Who / What I like to read and why

You

If I tell you I like to read and follow these people: * Tyler Cowen * Robin Hanson * Scott Alexander * Holden Karnofsky * 80k Hours Podcast

Who else do you think I like, or should check out?

Claude

Based on that list, you’re clearly in the rationalist/effective altruism/heterodox economics intellectual orbit. Here are some recommendations:

Writers and bloggers:

• Gwern Branwen — Deep, meticulous essays on everything from statistics to anime to self-experimentation. Very LessWrong-adjacent.
• Bryan Caplan — Economist at GMU (like Cowen and Hanson), contrarian takes on education, immigration, and parenting.
• Julia Galef — Wrote The Scout Mindset, hosts the Rationally Speaking podcast. Rigorous thinking about reasoning and bias.
• Paul Graham — His essays on startups and thinking are classics in this space.
• Matt Yglesias (Slow Boring) — Policy-focused, data-driven, willing to take unpopular positions.
• Noah Smith (Noahpinion) — Economist blogger, engages seriously with ideas, good mix of rigor and accessibility.

Podcasts:

• Dwarkesh Patel’s podcast — Long interviews with founders, researchers, historians. Very much in the Conversations with Tyler mold but often more technical.
• EconTalk (Russ Roberts) — Long-running economics interview show, intellectually serious.
• Clearer Thinking (Spencer Greenberg) — Rationality-focused, decision-making, psychology.

If you haven’t already:

• LessWrong and the EA Forum for community discussion
• Works in Progress magazine (progress studies)
• Will MacAskill and Toby Ord if you want more on longtermism and existential risk

Does any particular angle interest you most? I can go deeper on any of these threads.

You

Out of those lists like: * Gwern * Caplan * Galef * Graham (although less of his newer stuff, he’s going pretty woke) * Yglesias -> okay * Smith -> Okay * Dwarkesh * Greenberg * I like Roberts as guests on other shows but I haven’t really gotten into EconTalk too much. Maybe too wonky? Idk * MacAskill * Ord

So you absolutely nailed it.

But now I’m looking for an even further expanded list. Basically take one step further in all directions from this cluster. We’ve nailed this cluster but I’m looking for a wider spread you think I’m very likely to vibe with.

For instance, I really like Joe Hudson

Claude

Joe Hudson is a great signal — it tells me you’re not just in this for pure intellectualism but also the “inner work” / emotional development angle. That opens up some interesting directions.

Let me fan out:

Inner work / development (Joe Hudson direction):

• John Vervaeke — “Awakening from the Meaning Crisis” lecture series. Cognitive science meets wisdom traditions.
• Michael Taft — Meditation teacher, very technically precise, no woo
• Iain McGilchrist — The Master and His Emissary. Left brain/right brain but actually rigorous.
• Rick Rubin — The Creative Act surprised a lot of people in this cluster

Founders/builders who think:

• Patrick Collison — Stripe founder, progress studies, voracious reader
• Naval Ravikant — You probably already know, but the bridge between startups and philosophy
• Kevin Kelly — WIRED co-founder, techno-optimist, aphoristic wisdom
• Samo Burja — Bismarck Analysis, “great founder theory,” institutional decay

History/narrative:

• Dan Carlin (Hardcore History) — If you’re not already
• Mike Duncan — Revolutions podcast
• Robert Caro — The LBJ biographies are monuments

Science/complexity:

• David Deutsch — The Beginning of Infinity. Epistemology meets physics.
• Joscha Bach — AI researcher, deeply philosophical, mind-bending interviews
• Sean Carroll (Mindscape podcast) — Physicist, broad intellectual range

Heterodox commentary:

• Coleman Hughes — Careful, good-faith engagement on race and culture
• Jonathan Haidt — Moral psychology, social media critique
• Agnes Callard — Philosopher, genuinely original

Progress studies / techno-optimism:

• Jason Crawford (Roots of Progress)
• Packy McCormick (Not Boring) — More business/tech focused but smart and optimistic

Substackers/bloggers:

• Erik Hoel — Neuroscientist, novelist, writes on consciousness and culture
• Arnold Kling — Economist, three-languages-of-politics framework
• Richard Hanania — Controversial but engages seriously (you’ll disagree with some)

Interview shows:

• Lex Fridman — Long, patient, surprisingly good guest selection
• The Knowledge Project (Shane Parrish) — Mental models, decision-making

Does any of these directions particularly call to you?

You