Tired of accepting things at face value? Join Chirag Shah & Sunay Shah in "Question Everything (Except This Podcast!)". We dive into life's big questions (free will, meaning, etc.) with humor & lively debate. Prepare to have your mind gently nudged (or blown!). New episodes every week! #philosophy #podcasts
Question Everything (Except This Podcast!)
Claim This Podcastby Chirag Shah, Sunay Shah
5.0(6 reviews)
31 episodes
Updated Bi-weekly
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Podcast Overview
Tired of accepting things at face value? Join Chirag Shah & Sunay Shah in "Question Everything (Except This Podcast!)". We dive into life's big questions (free will, meaning, etc.) with humor & lively debate. Prepare to have your mind gently nudged (or blown!). New episodes every week! #philosophy #podcasts
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3/18/2024
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Recent Episodes
March 13, 2026
?E! #30 - What Do Builders Owe the Future? | with Dr. Peter Solomon
<p>What happens when the person sounding the alarm is the one who built the technology?</p><p>60 years of building. Then a warning. Dr. Peter Solomon earned his PhD from Columbia, filed 20 patents, and spun three companies out of government-funded research — one sold for $24 million, another turned your smartphone into a radiation detector for the Department of Defense. Now, at 85, he's writing novels to warn his 12 grandchildren that the tools he spent a lifetime creating might be the ones that end everything. We sit down with Peter to explore the tension between a man at peace with his career and terrified about the future — and whether fiction can reach people where data and policy papers can't.</p><p>Key Takeaways:</p><ul><li>The people best positioned to warn about technology are often the ones who built it — and that creates real tension between gratitude and responsibility</li><li>AI systems optimized for user engagement rather than human wellbeing have already caused real-world harm (Myanmar, suicide encouragement)</li><li>Fiction embeds real science in stories that reach the 80% of people who tune out academic papers and policy briefs</li><li>Worldwide AI regulation can't work if only some countries participate — the incentive to defect is too strong</li><li>The acceleration problem: 100,000 years from speech to printing, then 50 years for social media, AI, smartphones, and genetic engineering all at once</li></ul><p>Chapters:<br>0:00 What happens when the builder becomes the warner<br>0:35 Dr. Solomon's credentials and the reconciliation question<br>1:42 No conflict? Building semiconductors that power ChatGPT<br>5:09 The Stardust Mystery and teaching science through stories<br>6:02 Personal peace meets existential anxiety<br>9:30 The Earthling Tribe and five technology juggernauts<br>11:51 How do you get 8 billion people to align on guardrails?<br>13:32 Civil rights, Vietnam, and the case for a worldwide movement<br>16:17 The current state of AI safety among the big companies<br>17:17 Geoffrey Hinton's maternal instinct and the Myanmar example<br>20:30 Peggy the robot and afterlife avatars in 12 Years to AI Singularity<br>23:11 Principled stands vs. competitive pressure in the AI race<br>29:35 Hollywood strikes, 85 million views, and signs of a waking public<br>31:00 The unprompted paragraph — when Copilot wrote itself into the novel<br>34:16 Isaac Asimov, unintended consequences, and AI that decides to help by eliminating us<br>35:07 Francis Bacon: does fiction or science tell the truth better?<br>38:56 From company builder to cause advocate — how motivations shift across a life<br>40:24 What would you tell your 25-year-old self?<br>43:29 Closing quote from Dr. Solomon's own words</p><p>Resources & Links:</p><ul><li>100 Years to Extinction website (<a href="https://100yearstoextinction.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">https://100yearstoextinction.com</a>) — Dr. Solomon's hub for both novels and the Make Earth Great Again mission</li><li>12 Years to AI Singularity by Dr. Peter R. Solomon (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Years-Singularity-Harmonious-Artificial-Intelligence/dp/1969679298" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/Years-Singularity-Harmonious-Artificial-Intelligence/dp/1969679298</a>) — his latest novel on AI and the singularity</li><li>100 Years to Extinction by Dr. Peter R. Solomon (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/100-YEARS-EXTINCTION-Tyranny-Technology/dp/196029993X" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/100-YEARS-EXTINCTION-Tyranny-Technology/dp/196029993X</a>) — the novel anchored to Stephen Hawking's extinction timeline</li><li>The Stardust Mystery by Peter and Sally Solomon (<a href="https://thestardustmystery.com/book/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">https://thestardustmystery.com/book/</a>) — the children's book about atoms from ancient stars</li><li>I, Robot by Isaac Asimov (<a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/i-robot-isaac-asimov/f5c96c8c2db144c8" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">https://bookshop.org/p/books/i-robot-isaac-asimov/f5c96c8c2db144c8</a>) — the short story collection Chirag references on unintended consequences of AI</li><li>Advanced Fuel Research (<a href="http://www.afrinc.com/peter-solomon.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">http://www.afrinc.com/peter-solomon.html</a>) — the company Solomon founded in 1980</li></ul><p>Listen & subscribe:<br>Apple Podcasts: <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/question-everything-except-this-podcast/id1736759012" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/question-everything-except-this-podcast/id1736759012</a><br>Spotify: <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1FCFskt7FBDZuyGtzLsQ5R" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">https://open.spotify.com/show/1FCFskt7FBDZuyGtzLsQ5R</a><br>YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2aiyplnabkJ7YzfWK1yISw" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2aiyplnabkJ7YzfWK1yISw</a></p>
March 5, 2026
?E! #29 - When the Principled Builder Says No
<p>Everyone wants to believe they'd walk away from power on principle. But could you actually do it?</p><p>OpenAI was founded to benefit all of humanity. A decade later, would you recognize the company? Chirag and Sunay pick up last episode's question — does the builder matter? — and follow it through corporate principle drift, the Lord of the Rings, and the god complex it takes to turn down a fortune. Along the way, they surface a harder question: when the principled person walks away, does that just open the door for someone worse?</p><p>Key Takeaways:</p><ul><li>Walking away from power on principle takes a rare kind of conviction — but the replacement paradox means someone else fills the void</li><li>Corporate principles tend to erode under pressure — Google dropped "Don't Be Evil," OpenAI abandoned its founding charter</li><li>Nobody questioned the CEO of Verizon's character, but with AI, the builder's personality shapes the product itself — Claude feels different from ChatGPT feels different from Grok</li><li>AI models are converging toward parity, raising a question the hosts can't answer: does the builder's character matter if the technology becomes a commodity?</li><li>Safety officers are leaving AI companies to "go do philosophy" — and nobody's talking about what they saw on their way out</li></ul><p>Chapters:<br>0:00 Does the Builder Matter?<br>2:24 OpenAI's Origin: From Nonprofit to Pentagon Partner<br>4:35 Corporate Principle Drift: Google, OpenAI, and Vanishing Values<br>7:35 The Lord of the Rings Test: Who Throws the Ring?<br>9:01 Two Red Lines and What We're Not Being Told<br>15:14 AI as Foundational Technology: Electricity, Internet, and Now This<br>20:13 The Replacement Paradox<br>24:36 Principle or PR Strategy?<br>26:03 Would You Walk Away?<br>28:28 Why AI Safety Officers Keep Leaving<br>32:05 Elon Musk and the Common Thread<br>38:28 When Models Reach Parity, Does the Builder Still Matter?<br>40:36 Coming Up: The Morality of Red Lines</p><p>Resources & Links:</p><ul><li>Anthropic Statement from Dario Amodei (<a href="https://www.anthropic.com/news/statement-department-of-war" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">https://www.anthropic.com/news/statement-department-of-war</a>) — Amodei's full statement on the Pentagon red lines</li><li>OpenAI: Our Agreement with the Department of War (<a href="https://openai.com/index/our-agreement-with-the-department-of-war/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">https://openai.com/index/our-agreement-with-the-department-of-war/</a>) — OpenAI's response and contract terms</li><li>NPR: OpenAI announces Pentagon deal after Trump bans Anthropic (<a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/02/27/nx-s1-5729118/trump-anthropic-pentagon-openai-ai-weapons-ban" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">https://www.npr.org/2026/02/27/nx-s1-5729118/trump-anthropic-pentagon-openai-ai-weapons-ban</a>) — core reporting on the timeline</li><li>Vice: OpenAI Is Now Everything It Promised Not to Be (<a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/openai-is-now-everything-it-promised-not-to-be-corporate-closed-source-and-for-profit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">https://www.vice.com/en/article/openai-is-now-everything-it-promised-not-to-be-corporate-closed-source-and-for-profit/</a>) — the founding charter vs. today</li><li>Inc: Anthropic Just Got Fired. It's the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Its Brand (<a href="https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/anthropic-just-got-fired-by-the-u-s-government-its-the-best-thing-that-ever-happened-to-its-brand/91310149" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/anthropic-just-got-fired-by-the-u-s-government-its-the-best-thing-that-ever-happened-to-its-brand/91310149</a>) — the PR paradox Chirag raises</li><li>Dwarkesh Podcast: Elon Musk Interview (<a href="https://www.dwarkesh.com/p/elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">https://www.dwarkesh.com/p/elon-musk</a>) — the three-hour interview Chirag references on physical AI and space colonization</li><li>Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson (<a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Elon-Musk/Walter-Isaacson/9781982181284" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Elon-Musk/Walter-Isaacson/9781982181284</a>) — the biography both hosts discuss</li></ul><p>Listen & subscribe:<br>Apple Podcasts: <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/question-everything-except-this-podcast/id1736759012" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/question-everything-except-this-podcast/id1736759012</a><br>Spotify: <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1FCFskt7FBDZuyGtzLsQ5R" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">https://open.spotify.com/show/1FCFskt7FBDZuyGtzLsQ5R</a><br>YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2aiyplnabkJ7YzfWK1yISw" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2aiyplnabkJ7YzfWK1yISw</a></p>
February 26, 2026
?E! #28 - Reel Philosophy: The Thinking Game — Who Do You Trust to Build the Future?
<p>Who do you trust to build the future, and does their character actually matter?</p><p>Chirag and Sunay unpack "The Thinking Game," a documentary following Google DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis from chess prodigy to Nobel Prize winner. The film raises a question it doesn't fully answer: when the people building the most powerful technology in history are also deciding how it gets used, what safeguards actually work? The conversation covers ethics officers, regulation vs. innovation, and why social media already disproved the "let the public self-correct" theory.</p><p>Key Takeaways:</p><ul><li>The character of AI's builders matters, but character alone has never been enough to protect society from powerful technology</li><li>Social media already proved that public transparency doesn't automatically lead to self-correction</li><li>Regulation and innovation aren't the zero-sum trade-off the industry claims — healthcare manages both</li><li>Ethics officers exist in Canadian banks since 2008 but are largely absent from American tech companies</li><li>Demis Hassabis solved protein folding and open-sourced it, showing what happens when purpose drives the builder</li></ul><p>Chapters:<br>0:00 Intro: The Thinking Game<br>2:24 The Leaders Behind Our AI Tools<br>4:35 Can Public Scrutiny Keep AI Safe?<br>7:16 Why Self-Regulation Isn't Enough<br>9:29 The Case for Ethics Officers (and Resident Philosophers)<br>13:21 Does Regulation Kill Innovation?<br>18:14 What AI Can Learn from Healthcare<br>22:31 Can Government Keep Up?<br>24:36 Demis Hassabis: A Life Built on Purpose<br>27:20 "Solve All of Them" — Then Give It Away<br>30:17 From AlphaGo to AlphaZero: Learning from Scratch<br>34:16 The Gap Between Using AI and Understanding It<br>36:17 When No One Knows How the Machines Work<br>39:57 Energy, Compute, and the Rate Limiter<br>42:25 Humanity Is Getting Worse at Coordination<br>46:23 Manhattan Project Parallels<br>48:59 Does the Builder Matter?</p><p>Resources & Links:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32150119/">The Thinking Game (documentary)</a> — directed by Greg Kohs</li><li><a href="https://deepmind.google/">Google DeepMind</a></li><li><a href="https://deepmind.google/science/alphafold/">AlphaFold</a> — the protein structure prediction tool discussed in the episode</li><li><a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Superagency/Reid-Hoffman/9798893310108">Superagency by Reid Hoffman</a> — the book Chirag references on AI optimism</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Askell">Amanda Askell, Anthropic's Resident Philosopher</a> — the philosopher role discussed in the episode</li><li><a href="https://www.dwarkesh.com/p/elon-musk">Dwarkesh Podcast: Elon Musk Interview</a> — the interview Chirag references on data centers in space</li></ul><p>Listen & subscribe: <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/question-everything-except-this-podcast/id1736759012">Apple Podcasts</a> | <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1FCFskt7FBDZuyGtzLsQ5R">Spotify</a> | <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2aiyplnabkJ7YzfWK1yISw">YouTube</a></p>
31 total episodes available
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