Cass Sunstein on Liberalism and Rights in the Age of AI

Situational Awareness in Government, with UK AISI Chief Scientist Geoffrey Irving

Podcast: "The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders, Researchers, and Live Player Analysis [https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-cognitive-revolution-ai-builders-S0w8mbW2G_e/] Episode: Situational Awareness in Government, with UK AISI Chief Scientist Geoffrey Irving [https://www.listennotes.com/e/d406488a7bfc40a6bb29157a223d90c5/] Release date: 2026-03-01 Get Podcast Transcript → [https://www.listen411.com/?audio_url=https://audio.listennotes.com/e/p/d406488a7bfc40a6bb29157a223d90c5/¬es=Situational Awareness in Government, with UK AISI Chief Scientist Geoffrey Irving] powered by Listen411 [https://www.listen411.com/] - fast audio-to-text and summarization [https://cdn-images-3.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-cognitive-revolution-ai-builders-WIC2k4lz_xa-S0w8mbW2G_e.300x300.jpg] Geoffrey Irving, Chief Scientist at the UK AI Security Institute, explains why our theoretical understanding of machine learning remains fragile even as models surpass experts on critical security tasks. He details AISI’s work on frontier model evaluations, red teaming, and threat modeling across biosecurity, cybersecurity, and loss-of-control risks. The conversation explores reward hacking, eval awareness, and why current safety techniques may struggle to deliver high reliability. Listeners will also hear how AISI is funding foundational research to build stronger guarantees for AI safety. Use the Granola Recipe Nathan relies on to identify blind spots across conversations, AI research, and decisions: https://bit.ly/granolablindspot [https://bit.ly/granolablindspot] Sponsors: Serval: Serval uses AI-powered automations to cut IT help desk tickets by more than 50%, freeing your team from repetitive tasks like password resets and onboarding. Book your free pilot and guarantee 50% help desk automation by week 4 at https://serval.com/cognitive [https://serval.com/cognitive] Claude: Claude is the AI collaborator that understands your entire workflow, from drafting and research to coding and complex problem-solving. Start tackling bigger problems with Claude and unlock Claude Pro’s full capabilities at https://claude.ai/tcr [https://claude.ai/tcr] Tasklet: Tasklet is an AI agent that automates your work 24/7; just describe what you want in plain English and it gets the job done. Try it for free and use code COGREV for 50% off your first month at https://tasklet.ai [https://tasklet.ai] CHAPTERS: (00:00) About the Episode (04:09) From physics to ML (08:52) AGI uncertainty and threats (Part 1) (18:08) Sponsors: Serval | Claude (21:29) AGI uncertainty and threats (Part 2) (27:35) Control, autonomy, alignment (Part 1) (34:02) Sponsor: Tasklet (35:14) Control, autonomy, alignment (Part 2) (38:44) Inside the UK AC (51:02) Evaluations and jailbreaking (01:01:17) Emerging capabilities and misuse (01:14:20) Agents and reward hacking (01:26:09) Theoretical alignment agenda (01:38:39) Debate and formal methods (01:51:19) Limits of formalization (02:02:27) Future risks and governance (02:16:23) Episode Outro (02:18:58) Outro PRODUCED BY: https://aipodcast.ing [https://aipodcast.ing] SOCIAL LINKS: Website: https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai [https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai] Twitter (Podcast): https://x.com/cogrev_podcast [https://x.com/cogrev_podcast] Twitter (Nathan): https://x.com/labenz [https://x.com/labenz] LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nathanlabenz/ [https://linkedin.com/in/nathanlabenz/] Youtube: https://youtube.com/@CognitiveRevolutionPodcast [https://youtube.com/@CognitiveRevolutionPodcast] Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/the-cognitive-revolution-ai-builders-researchers-and/id1669813431 [https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/the-cognitive-revolution-ai-builders-researchers-and/id1669813431] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yHyok3M3BjqzR0VB5MSyk [https://open.spotify.com/show/6yHyok3M3BjqzR0VB5MSyk]

Timothy Williamson: The Logician Who Says Vagueness Has Exact Answers

Podcast: Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal [https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/theories-of-everything-with-curt-jaimungal-KkhOrPN97Mo/] Episode: Timothy Williamson: The Logician Who Says Vagueness Has Exact Answers [https://www.listennotes.com/e/18e315536e9c4675bc5e1f0c93a4197a/] Release date: 2026-01-13 Get Podcast Transcript → [https://www.listen411.com/?audio_url=https://audio.listennotes.com/e/p/18e315536e9c4675bc5e1f0c93a4197a/¬es=Timothy Williamson: The Logician Who Says Vagueness Has Exact Answers] powered by Listen411 [https://www.listen411.com/] - fast audio-to-text and summarization [https://cdn-images-3.listennotes.com/podcasts/theories-of-everything-with-curt-jaimungal-mHNvrs3LnRT-KkhOrPN97Mo.300x300.jpg] Timothy Williamson (Oxford) challenges modal logic, epistemic possibility, and the nature of philosophical knowledge. As a listener of TOE you can get a special 20% off discount to The Economist and all it has to offer! Visit https://www.economist.com/toe SUPPORT: - Support me on Substack: https://curtjaimungal.substack.com/subscribe - Support me on Crypto: https://commerce.coinbase.com/checkout/de803625-87d3-4300-ab6d-85d4258834a9 - Support me on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=XUBHNMFXUX5S4 JOIN MY SUBSTACK (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com LISTEN ON SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e TIMESTAMPS: - 00:00:00 - Vagueness & Sorites Paradox - 00:07:12 - Identity, Physicalism, Non-Physicals - 00:22:30 - Realism vs. Anti-Realism - 00:29:50 - The Problem of Skepticism - 00:35:40 - Cognitive Heuristics & Doubt - 00:43:00 - Solipsism's Appeal & Pitfalls - 00:50:00 - Solipsism: A Critique - 00:57:30 - Pluralism & Consciousness - 01:06:00 - AI, Mental States, Ontology - 01:15:50 - Mind, Knowledge, Meaning - 01:26:00 - Philosophical Heuristics - 01:32:00 - Counterfactuals & Logic - 01:38:00 - Personal Philosophy LINKS MENTIONED: - Overfitting and Heuristics in Philosophy [Book]: https://www.amazon.com/Overfitting-Heuristics-Philosophy-Rutgers-Lectures/dp/0197779212 - Timothy Williamson's Published Papers: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=IH-44VwAAAAJ&hl=en - Sorites Paradox: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sorites-paradox/ - Philosophical Investigations [Book]: https://www.amazon.com/Philosophical-Investigations-Ludwig-Wittgenstein/dp/0631205691 - I Do Not Exist [Paper]: https://academic.oup.com/book/53296/chapter-abstract/422023005 - O'Shaughnessy Ventures: https://www.osv.llc/ - Barry Loewer & Eddy Chen [TOE]: https://youtu.be/xZnafO__IZ0 - Bas Van Fraassen [TOE]: https://youtu.be/lhpRAWxvY5s - Matthew Segall [TOE]: https://youtu.be/DeTm4fSXpbM - Jennifer Nagel [TOE]: https://youtu.be/CWZVMZ9Tm7Q - Leo Gura [TOE]: https://youtu.be/YspFR9JAq3w - Iain McGilchrist [TOE]: https://youtu.be/M-SgOwc6Pe4 - The Consciousness Iceberg [TOE]: https://youtu.be/65yjqIDghEk - Karl Friston [TOE]: https://youtu.be/uk4NZorRjCo - Geoffrey Hinton [TOE]: https://youtu.be/b_DUft-BdIE - Elan Barenholtz [TOE]: https://youtu.be/A36OumnSrWY - Ben Goertzel & Joscha Bach [TOE]: https://youtu.be/xw7omaQ8SgA - Claudia de Rham [TOE]: https://youtu.be/Ve_Mpd6dGv8 - Stephen Wolfram [TOE]: https://youtu.be/0YRlQQw0d-4 - Elan Barenholtz & Will Hahn [TOE]: https://youtu.be/Ca_RbPXraDE - Greg Kondrak [TOE]: https://youtu.be/FFW14zSYiFY - Robert Sapolsky [TOE]: https://youtu.be/z0IqA1hYKY8 SOCIALS: - Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt - Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs Guests do not pay to appear. Theories of Everything receives revenue solely from viewer donations, platform ads, and clearly labelled sponsors; no guest or associated entity has ever given compensation, directly or through intermediaries. #science Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal features long-form, technically detailed interviews with leading researchers in physics, mathematics, consciousness, and philosophy, exploring topics at the level of active research. For academics, graduate students, and anyone seeking depth beyond popular science. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

The Waltz

Podcast: In Our Time [https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/in-our-time-bbc-radio-4-NGaVjqYxhLn/] Episode: The Waltz [https://www.listennotes.com/e/7aa1256c3d1642a1a176267953e149d5/] Release date: 2024-04-11 Get Podcast Transcript → [https://www.listen411.com/?audio_url=https://audio.listennotes.com/e/p/7aa1256c3d1642a1a176267953e149d5/¬es=The Waltz] powered by Listen411 [https://www.listen411.com/] - fast audio-to-text and summarization [https://cdn-images-3.listennotes.com/podcasts/in-our-time-bbc-radio-4-golVLEnj7-3-NGaVjqYxhLn.300x300.jpg] Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the dance which, from when it reached Britain in the early nineteenth century, revolutionised the relationship between music, literature and people here for the next hundred years. While it may seem formal now, it was the informality and daring that drove its popularity, with couples holding each other as they spun round a room to new lighter music popularised by Johann Strauss, father and son, such as The Blue Danube. Soon the Waltz expanded the creative world in poetry, ballet, novellas and music, from the Ballets Russes of Diaghilev to Moon River and Are You Lonesome Tonight. With Susan Jones Emeritus Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford Derek B. Scott Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Leeds And Theresa Buckland Emeritus Professor of Dance History and Ethnography at the University of Roehampton Producer: Simon Tillotson Reading list: Egil Bakka, Theresa Jill Buckland, Helena Saarikoski, and Anne von Bibra Wharton (eds.), Waltzing Through Europe: Attitudes towards Couple Dances in the Long Nineteenth Century, (Open Book Publishers, 2020) Theresa Jill Buckland, ‘How the Waltz was Won: Transmutations and the Acquisition of Style in Early English Modern Ballroom Dancing. Part One: Waltzing Under Attack’ (Dance Research, 36/1, 2018); ‘Part Two: The Waltz Regained’ (Dance Research, 36/2, 2018) Theresa Jill Buckland, Society Dancing: Fashionable Bodies in England, 1870-1920 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) Erica Buurman, The Viennese Ballroom in the Age of Beethoven (Cambridge University Press, 2022) Paul Cooper, ‘The Waltz in England, c. 1790-1820’ (Paper presented at Early Dance Circle conference, 2018) Sherril Dodds and Susan Cook (eds.), Bodies of Sound: Studies Across Popular Dance and Music (Ashgate, 2013), especially ‘Dancing Out of Time: The Forgotten Boston of Edwardian England’ by Theresa Jill Buckland Zelda Fitzgerald, Save Me the Waltz (first published 1932; Vintage Classics, 2001) Hilary French, Ballroom: A People's History of Dancing (Reaktion Books, 2022) Susan Jones, Literature, Modernism, and Dance (Oxford University Press, 2013) Mark Knowles, The Wicked Waltz and Other Scandalous Dances: Outrage at Couple Dancing in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries (McFarland, 2009) Rosamond Lehmann, Invitation to the Waltz (first published 1932; Virago, 2006) Eric McKee, Decorum of the Minuet, Delirium of the Waltz: A Study of Dance-Music Relations in 3/4 Time (Indiana University Press, 2012) Eduard Reeser, The History of the Walz (Continental Book Co., 1949) Stanley Sadie (ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Vol. 27 (Macmillan, 2nd ed., 2000), especially ‘Waltz’ by Andrew Lamb Derek B. Scott, Sounds of the Metropolis: The 19th-Century Popular Music Revolution in London, New York, Paris and Vienna (Oxford University Press, 2008), especially the chapter ‘A Revolution on the Dance Floor, a Revolution in Musical Style: The Viennese Waltz’ Joseph Wechsberg, The Waltz Emperors: The Life and Times and Music of the Strauss Family (Putnam, 1973) Cheryl A. Wilson, Literature and Dance in Nineteenth-century Britain (Cambridge University Press, 2009) Virginia Woolf, The Voyage Out (first published 1915; William Collins, 2013) Virginia Woolf, The Years (first published 1937; Vintage Classics, 2016) David Wyn Jones, The Strauss Dynasty and Habsburg Vienna (Cambridge University Press, 2023) Sevin H. Yaraman, Revolving Embrace: The Waltz as Sex, Steps, and Sound (Pendragon Press, 2002) Rishona Zimring, Social Dance and the Modernist Imagination in Interwar Britain (Ashgate Press, 2013)

Brian Armstrong

Podcast: Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin [https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/tetragrammaton-with-rick-rubin-rick-rubin-I6G2vZoNzKx/] Episode: Brian Armstrong [https://www.listennotes.com/e/ea48ee8d3ad645fdb907d7c206550b08/] Release date: 2025-12-24 Get Podcast Transcript → [https://www.listen411.com/?audio_url=https://audio.listennotes.com/e/p/ea48ee8d3ad645fdb907d7c206550b08/¬es=Brian Armstrong] powered by Listen411 [https://www.listen411.com/] - fast audio-to-text and summarization [https://cdn-images-3.listennotes.com/podcasts/tetragrammaton-with-rick-rubin-rick-rubin-MUiSn_HYJ3u-I6G2vZoNzKx.300x300.jpg] Brian Armstrong is the co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States by trading volume and users. He launched Coinbase in 2012 after working as a software engineer at Airbnb, where he experienced firsthand the frictions of global payment systems. Under his leadership, Coinbase grew into a publicly traded company on Nasdaq in 2021 and now serves over 100 million verified users in more than 100 countries. Beyond Coinbase, Armstrong has co-founded initiatives like ResearchHub and NewLimit and is a prominent advocate for an open, crypto-powered financial system. ------ Thank you to the sponsors that fuel our podcast and our team: Athletic Nicotine https://www.AthleticNicotine.com/tetra Use code 'TETRA' ------ Squarespace https://Squarespace.com/tetra Use code 'TETRA' ------ LMNT Electrolytes https://DrinkLMNT.com/tetra Use code 'TETRA' ------ Sign up to receive Tetragrammaton Transmissions https://www.tetragrammaton.com/join-newsletter

Cass Sunstein on Liberalism and Rights in the Age of AI

Podcast: Conversations with Tyler [https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/conversations-with-tyler-mercatus-center-at-LRMWNKAThUg/] Episode: Cass Sunstein on Liberalism and Rights in the Age of AI [https://www.listennotes.com/e/c88df8ddf12a49b1a2f42594c3dfa080/] Release date: 2025-11-26 Get Podcast Transcript → [https://www.listen411.com/?audio_url=https://audio.listennotes.com/e/p/c88df8ddf12a49b1a2f42594c3dfa080/¬es=Cass Sunstein on Liberalism and Rights in the Age of AI] powered by Listen411 [https://www.listen411.com/] - fast audio-to-text and summarization [https://cdn-images-3.listennotes.com/podcasts/conversations-with-tyler-mercatus-center-at-MLxgm4w1Cyd-LRMWNKAThUg.300x300.jpg] Cass Sunstein is one of the most widely cited legal scholars of all time and among the most prolific writers working today. This year alone he has five books out, including Imperfect Oracle on the strengths and limits of AI and On Liberalism: In Defense of Freedom. In his second appearance on the show, he brings his characteristic intellectual range to exploring liberalism's present precariousness and AI's implications for law and speech. Tyler and Cass discuss whether liberalism is self-undermining or simply vulnerable to illiberal forces, the tensions in how a liberal immigration regime would work, whether new generations of liberal thinkers are emerging, if Derek Parfit counts as a liberal, Mill's liberal wokeism, the allure of Mises' "cranky enthusiasm for freedom," whether the central claim of The Road to Serfdom holds up, how to blend indigenous rights with liberal thought, whether AIs should have First Amendment protections, the argument for establishing a right not to be manipulated, better remedies for low-grade libel, whether we should have trials run by AI, how Bob Dylan embodies liberal freedom, Cass' next book about animal rights, and more. Read a full transcript [https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/cass-sunstein-2/] enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video [https://youtu.be/-tZfQaEOrDQ] on the new dedicated Conversations with Tyler channel. Recorded October 10th, 2025. This episode was made possible through the support of the John Templeton Foundation. Other ways to connect * Follow us on X [https://twitter.com/cowenconvos] and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/cowenconvos/?hl=en] * Follow Tyler [https://twitter.com/tylercowen] on X * Follow Cass [https://x.com/CassSunstein] on X * Sign up for our newsletter [https://mercatus.tfaforms.net/5060931] * Join our Discord [https://discord.gg/JAVWP7vTxt] * Email us: cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu [cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu] * Learn more about Conversations with Tyler and other Mercatus Center podcasts here [https://www.mercatus.org/podcasts].