Audience of One

Jun 13 2024 57 ep. 60 mins

Audience of One Podcast artwork

Exploring my curiosity through conversations with leading thinkers and builders. We talk about philosophy, learning, tech, parenting, entrepreneurship, health, and more. Follow Spencer on Twitter (twitter.com/SP1NS1R) and Substack (spencerkier.substack.com)

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#057 - John Koenig on Sorrow, Identity, Contradiction, & The Human Experience

Jun 13 2024 56 mins

John Koenig is the author of The New York Times' Best Seller Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, a dictionary of made-up words for emotions that we all feel but don't have the words to express. We talk about his book, identity and individuality, contradiction, writing, the human experience, fatherhood, and more. — (00:44) Why use "sorrows"? (02:51) Did he ever expect

#056 - Dylan O’Sullivan on Lying to Yourself, Timelessness, Discipline, & Writing

Mar 21 2024 66 mins

Dylan O’Sullivan is a curator, editor, and writer at O'Shaughnessy Ventures and Essayful. Dylan and I talk about writing, taste, discipline vs. inspiration, timelessness vs ephemerality, boredom and solitude vs. the internet, inciting a digital renaissance, not lying to yourself, and more. — (00:45) Curating & editing vs. writing (05:39) Fear of never writing quality wo

#055 - Steve Schlafman on Lostness, Downshifting, & Becoming

Mar 15 2024 70 mins

Steve Schlafman is a venture capitalist turned transition coach. We talk about lostness, transformation, curiosity, mindfulness practices, his new Downshift program, being a husband and father, and more. — (00:59) Lostness, navigating liminal identity space, personal transformations (18:31) Head and heart, mind and body; intellectualizing emotions & feelings (25:52) The role

#054 - Matt Clifford on Talent Investing & AI Uncertainty

Feb 29 2024 55 mins

Matt Clifford is a co-founder of Entrepreneur First and leads their AI efforts, as well as chair of ARIA, the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency. We talk about EF, talent investing, ambition, why we don’t have more Thiel Fellowships, his new focus on AI, and AI safety concerns. — (00:59) Talent matters most (03:17) Scarcity of talent x culture (09:16) Founder qualiti

#053 - Joscha Bach on Modeling Reality & Self-Organizing Software

Feb 07 2024 79 mins

Joscha Bach is a cognitive scientist and AI researcher. We talk about our relationship with & models of reality, creativity and curiosity, animism and self-organizing software, stages of development, and more. — (01:25) The dream world; how we interact with & perceive reality (03:49) Fear (05:16) Self, consciousness, & awareness (08:10) We're a coarse pattern on t

#052 - Gabe (@VividVoid_) on Identity, Art, Authenticity, & Courage

Jan 31 2024 66 mins

Gabe (@VividVoid_ on Twitter) is a writer and coach, and former Marine. We talk about inferiority, art, nothingness, spirituality, courage, fear, alignment with The Void, representations of reality, exposure therapy, Quality, and more. — (00:52) You’re not inferior to anyone else (06:14) Art is the byproduct of a spiritual practice (09:28) Authentic expression; anger & comp

#051 - Nathan Baugh on Storytelling, World Building, Fiction, & The Internet

Jan 24 2024 66 mins

Nathan Baugh writes fiction and the World Builders newsletter. We talk about writing, non-fiction vs. fiction, storytelling and world building devices, Kurt Vonnegut and other authors, getting the most out of technology and the internet, and more. — (00:47) Why writing (02:46) Loops & closing the curiosity gap (04:05) The combination of short form non-fiction & long form

#050 - Billy Oppenheimer on Writing, Research, Boredom, & Putting in The Work

Jan 18 2024 85 mins

Billy Oppenheimer writes the Six at 6 newsletter, and has been a writing and research assistant for Ryan Holiday, Robert Greene, and Rick Rubin. We talk about research, naive optimism, working for legendary writers and creatives, boredom, his newsletter, curation and creation, how “the work is the win”, and his first book. — (00:52) Naive optimism & turning what you'r

#049 - John Coogan on AI, Ozempic for Risk Taking, Tech Media, & Curiosity

Jan 10 2024 67 mins

John Coogan is the co-founder of Soylent and Lucy, an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Founders Fund, and a YouTuber and podcaster. We talk about AI, pioneering vs. wire-heading, identifying problems to solve, the need for more risk takers, satisfying curiosity, techno optimism, YouTube and podcasting, and his next venture. — (00:53) “Benevolent murdering” AI, wire heads vs. pion

#048 - Sasha Chapin on Awakening, Meditation & Writing

Dec 27 2023 50 mins

Sasha Chapin is a writer, coach, and the co-founder of a fragrance line. We talk about his book, awakening, meditation, Deep Okayness, coaching, writing, fragrance, and more. — (00:54) Writing a book on meditation & awakening (04:30) What is awakening, and is there a “destination”? (07:48) There’s a “manager” in our head (11:56) Aliveness & egoism (13:40) Recogn