logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2024
36m 52s

Embracing the Escape Fire (with Adam Gra...

Pushkin Industries
About this episode

Cautionary Conversation: Steve Jobs hated his phone so much that he smashed it against a wall. He also referred to mobile carriers as "orifices". Yet he went on to invent the world's most popular smartphone. Why did he change his mind?

Tim Harford and organizational psychologist Adam Grant (Think AgainHidden Potential) discuss the consequences of letting our ideas become part of our identity; when it's essential to adapt; and whether frogs really do stay sitting in slowly boiling water.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up next
Yesterday
"I get in trouble when I say things like this" - Michael Lewis on Sam Bankman-Fried
Acclaimed author Michael Lewis discusses his time with Sam Bankman-Fried and why he thinks both high finance and Effective Altruism shaped the 'Crypto King's' worldview, ultimately landing him in jail. Plus, we hear about the people fighting terrorism, cave-ins and brain-eating a ... Show More
45m 57s
Jul 4
Grand Theft Automated: How to Save a Trillion Lives
A radical thought experiment transforms the lives of a new breed of philanthropists, as they follow the logic of altruism to extraordinary lengths. The most famous convert to the Effective Altruism movement, Sam Bankman-Fried, is either a humanitarian hero, a con artist at an ast ... Show More
38m 48s
Jun 27
The Man who Solved Kindness
George Price is on a mission to prove that human kindness is real. He's seen the latest research suggesting any altruism is ultimately selfish and finds it deeply depressing. George decides to learn the mathematics he needs to prove that research wrong, and throws his career, and ... Show More
37m 42s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2024
Why Do People Fear Being Wrong?
In this episode from our archives, Gwyneth sits down with organizational psychologist and beloved Wharton professor Adam Grant to talk about being a recovering logic bully, why we mistake confidence for competence, the trap of letting our ideas become our identities, and how we c ... Show More
49m 32s
Nov 2021
#214 Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography
What I learned from rereading Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography by Walter Isaacson. 1. He had the attitude that he could do anything, and therefore so can you. 2. He refused to accept automatically received truths, and he wanted to examine everything himself. 3. Picasso had a s ... Show More
2h 12m
Oct 2024
S2: 7. Wonderland
In the 1990s a group of futurist thinkers meet on one of the world’s first email lists. The Extropians imagine a world of augmented human bodies, nanotechnology, cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence. Now, some of the thinkers on that email list are turning that AI future ... Show More
39m 48s
Mar 2025
The Man Who Predicted the Downfall of Thinking
Few thinkers were as prescient about the role technology would play in our society as the late, great Neil Postman. Forty years ago, Postman warned about all the ways modern communication technology was fragmenting our attention, overwhelming us into apathy, and creating a societ ... Show More
58m 57s
Oct 2024
Adam Kinzinger on Standing Up For The Truth
Adam Kinzinger was 1 of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump back in 2021 following the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. Now, as we head into the final days before the 2024 election, Adam joins Ryan to talk about looking beyond politics at the ... Show More
45m 38s
Feb 2025
Exposing the Dark Side and Hidden Threats of Technology with Laurie Segall, the Investigative Tech Journalist
On the SUPERWOMEN podcast, I’m sitting down with Laurie Segall, the founder of Mostly Human Media and a former senior technology correspondent and editor-at-large at CNN. Throughout her award-winning career, Laurie has investigated the dangers of technology, and has interviewed s ... Show More
43m 26s
Jan 2025
Sunday Pick: Sam Altman on the future of AI and humanity | ReThinking with Adam Grant
Each Sunday, TED shares an episode of another podcast we think you'll love, handpicked for you… by us. Sam Altman is the CEO and cofounder of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. In this episode of ReThinking with Adam Grant, another podcast in the TED Audio Collective, Sam and Ad ... Show More
40m 51s
Nov 2023
Adam Grant on Your Potential, Gen Z and — oops — Elon
Are tech bros successful because of some innate talent, or could any of us be like them? Organizational psychologist and Wharton School professor Adam Grant takes on the myth of innate talent and the reality of growth in his latest book, Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving ... Show More
59m 20s
Sep 2023
How the Media Creates Delusional Tribes - Tim Urban
Tim Urban is a blogger who writes about a wide range of topics, from science and technology to psychology and philosophy. He is known for creating minimalist stick-figure illustrations to help explain complex concepts in a simple way. His musings are collected on his website, ‘Wa ... Show More
59m 32s
Apr 2023
Does emotion rule over reason? | Tommy Curry, Güneş Taylor, Julian Baggini
Philosopher and acclaimed author, Julian Baggini, leading molecular biologist, Güneş Taylor, and critical race theorist, Tommy Curry, debate the relationship between reason and emotion. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimesFor centuri ... Show More
47m 45s