Nicholson, John Stuart Mill, driving around Eastern Europe, the Enlightenment of AI, and why the courageous inherit the Earth. Hope you enjoy!A full transcript of our conversation can be found here.Important LinksTyler’s X: https://x.com/tylercowenMarginal Revolution: https://marginalrevolution.com/Conversations with Tyler: https://conversationswithtyler.com/Tyler's book 'GOAT' https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2023/10/goat-who-is-the-greatest-economist-of-all-time-and-why-does-it-matter.htmlTyler book with Daniel Gross 'Talent' https://www.amazon.com/Talent-Identify-Energizers-Creatives-Winners/dp/1250275814We also mention Josh Rosen's podcast with Tyler https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2025/08/my-biographical-podcast-with-joshua-rosen.html Show notes:(0:00:00) Guest Introduction(0:02:44) Is Tyler Inside or Outside?(0:06:41) How Big is Our World?(0:10:26) Eastern Europe's Perpetual Liminal Space(0:14:34) Toronto's Underrated Suburbs(0:22:00) America and Freedom(0:25:28) Who are Today's Insiders?(0:31:45) The Rise of Oral Culture(0:38:28) Envisioning the Future(0:45:50) You Can Always Move to New York(0:50:58) America Loves Well-Adjusted Weirdos(0:54:24) The Dance Between Competition and Obsession(1:01:23) Civilizationism(1:11:51) On Voting and Influence

The Times columnist James Marriott joins me to discuss the decline of reading comprehension, the risk-averse publishing industry, the addictive nature of digital media, a new Dark Age of literacy, and why ambitious young people should still pursue writing careers. Hope you enjoy!You can find the transcript of our conversation here.Important Links:JM’s SubstackX ProfileJames Marriott at The TimesShow Notes:(00:00) Guest Introduction (01:18) Cultural Pessimism as a Source of Hope (05:53) The Death of Ambient Culture (11:59) The Proliferation of Junk Text (15:10) The Last Great Novelists (23:47) Risk-averse publishers remove allusions from Books(27:39) If Dickens Tried to Publish Today (30:44) Can Anyone Read Dickens Anymore? (39:32) The Attention Economy vs. Human Relationships (42:45) Humanities as the Cultural Capital (48:32) The Kafka/Larkin model: boring day jobs enable artistic risk-taking (51:29) Start now, don’t wait for permission (55:23) Pessimistic Optimism instead of a Relentlessly Upbeat Culture

The lovely Alice Gribbin joins me for a conversation about great art, Mad Men, the decay of gatekeepers, and much more. Hope you enjoy!You can read the transcript of our conversation here.Important Links:Notes of an Aesthete; Alice’s SubstackAlice’s X ProfileShow Notes:(0:00:00) Guest Introduction (0:04:06) Hope is Embedded in Every Act of Artistic Creation (0:07:23) The Cold War's Intense Artistic Energy (0:13:12) The Cultural Impact of Mad Men (0:20:36) An Artist's Form-Content Fit (0:24:38) Why We Need Hubris Back in the Humanities (0:29:40) The Gods Are Still Present—But Only in Art (0:40:21) The Decay of Gatekeepers (0:46:03) The Internet as Research Tool (0:51:06) Art is a Visceral Encounter, Not Instagram Content (1:20:23) Notions of Great Art and the CanonBooks, Essays & References Mentioned:Barnett Newman's essays on American paintingAgainst Interpretation; by Susan SontagMad Men (TV series created by Matt Weiner)T.S. Eliot on art and inspirationThe Pound Era; by Hugh KennerWolf Hall; by Hilary MantelAgnes Martin's paintingsAby Warburg and pathos formulaeDelacroix as proto-modernistJohn Singer Sargent exhibition at the MetInternet Archive as research resource"Good Politics Produce Bad Art" (Tablet essay)"We're a Niche. We just didn't know" (Interintellect founding essay)

The brilliant Kat Rosenfield joins me for a conversation about millennial women, victimhood narratives, the enduring appeal of rich husbands, why we're bad at aging gracefully, and much more. Hope you enjoy!You can read the transcript of our conversation here.Important Links:Kat’s X ProfileKat’s SubstackKat’s column for The Free PressKat’s WebsiteShownotes:(0:00:00) Guest Introduction (0:02:16) The seductive appeal of victimhood narratives for Millennial women (0:06:01) Our current choice paralysis (0:09:47) "Survivor" as personal brand: trauma as social media content (0:17:21) The enduring appeal of rich husbands (even if we won't admit it) (0:23:35) What Pushkin's Tatyana knew about practical love choices (0:29:35) The mating crisis: where did all the couples go(0:36:21) A Midway Lifestyle as an antidote to Extremes (0:45:21) The "blow up your life" fantasy plaguing middle-aged women (0:49:04) Marriage, Fantasies, and Companionship (0:58:23) Living in a world without secrets or mystery (1:09:32) A Memoir as a sort of Revenge

The inimitable Sari Azout, founder of the new digital gardening platform Sublime, joins me for a wide-ranging discussion about ideas, digital minimalism, humane tech and building the future with care. Hope you enjoy!You can read the transcript of this conversation here.Important Links:Sublime’s SubstackSari on SublimeSari on XSari on LinkedInShow Notes:(0:01:17) The Philosophy of Ideas(0:04:42) Avoiding Brain Hijacking and Deepening Your Intentions(0:11:58) Making People Care(0:16:45) Observing Digital Shabbat(0:24:22) Succession as the Art of Giving Back(0:29:33) Are we all sentenced to Freedom? (0:37:59) Surprising Ways People Use Sublime (0:47:53) No AI Leader Gets Us Excited (0:55:02) Sari's Psychedelic Experience (1:01:49) Surfacing Ideas and Making StuffBooks / Resources Mentioned:The Disappearance of Rituals; by Byung-Chul HanAntimemetics; by Nadia AsparouhovaThe Essays of Venkatesh Rao

The very great Erik Hoel joins me for a conversation on AI, free will, emergence, creativity, neuroscience, consciousness and much more. Hope you enjoy!For the full transcript of our conversation, click here.Important Links:The Intrinsic PerspectiveErik on Twitter/XShow Notes:(0:00:00) Guest Introduction(0:05:12) Innovative Structures in Fiction(0:09:43) Gender Dynamics in Publishing(0:13:19) Erik Hoel's Origin Story(0:20:11) An Unorthodox Literary Trajectory(0:30:34) Consciousness and Information Theory(0:35:45) Science At the Edges(0:45:07) Is There a Bull Case for Neuroscience?(0:48:38) AI's Stunning Progress(0:51:05) AI as an Annoying Toddler(0:55:19) The Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Perspectives of Consciousness(1:00:59) Understanding Free Will(1:17:53) Closing RemarksBooks, Essays & Key People Mentioned:When the Map is Better than the Territory by Erik Hoel“How I taught my 3-year-old to read like a 9-year-old” by Erik HoelThe Da Vinci Code by Dan BrownFoucault's Pendulum by Umberto EcoThe Revelations by Erik HoelUlysses by James JoyceEinstein's Dreams by Alan LightmanThe Novels of Italo CalvinoThe World Behind the World by Erik HoelGödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas HofstadterMoby Dick by Herman MelvilleRomeo and Juliet by ShakespeareHamlet by ShakespeareKing Lear by ShakespeareThe Magic Mountain by Thomas MannWar and Peace by TolstoyResearchers & ThinkersSøren KierkegaardFrancis CrickGiulio TononiKarl FristonRobert SapolskyJudea PearlGary MarcusJulian JaynesFrancis FukuyamaCarl SaganBoethius

Santiago Ramos of Wisdom of Crowds joins me to talk about hope in apocalyptic times. AI, public philosophy, journalism, the aesthetics of urgent honesty, the value of disagreement, dialectics leading one to religion, whether crowds really are wise... ENJOY!For the full transcript of our conversation, click here.Important Links:Wisdom of CrowdsAuthor Page at Plough MagazineAuthor Page at CommonwealSantiago’s Twitter/XShow Notes:(00:00) Intro(00:23) Guest Introduction(03:57) What gives Santiago Hope(06:44) What Does Human Flourishing Mean?(11:56) The Apocalyptic Aesthetic in Modern Discourse(21:47) The Personal Transformations of Anna and Santiago(32:11) The Next Great Synthesizers of our Tech Moment(40:42) Agreement is Nice, but Disagreement is Better(47:48) Apocalypse as Revelation(53:00) What's obvious to Santiago but not to Others

The very great Agnes Callard joins me to talk about her excellent new book Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life.Just two Hungarian girls discussing love and ethics, truth and ignorance, paradoxes and beliefs—and Kant, Aristotle, Mill, Nussbaum, William James—and of course Socrates. Hope you enjoy!For the full transcript of our conversation, ⁠click here⁠.Important Links:Agnes's UChicago ProfileAgnes's XShow Notes:(0:00:00) Guest introduction (0:02:52) Why do some people ask load-bearing questions?(0:08:20) You can't force Philosophy on People (0:10:45) Philosophy is a Dangerous Profession (0:13:26) What Broke Tolstoy? (0:20:09) Every Human Flaw Stems from Ignorance (0:26:40) The sociology of conversation (0:32:36) Social Contracts and Reciprocity (0:45:12) The Three Big Philosophical Schools (0:47:21) Shift from Utilitarian to Virtue Ethics (0:53:40) Socrates' Approach to Truth-Seeking (0:57:37) Jamesian Beliefs and Leap of Faith (1:10:07) The Power of Truth In Conflict

Author, builder and friend — Rohit Krishan joins me in a wide ranging conversation about Indian and American culture. We discuss the Get Shit Done mentality of Indian entrepreneurs, predictions for the Indian diaspora, Rohit’s experiences with LLMs, and the surprising ways his children use AI.For the full transcript of our conversation, click here.Important Links:Rohit’s Substack: Strange Loop CanonX / TwitterShow Notes:00:00 Guest introduction 02:36 How Are India and America Similar? 09:06 Live Players vs. Dead Players 10:34 How American Policy Experiments Echo 18th-century scientists' Wacky Ideas 12:03 What Shapes The Indian Mindset? 14:13 Hyphenated Identities and Assimilation 18:00 The Business Culture of India: Get Shit Done 23:39 The Indian Diaspora in 2040… 28:20 What Most Surprised Rohit? 36:03 Technology Isn’t Magic…Yet 41:35 Dealing with LLMs: A Story of ‘Fuck Around and Find Out’ 43:55 What is Vibe Coding? 49:11 Will A.I. Prompting Make Us Sharper? 53:08 How Rohit’s Kids Use AI 57:17 What Rohit is Hopeful AboutAssorted Links:Samo Burja: Live versus Dead PlayersAlison GopnickDiana FleischmanDouglas Adams

The brilliant and always candid Haya Odeh - co-founder and design lead of Replit - and I talked about her company (and her husband and co-founder Amjad Masad), entrepreneurship, and hope — immigration, motherhood, resilience, being your best self, and the great power of not having a plan B.https://x.com/HayaOdehhttps://x.com/Replit

Max Meyer, founder and editor of Arena Magazine, and I sat down to talk about the Army and DOGE, Alex Karp and farming, Love Letters to America and Tocqueville, trust and publishing, fake news and social revolutions, academia and cities...And also the value of travelling around the US, the value of books, the value of people having a say in how their country is run.And establishing the first magazine on Mars!https://arenamag.com/https://x.com/mualphaxi

#satire #newsletters #DOGE #elonmusk #politics #liberalism #trolls #feminismThis was our 21st episode, and I celebrated its coming of drinking age by inviting my scandal hero mutual Richard Hanania. We talked about the art of satire (and a little trolling). Writing independently and without filter. Why Neoliberalism was, according to Richard, right. Why Liberals must make a comeback. Why women’s intuition should be taken seriously. Why romance is a pillar of social order. Why men and women - and generations, political sides - need to talk to each other. The social value of Classical Liberalism. Why Conservatism, according to Richard, is turning into a movement of the dunces. Why normie journalists are actually indispensable for a healthy democracy. Why Richard thinks I’m a too high level thinker. Why Tyler Cowen is the intellectual that gives him the most hope. And much more!Links: https://www.richardhanania.com/https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/book-review-the-origins-of-woke

The great Kyla Scanlon, economics creator and author of the book 'In This Economy?' (and host of some great Interintellect salons and series) and I talked about polarisation and economic stressors, the 3 types of GenZ, and housing, hope, fertility, DOGE, social fragmentation, bad vibes, the White House — and more!Links:https://kylascanlon.com/https://kyla.substack.com/https://www.tiktok.com/@kylascan

Writer, literary critic, and the man behind the great The Common Reader (https://www.commonreader.co.uk) blog, Henry Oliver joined me to gossip about literature and then dive in and build our own Western Canon. Enjoy!We talked about good literature and bad literature, Tolstoy and Shakespeare, Woolf, Bloom… Romanticism, quests, Goethe, Tolkien... And most importantly we built a from-scratch Western Canon for visiting aliens...Henry's Canon:1) The King James Bible2) The Odyssey3) The Aeneid4) Dante's Inferno5) Petrarch's Canzoniere6) Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur7) The Canterbury Tales8) Tartuffe9) A Winter's Tale10) The Pilgrim's Progress11) Montaigne's Essays 12) The Gargantua-Pantagruel series13) Gulliver's Travels 14) The Sorrows of Young Werther15) Emma16) Fathers and Sons17) The Death of Ivan Ilyich18) Chekhov: The Seagull19) The Lord of the Rings20) The Last Samurai

Investor and writer Jim O'Shaughnessy came on The Hope Axis and shared his Theory of Life. We talked about…probably everything? The 80s on Wall Street, reputation and norms, patterns and emotions, financial markets and family, Shakespeare sonnets and journaling, Cold War and conformism, Girard and Jung, reality and instincts, 911 and altruism, the Internet and belief systems, books and obsessions, innovation and investment, culture and hope. And so much more…https://x.com/jposhaughnessyhttps://www.osv.llc/https://www.infiniteloopspodcast.com/https://www.infinitebooks.com/

The one and only Zena Hitz — Tutor at St. John's College and author of one of my favourite books 'Lost in Thought — joined me to talk about Plato and Christ, contemplation and service, wisdom and being lost, morality and dignity, end goals and anxieties — Agnes Callard and Irina Dumitrescu — Aquinas and Hildegard of Bingen, and happiness!Links:https://www.zenahitz.net/https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691178714/lost-in-thought

Medieval scholar Irina Dumitrescu and I talk about the medieval mindset, faith, doubt, sex, and suicide. And also Margery Kempe and fame, heretics and wives, Strauss and Glück, Girard and Hamlet, pilgrims, saints, madness, vegetarianism, secrets, the Inquisition, and much more. Oh and Monty Python, of course! Irina: https://www.the-tls.co.uk/authors/irina-dumitrescu https://x.com/irinibus https://irinadumitrescu.com/about-me/

Writer, podcaster, and activist Sarah Haider joined me to discuss New Atheism, neo-religion, spiritual journeys, Cultural Islam. We reminisced about the Four Horsemen era and explored vibe shifts, trads, fanatics, immigration, woke taboos, the lack of constructive dialogue. Can democracy function without religion? What do people do with their big feelings like love, hate, or fear in the age of secularism? Why do so many people return to faith these days — are their motivations valid? Follow Sarah: https://newsletter.sarahhaider.com/ Follow Anna: https://x.com/TheAnnaGat Follow The Hope Axis: https://x.com/thehopeaxis

Writer and community builder Paul Millerd joined me to discuss his two excellent self-published books The Pathless Path and Good Work, as well as: Scenes and tribes. The Intellectual Renaissance were living through. John Stuart Mill, Sartre, Havel. The end of the corporate default. Language, community, virtue. SF vs Austin, GenZ vs Millennials. Cold emailing and rejection. The implosions of the social and the parasocial. Starting a publishing house. And much more... https://pmillerd.com/

Co-founder and CEO of the GenZ media company Eternal, Reggie James joined me to talk about how technology could better serve people's spiritual - even religious - needs. We talked about his viral blogposts, his obsession with Marshall McLuhan, and why writing is the ultimate form of design.