The Isaac Morehouse Podcast: Recent Episodes
Isaac Morehouse
I had two conversations on AI recently - one about its promise as a tech tool, and one about its dangers as a portal to hell.I think both are true.
Cyprian (aka Vin Armani) joins me to discuss his take on AI. If you're not in for weird spiritual stuff, this is not the episode for you!We talk about whether AI is a technology or an entity, how it differs from other tech, and what it means for civilization.
It took a while, but the latest ChatGPT Large Language Model AI thingy finally got me seeing an amazing future.Steve Patterson brings some excellent analysis to what's going on and what it means.
Go to nanopay.cash to signup for a little newsletter about tiny payments.
The guys from Haste tell their winding tale from minor league baseball to building the Barpay app to creating a simple arcade game where the leaderboard gets payouts. That game led to a platform for game builders and a budding revolution.
If you can't see the coolness in this simple use-case, I don't know what to do for you!
Joel is the author of The Daily Job Hunt (crash.co/daily) which goes out to 170k+ people every morning, and he's just published his first book.
He joins to talk about the process and his own journey to becoming a creative machine.
joelbein.com
Subscribe at nanopay.substack.com for more stuff on tiny payments!
Nicky is an entrepreneur, former professional dancer and instructor, and fellow tiny payment fan. He created Genuine Retweets to solve his own problem, and discovered he was onto something much bigger.
Subscribe at nanopay.cash for updates and exploration into tiny payments.
Joshua Henslee joins me to talk tokens, enterprise, and more.
Alex Agut and his biz partner wanted tiny payments for apps they were building. Traditional payment processors couldn't do it. Bitcoin could, but was too complicated for normal users.
BTC fees became too high for tiny payments, but BHC and BSV emerged to restore the original low-fee design of bitcoin.
That's when Alex had an idea: What if instead of waiting for a normie-friendly bitcoin wallet, they built one?
HandCash.io is a user-first wallet with a built in app store for tiny payment apps. They also provide developers with super easy tools to let users login and pay + earn with HandCash.
We walk through the experience and talk about what the future holds.
Cameron Sorsby is the CEO of Praxis. But he began as an unpaid intern willing to do anything to help the company grow.
We chat is story, Praxis updates, and why he'd turn down the GM role for the San Antonio Spurs.
Sign up at nanopay.cash to get updates on my exploration into tiny payments.
Coding wizard Dean Little from BitPing and MatterPool joins me to talk about which protocols are usable for micro and nanopayments, the pros and cons of each, and what needs to be solved for global scale.
BSV, BCH, Solana, PoW, PoS, and more.
Check out nanopay.cash to get these videos and keep up on other nanopayment stuff.
Randy is the co-founder of Twetch, a social media platform on the blockchain that uses tiny payments. Check it out at twetch.com.
Check out www.nanopay.cash to keep up with these convos and more.
Cyprian (aka Vin Armani) talks about his experiments with tiny payments, the business he launched called CoinText, why payment channels are an overlooked mechanism, and what to look for in a protocol.
Check out www.nanopay.cash to keep up to date on these vids and more tiny payment stuff.
I briefly explore a framework created by tech investor Mike Maples Jr. and apply it to the world of tiny payments to get the wheels turning on what might be built for possible futures.
Check out www.nanopay.cash to keep up to date on these vids and more tiny payment stuff.
What about all the other attributes of crypto? Aren't those more important than tiny payments?
I chat a bit about these attributes and the extent to which they're oversold. I mention this article - https://www.bitpost.app/u/isaacmorehouse/whats-left-of-the-bitcoin-dream-7Hsj6Zo
Check out www.nanopay.cash to keep up to date on these vids and more tiny payment stuff.
-What is this all about and why do I love tiny payments? -Micro vs nanopayments -Three stages of tiny payment apps: 1. happening today, 2. possible today, 3. theoretically possible -5 types of biz models: 1. metered payments, 2. split payments, 3. tradeable rev shares, 4. monetized data, 5. nano-paywalls -Protocol/tech agnostic - whatever works to open up tiny payment economy
Is it a wonderful tale about the impact a single life can have, or a propaganda piece about sacrificing your dreams to collectivism and envy?
Deryk and I talk about one of our all-time favorite movies, and why it drives us nuts even though we love it.
James Poulos discusses the themes in his newly launched book, "Human Forever: The Digital Politics of Spiritual War", available on canonic.xyz
We talk Bitcoin, technocracy, gnosticism, the nature of evil, religion, futurism, and more.
Is Christianity antithetical to laissez-faire capitalism?
Would a Christian business owner not fire an employee for not making enough money for the company?
I share some of my thoughts on what a Christian duty to the poor means and how it relates to economic systems.
I Tweeted, "It's possible that psychedelics help people discover the secrets of the universe. It's certain that they make people less able to discover how to be useful to those around them."
River took issue and said we should chat. So we did!
This architect uncovered truths about humans, reality, beauty, governance, and freedom that few yet appreciate.
Clint Russell from the fast-growing Liberty Lockdown podcast joins me to reflect on what he's learned in the last year and his first 100 episodes.
I just published a brand new book on canonic.xyz. I chat with the CEO about what it means to allow authors to publish on the blockchain and how bitcoin enables a future of low-cost high-value information like never before seen.
Enjoy!
You can buy the book here - https://canonic.xyz/books/12cy7aGkmg9CxgLXd4WFp6FJWSJHcbZ5NQ/limited
Guide to doing it if you're new to BitcoinSV - https://isaacmorehouse.com/2021/05/28/i-published-a-new-book-and-how-to-buy-it/
Super great convo with Clint from Liberty Lockdown, a guy pumping out one of the best podcasts around.
Is the Libertarian Party a useful tool? WTF is happening with the economy? How to live free in a world gone mad?
A few thoughts on the tendency to overvalue high level intellectualization, and the nobility of lower level creatures in moments of crisis.
Vin Armani is a hard guy to put into a box. Tech entrepreneur, star of Showtime's 'Gigolos', philosopher, and in recent years, prophet of our times.
We talk about The Dim Age, the devouring mother, the heroes journey as a map for our age, Jordan Peterson, and a lot more.
Buckle up. It gets weird in the best of ways.
I decided to read one of my favorite essays of all time, The Obviousness of Anarchy, by John Hasnas, so that an audio version can be enjoyed by all.
Twetch co-creator Josh Petty tries to help me make sense of the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) craze, sort the wheat from the chaff, explore radical new biz models made possible by micropayments tied to decentralized data, muse about how far title to property can be extended, whether firms and investors are inefficient and what might replace them, and lots more.
Is there a case for small blocks? Today three of the four Numpties (Steve Patterson, Isaac Morehouse, Deryk Makgill) discuss the origins of the changes that made BTC into a small block coin going for a digital gold narrative.
We take the arguments for small blocks one by one and try to see whether and to what extent they are good arguments. Finally, we discuss possible futures for BTC.
Enjoy!
You can view many more Numpties videos on Streamanity, where we post regularly. https://streamanity.com/isaacmorehouse@relayx.io
Our culture's concern for victims is relatively new and radical in human history. Where does it come from? And how does understanding memetic desire and the scapegoat mechanism make sense of the world?
Radio and podcast host David Gornoski and I discuss his rare blend of Christian theology, Rene Girard's sociology, and a political philosophy of non-violence.
It launched two companies, attracted dozens of employees, thousands of customers, many talks and media appearances, several investors, resulted in 10 books published, four podcasts, hundreds of interviews, and close to $10M in revenue+investment. And the benefits keep compounding.
You should try it for 30 days.
I currently write at crash.co and isaacmorehouse.com
What do the government and the devil have in common? A lot. Fighting either requires a unique approach.
What if you took the pressure off yourself to find what's true, and instead just got really good at detecting and eliminating what's untrue?
I've been trying to understand the love and hate people have for Trump for several years and it's only now making sense. The way covid policy was handled helped me see; it's not about substance, it's all about symbols.
We live in a myth-driven age.
Michael Malice brings some insight and optimism to the events of the world in 2020 and going into 2021.
We also cover house plants, aliens, the meaning of life, conspiracies, and more.
“The Myth of the Rule of Law” was written by John Hasnas and originally published in 1995 in the Wisconsin Law Review no. 199.
I read it (with a few mumbles and mistakes) in its entirety from https://www.copblock.org/40719/myth-rule-law-john-hasnas/
Thanks to Prof Hasnas for writing this excellent essay, as well as another called "The Obviousness of Anarchy", both of which were profoundly influential on my thinking.
Man, we go deep on this one.
Steve Patterson and I discuss whether the material world is real, whether consciousness real, his apparent resolution to the mind-body problem, and how his pluralistic system would allow for almost every other point of view.
We start with the nature of experience and external objects, and we end up at the concept of love and sanity.
Thaddeus Russell joins me to talk about the craziness of 2020, who the real renegades are, what happened with the election, new political realities, and more.
The belief in infinite sets led to global lockdowns. Yes, you heard it.
Steve Patterson has a bone to pick with pure mathematics. I try to figure out why he thinks it's so important to get the theories right.
TK Coleman breaks down why people are so worried and guilty about advice or ideas that don't apply to all people at all times and why they shouldn't be.
We discuss our disagreement about wearing suits, then dive into the insanity of 2020, how so many could be so fooled into lockdowns, why the "libertarian" movement utterly failed to stand for freedom, Orwellian language, and much more.
Jeff offers a wonderful perspective and optimism in the midst of dark times.
Nicole was fighting for freedom but not living free in the process.
The libertarian nonprofit scene was sucking the life out of her, so she decided to quit and set out on her own to pursue the things that made her feel free. She runs a farmstead, rents out houses, cans tomatoes, does workshhops on processing chickens, and so much more.
Nicole Sauce is the host of Living Free in Tennessee, owner of Holler Roast Coffee, and a marketing and business consultant to people who want more control over their life.
People sometimes ask me how to find a co-founder, or someone to code their idea, or people to invest money.
I always ask them why they need those things.
Chances are, you don't and those are distractions. The first step is to sell the category, problem, vision, and product. Prove your passion and prove demand. The rest will start to want to come to you!
Twetch founder Josh Petty, alter ego of the famous internet frog Elon Moist, joins me, TK, and Steve to talk about the future of the internet in a post-advertising world, why building is better than talking, and how Twetch represents just the first wedge in a spiritual revolution.
I hate services that make it hard to unsubscribe or get out of a contract.
But you know what's even dumber?
Trying to fix it with regulation...
Unbounded Capital is all about crypto investments. And they made a big bet that BSV will be the one coin to rule them all.
We talk technicals, money, IP, Craig Wright, risks, and a lot more.
Enjoy!
TK and I sit down to chat about his beef with free-market advocates who fail to see when the market is winning and instead fear what it might produce.
We dive into companies responding to social outrage, whether it's a worrisome sign of mob mentality or a positive process for truth discovery, and a whole lot more.
Jack Liu of RelayX and Dimely joins TK, Steve, and Isaac to talk about his latest endeavor and how to build winning apps on BSV.
We get into his history with bitcoin, why he left a lucrative finance career to go into startups, when he realized small block were dumb, and why he felt uneasy about the BCH approach to growth. We touch briefly on who Satoshi is and whether it matters.
Enjoy!
My good friend and co-conspirator TK Coleman hopped on with me to catch up, talk about his current work, how he learned to stop fearing controversy and embrace it, why he wants to talk about race, what's going on in the world, and some basketball lessons from the Pistons and Bulls.
A little unscripted quasi-comedy bit about the problem with the police.
*Warning: some F bombs in this one, so if you have kids in the car you may not want to turn it on.
3 of the 4 Numpties discuss savings, exchange, method of payment, and some other stuff.
Today we chat with Roger Ver about the past, present, and future of big block bitcoin.
Why he's still on the BCH train despite problems, adoption strategies, does it matter who Satoshi is, and a lot more.
We have great time and a reasonable discussion. Sorry if you came for crazy talk!
The Numpties discuss bitcoin with Daniel Krawisz.
We start with the Austrian understanding of money, why Bitcoin fulfills the regression theorem, why big blocks are necessary, and how Daniel split from the BTC consensus.
We debate whether merchant adoption is a necessary step or an inevitable result, what it means to grow bitcoin, why saving IS using, crazy bitcoin cults, the handicap principle, narcissists in crypto, what Turing completeness means, and a lot more.
Thanks to Daniel for joining. We had a ton of fun!
Originally released on May 15th, 2020
Software developer Joshua Henslee drops by to talk about what made him build on BSV, why he thinks developers suffer from CPD (central planner disease), why propaganda drove him to big blocks, what's wrong with the DAA, why Metanet and enterprise adoption are overhyped, why consumer apps are key, BSV as money, and a whole lot more.
TK Coleman and Deryk Makgill join us along the way, and the pace picks up as we go.
Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did!
Originally released on YouTube, May 6th, 2020
In this episode, we talk halvening, the DAA, the promise and perils of hype, fake projects, adoption strategies, chain death scenarios, and more.
BSV, BCH, and BTC are all discussed.
As always, we're just four guys (aka "Numpties") who love freedom and are excited about the prospects of free market money. We have a good time and I hope you do too!
Originally released on YouTube May 1st, 2020
Steve, TK, and Deryk join me for another rip-roaring bitcoin discussion. This time we explore and speculate about some of the wackier and more entertaining possibilities in the world of bitcoin.
*If you're new to bitcoin, you probably won't know what we're talking about. It's mostly zany inside baseball.
-Ira vs. Craig Wright lawsuit -Mike Hearn and Satoshi -Phil Wilson and Satoshi -How do you explain Craig Wright? -Intelligence agency infiltration? -Organized crime? -The book that got banned -The Satoshi coins -TK's stone-cold lead pipe lock prediction for 2025
As always, we do this for our own enjoyment and we aren't trying to win any contests or shill anything but freedom. (But if you want to send me money I'm $isaacmorehouse on Handcash!)
We each value human liberty and free-market money, and we think big blocks and aggressive scaling are awesome.
Enjoy!
Originally released on YouTube April 10th, 2020
2020 has seen a flurry of activity in the big block bitcoin world. Some exciting, some troubling, all of it entertaining.
We discuss some ways our beliefs about the probabilities of success for BCH and BSV have changed with recent events, what the biggest threats are, possible explanations for seemingly weird behavior, and a lot more.
We do this for fun and we have fun. I hope you do too!
Originally released on YouTube on February 28, 2020
Steve Patterson, Deryk Makgill, and TK Coleman join me for another rousing discussion.
This one went a bit longer than intended, but I assure you, it only gained momentum and by the end we were yelling at each other about patents.
It was fun!
To re-iterate: All four of us share a desire to see bitcoin become global free market money and so much more. We love big blocks, low fees, speed, innovation, and rapid adoption with as many use cases as possible.
We debate, discuss, and sometimes disagree on the best strategies and which approaches have the highest probability of success.
We all believe that both BCH and BSV approaches have merit, and to religiously dismiss one out of hand is a mental and strategic mistake. We hold no malice for any of the players involved and welcome thoughtful discussion (hell, I even get a kick out of thoughtless trolling!)
I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
Originally released on YouTube on February 7th, 2020
We're back with TK Coleman, Steve Patterson, and Deryk Makgill to discuss a whole lot of new developments in big block bitcoin.
A few of the things we cover:
-Will 2020 see a decisive winner? -Is competition good for bitcoin? -What's behind the dramatic price increase on BSV? -How much market manipulation exists? -The odds of BSV being a pump & dump scam -BCH development funding and fighting -Kim Dotcom and mass adoption of BCH? -Adoption strategies -Peter Schiff losing his bitcoin -And a little teaser about Satoshi and crypto conspiracy theories (hopefully more to come on that)
Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did. We all share a desire to see global free market money (and everything else bitcoin can do) succeed, and love examining the different efforts and approaches.
Originally released on YouTube on January 22nd, 2020
The (second) most rational discussion of bitcoin you will ever hear.
TK Coleman, Steve Patterson, and Deryk Makgill join me for a great followup discussion after our first video on the bear and bull cases for both BCH and BSV. (First conversation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEYQD...)
In this video we discuss:
-Weird and crazy things we heard about our last video -Cult-like aspects of crypto communities -Bastardization of concepts like digital gold, cash, and skin in the game -What happened when Steve was booted from a Hotep Jesus BTC/BCH debate -The Myth of the Rule of Law and the myth of the rule of code -Can bitcoin actually be confiscated with majority hashrate as Craig Wright seems to claim? -Is BCH not planning to scale on chain? -The OG's of bitcoin...like the Pharisees in the Bible?
And a bunch more!
We criticize and praise things about BSV and BCH. We don't pretend to know everything and genuinely seek to better understand what's going on.
And we have fun while disagreeing. Who knew it was possible?!?
You can learn more about the participants in this conversation here:
tkcoleman.com steve-patterson.com isaacmorehouse.com
Originally released on YouTube on November 15th, 2019
TK Coleman, Steve Patterson, and Deryk Makgill join me to share their bear and bull cases for both BCH and BSV.
There is disagreement over which chain has the better probability for success, what tactics are best for adoption, and which use cases mean the most. We debate the trade-offs of anonymous coins, open source governance problems, the crypto community, and more.
If you are like me and you are excited about sound, global, digital money and want to understand what is going on with these competing versions of bitcoin, you've come to the right place.
No name calling here. No obsession over Twitter personalities. No overly technical discussion.
I hope you enjoy watching as much as I enjoyed hosting!
Originally released on YouTube on November 2nd, 2019
Isaac was recently a guest on the Legends and Losers podcast with Christopher Lochhead.
Christopher is an entrepreneur, former CMO, and author of Play Bigger.
Chris and Isaac have a wide-ranging conversation about the power and value of being an apprentice, why being your own credential is important, and why it is critical to build your own digital paper trail.
You can find full show notes at https://legendsandlosers.com/isaac-morehouse/
If you haven't listened to the full interview yet, check it out first.
After interviewing Bryan Caplan about his book, The Case Against Education, I had so many thoughts rolling around that I wanted to record a separate follow up episode.
In this episode, I cover where I think Bryan is right and where I don't think he goes far enough.
Topics Covered: - Economic thinking and rational choice theory to explain the choice to go to college. - The role of parents in their kid's choices to go to college. - Do you need to be a super genius to succeed without college? - People choose college out of fear for bucking the dominant belief system. - Getting cheap easy praise from college and how that creates entitlement. - College grads are free to blame the economy when they are unemployed. - College degrees as a social signal, not an economic signal.
Full show notes for every episode are available at isaacmorehouse.com
Bryan Caplan's new book The Case Against Education, argues against the common arguments the value of school and college. Most people would consider his view pretty radical. He recommends massive cuts to education spending and that many people should not go to college. In this episode, I argue that he doesn't go far enough.
If you miss the regular episodes, make sure to check out Forward Tilt and Office Hours: - http://discoverpraxis.com/forwardtilt-2/ - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/office-hours/id1293715707?mt=2
Topics Discussed:
- How Bryan got started thinking and writing about education
- Degrees as a signal
- Credential inflation
- Arguments about the quality of education
- Parents the motivation for college
- Do employers really want conformity?
- Working for free as a signal
- Even though it's just a signal, should you still go to college?
- Bryan's upcoming graphic novel on immigration
Full show notes are at isaacmorehouse.com
Ryan X Charles is the founder of Yours.org, a social media platform that uses cryptocurrency micropayments to incentive creators and support better content.
Topics Discussed: - What the X means - What got Ryan interested - Deciding to go full-time into Bitcoin in 2013 - The idea for yours.org - The problems with micro-payments - Working on payment channels for Yours - Changing the infrastructure from Bitcoin, to Litecoin, to Bitcoin Cash - How the payments work on Yours.org - The different ways of creating value on social media - How economics helps create better content on the internet
For full show notes visit isaacmorehouse.com/podcast
Tom W. Bell is a lawyer, author, and professor helping to document and create the future of legal systems and governance.
In his new book “Your Next Government? From the Nation State to Stateless Nations” he dives in the evolution of government through history and into the future.
Topics Discussed: - How the nation-state took over governance - The trend over the past century towards more centralized government and then recently to more decentralized governance - Different forms of governance - Special economic zones and foreign trade zones - Fordlandia - The potential for special economic zones in the U.S. - Is there too much democracy, or not enough? - Double democracy - How 100% ownership makes cities better - Governments as a computer operating system - Gold swans and why we should be optimistic about the future of government
Robin Hanson is a professor of economics at George Mason University. He is the author of The Age of Em and co-author of the new book The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life which is a facilitating look into the real reasons that motivate people and society.
Topics Discussed: - Robin’s new book, The Elephant in the Brain - Split brain patients - The reasons for vague language - The lack of correlation between medicine and health - Using gifts to show how much we care - The cost of violating norms - Why religious people are healthier and wealthier - Demonstrating group loyalty through ritual - Religion and politics - Signaling and education - Our choices have audiences - How signals change
For full show notes visit isaacmorehouse.com/podcast
Thaddeus Russell is the author of Renegade History of the United States, founder of Renegade University, host of the Unregistered podcast, and an intellectual entrepreneur.
In this episode, Isaac and Thaddeus dive into World War Two. The reasons why the US joined the war, why Franklin Roosevelt wanted war with Japan and Nazi Germany, what stopped Jewish immigrants from leaving Europe, and more.
Topics Discussed: - Renegade University - The reasons people believe the US entered WW2 - FDR and the war in the Pacific - Roosevelt’s desire for war with Japan - Jewish immigration to the United States - Trust in the media - Self-censorship in the media before and during WW2 - The argument for going to war with Nazi Germany in 1942 - Why Roosevelt wanted to go to war with Nazi Germany - Germany post world war one - Autarky in Nazi Germany and Japan - The US controlling international trade - US refusal of Jewish Immigrants before and during WW2 - Immigration quotas
The most popular guest in show history is back! NL and Isaac dive into a wide range of topics on this weeks episode.
Topics Discussed: - Why did NL decide to celebrate Dia de Muertos (Day of The Dead) - Celebrations from other cultures - Why has Marvel been so successful with taking superheroes to movies, when DC hasn’t - Pop culture trends - Professionals trying to be unprofessional - NL’s book - Dire perfume names - Starting to use Facebook - Unschooling & Creating your own structure - Starting a sandwich business - The biggest differences for in life as a 12-year-old today vs. twenty years ago
Links: - IM Podcast Episode 17 What It’s Like to Be an Unschooled with NL Morehouse https://isaacmorehouse.com/2015/06/15/episode-17-what-its-like-to-be-an-unschooled-10-year-old-with-nl-morehouse/ - Star Wars Review Episode with NL Morehouse https://isaacmorehouse.com/2015/12/21/star-wars-the-force-awakens-movie-review/ - Interview with a Nine Year Old with NL Morehouse https://isaacmorehouse.com/2014/05/12/interview-with-a-nine-year-old/ - Interview with an Eight-Year-Old with NL Morehouse https://isaacmorehouse.com/2013/04/08/interview-with-an-eight-year-old/ - theblogofnl.wordpress.com
Dave Lukas is the Vice President and CSO of Grasp Technologies and the host of the Misfit Entrepreneur podcast. Dave grew up in an entrepreneurial family, and from a young age he was creating small businesses and finding opportunities to create businesses. That entrepreneurial spark has stuck with him as he built a great career and now a thriving company.
On the Misfit Entrepreneur Podcast, Dave interviews top entrepreneurs and explores their non-traditional methods for achieving success.
In this episode, Isaac and Dave follow along with Dave’s entrepreneurial journey, from selling flags on Independence day as a five-year-old to selling Cutco Knives in college to becoming VP and CSO of Grasp Technologies.
Topics Covered: - Dave’s entrepreneurial start as a five-year-old - Does having kids change the way you see the world as an entrepreneur? - Selling Cutco knives - Going to work for a Fortune 500 business - The value of working sales for an aspiring entrepreneur - Starting a business while working a full-time job - Deciding to start Misfit Entrepreneur - The Misfit Three
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher
Peter Leeson is a professor of economics and law at George Mason University, known for his work on rational choice theory, applying it to unusual rituals and superstitions, piracy, and anarchy.
His most recent book WTF?! an Economic Tour of the Weird, dives into some of the strangest rituals and events around the world and explains them using rational choice theory.
In the face of the mainstream popularity of pop-behavioral economics claiming humans are irrational, Peter looks at some of the bizarre, weird, unexplainable, and crazy parts of societies around the world and uses clear economic thinking to explain why the reaction to dismiss them as crazy or irrational is wrong in every case.
In this episode, Isaac and Peter dive into some weird examples covered in the book and then some frustrating and confusing behavior from the world around us like the price of razors, or why people speed up when you go to pass them on the highway.
Topics Covered: - Peter’s new book WTF?! an Economic Tour of the Weird - Ordeals to try accused of crimes in medieval Europe - The logic behind ordeals - Ball don’t lie - The value of oracles - The difference between rational beliefs and rational actions - Wife selling in 18th century England - Why are razors so expensive? - Why slow drivers speed up when you go to pass them? - Are people rational? - Beliefs as a constraint - The risk in trying to change beliefs - The criminal prosecution of insects and rodents - Peter’s upcoming projects (the economics of panhandlers)
If you're a fan of Fridays with TK, you'll be very excited about this special preview episode of a new podcast with Isaac and TK Colemen.
Got a job your trying to get? A work-related issue you’re trying to resolve? An obstacle that’s holding you up? Send in your questions and check out a new episode of Office Hours every Tuesday.
Each week TK and Isaac will answer your questions, providing philosophic insight and actionable advice about work and life.
Subscribe to Office Hours on all major podcast platforms: - iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/office-hourss-podcast/id1293715707 - Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKTQ5DDewRw - Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1293715707/office-hours - Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/praxis/office-hours-2
Roger Ver is the CEO of Bitcoin.com, an early investor in bitcoin, and many Bitcoin startups.
He is a passionate advocate for bitcoin and has been in the space from the very early days.
In this conversation, we start with the basics, cover the most common objections and criticism about bitcoin and then discuss the future of bitcoin.
In this episode: - What was the philosophy that made you find bitcoin interesting? - How did Roger come to start studying economics? - Being prosecuted for selling “firecrackers” on eBay? - Not sleeping for days when he discovered bitcoin - The elevator pitch for bitcoin - Common objections to bitcoin - Decentralization isn’t the goal it a tool with the goal of censorship resistance - The debate around blocksize - Cryptocurrency regulation - Starting a non-nation nation
Show notes and links to all books, articles, and resources mentioned are available at isaacmorehouse.com
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
On this episode, I’m joined by my brother Levi Morehouse, the CEO of Ceterus. Levi is fantastic at cutting down to the crucial aspects of accounting and in this episode, we dive into the most important numbers and concepts you need to know as an entrepreneur, freelancer, or small business owner.
One of the resources Levi recommends is Quickbooks. Because he feels passionately about small business entrepreneurship, Levi is offering to help entrepreneurs set up their QuickBooks Online accounts - free of charge. Visit http://www.ceterus.com/quickbookshelp to request for a member of Ceterus' team to walk you through setting up your account.
In this episode: - Update on Ceterus' growth - Accounting for non-numbers people - How to track personal finances - Holistically looking at expenses - Basic accounting for small business - The most important numbers for any business - Accounting basics for new freelancers and self-employed
For full show notes visit: Isaacmorehouse.com
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
Robert Murphy is a professor of economics at the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University, co-host of Contra-Krugman with Tom Woods, and author of many great books on economics including The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism.
This is a wide-ranging conversation that goes from what sparked Bob’s intellectual in free-market economics, to starting the Contra-Krugman Podcast, to a deep dive into Economics and specifically Austrian Business Cycle Theory.
In This Episode: - What sparked Bob’s interests in free market economics? - Writing The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism. - The back story behind the Contra-Krugman podcast. - Overviewing the different schools of economics. - Austrian Business Cycle Theory - Would a perfectly free economy be stable? - Why do waves of bankruptcies all line up together? - The difference between what the Austrian School says and the Efficient Market Hypothesis - Is it harder for the Fed to manipulate the economy now? - From an Austrian perspective, what is concerning with the economy today? - Staying positive when you know that there will be large negative consequences to monetary policy.
Full show notes with links at isaacmorehouse.com/podcast
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
This is the second part of an in-depth conversation with TK about his career path.
We finished the last episode with TK moving to LA to pursue a career in acting. This episode starts with the story of launching an entertainment startup and goes all the way to working as the education director for Praxis.
In this episode: - Joining the founding team of an entertainment tech startup - Going out to raise funding around the time of the financial crisis - Realizing when it was time to give up - Getting a shot at film production - Never acting from a position of desperation - How doggy day care almost led to a movie - Creating without permission - Blogging for three years straight - TK’s key takeaways from his career
Show notes featuring all links mentioned can be found at isaacmorehouse.com
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
TK has been on the show many times, but in all of our conversations, we have never taken a deep dive into his career path.
TK's taken a fascinating path and worked as a bartender, server, financial planner, seminar leader, startup founder, philosophy assistant professor and many other roles before becoming Education Director for Praxis.
In today's episode, we start with the first part of his career journey from childhood career aspirations, to college, and then making the move to LA.
In this episode: - What did TK want to do for a career as a kid? - Falling in love with theater - Deciding to become a financial advisor - Feeling a calling to leave Michigan to pursue acting - Confusing family and friends with career choices - Leaving a job in the philosophy department at WMU to try out for - American Idol - Learning that failure in real life isn’t nearly as bad as failure in theory - Becoming an accounting trainer - Learning without a scarcity mindset - Getting on Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader - TK’s first startup
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
Steve Patterson is a rationalist philosopher and intellectual entrepreneur working outside of academia. He is the host of Patterson in Pursuit, a podcast featuring deep conversations with top thinkers in philosophy, mathematics, and many other disciplines.
He is also the author of What’s The Big Deal About Bitcoin and Square One: The Foundations of Knowledge.
This episode is a behind the scenes dive into life as an intellectual entrepreneur. From approaches to interviews, to handling haters, and the motivations behind Steve’s philosophic journey, it is a wide ranging conversation that will have a lot of interesting perspective for anyone interested in living an intellectual life.
Vince Graham is President of I’on Group, a South Carolina-based property developer. He is a deep thinker, who puts philosophy to work by creating communities instead of writing books and papers.
The communities he builds take inspiration from historical areas of cities like the old city of Charleston and combine the emergent wisdom of these century old communities with the best of modern advances when building homes and neighborhoods.
Vince has an incredible depth of knowledge on the history of the development of cities, so we talk deeply about the 20th century in America and how things like the development of the car, zoning rules, and government funded highways have changed our cities. His background in development gives him a unique ability to concisely explain the feelings of unease and annoyance you have likely felt driving, walking, or biking around the suburbs and downtown of most American cities.
We also discuss some of the governing rules of communities, how things like the width of roads can naturally make cars go faster or slower and the street’s safer and more available to users, where the idea of jay walking comes from and much more.
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
David Veksler is the Director of Marketing at the Foundation for Economic Education, a futurist, software developer, free market radical, and father. He has a fascinating life story that spans three continents and is an instructive example of how to build a great career.
David has built a successful career in technology and marketing by consistently solving problems, pursuing new opportunities, and creating value in and outside of his job responsibilities. He shares some great stories that highlight how he learned new things to grow at work and find new opportunities.
But marketing and software development are just part of what David does well. He is also passionate about personal finance and investing, and has written some great blog posts on the topic at davidveksler.com.
If you’re interested in technology, finance, financial independence, and creating a great career, then you will get lots of value out of this episode!
In this episode: - Immigrating to Texas from the USSR (Ukraine) - Discovering free-market economics and early intellectual influences - Beginning in software development - Taking opportunities vs. long-term career planning - “Why not me?” Mindset - Deciding which organization challenges are worth taking on - Documenting your work - Personal finance and investment strategy - The reason you have a job - Paying for daily expenses with freelance work - Bitcoin - Not following the news - Learning skills with deep dives to a point of competency - Creating vs. consuming
Welcome back!
After a hiatus, the show is back. Every other Monday going forward there will be a new episode of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast. These conversations will cover everything from cryptocurrency, education, finances, anarchism, and more.
In this episode: - Why the show is back - What to expect going forward - A new project from TK & Isaac - With a growing startup, two or three podcasts, daily blogging, and a new baby, how does this all work?
Links: - isaacmorehouse.com - Forward Tilt by Praxis
Hey hey hey! Did you miss me?
Quick pop-in to tell you what's going on and about a new project you should check out. It's a podcast of a different kind, plus a new book.
discoverpraxis.com/forwardtilt
Weirdness and Success, fake news, Facebook warriors, and reflections on 2016.
The first half of the show starts with a new rule of thumb: the weirder you are at the start of your career the less likely you are to succeed and the weirder you are later in your career, the more likely you are to be successful.
In the second half, since it’s the end of the year, TK and Isaac are looking back and looking ahead. From big growth at Praxis, to family developments, and TK growing his hair out, a lot has happened in the past year.
There is also podcast news as the show will be on hiatus for until at least the end of January.
Topics Covered: - The correlation over time, weirdness, and success - Facebook warriors - Fake news - Merit beliefs vs. crony beliefs - Your power to change the past - Reflection’s on 2016 - Looking forward to 2017 - Learning to love the process and creating your structure in your life - Setting your sights high and acting like you’ve been there before
Recommendations: - Square One by Steve Patterson - Arrival - Predestination
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
This week's episodes kicks off with a question:
“Hey Isaac, I know somebody who is close to me and has no motivation to do anything valuable and is just sucked into video games. I want nothing more than to help this person find their passion and to unlock some ambition that I know is there, but I’m not sure how to do it. Do you have any advice for helping unlock those doors for people?”
How do you motivate others? Should you even try?
TK and Isaac discuss challenges and traps involved with attempting to influence people around you before jumping into thoughts on Jesus and politics and self-discipline.
Topics Covered:
- How do you motivate people in your life
- Why are so many people ashamed of their desires
- Jesus and politics
- Freeing yourself from the myth of political authority
- Self-discipline mush be selfish and why you need to stop obey imagined authorities
- Figuring out what you really want
Show notes featuring all links mentioned can be found at isaacmorehouse.com
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
What causes social change?
Is it the "right politicians getting elected? Investment in non-profits? Or entrepreneurs creating experiences that change beliefs?
Isaac was recently interviewed on The Social Change Podcast about his theory of social change. He covers his intellectual evolution about how social change happens, from politics, to non-profit, to founding Praxis.
Learn why politics is not the way to create a better world and how Praxis contributes to Isaac's mission of making people free.
Topics Covered: - Why politicians aren't ideological - Public choice theory - The beliefs of the masses are changed through experiences - Uber as an example of social change - Actions are more important than opinions - How Praxis helps create a freer world
This episode is brought to you by one of the most innovative accounting startups in the country, Ceterus. Ceterus is looking for accountants or finance-minded professionals who want more something more than a standard job.
If you have accountants in your network that are interested in empowering entrepreneurs in a growing startup, visit isaac.ceterus.com.
Show notes and links to all books, articles, and resources mentioned are available at isaacmorehouse.com
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
Relationships (or the lack of) cause a lot of stress for a lot of people. Young people especially tend to think that finding the right partner will solve their problems, so they dedicate a massive amount of time, energy, and attention in the attempt to attract members of the opposite sex.
And it doesn't work.
The desperate approach leaves them with the same problems or worse, spending all their time with people they don't like.
What if the solution is to focus on something else entirely?
This is the idea we explore today on the podcast.
Topics Covered: - Christmas music - How young people respond relationship problems, the victim vs. the desperate player - The antagonistic view of relationships with employers and romantic partners - Why being unimportant is liberating - The paradox of trying to be attractive - Never be desperate - Learning from heartbreak - Promises make relationship fragile - How to stay in your Zone of Power
This episode is brought to you by one of the most innovative accounting startups in the country, Ceterus. Ceterus is looking for accountants or finance-minded professionals who want more something more than a standard job.
If you have accountants in your network that are interested in empowering entrepreneurs in a growing startup, visit isaac.ceterus.com.
Show notes and links to all books, articles, and resources mentioned are available at isaacmorehouse.com
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
Abbey Lovett joins the show to discuss her experience so far with Praxis. Abbey is an entrepreneur, podcast host, and current Praxis participant currently in the third month of the program.
She shares her highlights so far, from the support of the Praxis community to the challenges she’s faced in the curriculum.
In the second half, TK and Isaac talk about greatness, concretely defining goals, and putting truth above comfort in relationships.
Covered this episode: - Abby’s experience since starting Praxis and joining the community - The challenge of blogging for thirty days straight (Praxis month two) - Being a people pleaser, but putting yourself first - Why TK thinks “being great” isn't a great goal - The difference between happy and unhappy people - The Inner Game of Tennis - Self-one vs. self-two, or the balance between conscious and unconscious mind in the pursuit of achievement - Bringing unconscious processes into conscious awareness - Why saying no to people is actually more polite - Commitment to truth over unity - Disagreeing while being respectful
This episode is brought to you by one of the most innovative accounting startups in the country, Ceterus. Ceterus is looking for accountants or finance-minded professionals who want more something more than a standard job.
If you have accountants in your network that are interested in empowering entrepreneurs in a growing startup, visit isaac.ceterus.com. ___________
Show notes and links to all books, articles, and resources mentioned are available at isaacmorehouse.com
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
TK has transcended Fridays.
This is the first edition of the new format of the podcast. Monday discussions with TK, featuring deep dives into all things philosophy, education, tech, and personal development.
This week is all about reframing limitations and selling your strengths.
Why do so many people argue for their limitations?
In the face of opportunities, people start talking about their weakness or why they aren't the person for the job. They don't even get started before they tell you why you might not want to hire them.
What motivates people to argue for their limitations and how can you do a better job of selling your strengths?
Get the answer plus: - Favorite basketball movies - Cubs win the World Series & Passive aggressive church league softball prayers - Don’t argue for your limitations - Why job posting requirements are always flexible - People want to be sold - People are debating implications, but they think they’re debating facts - The power of turning statements into questions - How TK learned coaching from Columbo - Applying your Socratic method to yourself - Modern day challenges don’t mean life was better in the past - Why we find ourselves fighting for things we don’t actually want - Follow your dreams, but let your dreams follow you - TK’s audition for a Nascar commercial & when will he go back to acting? - How can you get around limitations and unmet requirements during your job search?
Recommendations: - Hoosiers - Freedom Without Permission
This episode is brought to you by one of the most innovative accounting startups in the country, Ceterus. Ceterus is looking for accountants or finance-minded professionals who want more something more than a standard job.
If you have accountants in your network that are interested in empowering entrepreneurs in a growing startup, visit isaac.ceterus.com. ___________
Show notes and links to all books, articles, and resources mentioned are available at isaacmorehouse.com
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
Steve Patterson is a rationalist philosopher and intellectual entrepreneur working outside of academia. He is the host of Patterson in Pursuit, a podcast featuring deep conversations with top thinkers in logic, philosophy, mathematics, quantum physics and other areas.
He is also the author of What’s The Big Deal About Bitcoin and the forthcoming book Square One: The Foundations of Knowledge.
Steve has been traveling around the world interviewing experts on everything from quantum physics to Christian theology, searching for answers to the questions most often cited by supporters of mystical, post-modern, and other worldviews that propose truth is ultimately unknowable.
We discuss academia, and how math and infinity relate to objective truth.
Notes: - Why the pursuit of truth in any area begins with the basics - Why do people contradict the basic laws of logic? - Are most philosophical debates really about language? - The state of academia - The incentives for academics - What the church and academia have in common - Philosophical problems with modern mathematics: Zeno’s paradox and infinity - The metaphysics of numbers - Concepts and Platonism - What are the implications of math’s infinite set? - How math is used to support irrationalism - Why objective truth exists
Check out previous episodes with Steve Patterson: - 4 - Steve Patterson on Credentialism, Cryptocurrency, and Creative Power - 10 - Steve Patterson on Physics, Paradoxes, and Patronage ___________ This episode is brought to you by one of the most innovative accounting startups in the country, Ceterus. Ceterus is looking for accountants or finance-minded professionals who want more something more than a standard job.
If you have accountants in your network that are interested in empowering entrepreneurs in a growing startup, visit isaac.ceterus.com. ___________
Show notes and links to all books, articles, and resources mentioned are available at isaacmorehouse.com
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
Matt Needham is the host of the Social Change Podcast and Senior Director of Leadership Development at Students For Liberty.
Matt’s passion is advancing individual liberty. His search for ways to make the world a freer place led him to his work at Students For Liberty and also led to his interest in deeply understanding social change.
The Social Change Podcast was born the desire to learn more about how people are changing the world. Matt digs deep into theories of social change with actual practitioners; the people taking action to reshape the world.
The episode cover a wide range of topics: - Why did Matt start his podcast? - How to use a podcast as a learning tool - Why non-profits need a clear theory of social change - What are the best ways for non-profits to balance the activities that are good for fundraising and the activities that are good for achieving the desired outcomes - Discovering libertarian ideas - Building a career advancing liberty - Why Matt chose to not go to law school - Lessons learned from starting a podcast - Hayekian theory of social change - Entrepreneurial opportunities from social issues - Practical tips for starting a podcast —————————— This episode is brought to you by one of the most innovative accounting startups in the country, Ceterus. Ceterus is looking for accountants or finance-minded professionals who want more something more than a standard job.
If you have accountants in your network that are interested in empowering entrepreneurs in a growing startup, visit isaac.ceterus.com. ___________
Show notes and links to all books, articles, and resources mentioned are available at isaacmorehouse.com
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
Harry Caray has his say and we jump into simplicity, radicalism, The Cubs, discontentment, B.S., affirmations, NLP, hypnotherapy, changing modalities, long showers, Chuck Norris, and killing Buddha.
This was a great show.
Recommendations: A Hitcher's Guide to the Galaxy, Winning the Inner Game, Essentials of NLP: with 150 Techniques
This episode is brought to you by one of the most innovative accounting startups in the country, Ceterus. Ceterus is looking for accountants or finance-minded professionals who want more something more than a standard job.
If you have accountants in your network that are interested in empowering entrepreneurs in a growing startup, visit isaac.ceterus.com.
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
C.S. Lewis is most well known as the author of the Chronicles of Narnia, but with 74 books and numerous essays, he has covered a massive spectrum of topics. His influence extends through a number of disciplines including political philosophy.
Isaac recently joined Anthony Caprio on the Free Cities Podcast to discuss Lewis and how his ideas fit with classical liberalism.
The conversation covers C.S. Lewis’ background, his major intellectual influences, how his ideas fit well into classical liberal thought, and a lot more.
Topics covered: - C.S. Lewis’ biography - Why Lewis’ ideas fit into the liberty movement - How C.S. Lewis can prime you for the ideas of Ludwig Von Mises - Lewis’ intellectual influences - How Lewis showed a skepticism of power and central planning - "If Ayn Rand was a Christian she would be C.S. Lewis" - How Lewis was an unknowing practitioner of Rational Choice Theory - The connection between Murray Rothbard and C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis Book Recommendations: - The Great Divorce - Screwtape Proposes a Toast - Till We Have Faces - The Chronicles of Narnia - The Space Trilogy (That Hideous Strength)
This episode is brought to you by one of the most innovative accounting startups in the country, Ceterus.
Ceterus is looking for accountants or finance-minded professionals who want more something more than a standard job.
If you have accountants in your network that are interested in empowering entrepreneurs in a growing startup, visit isaac.ceterus.com.
Show notes and links to all books, articles, and resources mentioned are available at isaacmorehouse.com
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher
After a little rap by TK, we hit this week's "Facebook Warriors" segment hard, covering the weird smugness of aversion to learning on the job for free instead of paying to not learn in a classroom.
Then we take questions. Tons of questions. The NBA, hip hop, books, Neil deGrasse Tyson, movies, impostor syndrome, homeschooling, logical consistency, and lots more.
Recommendations: The X Files, The Lost Room, Stranger Things.
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
Derek Carter was racing along the path to partnership at a large accounting firm. He had graduated college with an accounting degree and spent years busting his ass, taking on more responsibility and leading at a large regional firm. He was managing people and working with autonomy in a large organization.
But his former colleague Levi Morehouse kept trying to sell him on leaving. They had worked together before Levi left to start Ceterus and had been pushing for Derek to join ever since. Eventually, Derek decided to make the leap into the startup world.
He’s now the COO of Ceterus, one of the most innovative and fastest growing accounting startups in the country.
Derek shares his backstory, from how he chose to pursue accounting, to deciding to leave his good job at a big firm to join a startup.
Derek is an outstanding example of an implementer joining with a visionary to make big things happen. If you’re working in a traditional role and excited by the possibility of working with a startup, there's a ton of wisdom for you in this episode.
Covered in this episode: - Leaning competitiveness from baseball - Deciding to pursue an accounting degree - What made Northwood University great - What are the common characteristics of accountants - Why public accountants need to learn how to sell to continuing progressing in their careers - Derek’s experience starting at a large public accounting firm - The disconnect between auditing classes in college and auditing reality - How did Derek decide to join Ceterus - Making the switch from a large established company to a startup - What does Derek look for when hiring for Ceterus - Making the decision to seek and eventually take on outside investment - Advice for implementors who want to work in cool fields, but don’t want to be visionaries - Opportunities at Ceterus
Show notes and links to all books, articles, and resources mentioned are available at isaacmorehouse.com
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher
Today we're back at it and things get a little weird at first. We cover lots of stuff, and end with a deep dive on deep dives.
Also we unveil a cool new totally free resource by Praxis! Philosophy in 30 Days - https://discoverpraxis.teachable.com/p/praxis-philosophy-course
Mentioned in the episode: Subway, 'as if it's true', Brian Brenberg, Stanislavsky, barber shops, baristas, labels, Jewish meditation, Dallas Willard, social justice warriors, Sudbury Valley School, soccer, Why Haven't You Read this Book? Whitney Houston would have failed to mae it on American Idol, deep learning, philosophy in 30 days, Gregory Cokle, balance is boring.
Recommendations: Punished by Reward, and Insult to Intelligence.
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
Is intellectual property law the foundation of an innovative society? Or a racket set up to protect entrenched businesses from competition? Stephan Kinsella joins the show this week to break it down.
Stephan is a practicing patent attorney, a libertarian writer and speaker, Director of the Center for the Study of Innovative Freedom (C4SIF), and Founding and Executive Editor of Libertarian Papers.
He is one of the clearest and most compelling thinkers on intellectual property law.
We cover the historical context of IP law, the modern day consequences of copyright and patent monopolies, the flaws in common arguments for intellectual property laws and much more.
Covered in this episode: - How did Stephan become interested in intellectual property? - His intellectual evolution on the topic of intellectual property - What are copyright, patent, trademarks, and trade secrets? - Where did the concept of intellectual property come from? - Which IP laws are the most harmful? - Fraud vs. Trademarks - Libertarian perspectives on IP - John Locke’s errors on property that affect us today - Why Innovation is stronger without IP (fashion, food, football) - Problems with trade secret law - Copyright law that existed under common law - Why IP is wrong from a deontological and consequentialist point of view - How would J.K. Rowling make a living without IP? - How to be principled about IP as an entrepreneur while not harming your company
Show notes and links to all books, articles, and resources mentioned are available at isaacmorehouse.com
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher
Joseph Coker is a true renaissance man. He is a comedian and podcast/radio host based in Charleston, SC. He’s also a musician, jiu-jitsu instructor, and entrepreneur.
In his early twenties, Joseph was married, living in europe, and working for a church. Life felt stable, but it soon turned chaotic. After losing his brother and going through a divorce in the span of six months Joseph realized he needed to make changes in his life. He sat down, evaluated his life, and set goals for what he wanted to accomplish.
Now, he’s built a successful jiu-jitsu business, is headlining comedy shows, will soon be releasing a music EP, and hosts a podcast.
Find out how Joseph bounced back from adversity, become an efficient learner in so many different disciplines.
Covered in this episode: - Joseph’s early career plans - The impact of the renaissance man ideal - Anxiety about becoming a jack of all trades, but master of none - Moving to Europe, and then returning after a series of bad events - How he built his jiu-jitsu teaching business from cold calling schools to find students a few years ago to turning away kids today - How he started doing stand-up comedy - Joseph’s comedy writing process - How to engage the crowd at a comedy show - The process of writing music - The cliche of the suffering artist - Good songwriting is about empathy - Finding a producer for his new EP - Two songs from Joseph’s upcoming EP: Red Flag and Pompei
Show notes and all links mentioned are available at isaacmorehouse.com
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
Today we squeezed in an episode before some weekend travel. We talk about conflicting moral intuitions on violence and just deserts, how the market empowers small groups without disempowering anyone else, why good ideas don't need subsidies, and how entertaining self-serious Facebookers can be.
Mentioned in the episode: Kevin Johnson, Boogie Cousins, Lady Gaga, How Anonymity Enhances Civility, Qdoba, Heidegger, and more I'm forgetting.
Recommendations: Five Characters in Search of Exit Twilight Zone episode, and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
Lenny Magill is the founder and CEO of Glockstore, the largest retailer of Glock weapons, accessories, and parts in the world. The online store at Glockstore.com alone serves over 250,000 customers around the globe. Lenny is also very well known in the shooting community for his videos on shooting and self-defense.
Lenny shares the story of his career, from growing up in Pennsylvania, and along all sorts of twists and turns from working in restaurants, radio DJing, selling advertising, producing TV shows, selling gun videos to now, running the largest Glock retailer in the world.
This episode is two hours jam packed with amazing stories and powerful insights. You won’t want to miss a minute.
Along the way - Lenny’s upbringing in Pennsylvania - From the path to medical school to dropping out - Moving to California and working in restaurants - How waiting tables opened an opportunity in radio - Lenny’s journey in the radio business - How radio news led to selling radio ads - Becoming a student when you have an incentive - Transition into cable TV - How he entered the gun business - Handing a rapidly changing video environment in the 90’s - Why you need to do great work no matter what job you have - The importance of time for concentrated thought about life, business, and who you want to be - What habits, tools, and techniques Lenny has used to create a happy, healthy, and successful life
Show notes and all links mentioned are available at isaacmorehouse.com
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
Today TK's new mic got us a little distracted and caused some racially uncomfortable moments. We got over it.
We dove into how weird it is that TK doesn't care to check tasks off his list after he's done them and how obsessed I am with list-checking. We discussed the danger of believing you are owed anything. We touched on positive rights (terrible) and negative rights (wonderful but still sometimes a trap), the weirdness of doing things you hate because they are "cheap" or "free", how not to build social capital, why learning to use Google beats everything else, and, most exciting to me, how to gain an edge by seeing the future as already here.
"It's dead alright. I didn't kill it. It was dead when I got here." - Larry the Liquidator
Mentioned in the episode: Wayne Dyer, Danny DeVito, Other People's Money, Breaking Smart, Taylor Pearson, TK's nephew schooling him in basketball, The Great Divorce, Michael Huemer, the ATR 2100, and lots more I'm forgetting.
Recommendations: "Going All In" by Taylor Pearson, and The Problem of Political Authority by Michael Huemer.
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
All episodes of the Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.
This episode is all about football. Cameron Sorsby, Levi Morehouse, and Ian Vanhover join the show to break down everything from the start of the NFL season. From week one results to Tom Brady’s suspension, and how to create winning cultures.
Also covered in this episode: - Is it weird to share a fantasy football team? - Why is deflate-gate still a thing? - Roger Goodell’s reputation and negative impact on the NFL - Notable moments and results from week one - The importance of a winning culture - How can you turn a losing culture into a winning culture - Why aren’t there better head coaches in the NFL? - When should teams fire coaches? - What are the incentives for franchises - Where are the next great quarterbacks? - Is football a dying sport? - What quarterbacks and teams will surprise people this year?
Check out these previous episodes with Levi and Cameron: - Smart People Say Stuff About… Backup Plans w/ Cameron Sorsby and Levi Morehouse - Episode # 12 - Levi Morehouse on Ambition, Advice, and Enterprise - Episode # 53 - Beginner’s Guide to Startups Part 3 - Episode # 95 - Friday with Levi Unsung Entrepreneurs, Uber Class, 150 Year Lifespans, and More
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
Show notes, including all links mentioned in this episode, are available at isaacmorehouse.com
All episodes of The Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on Soundcloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher
Kylon Gienger is a serial entrepreneur and the creator of The Successful Dropout Podcast. Since dropping out of college during freshman year Kylon has founded and co-founded companies in the construction, fitness, food, and online education industries.
Seeing the ineffectiveness of traditional education and the rise of amazing alternatives, Kylon set out to create the ultimate resource for young people considering leaving college, or skipping it altogether, and so The Successful Dropout was born.
Covered in this episode: - Kylon’s morning routine - How homeschool pushed Kylon towards entrepreneurship - Entrepreneurship lessons from youth ministry - Is kidnapping a wedding tradition? - How leaving the Navy launched Kylon’s entrepreneurial journey - Starting and growing a painting company, a hot yoga studio, and a juice bar - Systems and risks for hiring employees - Deciding to branch out from one business into other businesses - Why Kylon started The Successful Dropout - Just in time learning vs. just in case learning - What’s next for The Successful Dropout
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
Show notes, including all links mentioned in this episode, are available at isaacmorehouse.com
All episodes of The Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on Soundcloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher
Today we hit tons of stuff. TK and I open with a discussion of how small amounts of money or time can pay huge quality of life dividends. We lament the sadness of forcing kids into schools, discuss why a bad resume is like asking someone to pay you for nothing, and then dive into tons of listener questions.
Thanks to: Georgia Houghton, Francisco, Matt Needham, Karen Morehouse, Caitlyn Scheel, Nate Baker, Dan Sanchez, Zak Slayback, Maxine Cox, Wanda Lough, and Connor Jeffers for awesome questions.
-How to be a successful entrepreneur? -How to work remotely, and pros/cons? -Does Isaac remember his mother? -Least favorite thinkers? -Are your 20's as good as it gets? -Does interest in electoral politics make you less free? (Yes) -Best way to start a new routine? -Alternatives to STEM degrees? -Innovations we like but don't know how to make?
Mentioned in the episode: Narnia, vacation, Chucky, Poking Hobbes in the Eye, The Student vs. The Entrepreneur Approach to Learning, The Mandela Effect, Horror Movie Epistemology, Tim Chermak, lightning learning, Tesla, time travelers, aliens, NDT, and a bunch more stuff.
Recommendations: PHI, and Beyond the Blame Game.
This and all episodes are available on on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, YouTube, and Stitcher. Rate and review if you like it!
Tim Chermak is the founder of Platform, the digital marketing agency for real estate agents. Tim educated himself outside of the school system, consistently invested in himself, and learned valuable skills to build a consulting career and then a company.
If you are or want to be an entrepreneur, you’ll love this episode.
Tim shares his stories from getting his first clients as a marketing consultant to shifting his consulting business into a scalable digital marketing company and the challenges along the way.
*The episode kicks off with NFL talk, skip ahead to the 18:00-minute mark for marketing and entrepreneurship content
- NFL Talk: Teddy Dridgewater, Vikings vs. Lions, Quarterbacks, Rational Choice and NFL coaches
- Tim’s career path from political campaign intern to founder of Platform
- The advantages young people have when entering new fields
- How Tim landed his first client (as a marketing consultant)
- The value of raising your prices
- Using a book as a sales tool
- Learning to work ON your business, not IN your business
- Investing in yourself, even when you can’t “afford” it
- Tim’s impact on Isaac’s first book “The Future of School”
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
Show notes, including all links mentioned in this episode, are available at isaacmorehouse.com
All episodes of The Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on Soundcloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher
TK is back this week as we explore whether or not beauty is objective, the difference between morality and justice, why the least applicable advice is the best, and what legendary rap producer Suge Knight had to say about Praxis.
Recommendations: On the Origins of Money by Carl Menger, Toward an Empirical Theory of Natural Rights by John Hasnas, and fisheconomics.org
This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, YouTube, and Stitcher.
Give us a review on iTunes!
George Beall is a co-founder of Everipedia, an open encyclopedia that takes puts more power in the hands of the public. In his first year of college, George founded a plug and play touchscreen tile technology company that he sold prior to joining Everipedia.
George is a perfect example of learning from experience. Jumping into projects that interest him without waiting for permission or credentials.
Covered in this episode: - What is wrong with Wikipedia? - Is Wikipedia censoring information? - The bureaucracy of editing on Wikipedia - How do you convince people of a problem they may not be aware of? - What are Everipedia’s biggest challenges - George’s origin story - Creating Touch Tiles as a college freshman - Learning from experience vs. a classroom - Goals for Everipedia
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
Show notes, including all links mentioned in this episode, are available at isaacmorehouse.com
All episodes of The Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on Soundcloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher
Pulled a fast one on you today! TK is occupied in Chicago at a family wedding and told me the house he's staying in is way too loud and full of nieces and nephews to record today. I called him a wimp. He laughed.
Keeping with the family theme, today my brother Levi Morehouse steps in as TK's replacement. He's the Founder & CEO of Ceterus (ceterus.com), which provides cloud-based accounting and bookkeeping for franchise owners. Levi is a ridiculously successful entrepreneur, father, and offensive fouler on the basketball court.
It was just like growing up. I did most of the talking, he made most of the sense.
Some of the things we discuss: -If you lived to 150, how would that change your lifestyle today? -Could you learn more as an Uber driver than a student? -Philosophers vs. Tony Robbins -Choosing what to do based on what it does to you, instead of what it does for the world -Unsung entrepreneurs (and how Levi's company helps them!) -Smart drugs
Recommendations: BOLD by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler, Zero to One by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters.
This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, YouTube, and Stitcher.
This episode is a short audio essay on one of the most life-changing mindsets I've found.
Economics is the most powerful social discipline. It also has tremendous potential to improve our lives on the individual level. Not by understanding the stock market and making money, but by seeing the world through the lens of rational choice theory. The minute you do, problems and challenges become opportunities and possibilities. The world becomes a series of games. All actions become a source of information and enlightenment.
Economics helps you navigate relationships with others, and your own process of self-knowledge and self-improvement.
When you assume rationality, you can begin to peel back and understand the preferences, information, and incentives that cause people to do what they do.
This week's guest is Mitchell Earl, the co-author of Don't Do Stuff You Hate and a Praxis participant working at Ceterus, one of the INC 5000 fastest growing companies in the country.
Topics covered in this episode: - Mitchell’s journey from growing up in rural Oklahoma to writing his first book and working at a fast-growing startup in South Carolina. - Life lessons from livestock and meat evaluation - Why do so many young people want to go to law school? - Being entrepreneurial as a college student: Freelance writing and photography - The “Don’t Do Stuff You Hate” origin story - Lessons learned from writing a book - Mitchell’s next book - Tension between getting things done and getting things perfect - The benefits of co-writing a book
Don't do stuff you hate is now available on Amazon. Visit dontdostuffyouhate.com for a free preview of the book.
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
Show notes, including all links mentioned in this episode, are available at isaacmorehouse.com
All episodes of The Isaac Morehouse Podcast are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, YouTube, and Stitcher.
Today TK became inexplicably obsessed with me respecting his name (also he's getting a haircut for the first time in years so he's respecting his mane...ba-dum!)
We talk a little about PDP's and persistence without doing stuff you hate, then we dive into tons of great questions from: Eric Olson, Sigal Sharabani, Andrew Stover, Simon Fraser, Thomas Bogle, Michael Hogan, Julia Patterson, Jeff Till, Forrest Plaster, Gabe Mitchell, Philip Gross, and Kelly Hackman.
Some of the questions were:
Can you promote my book? (Yes! See below) Can order exist without state monopolies, even when bad people want to do bad things? The Terminator-like future of Praxis How to get important people to do favors for you Why is success specific but failure is universal? (or is it?) Should you cut negative people out of your life? (Yes) Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson duets How to get off the conveyor belt Hayek and the size and structure of companies Is boredom good? Is the German school system good? Lessons from seeing life as a game Mentioned in the episode: Blake Boles, Taking a Walk as a Revolutionary Act, Noble Boredom, Ronald Coase, The Pretense of Knowledge, The Use of Knowledge in Society, Robert Heinlein, Ursela Le Guin, Don't Do Stuff You Hate (now on Amazon!)
Today's recommendations: The Option Method by Bruce Di Marsico, The Optimistic Child by Martin Seligman.
This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, YouTube, and Stitcher.
Eric's Book: Why Every President Sucked - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1929635985/why-every-president-sucked-hardcover-book
Connor Jeffers is the Director of Revenue Operations at Dose Media, one of the world’s fastest growing digital media startups. Dose uses innovative testing to create massively viral content on their popular sites OMGfacts.com and Dose.com.
Connor shares how he built his career from interning at an education startup to becoming Director of Revenue Operations at Dose in only a few years. He tells you how to get hired at a startup, how to stand out once you are there, and how to leave a job without burning bridges.
Also covered in this episode: - How Dose uses testing and experimentation to create viral content - How Facebook is flipping the advertising world on its head - Trends in how people consume content online (Hint: Not on your website) - Connor’s smart house - How to get noticed and hired by a startup - How to move on from a job without burning bridges - The value of changing “maybe we should” ideas, into “can I?” solutions - Connor’s favorite books and podcasts right now
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
Show notes, including all links mentioned in this episode, are available at isaacmorehouse.com
This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, YouTube, and Stitcher.
TK and I get into discussion on a recent post I did about working your butt off before trying to optimize your life, and his story of learning the "carry the tray". Then we dive into a little philosophy and explore crappy arguments for and against the supernatural, aliens, immortality, God, and more.
Mentioned in the episode: Carl Sagan, Bertrand Russell's Problem of Philosophy, not finding yourself until you know how to work, game theory, carrying the tray, John Hasnas, Descartes, the Socratic method, Steven Brams, and more I'm probably forgetting.
Recommendations: Superior Beings, and, The Fabric of the Cosmos.
This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, YouTube, and Stitcher.
Lots of people have ideas, not many take action and create valuable products. Derek Magill, Director of Marketing at Praxis and Voice & Exit, turned a frustrating problem into nohipsterstocks.com in the course of a day. Instead of complaining or talking about your ideas, what lightning project could you be creating this week?
Also in this episode, you will learn: - How side projects create value for you and your business - How to make decisions on outsourcing vs. doing the work yourself - How to persuade by showing, not telling - How treating yourself like a company changes your mindset - The value of answering questions on Quora - How to bring an abundance mindset to your work - How spending your own money at work is a great investment in your career
Full show notes including all links mentioned in this episode are at isaacmorehouse.com
Show your support by leaving a review on iTunes.
This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.
Today we dive deep into the ideas behind a single chapter of a (weird but fascinating) book TK recommended called, "Sex, Drugs, Einstein, & Elves". It's about language, and to what extent our vocabulary actually alters our reality, not merely our attempts to give expression to it.
Discussed in the episode: Marc Andreesson, George Lakoff, Ben Horowitz, Wayne Dyer, Seth Godin, Terrence McKenna, Clifford Pickover, Robert Anton Wilson, general semantics theory.
Recommendations: Lexicon, and, The Tyranny of Words
Also, sign up to get mid-week quick-hits every Wednesday at isaacmorehouse.com.
This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, YouTube, and Stitcher.
Aaron Watson is a two-time national ultimate frisbee champion and the host of Going Deep with Aaron. On “Going Deep” Aaron has interviewed Wired Magazine founder Kevin Kelly, Chris Guillebeau, Taylor Pearson and over 100 other entrepreneurs, authors, and interesting human beings.
This episode is a wide-ranging conversation with Aaron covering: - The benefits of starting a podcast - Life lessons from sports - Goals vs. processes - How to prepare for podcast interviews - Beginners Guide to Snapchat - The creator vs. consumer experiences on Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat - The relationship between work and happiness - And more
If you are a fan of the show, make sure to leave a review on iTunes.
Show notes, including links mentioned in this episode, are available at isaacmorehouse.com
This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, YouTube, and Stitcher
Today we take a few Ask Isaac questions and dive into the problem of asking your ideology to be an all-consuming identity. Political philosophy needn't be life philosophy, religious beliefs needn't be aesthetic preferences, networks built around one thing needn't serve every other thing. You'll probably end up a perpetually frustrated crusader if you don't realize this.
Thanks to David Richelson and Leonard Marino for great listener questions!
-How to tell the different between stuff you hate and stuff that challenges you in a good way? -Better to have a too long or too short bucket list?
Mentioned in this episode: H.L. Mencken, Man's Search for Meaning, The Twighlight Zone, the good life, bucket lists, hard work vs. hated work.
Recommendations from this episode: How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World, How to Win Friends and Influence People.
This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, YouTube, and Stitcher.
Kevin Geary (previous guest of this podcast) brings me on his Revolutionary Parent Radio to discuss raising kids who have entrepreneurial know-how.
You can't teach entrepreneurship. Attempts to do so are silly. But, you can provide an environment that allows the entrepreneurial spark we all have to grow. School and authoritarian structures do just the opposite. The best thing is to first do no harm. Get out of the way. Remove the things that artificially increase the cost of failure, dampen curiosity and experimentation, and provide too-quick answers from experts to be memorized and regurgitated.
Even if your kid will never start a business, the traits being crushed through the conveyor belt mindset are the very traits needed to succeed at any form of employment in the near future.
Check out Kevin's stuff at revolutionaryparent.com.
TK and I only had twenty minutes today so we ran down a few things that grind our gears, discussed the good side of being bad, why trying to be what you're not is the greatest evil, why the NBA's Eastern Conference is a big joke, why Thomas Hobbes is the root of all bad social theory, and more.
Recommended in the episode: Anarchy Unbound, Sex, Drugs, Einstein, and Elves.
Rate and review if you like the podcast!
Would you put yourself into an environment where learning becomes an activity that you hate and for which you hope that it will last as short as possible? Connor Boyack told himself that if he would not do that to himself, than he shouldn’t do it to his children.
Education should be based on letting children discover new passions through creativity and an incentivized environment - same things that are chronically absent from mainstream education which deals with aggregates and not with individuals.
Connor does great work writing books for children that are based on stories about liberty, including ‘translating’ ideas from ‘I, Pencil’ and ‘The Law. Check out his work at connorboyack.com and passiondriveneducation.com
Today is another FwTK/Ask Isaac combo where we take questions submitted via the website and live questions from Facebook.
Covered in the episode: TK admits, "I'm angry at everybody", we answer a few tough questions about choosing alternatives to college and dealing with skeptical parents, as well as how to build a network outside of school. Plus an assortment of other great questions, including:
What ideas are we wrestling with? What can a 12 year old do to earn money? Should sweatshops be banned? One-on-one basketball matchup predictions? Should people who love liberty be more vocal about racial issues? What podcasts do we listen to? The WNBA?
Thanks to Vake, Tim, Morgan, Cameron (and Derek), Edward, Billy, Walter, Danny, Simon, and Don for questions.
Recommendations: The Most Dangerous Superstition, by Larken Rose, The State is Out of Date, by Gregory Sams, the brand spanking new discoverpraxis.com and the video there!
Famous philosophers advocated separation of church and state on the basis that such a connection would corrupt both institutions.
I oppose state established education on the same grounds - it undermines diversity, eliminates competition between beliefs and ideas, creating the illusion of schooling being equal to education.
This Friday TK and I are taking a break from live discussion...but you still get to hear his ideas! This episode is a chapter from the audiobook version of Why Haven't You Read This Book?
The episode includes the book's introduction as well as a chapter, read by Mitchell Earl, that tells TK's story of throwing caution to the wind and traveling cross country to audition for American Idol.
Next week we'll be back taking listener questions, so send them our way via isaacmorehouse.com, email, or social!
Enjoy, and download a free chapter of the audiobook at whyrtb.com.
This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.
Entrepreneur, podcaster, free thinker and BFF Jeff Till joins me to expand on a Facebook post about “doublespeak” or “doublethink” where a policy idea is mistaken for (or purposefully replaced by) a more genuine objective or desire. Here we talk myths about school, the law, the military, welfare, and regulation. Enjoy!
The post the episode is based on:
Just about every argument for school is actually an argument for the value of education that proves nothing about the value of school.
Just about every argument for law is actually an argument for the value of order that proves nothing about the value of law.
Just about every argument for welfare is actually an argument for the value of compassion that proves nothing about the value of welfare.
Just about every argument for the military is actually an argument for the value of security that proves nothing about the value of the military.
Just about every argument for regulation is actually an argument for the value of safety that proves nothing about the value of regulation.
Doublespeak is alive and well. Those who succeed in making the name of their pet policy linguistically interchangeable with a basic universal value always get to play offense.
Praxis colleague, aviation buff, and all around interesting guy Zak Slayback comes back to the show to talk about the future, technology, progress, work, universal basic income, and much more.
We discuss whether there is a "digital divide" between urban and rural populations, whether that has significance culturally or politically, the rate of technological change, how self-driving cars might disrupt the aviation industry, and whether a future of greater wealth and robots means income should be forcibly redistributed (hint: no).
This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.
Today we discuss why you have to be free before you expect the world to, not the other way around. We talk about why politics is disempowering, why it's so hard to not let your job get in the way of your work, and why fringe theories are great for society.
Recommended in the episode: But What if We're Wrong, Patterson in Pursuit, Meditations on First Philosophy by Rene Descartes.
This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.
To specialize or to generalize, that is the question - which I asked Chuck Grimmett, a web developer during the day and solver of interesting problems in creative ways during the night.
Chuck likes to dabble into many things while searching for might be interesting, and has an interesting approach to learning which entails the importance of feedback, that he shared with me.
Simple and tasty recipes can be found at cooklikechuck.com, while there is also a mouth watering podcast of his at snacktime.fm
Sometimes you just have to realize what it is to pass it.
TK and I discuss the concept of "shit tests" and how interpreting disagreement and hate through this lens can keep you in your "zone of power" (TK's cheesy phrase).
Recommendations from the episode: Pulling Your Own Strings by Wayne Dyer, How to Deal With Nasty People by Jay Carter, Ego & Hubris: The Michael Malice Story by Harvey Pekar.
Highly acclaimed NYT bestselling author who has written 12 books, acquired education at some of the top institutions and managed to become a most prolific online content creator, Tom Woods joined me to talk about what gets him out of the bed every day and issues that he struggled with on his way to become an intellectual entrepreneur.
Tom shared some personal stories and he talked about how he dealt with criticism from all sides of the ideological spectrum. We also covered plenty of topics, from academia and public speaking, to how Tom wrote a book on financial crisis in a month, and how to create your own opportunities instead of waiting for them to happen.
Pay a visit to tomwoods.com which is abundant with great resources
TK and I cover a wide range of topics and I kind of went nuts taking more mic time than normal. Host privilege is real.
Mentioned in the episode: Be Slightly Evil, Without Their Permission, Neil Gaiman, management books, Notes on the Synthesis of Form, Herbert Spencer, Tempo, The Gervais Principle, The Obedience-Entitlement Matrix, The Matrix (movie), Moral Technology, Generation Z, Coursera, Gatekeepers, Google AdWords, "Faithfully" by Journey and lots of other stuff I'm forgetting.
Thanks to Zak Slayback for great ideas and recs, and Peter Neiger and Kelly Hackman for listener questions.
Recommendations: The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis, Social Statics by Herbert Spencer.
This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.
A few basketball inspired thoughts on whether following your gut is better than planning an elaborate strategy.
Abbey Lovett is a soon to be Praxis participant who's always experimenting and believes entrepreneurship is more important for kids than academic subjects. She had a lemonade stand with employees at age of nine and she hasn't stopped.
We discuss her education, the importance of debate, why her entrepreneurship camp failed, and how she made the decision to apply for Praxis.
This is serious. If you care about important things then listen to these important things.
Consider this a public service announcement from the universe.
My family and I just moved to a new house and it's been a surprisingly hard adjustment. TK and I discuss how to handle moving, change, grief, and heartache, as well as what a sense of space means and how humans interact with light and their built environments.
Mentioned in the episode: Christopher Alexander, Too Many Dirty Dishes, Tim Ferriss, Peter Thiel, Aslan, In Defense of Metaphor in Science Writing, Jeff Till's Five Hundred Years, George Lakoff, Your Brain is Not a Computer, Metaphors and Magic,
Recommended: Space and Place, Landscapes of the Soul, A Timeless Way of Building
This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.
We live at a time when artificial intelligence is booming and major breakthroughs are happening, with a lot of people thinking about what is coming and how will it impact society. Robin Hanson is an economics professor at GMU with a background that ranges from philosophy, to physics and computer research.
He joins me today to talk about his book ‘The Age of Em: Work, Love and Life when Robots Rule the Earth’ which is shipping as we speak, where he outlines what he thinks will happen when humans become able to emulate a human brain in a machine. We discuss what are the things that might be different, what are those that will change less than we expect, and how social institutions will change once AI reaches such a level.
Don’t skip his blog overcomingbias.com and you can order his new book from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Age-Em-Work-Robots-Earth/dp/0198754620
Today we discuss my threatening letter from the municipal business license office, TK's appearance on the Tom Woods show and some critical comments he received, whether believing in your own power is delusional, why wishful thinking is the source of all the good stuff, why faith is not the absence of logic but a remembrance of it, whether coding is a skill every will need or no one will need, old-timey radio voices, and more!
Mentioned in the episode: Rebecca Black, Child's Play, Become a Rich Employee, Web Browsers Beat GPA's, Shaquille O'Neal shooting threes, C.S. Lewis, Marc Andreessen, Game of Thrones (no spoilers), and a lot more I'm probably forgetting.
Oh, and believe it or not, this is the 100th episode of the podcast! Why is it numbers 68.5? Several episodes, like "Ask Isaac" and other special features are not numbered. But 100 total episodes posted nonetheless. Make sure to rate and review us if you like it!
This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.
A young tech company builds software for small businesses. It employs around 10-15 people and is currently hiring. That is a hypothetical situation which myself and Daniel Myers go through in this episode of the podcast, with me being the recruiter and Daniel a young prospect.
Some standard questions that appear during almost every interview are covered, along with some of the ones that I personally like to ask on interviews. After the mock-up we also go through some of the basics concerning job interview preparation and the point of view that interviewees should take.
Get in touch with Daniel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-myers-3116b588/en
Did Malcolm Gladwell really get it wrong?
People love to point out when a writer shares an idea that's oversimplified or could be misapplied if not interpreted wisely. Why don't they pick on the readers who are dumb enough to misinterpret it instead?
Do ideas come first and bring about changes in technology and social institutions or do those changes come first and bring about new ideas? What does the answer mean when it comes to creativity? Can you control your ideas without stifling creativity? What does it mean to have 100% equity in the startups in your head vs. 5% in those you actually create?
Mentioned in the episode: The Nirvana Fallacy, Kristen Stewart, Twilight, Malcolm Gladwell and his detractors, Scott Berkun, Agere Sequiter Credere, Paul Cantor's Commerce & Culture, Blake Lively, Sir Mix-A-Lot, The Waking Life, Apparition, The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Bruce Levine, Thundersqueak, Youth Pastors, and more that I'm forgetting.
This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.
Most people see traveling as something of a luxury, instead of an investment into discovering different places and people. Most importantly traveling is an investment into discovering yourself.
Ryan and Amanda’s first trip together was just a great excursion, but after completing it they realized that what they want is to wander the world. Experiences that they had in different countries, how they fund their traveling, what strains they faced and their plans for years that come are some of the things that I had the opportunity to talk to them about, and there are plenty of topics that we haven’t even touched upon.
Make sure to visit theworldwanderers.com where you can find great advice on traveling.
Today TK and I take questions in near real-time, submitted via Facebook while we were recording. Careful, this one's hot!
How to not get stuck being a "wantrepreneur" How to test an idea before launch How to get better at quitting stuff you hate The psychological impact of entrepreneurship vs. FOMO Why Kobe is greater than LeBron Maps vs. territory Grad school Remote work cultures The 'corporatization' of college Drugs Fixing your hook in golf What parts of the college bundle will be next to get disrupted? Egoism My bad grammar TK's plans to remake the NBA to be more like the WWE What's the next fad career? Thanks to: Matt, Tom, Ben, Jonathan, Liz, Carl, Gabe, Ken, Andrew, Daniel, and Michael for your questions! Submit them anytime on this website or via Facebook.
Mentioned in this episode: T.M.T.S., Breaking Smart, Metaphors We Live By, a Few of my Praxis Videos, and a bunch more stuff.
This and all episodes are available on SoundCloud, iTunes, YouTube, and Stitcher.
Something is rotten in the state of education, and Zak Slayback comes back to the show to talk about his upcoming book that deals with this: The End of School.
Although his attitude to the current situation in education may sound a bit negative, his is quite optimistic about the future of education, if the paradigms finally change. We talk about where the idea for this book comes from, what he sees as the purpose of education and for whom this book is meant for.
Both kindle and hardcopy of his upcoming can be preordered either on Amazon or by Zak’s website where you can also find his articles http://zakslayback.com
Today we tackle a little bit of everything in this 'Fridays with TK episode', merged with 'Ask Isaac'.
-The Valley of the Shadow of Debt and how to avoid it. -Are boys are girls treated differently? What does it mean? -How to sell unpopular ideas? Should you reform or revolutionize? -What does Kobe Bryant's 20 year tenure with a single team mean? -Can we survive without government? -What's up with the graph about physicians and administrators? -How do you deal with internet fame you didn't want?
Mentioned in the episode: Robert Anton Wilson, Karl Hess, James P. Carse, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Kobe Bryant, John Hasnas, Howard Thurman.
Spoiler Alert - listen after you've seen the movie!
My son NL (age 11) joins me again for a movie review. This time we enter the Marvel universe and take on the newest Avengers film, "Captain America Civil War".
*Forgive the echo in the audio. New microphone and live interview gave us some issues.
Some forty episodes ago, comedy was just a side gig for Jeremy McLellan but now he is moving to make it his full-time job. On this episode we talk about corporate vs bar comedy and whether things that we like doing become less likable when people start doing them as their income sources.
Reputation is king in the comedy business, so we also covered the issue of joke thieving, dealing with hecklers, offending people, apologizing and other strategies, as well as one of the biggest questions every business faces - what is my price?
Go to fb/JeremyMcLellanComedy or check out his website jeremymclellan.com
A new buzzword appears from time to time, and it usually quickly gets plenty of negative connotations. During our Praxis meet-ups, I had the opportunity to meet Declan Wilson who joined me to talk about some positive sides of the Millenials, and how negative prejudices are mostly out of place.
Also, we talked about his idea to blog while he goes towards his goals instead of waiting to succeed and then explain his path in hindsight, failing due to high expectations, and finding your own dream to follow instead of copying someone else's.
Check out his website millenialtype.com where you can also pre-order his upcoming book!
What does it mean to sell out, water down, or compromise who you are?
What are the unseen costs of doing so, and the unseen benefits of resisting?
Today we discuss this in depth, including stories about how TK could have been as cool as Beverly Hills 90210's Luke Perry if he hadn't given in to peer pressure and how I nearly ended up a drug dealer.
Here's Paul Graham's essay referenced in today's show: paulgraham.com/love.html
Also mentioned were the books "The Education of Millionaires", and, "The Last Safe Investment", both on Amazon.
He worked as a teacher in a public school, a tutor, and eventually as a college consultant. He joins Isaac today to talk about why he walked away from those jobs and founded a project called "School Sucks."
Brett Veinotte and Isaac discuss how he tried to add more value to test preparation in the form of argumentation and writing skills, where he found that students were mostly interested in just getting a high test score.
B&I also talk about disproving something as a great way to learn, especially when it comes to conspiracy theories. He gives his view on the history of schooling in just a couple of minutes and provides his take on what schools will look like a decade from now.
Check out some great resources and his podcast at schoolsucksproject.com
*Some weird audio issues going on today, so we were forced to switch platforms and it resulted in some imperfections in sound.
Launching a new Friday feature! TK will join for a conversation on...whatever comes up.
Today Isaac and TK discuss entrepreneurship, whether the word is too broadly used, the difference between entrepreneurship as an action and entrepreneurship as a career.
Check out the 60-day Teen Entrepreneurship Course discussed on the show!
discoverpraxis.teachable.com
Use promo code "PODCAST" for 30% off.
Some of the common fears that I have encountered when it comes to unschooling, are that ‘kids won’t learn what they need to learn’ and that there are things that kids need to be forced to learn for their benefit. I use rational choice theory to dispel these misconceptions.
Also I clarified some misunderstandings considering my stance toward high education and why spending time preparing for plan B instead of focusing on plan A is a waste of that time.
Obsessing with creating options for yourself may actually hinder you and block your opportunities.
Whenever an activity gets a new, revolutionary approach, bystanders always seem to require it to result in perfection, while old ways remain isolated from such rigorous standards. Same goes for a topic that is discussed in today’s episode with Kevin Geary, who argues for an authentic way to solve challenges instead of copying known patterns.
Kevin talks about how he applied an authentic way to solving issues during his classroom and taekwondo teachings, through communication and empathy development in place of punishment and shaming which may create obedience but will not change behavior.
Visit Kevin’s websites rebootedbody.com and revolutionaryparent.com
Some questions have gathered on my website and it’s time for an Ask Isaac episode! As you probably know, my family and myself spent a couple of weeks in Ecuador and, of course, there were a couple of questions regarding that adventure - I was interviewed for World Wanderers podcast and in a few days or a week you will be able to hear it all out.
Questions that were answered here:
Fellow podcaster asks why ‘Ask Isaac’ episodes aren’t numbered as does that include a guest?
A father asks about whether his daughter who is an average, B student who is not sure about her path and who was turned off from business by her econ class, would be a good candidate for Praxis?
I had TK Coleman provide an answer to that question which I amended with the need to focus on creating value.
Keri would like to start blogging every day and she wonders how do I do it, do I have a niche that I stick to and where does my inspiration come from?
Another question on blogging comes from Peter who asks how do I handle editing of my posts, do I edit immediately or do I post as soon as I write it down.
Philip wonders whether some people are unfit for a startup and what is the one characteristic needed in order to thrive in a startup?
If there is anything that you would like to get my opinion on, Ask Isaac at http://isaacmorehouse.com/ask-isaac/
There is a world of difference between driving a car and riding a bike when it comes to experiencing the world around you. One of the chapters in, "Why Haven’t You Read This Book?" was written by one of our guests today, who join me to talk about why they chose to embark on a nationwide journey by bicycle.
Both Anna and Peter are employed and are working while traveling and we talk about how they manage it all, problems that they faced, as well as about their experiences and impressions about human nature.
I asked them for their recommendation on podcasts and books, as well as who could try such extensive biking tours.
You can follow them up on their Facebook profiles and their page Shifts and Higgles.
This episode sponsored by discoverpraxis.com
Technology has brought about and will surely continue to reduce transaction costs when it comes to education and employment. Taylor Pearson, author of a bestselling book The End of Jobs, joins me to talk about risky and antifragile when it comes to jobs and occupation.
His work experience, why he thinks that accounting is the riskiest and entrepreneurship safest job, as well as how to think about yourself as a firm are some of the topics that we covered.
Beyond entrepreneurship, we discussed the ongoing democratization of tools of production and creation of new markets.
Visit his website http://taylorpearson.me
This episode is an interview that I gave to a local radio station on their Saturday show called ‘Beyond the Business’. The show is about local entrepreneurs in Charleston, where they come from, what they are doing and what influenced them to do what they do today.
The hosts asked some good questions and we talked about how it was growing up in Michigan, my education and the work experience that I had prior to starting Praxis. Also we discussed how Praxis came into existence, some things which I would change if I were launching Praxis today, and the Are-You-Willing-To-Fail test that tells you whether you are ready to dive into entrepreneurial waters.
There are some striking similarities between entrepreneurs of today and renegades in the past - from saloons to gay bars, and from first brothels to the Dark Web. Thaddeus Russell comes back to the show to talk about his upcoming project called Renegade University. A combination of online lectures, readings and interactive seminars based on his book A Renegade History of the United States and some additional sources is what the RU will consist of.
We also talked about where Thaddeus sees renegades today and how culture changed during time so that black market activities of old became legal and accepted today. We cover his upcoming book that deals with US interventionism abroad and the blowback that ensued, as well as the vastness of pop culture influence, along with what he thinks is wrong with modern universities.
Check out more about Thaddeus and the Renegade University at http://www.thaddeusrussell.com
This episode sponsored by discoverpraxis.com and fee.org/seminars
One of the downsides of formal education is that it fosters learning for the sake of satisfying a person in authority instead of learning in order to satisfy one’s curiosity.
Schools generally offer praise and avoidance of pain when learning rules are abided, which is still externally guided and not connected to our curiosity and goals.
TK Coleman comes back on the show to talk about the importance of selfish learning - approach that helps you achieve your goals and improve whatever it is that you see as valuable.
Learn selfishly!
An entrepreneur, author and self-publisher as well as a college dropout, Tam Pham is working hard to introduce people to self-directed learning.
Tam and I talk about jumping off the conveyor belt, how to identify one’s goals and directions, what obstacles are in the way of anyone publishing a book, the ‘Steve Jobs Fallacy’ and failure in entrepreneurship.
Check out his website outsideoftheclassroom.com and sign up to his newsletter to get a free book!
This episode sponsored by The Foundation of Economic Education. Check out seminars for 14-26 year olds at fee.org/seminars
This episode is also sponsored by Praxis, for those who want more than college and think they have the entrepreneurial bug. discoverpraxis.com
Our Beginner’s Guide to Startups continues with Evan Baehr joining us in this fourth and final episode of the series to talk about how to get your idea funded.
Evan lays down the essentials that you need to think about when you are preparing to ask someone for money. He provides some tools and tips that can help you find the right investor(s) for you and your team, and how to get to that crucial point - meeting with investors.
Evan also talks about why he thinks that business plans are dying out and how pitch deck supplants it, with us diving deeper into some of the pitch deck building blocks. Also, he stresses the importance of story telling when the time comes for you to pitch.
Evan Baehr is a cofounder at Able Lending and coauthor of a book that you should read when preparing to pitch: Get Backed: Craft Your Story, Build the Perfect Pitch Deck, and Launch the Venture of Your Dreams.
This episode is sponsored by FEE.org/seminars and discoverpraxis.com/apply
Today’s episode features my appearance at the Free Cities Podcast hosted by Anthony Caprio, where we talked about Praxis, the importance of becoming your own credential and shedding away things that hold you back .
What makes you come alive is not easy to discover, but you can do it by going via negativa and by eliminating things that are hurting you and which give you pain.
Free Cities Podcast is a new show that advocates decentralization and provides voluntary, market solutions to problems which people face in their daily lives.
Follow up on Free Cities at http://www.freecitiespodcast.com
The third episode in our startup series has my brother Levi come back to the show to talk about discovering your thing in entrepreneurship, bootstrapping and getting started, along with ways to grow without (big) investment.
Levi’s view is that there are no bad reasons for wanting to be an entrepreneur, whether you want the freedom (and responsibilities) that comes with entrepreneurship, or is it money that motivates you. What can be of help is if you know where you want your business to end up, or at least what kind of a startup you would like to embark on.
We also talk about ways of funding that you can choose from, and how they depend on whether you are ready to cut the safety rope and leave your comfort zone.
Probably the most important thing is not to wait for ‘the Perfect Idea’, but also to be confident in steps that you are about to take.
Levi is founder and owner of Ceterus that you can check out at http://ceterusinc.com
Tam Pham hosted me on his podcast at Outside of the Classroom and we talked about Why Haven’t You Read This Book (http://goo.gl/YP0s38) - from the motivation and engaging with authors to some criticisms that the book generated. We also covered how the Kickstarter project for the book went on and eventually turned out successful.
Tam Pham featured on Episode 47 of this podcast, go and check out his website and podcast at outsideoftheclassroom.com
We continue our Beginner’s guide to startups with a discussion that continues on the basics of formatting an idea and preparing a business plan. Michael Gibson from 1517 Fund joins me to speak about the investor side of the story.
We cover the types of investors that can be found out there, what to look for and how to approach an investor, what a startup accelerator can help you with and what to consider when applying for one. Also we cover what investors think about when they consider which startup to support and what they fear the most.
Joe Sanok hosted me at his podcast where we talked about entrepreneurship, education and how to optimize your own life and stop doing things that you don’t like.
We talked about some of my experiences and also went step by step through the experience which Praxis offers to it’s participants.
You can find out more about Joe and his work from Episode 46 of my podcast.
This is the first episode in a four part series on start-ups for beginners. Antony Davies is a great opener for this first episode as he wields both theory and practice when it comes to start-ups and has a good understanding of what it's all about. He
Antony covers some of the most important questions and dilemmas anyone who thinks about entrepreneurship faces: from Am I an entrepreneur? to the questions that you need to ask yourself when you start transferring that idea from your brain to the real world.
Visit Antony's website for more resources http://antolin-davies.com
This episode sponsored by Praxis and the Foundation for Economic Education. Go to discoverpraxis.com for a one year program in entrepreneurship. Go to fee.org/seminars for an unbeatable three day experience.
From humanitarian missions to engaging in politics and education, I wanted to make the world a better place. I discovered through both experience and theory that I was not changing the underlying causes of unfreedom through politics and that it takes ideas and experience to alter beliefs and open up the possibility for greater freedom.
This talk is about my experiences and how they affected my life and career choices, and was presented at a FEE seminar at Austin, Texas, in the summer of 2015.
Some of the slides that I mention can be seen in the video recording of this talk at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK2DBsud3mo
Are backup plans an absolute must, or can they actually do more harm than good? How can you think about and mitigate risk while not holding yourself back?
I asked seven smart, interesting people to give me their take on the concept of backup plans.
None of them heard each other's take and I gave no further instructions, just whatever came to mind. It's pretty cool to hear the results!
Responses from: Cameron Sorsby - Praxis Levi Morehouse - Ceterus Founder & CEO TK Coleman - Praxis Jeff Till - Five Hundred Years Albert Lu - Power & Market Report Derek Magill - Praxis Zak Slayback - Praxis
There is a wide range of takes on the idea of backup plans, but some clear themes emerge. Enjoy!
I'm not big on goal setting, yet I think consistent structure is key to achieving what you want (even if what you want isn't perfectly defined).
I discuss this and a few other items on this episode.
Check out the episode sponsor, FEE.org/seminars to apply for an amazing experience learning about economics!
Joe Sanok joins me today to talk about his business of counseling counselors and helping others launch, grow and make their own practices much more efficient.
We talked about his beginnings in Kirby sales, starting his own counseling service, keeping his finances in control and how to look beyond the zero-sum-game view.
Joe also states what he sees as the biggest obstacle people face when they want to launch something of their own into the world and shares his E-Course with IM Podcast listeners - Moving From Being Paralyzed by Perfection to Getting Things Done, which is available at http://www.practiceofthepractice.com/perfection
This episode sponsored by...
FEE, where 14-16 year-olds can check out amazing conferences at fee.org/seminars. Tell them you heard about it here.
Praxis, where you can get off the conveyor belt and build an entrepreneurial career today, no debt, no waiting, and no credentials required.
This episode sponsored by the Foundation for Economic Education. Check out their life-changing summer seminars for high school and college students - fee.org/seminars
My good friend and co-podcaster Jeff Till joins me to talk about his experiences with freeing himself from the chains of obligation.
We go from his schooling ups and downs, pursuit of an artist career, navigation through the corporate world to breaking out of his corporate suit, building a family, launching a company and moving out to a different place.
Jeff writes and does podcasts about things that will affect the future, and he also wrote two books on homeschooling - follow up on him at fivehundredyears.org
-Anonymous asks why the new intro music -Thomas Bogle asks what to do with business ideas if you don't have the expertise to build them yourself -Andy Heinen asks how we can really have information without gatekeepers when people are trying to incentivise us to choose certain things all the time -Matt Needham asks for a book recommendation, and what the best and worst things are about living in Charleston
Happy New Year everyone! We're opening the second year of this podcast with TK Coleman and a wide ranging discussion. From new year resolutions and determining goals in order to improve yourself to the logical fallacy called Who-The-Money-Comes-From-Matters-More-Than-The-Product.
Relation between education and technology, the error of focusing on improving efficiency instead on breaking traditional gate keepers and in what way Education relates to Knowledge.
Spoiler Alert
NL (age 10) and I give our three biggest pros and cons for the new Star Wars movie.
The first year of this podcast ends with a special guest and the wind under my wings, my wife Heather Morehouse. We did a review of this year, what were the most important milestones and we also talked a bit about how we got where we are today and what's ahead for us - including our five week stay in Ecuador!
This episode includes also some refreshments, Heather and I introduce FEE and Praxis as podcast sponsors, and new music by Tim LeVan Miller.
Many thanks to all 32 guests which appeared on 43 episodes this year, along with 19 special episodes that were aired.
Today's question comes from Vivek Rajasekhar:
"Does voting matter? I'd argue that, only if your preferred candidate wins by exactly one vote (i.e. you are the tie-breaker) did your vote actually produce change."
I give my response, which is rooted in Public Choice Theory. Search "Public Choice" at isaacmorehouse.com to find a primer if you want more.
I also answer a bonus question about college football from Danny Benavidez in this, the final Ask Isaac episode of the year. I'll be back in 2016, so submit questions anytime via isaacmorehouse.com/ask-isaac
This episode was sponsored by the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) and Praxis. If you're high school or college aged and interested in clear thinking about the world, you should check out a free FEE seminar this summer! Tell them you heard about it here. www.fee.org/seminars
If you're interested in creating your own education and career path outside of the classroom, apply to Praxis. www.discoverpraxis.com/apply
On Episode 42 Chris Nelson comes back to discuss the upcoming Episode 7 of Star Wars, expectations, fears, and the mystery that surrounds it. Chris explains the nature and origins of the Expanded Universe (comics, books, games), what is and is not "canon", and whether Mickey Mouse is a Sith Lord.
This episode is sponsored by the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE). FEE is the best place to learn the core ideas of economics and freedom. If you're in HS or college, you need to carve out three days for one of their amazing summer seminars. Apply at fee.org/seminars
Economist Bryan Caplan is always fascinating. He seems to just pick really interesting and provocative things to explore with the tools of economic thinking. We discuss how he got into economics, his work habits, belief in personal bubbles, and explore three of his research areas. Bryan was super easy to talk with and the conversation never slowed.
Check him out at bcaplan.com
"Nobody has the right to tell you you're selling out" - TLM
Tim is an accountant by day, composer and musician by night. We talked about his beginnings in music, how he took a different turn in college and his choice to separate what he does for a living from what he loves.
Check out his music on timlevanmiller.com
Taylor Foreman, current Praxis participant and aspiring entrepreneur, joins me to discuss subjectivity of value, short and long term gratification and how self-interest can translate into good consequence. We also talk about art and the relation with audience, as well as his experience with psychedelics.
Alex Tabarrok advocates the idea of getting rid of movement restrictions. We tackle some of the most common objections to #openborders that concern economic, institutional, cultural and security issues.
Alex is a professor at the George Mason University and co-author of the Marginal Revolution blog. Make sure you check out his other venture with Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution University http://www.mruniversity.com/
We're trying out something new in this podcast: a game in which I give a word to TK and he answers with associations, definition and meaning of that word.
I've thrown Fear, Magic, Suffering, Mentor and Greatness at him, so hear him out and send me the words you would like me to include next into this game!
An exciting new book is coming out called, "Why Haven't You Read This Book?"
It's about flipping the burden of proof to open up a world of possibilities. It's about asking 'Why not?', instead of, 'Why?'
This episode includes a bit about the book and teasers from 5 of the 10 authors about the content of their chapter.
Check out www.whyhaventyoureadthisbook.com to get a copy.
Support the KickStarter campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/190201615/why-havent-you-read-this-book
This Ask Isaac episode is devoted to one single request: Please explain the theory of marginal utility and give a few practical examples.
Through riddles and illustrations I try to make the ideas of value subjectivity and marginal utility easy to understand and recognize in everyday life.
Got a question? Ask here: http://isaacmorehouse.com/ask-isaac/
I jumped in for a fellow podcaster and had a conversation with Jeffrey Tucker for Albert Lu's podcast "The Economy".
Jeffrey and I tackle some interesting questions from Jeff's own experience with the police and criminal law, how it surpasses the divide of left and right politics and why it's a key human rights issue.
Hear my previous interviews with Jeff on the IM podcast and follow him on fee.org and liberty.me.
Find Albert's other episodes at www.powerandmarket.com
My good friend Albert Lu, host of "The Economy" podcast guest hosts this episode for me and does a bang-up job!
Albert was the person who got me into podcasting, so he's the Obi Wan to my Anakin...or something. Enjoy, and check out his work at www.powerandmarket.com.
This is a special episode about Praxis, an amazing one-year experience for entrepreneurial young people who want to take control of their life, education, and career.
Praxis grads and participants talk about what made them choose the program and what the experience is like.
Check out discoverpraxis.com to learn more and apply. Check out thefutureofschool.com for a free e-book.
Legal scholar, charter cities expert, surfer, writer, father. Meet Tom W. Bell.
Tom joins me to talk about polycentric law and the variety of legal and social institutions present everywhere around us. We also discuss what makes charter cities succeed or fail and how online citizenship could change our perspective on states and nations.
Find out more about him at his website: www.tomwbell.com
-Would you defeat Ludwig von Mises in a death match? -What kind of LEGO sets did you have as a kid? (and if we're honest, today) -How to get over the loneliness of entrepreneurship? -What three people, living or dead, would you pick as life coaches? -What are your greatest tools for creativity? Do meditation and psychedelics have a place? -Favorite cigar? -Are you an anarchist? If so, would you end government overnight or do you think a gradual process is needed? -How do you get yourself to do things you don't enjoy? -Did your beliefs have an effect on your decision to adopt? do you recommend adoption for others? -What was the adoption process like? What unique challenges do you face being a transracial family?
Lucas practiced law in Chicago for five years, being ’propelled by the inertia of safe choices’ before he decided to quit and engage his life long passion – music. We talked about making scary decisions, engaging the audience and fans as well as on how he writes music.
Go to lucasjackmusic.com to hear his stuff!
In this edition I take on the Big Ones: -What is your viewpoint on God and Christianity? (The answer to this one comes as an addendum to the previous Ask Isaac episode.) -Any advice on how to keep your ideas fresh from what you read? Do you keep somekind of an idea-to-do list? -How do I convince my parents to let me do something other than college?
Submit your own questions: isaacmorehouse.com/ask-isaac
TK Coleman comes back to talk about one of his greatest passions - books. We raise questions on how to find a good read and the way in which you can give yourself over to curiosity and follow your intellectual heart.
Check out TK's blog on readings and ideas he explores at tkcoleman.com
Tom Woods brings me on his show to talk about Praxis and the road from theory to practice through creating alternative experiences for people here and now. We talk about what makes a successful Praxis applicant and how to figure out which path is right for you. Tom is a historian, author, Senior Fellow at the Mises Institute and a popular podcaster.
Check out tomwoods.com to learn more.
After several listener questions about the what and why of my religious beliefs, I decide to answer.
I recorded this months ago, but never aired it. I don't like to talk about my religious beliefs for two primary reasons:
1) They are ever evolving and I want the permission to freely change and not have people try to hold me to what I've thought in the past.
2) Every word on the topic is loaded and everyone has different meanings and feelings behind them. It's really hard to convey anything concrete without being misunderstood. It's tiring and too easy to offend or get people distracted by small details and lose the ability to talk about the stuff I'm more interested in.
But I decided to just get it out there, at least in a very general sense, since several listeners have now asked. This is not about what I think you should believe. It is only a description of my own take.
I'm sure there's something for everyone to disagree with in this one!
Are there things that shouldn’t be paired with money? James Stacey Taylor and I tackle controversial philosophical questions concerning adoption, organs, votes and even personal identity. We look at best and worst case scenarios and how allowing markets would compare to the world we have today. James is a philosopher, author and Associate Professor at the College of New Jersey.
You can find out more about him at https://philos.tcnj.edu/faculty/james-stacey-taylor
I take several audience questions, submitted via isaacmorehouse.com/ask-isaac
-Lessons from running Praxis?
-Do you believe the craft beer industry is in a bubble at the moment that will soon pop, and what do you think will happen if it is? Also, what is your favorite brewery?
-How do you manage having so many children and running a business, writing, speaking, etc?
-Challenges as an unschooling father?
-Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Is it valuable to think in those terms?
-To what extent is "general ed" valuable? Is any common educational structure at the early ages a good thing, and if it is, what does that look like?
Author and blogger on careers, entrepreneurship, and education, as well as founder of four companies, Penelope Trunk joins me to talk about her past and current projects. We talk about writing, unschooling, startup mentality, trends in career development, and how to be honest with yourself when it comes to your future. Her latest startup provides online courses that help people manage their careers.
Website: http://www.penelopetrunk.com/
Quistic: http://www.quistic.com/
I take some great questions submitted via isaacmorehouse.com/ask-isaac:
You went to college — when and how did you decide it wasn't the best path for most people?
Reading list for someone who is interested both in philosophy and business?
Do you think startup is becoming a buzzword? Would it be better to just create a business?
Challenges you face as an unschooling parent? Surprises?
Why have superhero movies gotten so good in recent years? How has Marvel managed to bring the genre to a mass audience while keeping comic purists (mostly) happy? Where is the trend going?
My good friend and comic book aficionado Chris Nelson joins to discuss these weighty matters.
I interview Chad Grills, a tech entrepreneur and the curator of the Medium publication Life Learning, about his three core passions: Accelerated learning, antifragility, and definite optimism.
Michael Gibson was pursuing a PhD in philosophy when it struck him that the really big ideas weren't being advanced within the walls of academia. He left, got into the tech world, and found himself running investor Peter Thiel's fellowship program for young college droupouts. He's recently co-founded his own venture capital fund to support young people who want to work on big ideas outside of the classroom.
We discuss his love of literature and philosophy, how he wound up in Silicon Valley, and what it looks like to operate outside the status quo.
I'm always impressed and fascinated by comedians. It's a tough gig. Jeremy McLellan is a comedian in Charleston, SC who never stops writing material. In addition to performing several times a week he is constantly sharing bits and jokes (there is a difference) on Facebook. He's also running for mayor of Charleston on a popular platform of issues like the need to re-institute prohibition and seal off Charleston's borders to protect the inhabitants from neighboring cities.
Author, illustrator, cafe owner, world traveler, and unschool mom Lehla Eldridge joins me to talk about raising kids in another country and taking big, adventurous leaps.
Lehla and her husband run the website unschoolingthekids.com and are the authors the book Unschooling: The 6 Keys to Our Children's Future. They are both from England, but spent 15 years in South Africa working in the film industry then owning their own cafe and raising kids before eventually settling (for now) in Italy.
We discuss the challenges of making big life and career moves, how they discovered alternative education, and what it's like unschooling three kids on a daily basis.
Historian and author of "A Renegade History of the United States" Thaddeus Russell joins me to discuss his work and the notion that the "renegades" might be the ones to thank for our freedom, not the puritanical political busybodies.
Sam Patterson works on the OpenBazaar project, building a distributed, peer-to-peer marketplace for the world. His team recently received media attention for landing a $1m investment from prominent VC firms Union Square Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz.
We discuss what OpenBazaar is, how it differs from traditional online marketplaces like eBay and Amazon, and from others like Silk Road. We also touch on his unique personal and professional journey and his decision to unschool his kids.
Blake Boles is an author, entrepreneur, and self-directed learning advocate. He's written several books on education beyond school and runs a program to help unschoolers to travel the world. He joins me to discuss his own education and career journey and what he's learned along the way.
Joseph Cambell is famous for saying, "Follow your bliss". It's common to hear people say things like, "Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life." Yet lately the most popular advice seems to be, "Follow your passion is terrible advice", or, "Just work hard and get good at something and you'll learn to love it". Who's right?
TK joins me to discuss in what ways both sides are right and wrong. I think both pick the wrong thing - passion - to focus on. TK thinks there are some definition issues and lack of charitable interpretation.
Today I take a crack at the following questions:
-What do you say to a young person who wants to forge their own path but is butting heads with their parents? E.g., a young person wants to go work and eventually start their own company, but their parents are adamant about them going to college. -Future of social networks: How to ride the wave and use it rather than get swept up underneath it. And how NOT to use it. -Do you think the ad supported model will continue to work, or will you need to find another way to monetize news? -What do you think of the idea of intrapreneurs? -Why should some people go to college? -Do you think macro- and microeconomics require different mechanisms?
Jerry Brito is the Executive Director of Coin Center, a cryptocurrency research and advocacy organization. He talks about how he found himself at the intersection of policy and tech, the regulatory challenges facing Bitcoin, and whether or not it's a bad idea to have a "seat at the table" in Washington.
Author, TV personality, and rabble-rouser Michael Malice joins me to discuss what it was like to have award winning graphic novelist Harvey Pekar write a book about him, why he quit a lucrative career to be a writer (even though he doesn't love writing), the experience of self-publishing a "true" unauthorized autobiography of Kim Jong Il, and why he's like Batman.
You can find Michael's work at michaelmalice.com.
Economist Pete Leeson believes everything can be explained using the economic assumption of rational behavior. He is a prolific academic and his work covers a wide variety of fascinating and sometimes bizarre phenomena - from insect trials to witch burning, piracy, and everything in between - and provides rational explanations for seemingly irrational behavior.
We discuss what inspired him to become an economist, the major themes of his work, whether everything can be explained with economic analysis, and what he thinks of different economic schools of thought.
You can find him online at peterleeson.com.
I take questions on: -What I'd do if my kids adopted radically different beliefs -Whether social change is due to movements or outside forces -What's up with learned helplessness -Is physical health important to mental health -How to combat apathy -What jobs will be important in the future
My 10 year old son asked to join me on an episode and talk about his experience as an unschooler. We chat about the pros and cons, a typical day, and whether he worries about not knowing things he'll need to succeed.
A listener points out that I sometimes talk about how failure isn't so bad. He challenges the idea and presents arguments made by Peter Thiel about how awful failure really is. I give my response to the question of whether failure is really good or bad.
Reason.com staff editor Robby Soave joins me to talk about how he got into journalism, what it's like to write for maximum clicks while keeping content genuine, how to stay optimistic when reporting on scandal every day, and what TV shows to watch,
If you think of imagining as a kind of lazy, fun form of escapism, you're missing something profound.
Harris Kenny, Marketing Manager for Aleph Objects joins me to discuss their popular Lulzbot line of 3D printers, and the radical IP-free way the company is run.
Albert Lu, host of The Power & Market Report joins me to talk about how he got into podcasting (and got me into it!), his adventures in peaceful parenting and unschooling, and his favorite NFL team the New England Patriots.
I answer an audience question on the differences between for-profit enterprise and nonprofits, and which I prefer to work in.
I stopped by the pool today and had an epiphany about the difference between an attendant who chose to ignore the pool rules and government agents who follow the letter of the law.
Yes, Levi is my brother. But this isn't nepotism. He's a highly successful entrepreneur. His company Ceterus is growing and revolutionizing small business accounting. He joins me to talk about why it took him so long to dream big, what greatness means, whether it's for everyone, and how to balance being an entrepreneur with raising five boys. (We had some issues with the levels on this episode, so I apologize for any drops or spikes in volume.)
Zak Slayback was on scholarship at an Ivy League school. Derek Magill was on the Dean's list at a top tier university. They both dropped out, and they're both glad they did.
Zak and Derek join me to discuss their experiences and offer thoughts on the university system and what dissatisfied students can do.
Max Borders joins me on this bonus episode to discuss the upcoming "Festival of the Future" called Voice & Exit (voiceandexit.com). We talk about what V&E is, why it's important to provide a safe space for radical ideas, and how to criticize by creating.
Steve Patterson joins the show to defend his claim that popular conceptions of quantum physics are claptrap, paradoxes don't and can't exist, and that being accurate is more important than believing what feels good. He also talks about his experiment as a freelance philosopher.
Bibliophile Chris Nelson joins me to discuss Adam Smith's work on language, the pros and cons of specialization in the economy at large and in the social sciences, whether battles over the meaning of words are worthwhile, and how intellectual movements can get lost in marketing.
How can you be a prolific writer and constant partyer at the same time? Jeff Tucker always seems to be having a good time and cranking out amazing content. I talk with him about how and why. Jeff discusses his work habits, why he says yes to everything, and how to push oneself to maximize every minute.
TK joins me to reclaim the celebration of achievement, whether and when to bring race into the discussion, if people need to have standing to share opinions, and why the show Stargate was too color blind.
I discuss the work of Rene Girard and Peter Leeson, and what both might teach us about trying to change society.
Praxis Education Director and relentlessly curious learner TK Coleman joins me to discuss the dangers of criticism, engaging in comment wars, and call-out culture. (Stick around for his Stephen A. Smith style take-down of my show near the end.)
Author and philosopher Steve Patterson on being an intellectual outside of the academy, why Bitcoin is so important, and how to harness your creative power.
Friend and colleague Zak Slayback on his recent and radical views on education, his love for aviation, and where he thinks the next big thing will come from.
Education, entrepreneurship, big ideas, how to put them into practice, and how to live free. We'll discuss whatever seems most interesting. Episodes released weekly on Monday morning.
In this episode I lay the groundwork for the show. The why, who, what, and when.
For notes on each episode go to isaacmorehouse.com
Music: Dreamer by Reaktor Productions via Premiumbeat.com