Best Mark And Shashank Podcasts (2025)

1
Lenore Skenazy on Rejecting Helicopter Parenting 56:09

1d ago56:09

56:09

Yascha Mounk and Lenore Skenazy discuss why kids should take risks. After letting her 9-year-old ride the New York City subway alone—and creating a media firestorm—Lenore Skenazy wrote the book, “Free-Range Kids.” Lenore is also a co-founder of Let Grow. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Lenore Skenazy explore why parents are reluctant …

1
Shashank Joshi on How Warfare is Changing 1:03:20

4d ago1:03:20

1:03:20

Shashank Joshi is Defence Editor at The Economist, where he writes on a wide range of national security, defence and intelligence issues. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Shashank Joshi discuss how technology is changing warfare, the latest developments in Ukraine, and the future of Gaza. Podcast production by Mickey Freeland and Leono…

1
Mark Lynas on Nuclear War 52:54

8d ago52:54

52:54

Yascha Mounk and Mark Lynas on how to avoid armageddon. Mark Lynas is an author, campaigner and speaker. He is science advisor with the Climate Vulnerable Forum and policy lead with WePlanet, a pro-science environmental advocacy network active in over 20 countries. His latest book is Six Minutes to Winter: Nuclear War and How to Avoid It. In this w…

1
David Leonhardt on Why the Left isn’t Reaching the Working Class 1:03:10

11d ago1:03:10

1:03:10

David Leonhardt is an editorial director for New York Times Opinion. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and David Leonhardt discuss why the left is losing its appeal to the working classes in the United States and in Europe, the flaws in the Democratic Party’s approach to voters, and what U.S. Democrats can learn from the Social Democrats in…

1
Quico Toro on How to Save the Climate 52:21

15d ago52:21

52:21

Yascha Mounk and Quico Toro explore what’s holding environmentalists back. Quico Toro is Director of Climate Repair at the Anthropocene Institute, a contributing editor at Persuasion, and writes the Substack One Percent Brighter. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Quico Toro discuss outdated ideas within environmentalism, why we need to …

1
How Merlin AI went from zero to over 2 million users 1:13:13

18d ago1:13:13

1:13:13

Try Merlin: https://www.getmerlin.in/ X: https://x.com/MerlinAIByFoyer Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@merlin_ai/videos South Bay Gen AI: https://genaimeetup.com/ Mark's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@markkuczmarski896By Mark and Shashank

1
Steve Stewart-Williams on Nature vs Nurture 1:11:35

18d ago1:11:35

1:11:35

Steve Stewart-Williams is a professor of psychology at the University of Nottingham Malaysia, and author of The Ape That Understood the Universe (2018), Darwin, God and the Meaning of Life (2010), and The Nature-Nurture-Nietzsche Newsletter on Substack. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Steve Stewart-Williams explore the nature vs nurtu…

1
Paul Krugman on Why International Trade is Good 1:35:31

22d ago1:35:31

1:35:31

Yascha Mounk and Paul Krugman also explore whether the Euro was a mistake. Paul Krugman is the Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He was a columnist for The New York Times from 2000 to 2024. In 2008, Krugman was the sole winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his cont…

1
Katja Hoyer on East Germany Then and Now 1:02:25

25d ago1:02:25

1:02:25

Katja Hoyer is a visiting Research Fellow at King's College London and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and is the author of Blood and Iron: The Rise and Fall of the German Empire, 1871–1918 and Beyond the Wall: East Germany 1949-1990. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Katja Hoyer discuss life in the German Democratic Republic …

1
How to automate your life with rtrvr.ai 1:16:39

26d ago1:16:39

1:16:39

https://rtrvr.ai/ Join hosts Shashank from Google AI Labs and Mark (currently on hiatus from Amazon) as they interview Arjun and Pavani, the founders of Retriever AI. This episode explores how Retriever's innovative browser extension brings agentic LLM capabilities directly to your desktop browser, offering unique advantages over cloud-based altern…

1
Frances Lee & Stephen Macedo on Why Institutions Failed During COVID 1:21:56

29d ago1:21:56

1:21:56

Frances E. Lee is professor of politics and public affairs at Princeton University. In addition to In Covid’s Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us, she is author or coauthor most recently of The Limits of Party: Congress and Lawmaking in a Polarized Era and Insecure Majorities: Congress and the Perpetual Campaign. Stephen Macedo is the Laurance S. Rock…

1
Pratap Mehta on the Global Crisis of Legitimacy 1:50:27

1M ago1:50:27

1:50:27

Pratap Bhanu Mehta is Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi and Laurence Rockefeller Visiting Professor for Distinguished Teaching at Princeton University. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Pratap Mehta discuss nationalism, radical forms of self-identity, and the likelihood of war between India and Pakistan. Note: T…

1
Elaine Kamarck and William Galston on How the Democrats Can Win 52:27

1M ago52:27

52:27

Elaine C. Kamarck is a senior fellow in Governance Studies and the director of the Center for Effective Public Management at Brookings. William A. Galston is a senior fellow and the Ezra K. Zilkha Chair in the Governance Studies program at Brookings. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk, Elaine Kamarck, and William Galston explore why the Demo…

1
Rutger Bregman on How to Live a Moral Life 1:04:06

1M ago1:04:06

1:04:06

Rutger Bregman is an historian and author. He is the co-founder of The School for Moral Ambition, a new initiative to mobilize talented professionals to work on the world’s most pressing problems. His latest book, Moral Ambition, explores how we can build lives and careers that make a real difference. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and R…

1
Interview with the fastest growing startup in terms of ARR | Genspark 48:57

1M ago48:57

48:57

https://www.genspark.ai/ https://genaimeetup.com/ Follow the podcast: https://podcast.genaimeetup.com/ Join hosts Shishank and Mark as they dive deep into the world of generative AI agents with Lenzoy Lin, Engineering Lead at Gens Park. Discover how this rapidly growing startup is revolutionizing productivity through their suite of AI agents - from…

1
Kevin Mitchell on Free Will 1:20:16

1M ago1:20:16

1:20:16

Kevin Mitchell is Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin. He studies the interplay between genes, brains, and minds. He is the author of Innate: How the Wiring of Our Brains Shapes Who We Are and Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Kevin Mitchell discuss the…

1
Claire Lehmann on The Psychology Behind Wokeness 59:16

1M ago59:16

59:16

Claire Lehmann is an Australian publisher and journalist who founded the online magazine Quillette in 2015. She serves as Editor-in-Chief of Quillette and contributes regularly to The Australian newspaper. Email: [email protected] Podcast production by Mickey Freeland and Leonora Barclay. Connect with us! Spotify | Apple | Google X: @Yascha_Mo…

1
Sarah Longwell on What Voters Really Think 1:09:25

2M ago1:09:25

1:09:25

Yascha Mounk and Sarah Longwell also discuss who—if anyone—can save the Democrats. Sarah Longwell is the publisher of The Bulwark, which she helped found in 2019. She regularly conducts focus groups with voters across the political spectrum and hosts the podcast “The Focus Group,” which is in its fifth season, and co-hosts “The Next Level” podcast …

1
Ivan Krastev on American Decline 1:21:48

2M ago1:21:48

1:21:48

Ivan Krastev is the chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies and Albert Hirschman Permanent Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences, IWM Vienna. His books include Is it Tomorrow, Yet? After Europe, and The Light that Failed: A Reckoning, which was co-authored by Stephen Holmes. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Ivan Krastev expl…

1
Larry Summers on Harvard’s Showdown With Trump 50:53

2M ago50:53

50:53

Yascha Mounk and Larry Summers also discuss the administration’s tariffs. Lawrence H. Summers is the Charles W. Eliot University Professor and President Emeritus at Harvard University. He served as the 71st Secretary of the Treasury for President Clinton and the Director of the National Economic Council for President Obama. In this week’s conversat…

1
Coleman Hughes on the Legacy of Slavery 1:05:52

2M ago1:05:52

1:05:52

Editor’s Note: This podcast was produced as part of Persuasion’s partnership with the Civil Discourse @ MIT program, at which Coleman Hughes recently spoke on a panel exploring the topic “Should American Society Commit to Colorblindness?” To learn more about Civil Discourse @ MIT, visit the program’s website here, and to see prior episodes in the s…

1
The future of Augmented Reality | Interview with Real Wear CTO Timon Binder 1:20:48

2M ago1:20:48

1:20:48

https://www.realwear.com/ Timon Binder: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timon-binder/ Join us for a special episode as we sit down with Timon Binder, CTO of Realware, a leading AR hardware company transforming the enterprise landscape. Timon shares his journey from co-founding a startup in Switzerland to leading innovation in the US, revealing how Real…

1
Emily Oster on What’s Gone Wrong with Modern Parenting 55:37

2M ago55:37

55:37

Yascha Mounk and Emily Oster also talk about what public health authorities fell short during the pandemic. In addition to being a Professor of Economics at Brown University, Emily Oster is the founder and CEO of ParentData, a data-driven guide to pregnancy, parenting, and beyond. Emily is also a New York Times best-selling author, whose books incl…

1
John McWhorter on Pronouns 57:57

2M ago57:57

57:57

John H. McWhorter teaches linguistics, American studies, and music history at Columbia University. He is the host of the podcast Lexicon Valley and writes a weekly column for The New York Times. McWhorter is the author of twenty-three books, including Nine Nasty Words, Woke Racism, The Power of Babel, and Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue. In this wee…

1
Jason Furman on “Liberation Day” 1:12:54

2M ago1:12:54

1:12:54

Yascha Mounk and Jason Furman also discuss the flaws in Build Back Better. Jason Furman is the Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy jointly at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) and the Department of Economics at Harvard University. Previously Furman served as Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors under Barack Obama. In this week’s conv…

1
Building AI Agents Without Code | Interview with Langflow 24:45

2M ago24:45

24:45

Langflow: https://www.langflow.org/ https://www.producthunt.com/products/langflow Langflow Desktop: https://www.langflow.org/desktop In this insightful interview, Rodrigo from Langflow discusses the evolution and future of their low-code agent building platform. Starting with his background in machine learning and data science, Rodrigo explains how…

1
Yascha Answers Your Questions #2 5:50

2M ago5:50

5:50

In this week’s conversation, Persuasion editor-in-chief Yascha Mounk was joined by listeners of The Good Fight for a “mailbag” episode, speaking about everything from domestic and global politics to AI. Larry Diamond’s piece The Crisis of Democracy can be found in Persuasion. Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight. If you have no…

1
What will the world look like in 2035? 47:56

2M ago47:56

47:56

In this special episode, hosts Mark and Shashank take a break from their usual news coverage to explore the rapidly evolving world of AI agents. They define what agents are, examine their current capabilities, and make bold predictions about how these technologies will transform our lives over the next 1, 5, and 10 years. The hosts discuss how AI a…

1
Audrey Tang on “Misinformation” 1:00:25

3M ago1:00:25

1:00:25

Audrey Tang is Taiwan’s Cyber Ambassador and served as Taiwan's first digital minister and the world’s first nonbinary cabinet minister. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Audrey Tang discuss what makes social media so divisive, how to tackle misinformation without undermining free speech, and how online tools can engage participation in…

1
What even is AGI? 1:29:36

3M ago1:29:36

1:29:36

In this episode, hosts Mark and Shashank dive into recent developments in generative AI technology. They begin with NVIDIA's latest GTC announcements, including partnerships with GM for self-driving technology and advancements in robotics with Google DeepMind and Disney. The hosts debate the merits of camera-only versus LiDAR-based autonomous drivi…

1
Aaron Sibarium on Identity Politics under Joe Biden and Donald Trump 1:15:21

3M ago1:15:21

1:15:21

Aaron Sibarium is a staff writer at the Washington Free Beacon, where he covers higher education and institutional capture. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Aaron Sibarium discuss racial bias in medicine, affirmative action at universities and if “woke” is dead. Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight. If you have not…

1
Hamish McKenzie on How Substack is Transforming Public Discourse 1:04:59

3M ago1:04:59

1:04:59

Hamish McKenzie is co-founder of Substack, a platform for online publications including Persuasion and writing like Yascha’s weekly column. He is a writer and former journalist based in San Francisco. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Hamish McKenzie discuss how Substack was formed, why its business model rewards different behaviors to …

1
Jacob Mchangama on Free Speech 1:11:05

3M ago1:11:05

1:11:05

Jacob Mchangama is the Founder and Executive Director of The Future of Free Speech, a research professor at Vanderbilt University, and a Senior Fellow at The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). His book Free Speech: A History From Socrates to Social Media is now available in paperback with a new epilogue. In this week’s conversa…

1
Can you trust LLM Leaderboards? 1:29:48

3M ago1:29:48

1:29:48

This conversation delves into the latest developments in AI, particularly focusing on Google's Gemma models and their capabilities. The discussion covers the differences between various types of language models, the significance of multimodal inputs, and the training techniques employed in AI models. The hosts also explore the implications of open-…

1
Francis Fukuyama on Donald Trump at Home and Abroad 1:02:33

3M ago1:02:33

1:02:33

Francis Fukuyama is a political scientist, author, and the Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. Fukuyama’s notable works include The End of History and the Last Man and The Origins of Political Order. His latest book is Liberalism and Its Discontents. You can find his blog…

1
Jonathan Rauch on the Politicization of Christianity 55:12

3M ago55:12

55:12

Yascha Mounk and Jonathan Rauch also discuss patrimonialism in the United States. Jonathan Rauch is a senior fellow in the Governance Studies program at the Brookings Institution and a member of the Persuasion Board of Advisors. His latest book is Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Moun…

1
Can AI uncook an egg? 1:23:52

3M ago1:23:52

1:23:52

In this conversation, Mark and Shashank discuss the latest advancements in AI, particularly focusing on China's lead in developing agentic models like Manus. They explore the capabilities of Manus, its performance on the Gaia benchmark, and the implications of AI in various sectors, including software development and customer service. The discussio…

1
How to Have Difficult Conversations with Mónica Guzmán 1:10:57

3M ago1:10:57

1:10:57

Mónica Guzmán is author of I Never Thought of it That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times; founder and CEO of Reclaim Curiosity; Senior Fellow for Public Practice at Braver Angels; and host of A Braver Way podcast. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Mónica Guzmán discuss how to build trust acros…

1
Yascha Answers Your Questions #1 7:10

3M ago7:10

7:10

I’m really proud of the community that has grown up around The Good Fight, Persuasion and my own Substack. That’s why I was excited to welcome paying subscribers to join me for a live session—so I could answer your questions personally. We had a great discussion: About the idea of a foreign policy for the middle class. About the state of free speec…

1
Spencer Case on Defending Patriotism 1:01:14

4M ago1:01:14

1:01:14

Editor’s Note: This podcast was produced as part of Persuasion’s partnership with the Civil Discourse @ MIT program, at which Spencer Case spoke late last year on the topic “Does Citizenship Require Patriotism?” To learn more about Civil Discourse @ MIT, visit the program’s website here, and to see prior episodes in the series click here. Spencer C…

1
Vibe Coding, Claude 3.7, GPT 4.5, and Alexa+ 1:19:36

4M ago1:19:36

1:19:36

Mark's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@UCqLp0T6WBwxmuJdmo4mUW5A Databricks Events: https://lu.ma/okxq0bt1 https://lu.ma/n7p3gdx0 In this episode of The Generative AI Meetup Podcast, we dive deep into the evolving landscape of AI coding assistants and their real-world applications. Our hosts explore the capabilities of Cursor, Claude 3.7, and othe…

1
The Path to AGI: Grok 3, Quantum Breakthroughs, and Humanoid Robots 1:43:26

4M ago1:43:26

1:43:26

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@GenerativeAIMeetup https://www.anthropic.com/news/the-anthropic-economic-index https://x.com/xai/status/1891699715298730482 - Grok 3 http://x.com/karpathy/status/1891720635363254772 https://news.microsoft.com/source/features/innovation/microsofts-majorana-1-chip-carves-new-path-for-quantum-computing/ https://en.wik…

1
Jake Sullivan on National Security 1:11:06

4M ago1:11:06

1:11:06

Jake Sullivan served as national security advisor under President Biden. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Jake Sullivan discuss the record of President Biden’s administration, the future of Ukraine, and how it feels to be making decisions under pressure in the Situation Room. Note: This episode was recorded on February 12, 2025. This t…

1
Wolfgang Münchau on German decline 1:10:57

4M ago1:10:57

1:10:57

Wolfgang Münchau is the Director of Eurointelligence and a journalist focusing on the European Union and European economy. His most recent book is Kaput: The End of the German Miracle. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Wolfgang Münchau discuss why the German car industry–and broader economy–is in decline, and explore the potential polit…

1
The $6 Reasoning Model: Breaking Down Stanford's S1 Paper 1:17:02

4M ago1:17:02

1:17:02

Podcast: https://podcast.genaimeetup.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@GenerativeAIMeetup In this episode, we explore Stanford's groundbreaking S1 paper, which introduces a technique to transform any language model into a reasoning model for just $6 in computation costs. We dive deep into the implications of this research, discussing budget fo…

1
Elon's $100B OpenAI Takeover Bid 49:41

4M ago49:41

49:41

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@GenerativeAIMeetup • The dramatic $97.4B bid by Elon Musk to acquire OpenAI and the complex nonprofit/for-profit structure debate • Analysis of OpenAI's true market value and competition in the AI space • ASML's groundbreaking sub-2nm chip manufacturing technology • Intel's challenges and the future of US semicondu…

1
Marc Dunkelman on Why Nothing Works 59:24

4M ago59:24

59:24

Marc Dunkelman on Why Nothing Works Marc Dunkelman is a fellow at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. His most recent book is Why Nothing Works. In this conversation, Yascha Mounk and Marc Dunkelman explore the challenges facing big projects in the U.S., the origins of progressivism, and how Donald Trump fits i…

1
Arlie Hochschild on Trump Voters, Old and New 55:31

4M ago55:31

55:31

Arlie Hochschild is an author and professor emerita of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. Her books include Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right and Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Arlie Hochschild discuss the fear of empathy among…

1
Oren Cass on the Case for Tariffs 1:16:12

4M ago1:16:12

1:16:12

Yascha Mounk and Oren Cass discuss the reasoning behind Trump’s economic policy. Oren Cass is the founder and executive director of American Compass and author of The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America. In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and Oren Cass discuss the decline of manufacturing in the U.S., whether …

1
Eric Kaufmann on “The Third Awokening” 1:10:37

4M ago1:10:37

1:10:37

Yascha Mounk and Eric Kaufmann also discuss "asymmetrical multiculturalism" and the global fertility crisis. Eric Kaufmann is a professor of Politics at the University of Buckingham, where he directs the Centre for Heterodox Social Science. Kaufmann is the author of The Third Awokening (entitled Taboo in the UK), Whiteshift: Populism, Immigration a…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Mark And Shashank Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

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