Question Everything (Except This Podcast!)

Chirag Shah, Sunay Shah
  • 5.0 (5)
  • PHILOSOPHY

Tired of accepting things at face value? Join Chirag Shah & Sunay Shah in "Question Everything (Except This Podcast!)". We dive into life's big questions (free will, meaning, etc.) with humor & lively debate. Prepare to have your mind gently nudged (or blown!). New episodes every week! #philosophy #podcasts

  1. ?E! #28 - Reel Philosophy: The Thinking Game — Who Do You Trust to Build the Future?

    3D AGO

    ?E! #28 - Reel Philosophy: The Thinking Game — Who Do You Trust to Build the Future?

    Who do you trust to build the future, and does their character actually matter? Chirag and Sunay unpack "The Thinking Game," a documentary following Google DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis from chess prodigy to Nobel Prize winner. The film raises a question it doesn't fully answer: when the people building the most powerful technology in history are also deciding how it gets used, what safeguards actually work? The conversation covers ethics officers, regulation vs. innovation, and why social media already disproved the "let the public self-correct" theory. Key Takeaways: The character of AI's builders matters, but character alone has never been enough to protect society from powerful technologySocial media already proved that public transparency doesn't automatically lead to self-correctionRegulation and innovation aren't the zero-sum trade-off the industry claims — healthcare manages bothEthics officers exist in Canadian banks since 2008 but are largely absent from American tech companiesDemis Hassabis solved protein folding and open-sourced it, showing what happens when purpose drives the builderChapters:0:00 Intro: The Thinking Game2:24 The Leaders Behind Our AI Tools4:35 Can Public Scrutiny Keep AI Safe?7:16 Why Self-Regulation Isn't Enough9:29 The Case for Ethics Officers (and Resident Philosophers)13:21 Does Regulation Kill Innovation?18:14 What AI Can Learn from Healthcare22:31 Can Government Keep Up?24:36 Demis Hassabis: A Life Built on Purpose27:20 "Solve All of Them" — Then Give It Away30:17 From AlphaGo to AlphaZero: Learning from Scratch34:16 The Gap Between Using AI and Understanding It36:17 When No One Knows How the Machines Work39:57 Energy, Compute, and the Rate Limiter42:25 Humanity Is Getting Worse at Coordination46:23 Manhattan Project Parallels48:59 Does the Builder Matter? Resources & Links: The Thinking Game (documentary) — directed by Greg KohsGoogle DeepMindAlphaFold — the protein structure prediction tool discussed in the episodeSuperagency by Reid Hoffman — the book Chirag references on AI optimismAmanda Askell, Anthropic's Resident Philosopher — the philosopher role discussed in the episodeDwarkesh Podcast: Elon Musk Interview — the interview Chirag references on data centers in spaceListen & subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

    53 min
  2. ?E! #27 - Kids Don't Need a Seat. They Need the Wheel. | with Anand Sanwal

    FEB 19

    ?E! #27 - Kids Don't Need a Seat. They Need the Wheel. | with Anand Sanwal

    Before school, kids ask 60 questions an hour. By fifth grade, it drops to 0.5. Anand Sanwal built CB Insights for 14 years, then "fired himself" to become a middle school teacher. From the "Sunday night test" to why grades kill the desire to learn, we explore what it would take to build schools that create problem-solvers, not compliant ladder-climbers.

    56 min

  3. FEB 10

    ?E! #26 - Building What Connects Us | with Ian Fox Minnock

    What does a town of 50 people know about community that a city of 8 million has forgotten? From bartering Crown Royal for a truck to surviving weeks in a rock pit on ramen and spam, geologist Ian Fox-Minnock takes us to the edge of Alaska—and the heart of what holds us together.

    1h 4m
  4. ?E! #25 - The Journey to Yourself | with Ruth Pearce

    12/16/2025

    ?E! #25 - The Journey to Yourself | with Ruth Pearce

    What does it take to finally stop wearing masks and start living authentically? Executive coach Ruth Pearce shares her spectacular burnout story—and the philosophy of hope, strength, bravery, and curiosity that emerged from it. From trying on different identities in our 20s and 30s to the unmasking that happens around 40, we explore how we learn who we really are.

    1h 6m
  5. ?E! #24 - Why Knowing Yourself Matters More Than Knowing What's Next

    11/10/2025

    ?E! #24 - Why Knowing Yourself Matters More Than Knowing What's Next

    Suneet Bhatt—executive coach, Rutgers professor, and former corporate leader—spent 25 years climbing the ladder before realizing he was on the wrong wall. Now he helps everyone from high schoolers to retirees answer the question "Why am I here?" We explore why following the playbook leaves so many unfulfilled, his frameworks for building self-awareness, and what it actually takes to find purpose in a world that tells us to keep moving faster.

    49 min
  6. ?E! #23 - Tribes, Tweets, and the Trouble with Truth

    10/02/2025

    ?E! #23 - Tribes, Tweets, and the Trouble with Truth

    Social media, political tribalism, and clickbait culture are reshaping our democracy—and what we can do about it. From chocolate cake metaphors to deep debates on free speech, capitalism, and civic life, Chirag and Sunay explore why civil discourse feels broken, and how long-form conversations (like this one) might just be the antidote.

    45 min
  7. ?E! #22 - Rapid Riffs—Friending, AI Schools, Zero-Sum Labor, & the Reverse Flynn Effect

    09/10/2025

    ?E! #22 - Rapid Riffs—Friending, AI Schools, Zero-Sum Labor, & the Reverse Flynn Effect

    Welcome to Rapid Riffs, a recurring mini-series of Question Everything (Except This Podcast!) where Sunay and Chirag swap links, pick the juiciest ones, and riff. This week Sunay and Chirag riff on four hits from their link-exchange: Scott Galloway’s take on friendship and the loneliness crisis among men; the Alpha School in Austin and whether AI can compress learning into two-hour days; Kyla Scanlon’s argument about zero-sum thinking in today’s labor market; and Cal Newport’s riff on the “reverse Flynn effect” and why reading and deep work still matter. Expect empathy, skepticism, and a few practical takeaways.

    40 min
  8. ?E! #21 - Echoes of the Future: AI, Ethics, and the Analog Longing

    08/20/2025

    ?E! #21 - Echoes of the Future: AI, Ethics, and the Analog Longing

    In this conversation, Sunay and Chirag discuss insights from the AI4 conference, focusing on the contrasting perspectives of keynotes by Dr. Fei-Fei Li and Dr. Jeffrey Hinton regarding the future of AI. They explore the implications of AI agents in the workforce, the complexities of societal systems, and the need for responsible AI development. The discussion also touches on the nostalgia for analog experiences in a tech-driven world and the paradox of productivity in the age of AI.

    47 min
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Tired of accepting things at face value? Join Chirag Shah & Sunay Shah in "Question Everything (Except This Podcast!)". We dive into life's big questions (free will, meaning, etc.) with humor & lively debate. Prepare to have your mind gently nudged (or blown!). New episodes every week! #philosophy #podcasts

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