Shows
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningNoah Millman: from finance to the culture industryThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.razibkhan.comToday Razib talks to Noah Millman. Millman is an American screenwriter and filmmaker, as well as a political columnist and cultural critic based in Brooklyn, New York. He is the film and theater critic for Modern Age; previously he was a columnist for The Week (2015–2022) and a senior editor at The American Conservative (2012–2017). Millman writes the newsletter Gideon’s Substack, and his work has also appeared in outlets such as The New York Times and Politico. He graduated from Yale University and in...2025-08-0115 min
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningJohn Sailer: a time of troubles in higher education On this episode of the podcast Razib talks to John Sailer. Sailer is currently the director of higher education policy and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He covers issues of academic freedom, free speech, and ideological capture in higher education. Sailer has written for the Wall Street Journal, the Free Press and Tablet Magazine. Sailer holds a master’s degree in philosophy and education from Columbia University, and a bachelor’s degree in politics, philosophy, and economics from The King’s College. Prior to joining the Manhattan Institute, he was a senior fellow at the National Association of Scho...2025-05-101h 22
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningJohn Sailer: a time of troubles in higher educationThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.razibkhan.comOn this episode of the podcast Razib talks to John Sailer. Sailer is currently the director of higher education policy and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He covers issues of academic freedom, free speech, and ideological capture in higher education. Sailer has written for the Wall Street Journal, the Free Press and Tablet Magazine. Sailer holds a master’s degree in philosophy and education from Columbia University, and a bachelor’s degree in politics, philosophy, and economics from The King...2025-04-2630 minRazib Khan's Unsupervised LearningNathan Lents: Sex, truths and gender wars On this episode of Unsupervised Learning Razib talks to Nathan Lents about his new book, The Sexual Evolution: A Provocative Look at Sexual Behavior Through the Lens of Evolution. A professor at John Jay College in New York City, Lents earned a Ph.D. in Pharmacological and Physiological Sciences in 2004 at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, and did his postdoctoral fellowship in cancer genomics at NYU Medical Center. Lents’ research ranges from the evolution of molecular mechanisms to behavioral ecology. He is also the author of Not So Different: Finding Human Nature in Animals and Human Errors: A Panorama of...2025-03-032h 09
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningNathan Lents: Sex, truths and gender warsThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.razibkhan.comOn this episode of Unsupervised Learning Razib talks to Nathan Lents about his new book, The Sexual Evolution: A Provocative Look at Sexual Behavior Through the Lens of Evolution. A professor at John Jay College in New York City, Lents earned a Ph.D. in Pharmacological and Physiological Sciences in 2004 at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, and did his postdoctoral fellowship in cancer genomics at NYU Medical Center. Lents’ research ranges from the evolution of molecular mechanisms to behavioral ecology. He...2025-02-0720 minRazib Khan's Unsupervised LearningJohn Hawks: 2024 in Neanderthals, Denisovans and Hobbits On this episode of Unsupervised Learning, third-time guest John Hawks returns after two years to discuss what we’ve learned in paleoanthropology since he and Razib last talked. Hawks obtained his PhD under Milford H. Wolpoff, and is currently a professor in anthropology at the University of Wisconsin. Hawks has also co-authored Almost Human: The Astonishing Tale of Homo naledi and the Discovery That Changed Our Human Story and Cave of Bones: A True Story of Discovery, Adventure, and Human Origins with Lee Berger. Razib first presses Hawks on what we know about archaic human admixture into modern pop...2025-01-261h 10
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningJohn Hawks: 2024 in Neanderthals, Denisovans and HobbitsThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.razibkhan.comOn this episode of Unsupervised Learning, third-time guest John Hawks returns after two years to discuss what we’ve learned in paleoanthropology since he and Razib last talked. Hawks obtained his PhD under Milford H. Wolpoff, and is currently a professor in anthropology at the University of Wisconsin. Hawks has also co-authored Almost Human: The Astonishing Tale of Homo naledi and the Discovery That Changed Our Human Story and Cave of Bones: A True Story of Discovery, Adventure, and Human Origins wi...2024-12-1930 minRazib Khan's Unsupervised LearningBryan Ward-Perkins: The material consequences of the fall of RomeOn this episode of Unsupervised Learning Razib talks to archeologist and historian Bryan Ward-Perkins about his 2005 book The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization. Ward-Perkins was born and grew up in Rome, a son of architectural historian and archaeologist, John Bryan Ward-Perkins. Educated at Oxford University, Ward-Perkins eventually became a fellow of Trinity College at the same university, from which he has since retired. An archaeologist with a deep interest in economic history, Ward-Perkins’ standout book The Fall of Rome was to a great extent a restatement of traditional understandings of the Roman fall in the wake of acad...2024-08-021h 07
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningBryan Ward-Perkins: The material consequences of the fall of RomeThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.razibkhan.comIf you have a sibling with autism, your future child’s risk for an autism diagnosis is increased by a factor of 2 to 3.5×. Orchid’s whole genome embryo reports can help mitigate your child’s risk by screening for over 200 genetic variants definitively linked to autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Discuss your situation with a genetics expert.On this episode of Unsupervised Learning Razib talks to archeologist and historian Bryan Ward-Perkins about his 2005 book The Fall of Rome: And the End...2024-07-0414 minRazib Khan's Unsupervised LearningJohn Massey: Chinese dreams through Western eyesOn this unusual “from the vault” episode of Unsupervised Learning, Razib talks to John Massey, a retired Australian engineer who has been a long-time correspondent. Massey and Razib recorded this podcast in the spring of 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, Australia and China were enacting strict lockdowns to halt the spread of the virus, while the US and Europe were already taking a more relaxed approach. Though the conversation is a bit of a temporal rewind, back to a time when Americans were more worried about infection than inflation, the overarching theme is the role...2024-05-131h 01
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningJohn Massey: Chinese dreams through Western eyesThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.razibkhan.comFor the first time ever, parents going through IVF can use whole genome sequencing to screen their embryos for hundreds of conditions. Harness the power of genetics to keep your family safe, with Orchid. Check them out at orchidhealth.com.On this unusual “from the vault” episode of Unsupervised Learning, Razib talks to John Massey, a retired Australian engineer who has been a long-time correspondent. Massey and Razib recorded this podcast in the spring of 2021, at the height of the...2024-04-1214 minRazib Khan's Unsupervised LearningJames Miller: the end of world as we know it On this episode of Unsupervised Learning Razib talks about AI, the singularity and the post-human future, with James D. Miller, a Smith College economist, host of the podcast Future Strategist and the author of Singularity Rising: Surviving and Thriving in a Smarter, Richer, and More Dangerous World. Miller and Razib first met at 2008’s “Singularity Summit” in San Jose, and though Singularity Rising was published in 2012, some of the ideas were already presented in earlier talks, including at that conference. More than 15 years since Miller began formulating his ideas, Razib asks him how the theses and predictions in his book have held up...2024-02-231h 15Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningWilfred Reilly: a social scientist in the culture wars In this episode, Razib talks to Wilfred Reilly, political scientist, author and fearless cultural commentator. Reilly holds a Ph.D. in political science from Southern Illinois and a J.D. from the University of Illinois. Raised in a working-class neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side, he discusses his ten-year diversion from academia, including his stints as a canvasser for the gay rights group the Human Rights Campaign and a corporate salesperson. A prolific public intellectual, Reilly is the author of Lies My Liberal Teacher Told Me, Taboo: 10 Facts [You Can't Talk About] and Hate Crime Hoax: How the Left Is Selling...2024-02-081h 12
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningWilfred Reilly: a social scientist in the culture warsThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.razibkhan.comFor the first time ever, parents going through IVF can use whole genome sequencing to screen their embryos for hundreds of conditions. Harness the power of genetics to keep your family safe, with Orchid. Check them out at orchidhealth.com.In this episode, Razib talks to Wilfred Reilly, political scientist, author and fearless cultural commentator. Reilly holds a Ph.D. in political science from Southern Illinois and a J.D. from the University of Illinois. Raised in a working-class...2024-01-2520 min
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningJohn Logsdon: what has genomics done for evolution? We’re about a generation into the “age of genomics,” or as it’s sometimes termed the “post-genomic era.” Today Razib talks to John Logsdon, a professor of biology at the University of Iowa, about what genomics has wrought in relation to our understanding of evolution, and what evolution has taught us about the structure and nature of the genome. In 2014, Logdson and Sarah J Hanson contributed a chapter entitled “Genome Evolution” to the Princeton Guide to Evolution. Razib uses this mid-2010s review to scaffold his discussion with Logdson about where we are in 2023. But first, he asks what the exact diffe...2023-10-201h 12
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningJohn Logsdon: what has genomics done for evolution?This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.razibkhan.comFor the first time ever, parents going through IVF can use whole genome sequencing to screen their embryos for hundreds of conditions. Harness the power of genetics to keep your family safe, with Orchid. Check them out at orchidhealth.com.We’re about a generation into the “age of genomics,” or as it’s sometimes termed the “post-genomic era.” Today Razib talks to John Logsdon, a professor of biology at the University of Iowa, about what genomics has wrought in relation...2023-09-2815 min
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningDavid Sloan Wilson: the past and future of multi-level selection theoryDr. David Sloan Wilson is a Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences and Anthropology at Binghamton University. Co-founder of the Evolution Institute and Prosocial World, Wilson is the author of Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior, Darwin's Cathedral: Evolution, Religion and the Nature of Society, Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin’s Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives, This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution and Atlas Hugged: The Autobiography of John Galt III. A self-described evolutionist, Wilson is perhaps best known in the scholarly world as the champion of multi-level selection theory. In this ep...2023-03-221h 05
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningGlenn Loury: four decades in economicsToday on the podcast Razib talks to Dr. Glenn Loury, Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences at Brown University. Loury also has a Substack that grew out of his conversations with John McWhorter on bloggingheads.tv starting in 2008. He is the author of One by One from the Inside Out, The Anatomy of Racial Inequality and Race, Incarceration, and American Values. An erstwhile progressive, Loury was a neoconservative in the 1980’s before his gradual shift to back the political right in the 2010’s. Loury has been in public life for more than 25 years, but today’s discussion begins...2023-03-0455 min
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningJohn Hawks: A Year in PaleoanthropologyOn this episode of Unsupervised Learning Razib reviews the year in paleoanthropology and previews the year to come with John Hawks. First, they tackle the latest discoveries regarding Homo naledi, in particular, the finding that they likely used fires deep in the caves where they buried their dead. Hawks reflects on the implications of Homo naledi, a very small-brained hominin that mastered several elements of human culture, for our understanding of hominin evolution and the expected trajectory of the evolution of these groups of species. Razib and Hawks also discuss Denisovans and the profusion of human lineages discovered in Southeas...2023-01-131h 06
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningOliver Traldi: welcome to the intellectual dark webOn this episode of Unsupervised Learning Razib discusses approaching politics through philosophy, political philosophy, and what it’s like being an excessively online academic in 2022 with Oliver Traldi. Currently working on a book on understanding politics through a philosophical lens, Traldi explains the relevance of epistemology to the project, while Razib queries the role that deductive, abductive and inductive reasoning might play in political views. Both also consider that political orientation is just a form of tribalism, as made clear when individuals chart a wholesale shift in a cluster of “beliefs” on topics as diverse as abortion and trade within just a...2022-10-131h 08
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningClaire Lehmann: an Australian at the heart of the heterodox webOn this episode of Unsupervised Learning Razib talks to his friend Claire Lehmann, founder and editor-in-chief of Quillette magazine, and columnist for The Australian. Though Lehmann’s initial public prominence involved her key role in the “intellectual dark web,” publishing thinkers critical of identity politics like Coleman Hughes, John Wood Jr. and John McWhorter, Razib was especially interested in the fact that over the last few years she has gotten involved in various online discussions centered around cultural differences between her home nation of Australia, and the US, where the majority of Quillette’s readers live. Razib draws Lehmann out about the fact th...2022-06-3058 min
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningAnanyo Bhattacharya: The Life of John von NeumannWho was the smartest human of the 20th century? Though intellectual celebrity probably dictates that the majority would answer Albert Einstein, another candidate is the mathematician John von Neumann. Today on Unsupervised Learning Razib talks to science journalist Ananyo Bhattacharya, author of The Man from the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann, and erstwhile physicist and editor at Nature. They discuss the life and science of a scholar whose mental acuity was so preternatural that he was affectionately labeled a “Martian” by his colleagues. Razib and Bhattacharya discuss the social context of von Neumann’s upbringing in t...2022-06-131h 25
Brown PunditsCore Agenda and India as a Hindu State: Conversation with Arihant Pawariya Maneesh is in conversation with Arihant Pawariya. Arihant is a senior editor with the Swarajya magazine and an influential voice in the right-wing ecosystem in India. In a freewheeling conversation, Arihant talks about the ‘Core’ agenda and how he sees the Indian state behaving were India to turn into a Hindu state. @maneesht and @haryannvi on Twitter. Authors and books mentioned in the episode: M. N. Srinivas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._N._Srinivas Caste in Modern India: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2941637 Social Change...2022-02-091h 39
Razib Khan's Unsupervised LearningDragon Man ascending: two geneticists discuss the latest paleoanthropological discoveriesLast week two new hominin fossils were published in the scientific literature, and extensively reported on in the media. “Dragon Man”, discovered in Harbin, China, and dating to 140,000 years ago is claimed to be a new species that is the closest to the modern human lineage. Meanwhile, the hominin discovered at Nesha Ramla in Israel dates to 120,000-140,000 years ago, and it seems most similar to Neanderthals (though its tools are no different from modern humans to the south and west in Africa).I’ve given some thought to the implications of these results, and how to interp...2021-07-011h 02