Podcast · 49 episodes
Dialectic
by Jackson Dahl · English
Conversational portraits of original people, across technology, media, business, and creativity. By Jackson Dahl.
Latest episodes
57: Immad Akhund - The Art of Irrational EffortImad Akhund (Mercury) explains what “a bank” is, why Mercury built a startup-friendly banking platform, and how to avoid product/company “decay” over time.24 Sep 2026 · 2 h 1 min
Independent Study: Personal Renewal by John W. Gardner (Speech)John W. Gardner’s 1990 speech “Personal Renewal” argues that people and organizations must renew themselves by staying curious, learning through failures, resisting complacency, and building meaning…16 Sep 2026 · 30 min
56: Miles Grimshaw - Back Down the MountainMiles Grimshaw (Thrive Capital partner) discusses “finite vs infinite games” through adventure racing and how venture investing should be “impatiently patient.” He argues software’s assumptions are…1 Sep 2026 · 1 h 53 min
All episodes
57: Immad Akhund - The Art of Irrational EffortImad Akhund (Mercury) explains what “a bank” is, why Mercury built a startup-friendly banking platform, and how to avoid product/company “decay” over time.24 Sep 2026 · 2 h 1 min · 43 chapters
Independent Study: Personal Renewal by John W. Gardner (Speech)John W. Gardner’s 1990 speech “Personal Renewal” argues that people and organizations must renew themselves by staying curious, learning through failures, resisting complacency, and building meaning…16 Sep 2026 · 30 min · 11 chapters
56: Miles Grimshaw - Back Down the MountainMiles Grimshaw (Thrive Capital partner) discusses “finite vs infinite games” through adventure racing and how venture investing should be “impatiently patient.” He argues software’s assumptions are…1 Sep 2026 · 1 h 53 min · 41 chapters
Independent Study: Art is For Seeing Evil by Agnes Callard (Essay)Agnes Callard argues that art (especially narrative fiction) is “foreseeing evil”: it suspends everyday life’s positivity bias and lets us attend to negative experiences—being wronged, doing wrong,…25 Aug 2026 · 27 min · 7 chapters
55: Dan Lilienthal & José Chayet - As [untitled] as it ComesFounders Dan Lilienthal and José Chayet discuss Untitled, a music platform for unreleased work-in-progress.18 Aug 2026 · 2 h 10 min · 49 chapters
54: Ian Rogers - Never a SpectatorIan Rogers’ “Never a Spectator” philosophy—how punk’s “participate, don’t consume” mindset shaped his career across music tech, fashion/digital culture, and crypto/AI.10 Aug 2026 · 2 h 37 min · 65 chapters
53: Zhengdong Wang - Feeling the WaveThe episode centers on Zhengdong Wang’s “compute theory of everything” and the “feeling the wave” idea: why exponential AI progress is hard to personally internalize, and how researchers should think…29 Jul 2026 · 2 h 8 min · 52 chapters
52: Jack Conte - Draw the Next PageJack Conte (Patreon CEO/co-founder) discusses how creators should be paid for their art, the art-vs-content distinction, and how Patreon’s product design (not just “donations”) enables sustainable…21 Jul 2026 · 1 h 51 min · 46 chapters
51: Nan Ransohoff - Power Laws for PhilanthropyNan Ransohoff argues for “GMing” the GMs: matching highly agency-driven people to “orphaned” public-benefit problems, using founder-like problem selection plus company-style planning.14 Jul 2026 · 2 h 12 min · 50 chapters
50: Tyler Cowen & Nabeel Qureshi - An Appetite For MoreThe episode debates whether secular societies need “sacred” commitments, how AI acceleration changes work and virtue, and what makes great art—especially beauty, strangeness, and “context.” It also…29 Jun 2026 · 1 h 56 min · 48 chapters
49: Jasmine Sun - Close Enough to See ClearlyJasmine Sun discusses why she writes long-form journalism as a way to observe without moralizing, capturing the “emotional texture” (zeitgeist/vibe) of disruption in Silicon Valley and China.18 Jun 2026 · 2 h 37 min · 63 chapters
48: Henri Stern - Principled Enough to Be PragmaticHenry Stern, founder of Privy (acquired by Stripe in mid-2025), discusses building crypto infrastructure around privacy, self-sovereignty, and “technical decisions are moral decisions.” He argues…11 Jun 2026 · 1 h 55 min · 54 chapters
47: Paul Scherer - A Friend That Brings Us CloserPaul Scherer discusses loneliness and social fragmentation, arguing that today’s internet and AI products often intensify isolation by turning social interaction into “media” and by incentivizing…27 May 2026 · 2 h 16 min · 59 chapters
46: Nicole Seah (Nix) - Loving What is RealNicole Seah (Nix) discusses “loving what is real” through beauty, attention, seriousness vs play, and how fantasy collapses into reality.11 May 2026 · 1 h 55 min · 53 chapters
45: Nicholas Thompson - A Life of Long FormNicholas Thompson (CEO of The Atlantic) discusses why long-form writing, accurate reporting, and media institutions matter for democracy in an era of AI, changing reading habits, and platform-driven…28 Apr 2026 · 1 h 54 min · 49 chapters
44: Jared Weinstein - Within Earshot, Out of Camera ShotJared Weinstein’s career across government and venture investing, centered on how he learned to perform under high stakes while bringing “humanity” and psychological safety into serious work.20 Apr 2026 · 2 h 50 min · 78 chapters
43: Mario Gabriele - Reality is Story-ShapedMario Gabriele discusses how authenticity, ambition, and failure shape a life and how stories function as a “hyper-effective version of language” for understanding minds, markets, and founders.7 Apr 2026 · 1 h 48 min · 53 chapters
42: Celine Nguyen - Nurturing Your Mind in PublicHow to “cultivate a life of the mind” after school—using reading, writing, and self-directed “research as leisure” to build an intellectual worldview, with the right level of rigor and a bias toward…30 Mar 2026 · 2 h 19 min · 60 chapters
41: Henrik Karlsson: Strolling Through Life's LabrynthsIn this episode of *Dialectic*, host Jackson Dahl interviews writer and essayist Henrik Karlsson, who explores themes of creativity, confusion, and self-trust in the artistic process.23 Mar 2026 · 2 h 42 min · 62 chapters
Independent Study: Body Futurism by Toby Shorin (Essay)is a podcast that features conversations with original thinkers across technology, media, business, and creativity, hosted by Jackson Dahl.15 Mar 2026 · 34 min · 15 chapters
40: Charles Broskoski - Everything is PersonalDialectic features conversational portraits of original individuals across technology, media, business, and creativity.25 Feb 2026 · 2 h 30 min · 75 chapters
39: Andrew Reed - Don't FlinchAndrew Reed, growth investor at Sequoia Capital11 Feb 2026 · 2 h · 66 chapters
38: Molly Mielke McCarthy - The Art of PeoplingThis episode features Molly Mielke McCarthy, an investor, writer, and founder of Moth Fund, an early-stage investment fund focused on supporting unique, mission-driven founders.29 Jan 2026 · 2 h · 57 chapters
37: Trevor McFedries - Creative People Should Be RichCreative people should be rich by building new “instruments” (market mechanisms) that capture value for the creators themselves.20 Jan 2026 · 2 h 19 min · 49 chapters