103 episodes

Joe Walker hosts refreshingly in-depth conversations with founders, scientists, scholars, economists, and public intellectuals.

(Formerly 'The Jolly Swagman Podcast'.)

The Joe Walker Podcast (Jolly Swagman formerly‪)‬ Joe Walker

    • Society & Culture
    • 4.8 • 111 Ratings

Joe Walker hosts refreshingly in-depth conversations with founders, scientists, scholars, economists, and public intellectuals.

(Formerly 'The Jolly Swagman Podcast'.)

    2023 Retrospective — A Listener Interviews Me

    2023 Retrospective — A Listener Interviews Me

    In this special episode, the tables are turned as I'm interviewed by a listener of the show, DJ Thornton from Sydney. We reflect on the progress of the show in 2023, what I learned from this year's guests, and what's in store for 2024.

    Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 1 hr 47 min
    David Deutsch & Steven Pinker (First Ever Public Dialogue) — AGI, P(Doom), & The Enemies of Progress

    David Deutsch & Steven Pinker (First Ever Public Dialogue) — AGI, P(Doom), & The Enemies of Progress

    At a time when the Enlightenment is under attack from without and within, I bring together two of the most thoughtful defenders of progress and reason, for their first ever public dialogue.

    Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. I think of him as providing the strongest empirical defence of the Enlightenment (as seen in his book Enlightenment Now).

    David Deutsch is a British physicist at the University of Oxford, and the father of quantum computing. I think of him as having produced the most compelling first principles defence of the Enlightenment (as seen in his book The Beginning of Infinity).

    Full transcript available at: https://josephnoelwalker.com/153-deutsch-pinker-dialogue.
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 1 hr 55 min
    Shruti Rajagopalan — On Spotting Talent, And Making Sense of Rising India

    Shruti Rajagopalan — On Spotting Talent, And Making Sense of Rising India

    Shruti Rajagopalan is an Indian-American economist. She leads the Indian political economy research program and Emergent Ventures India at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She also hosts the Ideas of India podcast.

    Full transcript available at: jnwpod.com
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 2 hr 45 min
    Raghuram Rajan — Debt, Monetary Policy, and Unintended Consequences

    Raghuram Rajan — Debt, Monetary Policy, and Unintended Consequences

    What were the deep causes of the global financial crisis and great recession? Has unconventional monetary policy in the wake of the crisis done more harm than good? And should monetary policy target financial stability?

    I discuss these questions and more with Indian economist and Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Raghuram Rajan.

    Raghuram Rajan was chief economist at the IMF from 2003 to 2006, and from 2013 to 2016 he was Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. As RBI Governor, he notably introduced India's inflation-targeting scheme, among many other achievements.

    Full transcript available at: josephnoelwalker.com/151-raghuram-rajan
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 1 hr 51 min
    Peter Singer — Moral Truths and Moral Secrets

    Peter Singer — Moral Truths and Moral Secrets

    Peter Singer is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. He is widely regarded as the world's most influential living philosopher.

    Full transcript available at: jnwpod.com

    Episode recorded on 26 April 2023.
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 1 hr 54 min
    Peter Turchin — Why Societies Fall Apart (And Why the US May Be Next)

    Peter Turchin — Why Societies Fall Apart (And Why the US May Be Next)

    Peter Turchin is a complexity scientist and one of the founders of cliodynamics — a new, cross-disciplinary field that applies mathematics and big data to test historical theories.

    Full transcript available at: jnwpod.com.
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 1 hr 41 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
111 Ratings

111 Ratings

Repton Dude ,

Well-planned interviews with excellent guests

For example, in the recent interview with Richard Rhodes, Walker had read and studied his topic deeply. This allowed Rhodes to respond thoughtfully on a large range of topics related to Rhodes’ book on atomic weapons and their past history and future risks. Walker’s is an excellent host and allows his guests to go where his questions leads them. They are one of the best ‘long-form’ podcasts and are highly recommended.

taos toad ,

Excellent

Wishing the swagman would have a more USA centric podcast as I find him exceptionally intelligent and balanced on every cast. We could use more of this here.

PjL1512 ,

Get around this!

This is a great podcast that was recommended to me by a friend. Incredibly accomplished guests and a diverse range of topics which keeps things interesting. Joe and his guests do a great job simplifying complex topics into easily understandable and digestible episodes

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