Podcast
Infinite Loops
Hosted by Jim O'Shaughnessy · EN
Every Thursday, join Jim O'Shaughnessy and his favorite people as they arm you with the tools & fresh perspectives required to upgrade your HumanOS and thrive in our messy, probabilistic world.
Visit our Substack at newsletter.osv.llc for full transcripts, highlights, weekly doses of timeless wisdom, and a bounty of other goodies designed to make you go, "Hmm that's interesting!"
66episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Brian London, Marisa Adler & Eric Stubin - The Hidden Economy of Recycled Clothes (Ep. 317)
6d ago01:07:08Summary readyWhat actually happens after you donate a bag of clothes? Most people assume it gets sold locally to someone in need, but the reality is much bigger, stranger, and more global. In this episode of Infinite Loops, hosted by OSV's Nick Tawil, we sit down for a roundtable on the hidden global economy of secondhand textiles with Brian London, Marisa Adler, and Eric Stubin, all experts in the field. We discuss how the industry works, why fast fashion has made the problem harder, why 70% of the world uses secondhand clothing, what AI can and can't solve, and why turning an old shirt into a new shirt is still much harder than it sounds. Substack: https://newsletter.osv.llc/
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Jason Buck - Faith, Failure, and Finance (Ep. 316)
2w ago02:01:50Summary readyJason Buck, founder and CIO of Mutiny Funds, joins Infinite Loops to tell the painful and darkly funny story of how the 2007–2008 crash destroyed his real estate business, wiped out his paper wealth, and taught him one of the hardest lessons in markets: being right is not the same thing as making money. Jason explains how he went from real estate developer to volatility trader and eventually built his philosophy around survival, resilience, and the "Cockroach Portfolio." He and Jim explore why true diversification always feels uncomfortable, why human behavior is the most persistent source of market mistakes, and why investing beliefs often resemble religion. Important Links: Learn more about Mutiny Fund here: https://mutinyfund.com/ Listen to more from Jason here: https://mutinyfund.com/podcasts
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Chelsea Follett - Why Progress Is the Exception, Not the Rule (Ep. 315)
3w ago01:29:53Summary readyChelsea Follett joins Infinite Loops to explain why the "good old days" were far darker than most people imagine — and why progress should never be taken for granted. Chelsea is the managing editor of Human Progress and author of Centers of Progress and the forthcoming The Grim Old Days. We discuss why humans are so drawn to nostalgia, what life was really like in the preindustrial past, why doomsday predictions keep failing, and how freedom, innovation, and open inquiry helped create the modern world. Important Links: Learn More about Chelsea's upcoming book here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Grim-Old-Days Read more of Chelsea's Human Progress work here: https://humanprogress.org/authors/chelsea-follett
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Mykhailo Marynenko - AI Tools That Give Creators More Control (Ep. 314)
4w ago01:43:52Summary readyMykhailo Marynenko joins Infinite Loops for for a fascinating conversation about the future of AI, creative tools, privacy, and data ownership. From growing up in his father's phone repair shop in Ukraine to building experimental AI systems today, Mykhailo has spent his life taking things apart, figuring out how they work, and rebuilding them in unexpected ways. We explore how AI can help creators without replacing them, why privacy and data ownership matter, and what it means to design tools that give people more control over complex information. Important Links More about Misha: https://linktr.ee/0x77dev?utm_medium=mykhailo.link
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Danielle Crittenden - Dispatches from Grief (Ep. 313)
May 701:52:28Summary readyOn a February morning, Danielle Crittenden's world cleaved in two: the life before her daughter Miranda was found dead in her Brooklyn apartment, and the life after. Two years and three months later, Danielle joins Infinite Loops to discuss her luminous memoir, Dispatches from Grief, which unflinchingly traces the strange afterlife of grief with precision, restraint, and unexpected humor. This conversation explores what grief really feels like. With extraordinary honesty and grace, Danielle shares the physical pain, the loneliness of loss, and the slow work of carrying her daughter's memory forward. Dispatches from Grief is out now: Infinite Books | Amazon Danielle's Substack: The Femsplainers With Danielle Crittenden
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Saloni Dattani - The Hidden Bottleneck Holding Back the Future of Medicine (Ep. 312)
Apr 3001:25:54Summary readySaloni Dattani, author of the Scientific Discovery Substack and founding editor of Works in Progress magazine, joins Infinite Loops to discuss why medical innovation is often much slower than it needs to be. We explore why so much research still begins in animal models, how poor data distorts our understanding of disease, why clinical trials are one of the biggest bottlenecks in medicine, and how better systems could help promising treatments reach patients faster. Important Links: Read more from Saloni here: https://worksinprogress.co/our-authors/saloni-dattani And here: https://substack.com/@salonium And listen to Saloni's podcast "Hard Drugs" here: https://harddrugs.worksinprogress.co/
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Brian Potter - How to Fix America's Building Problem
Apr 2301:13:00Summary readyWhy has America become so bad at building housing, infrastructure, and major projects? Brian Potter, author of The Origins of Efficiency and writer of Construction Physics, explains why prefab housing keeps failing and why there are no easy fixes to America's building problem. We discuss Katerra, California's anti-growth turn, and the deeper logic behind local opposition to growth: concentrated harms and diffuse benefits. Important Links: Read Brian's newsletter Construction Physics here: https://www.construction-physics.com/ Read Brian's book The Origins of Efficiency here: https://press.stripe.com/origins-of-efficiency Learn more about Brian here: https://ifp.org/author/brian-potter
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Alex Petkas - What Ancient Greece Can Teach Us About AI and the Future (Ep. 310)
Apr 1601:36:44Summary readyWhat can Aristotle, Plato, Prometheus, and the Greek city-states teach us about AI, innovation, and the future of human flourishing? Alex Petkas joins the show to explore how old myths still matter in a world shaped by technology. We talk about Prometheus as the foundational myth of tech, Plato's fear that writing would become a tool for forgetting, the real lesson of Icarus, why decentralization creates cultural power, and what it means to remain fully human in the age of AI. Important Links: Learn More about The Cost of Glory: www.costofglory.com Check out Alex's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@costofglory Alex's Twitter: https://x.com/costofglory The Cost of Glory Substack: https://costofglory.substack.com/
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Sam Arbesman - Why Future Belongs to Curious People (Ep. 309)
Apr 901:46:29Summary readyScientist and writer Sam Arbesman joins us for a wide-ranging conversation on AI, optimism, science, education, archives, science fiction, and why the history of computing still has so much to teach us. We talk about why pessimism is often mistaken for sophistication, why AI may reward open-mindedness more than intelligence, why science works even though scientists are imperfect, and why the future may depend on revisiting forgotten ideas from the past. Important Links: Learn more about Sam here: https://arbesman.net/ Read Sam's latest book: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/samuel-arbesman/the-magic-of-code Sam's Substack: https://arbesman.substack.com/about Neal Stephenson's Innovation Starvation: https://www.wired.com/2011/10/stephenson-innovation-starvation/ David Deutsch's The Beginning of Infinity: https://www.thebeginningofinfinity.com/
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Johnathan Bi - Why the Best Founders Might Need a Little Delusion (Ep. 308)
Apr 201:39:47Summary readyJohnathan Bi returns to Infinite Loops for a conversation about founders, delusion, America, religion, mysticism, and the strange tension between truth and action. We explore why some of the most effective builders may be the least introspective, why societies often run on useful fictions, how America encourages megalomania, what happens when materialism starts to feel incomplete, and why the "seeker" may matter even more in the age of AI. The episode moves from Plato and Caesar to founders, mystics, near-death experiences, and the future of human creativity. Important Links: Johnathan's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@bi.johnathan Johnathan's Substack: https://substack.com/@johnathanbi
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