Manifold
Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Join him for wide-ranging conversations with leading writers, scientists, technologists, academics, entrepreneurs, investors, and more.
- Update frequency
- every 13 days
- Average duration
- 74 minutes
- Episodes
- 145
- Years Active
- 2019 - 2025
Ray McGovern: CIA, JFK, Deep State, and Ukraine Crisis — #54
Raymond McGovern is a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst, serving from 1963 to 1990. His CIA career began under President John F. Kennedy and lasted through the presidency of George H. …
Lecture: Fermi Paradox, AI, Simulation Question — #53
Steve discusses DNA and the origin of life on Earth, the Fermi Paradox (is there alien life?), AI and its implications for the Simulation Question: could our universe be a simulation? Are we machines…
Utah AG Sean Reyes: “Sound of Freedom” and Human Trafficking — #52
Sean Reyes is Utah’s Attorney General and a producer for the movie “Sound of Freedom.” Steve and Sean discuss his personal story, human trafficking, and the role of technology in law enforcement.
More…
Military Technology and U.S.-China War in the Pacific — #51
TP Huang returns for the third time to discuss the US-China strategic competition in terms of military technology.
Previous episodes with TP include:
- China's EV Market Dominance and the Challenges Faci…
Louis-Vincent Gave: Understanding China’s Economy, and U.S. Competition — #50
Louis-Vincent Gave of Gavekal discusses China's economic growth, its focus on education, and the global implications of its economic and political policies.
Steve and Loui…
Charles Miller: Satellite Technology and the Future of Mobile Connectivity — #49
Charles Miller is co-founder and CEO of Lynk. He is a serial space entrepreneur with 30 years of experience in the space industry.
Lynk - https://lynk.world/
Steve and Charles discuss:
0:00 Introductio…
China's EV Market Dominance and the Challenges Facing Tesla — #48
TP Huang is a computer scientist and analyst of global technology development. He posts often on X: https://twitter.com/tphuang.
0:00 Introduction
2:21 How TP Huang became interested in electric vehicl…
Taylor Ogan, Snow Bull Capital: China's tech frontier, the view from Shenzhen — #47
Taylor Ogan is Chief Executive Officer of Snow Bull Capital, based in Shenzhen, China.
Follow him on X @TaylorOgan.
Steve and Taylor discuss:
0:00 Introduction
1:02 Taylor's background and why he moved …
Bharat Karnad: India geostrategy, nuclear arsenal, and assassination of Homi Bhabha, the Oppenheimer of India — #46
Bharat Karnad is an Emeritus Professor in National Security Studies at the Center for Policy Research in Delhi. He was a member of India's first National Security Advisory Board and has authored seve…
Yasheng Huang: China's Examination System and its impact on Politics, Economy, Innovation — #45
Yasheng Huang is the Epoch Foundation Professor of Global Economics and Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management. His new book is The Rise and Fall of the EAST: How Exams, Autocracy, Stabilit…
Huawei and the US-China Chip War — #44
TP Huang is a computer scientist and analyst of global technology development. He posts often on X: https://twitter.com/tphuang.
Steve and TP discuss:
0:00 Introduction: TP Huang and semiconductor tech…
Meritocracy, SAT Scores, and Laundering Prestige at Elite Universities — #43
Steve discusses 10 key graphs related to meritocracy and university admissions. Predictive power of SATs and other factors in elite admissions decisions. College learning outcomes - what do students …
Aella: Sex Work, Sex Research, and Data Science — #42
Aella is a sex worker, sex researcher, and data scientist.
Aella on X: https://twitter.com/Aella_Girl
Interviews with ex-prostitutes on the pimp life (Las Vegas)
AI on your phone? Tim Dettmers on quantization of neural networks — #41
Tim Dettmers develops computationally efficient methods for deep learning. He is a leader in quantization: coarse graining of large neural networks to increase speed and reduce hardware requirements.
…
Paul Huang, the real situation in Taiwan: politics, military, China — #40
Paul Huang is a journalist and research fellow with the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation. He is currently based in Taipei, Taiwan.
Sample articles:
Taiwan’s Military Has Flashy American Weapons but No …
Richard Hanania & Rob Henderson: The Rise of Wokeness and the Influence of Civil Rights Law — #39
Steve Hsu, Richard Hanania, and Rob Henderson were scheduled for a June 2023 panel as part of the University of Austin (UATX) Forbidden Courses series. Steve missed the panel due to travel issues, bu…
Richard Sander (UCLA Law) on the Supreme Court Affirmative Action Ruling — #38
Richard Sander is Jesse Dukeminier Professor at UCLA Law School. AB Harvard, JD, PhD (Economics) Northwestern.
Steve and Richard discuss the recent Supreme Court ruling in Students For Fair Admissions…
AI Cambrian Explosion: Conversation With Three AI Engineers — #37
In this episode, Steve talks to three AI engineers from his startup SuperFocus.AI.
0:00 Introduction
1:06 The Google memo and open-source AI
14:41 Sparsification and the size of models: AI on your phon…
David Goldman: US-China Competition, AI, Electric Vehicles, and Manufacturing — #36
David Paul Goldman is an American economic strategist and author, best known for his series of online essays in the Asia Times under the pseudonym Spengler with the first column published January 1, …
Artificial Intelligence & Large Language Models: Oxford Lecture — #35
This week's episode is based on a lecture Steve gave to an audience of theoretical physicists at Oxford University. The topic is artificial intelligence and large language models.
Lecture slides: htt…