Clearer Thinking with Spencer Greenberg

• What, if anything, will save the environment? (with Dan Stein)

  Read the full transcript here. Are we going to solve climate change with technology rather than personal sacrifice? If most offsets fail on additionality, should we stop pretending they meaningfully cut emissions? Can policy push dollars into the hard stuff - steel, cement, shipping, aviation - where tech is still nascent? Will clean-firm power unlock a reliable, land-light grid? Do early adopters and advanced market commitments move markets faster than lifestyle campaigns? What mix of R&D, loans, tax credits, procurement, and permitting reform actually drives costs down the curve? How should we weigh “central” damage estimates against fat-tail risks? If $1 can avert a ton while society pays ~$200 in harm, are we underinvesting by orders of magnitude? Can corporate climate action shift from PR offsets to catalytic demand for green steel and concrete? Where should donors place bets when global coordination stalls and national politics swing? Dan Stein champions evidence-based approaches to fight the climate crisis while leading Giving Green as founder and executive director, and serving as a senior advisor to IDinsight. He previously held the position of Chief Economist at IDinsight and worked as an Economist at the World Bank. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the London School of Economics and a BA from UC Berkeley. Links: Giving Green Staff Spencer Greenberg — Host + Director Ryan Kessler — Producer + Technical Lead WeAmplify — Transcriptionists Igor Scaldini — Marketing Consultant Music Broke for Free Josh Woodward Lee Rosevere Quiet Music for Tiny Robots wowamusic zapsplat.com Affiliates Clearer Thinking GuidedTrack Mind Ease Positly UpLift [Read more]

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• Are markets rational or is sentiment contagious? (with Alex Imas)

  Read the full transcript here. Are stock prices set by cash flows or crowd vibes? Why do bubbles last if “smart money” can short them? What should retail traders learn from GameStop and zero-commission options? When does momentum make sense - and when does it burn you? Why don’t obvious mispricings get fixed - what actually stops arbitrage? Will AI help us think clearer, or supercharge manipulation and personalized pricing? Where should regulators draw the line on gamified trading and price discrimination? Do tariffs feel good because they keep others out—even if we pay more? What does the "winner’s curse" mean for auctions, IPOs, and everyday deals? How much of what we want is copied from other people, and why does that matter for markets? Alex Imas is the Roger L. and Rachel M. Goetz Professor of Behavioral Science, Economics and Applied AI and a Vasilou Faculty Scholar at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he has taught Negotiations and Behavioral Economics. Alex studies behavioral economics with a focus on cognition and mental representation in dynamic decision-making. His research explores topics related to choice under uncertainty, applied AI, discrimination, and how people learn from information. Professor Imas’ work utilizes a variety of methods, including lab experiments, field experiments, analysis of observational data and theoretical modeling. His research has been published in the American Economic Review, Journal of Finance, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Quarterly Journal of Economics, and Management Science, among others. Links: The Winner's Curse Alex's personal website Alex's Twitter Staff Spencer Greenberg — Host + Director Ryan Kessler — Producer + Technical Lead WeAmplify — Transcriptionists Igor Scaldini — Marketing Consultant Music Broke for Free Josh Woodward Lee Rosevere Quiet Music for Tiny Robots wowamusic zapsplat.com Affiliates Clearer Thinking GuidedTrack Mind Ease Positly UpLift [Read more]

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• Can you do 100x more good? (with Sjir Hoeijmakers)

  Read the full transcript here. What does “100x more good” mean relative to your current giving? How can your giving more closely align with your pre-existing values? If cost-effectiveness is the denominator we forget, what changes when dollars per outcome sit front and center? Can independent evaluators fix a charity market that rewards storytelling over outcomes? Greatest need, stronger evidence, cost per result, a wider moral circle, multipliers - how do each of these levers compare in your giving portfolio? How do self, passion, and effectiveness map cleanly onto your intrinsic values? How do you avoid bad compromises? When do risky policy bets beat reliable bed nets? How do you keep prevention’s invisible wins from being crowded out by visible cures and photogenic stories? What kind of pledge or trial would actually help you follow through and inspire others without preaching? If the biggest brands need your dollar least, where is it marginally decisive right now? Sjir Hoeijmakers is the CEO of Giving What We Can, the global organization promoting effective giving and the 10% Pledge, which recently reached the 10,000 10% Pledger mark. He has a background in impact evaluation and non-profit entrepreneurship, serving as GWWC’s Director of Research immediately prior to becoming their CEO. Sjir is a long-time pledger himself as well, having pledged 20% previously and currently donating ~50% of his income to high-impact charities across various causes. You can find Sjir on LinkedIn, and read more about his work at GWWC and the 10% Pledge on their website. Links: Giving What We Can The 10% Pledge Staff Spencer Greenberg — Host + Director Ryan Kessler — Producer + Technical Lead WeAmplify — Transcriptionists Igor Scaldini — Marketing Consultant Music Broke for Free Josh Woodward Lee Rosevere Quiet Music for Tiny Robots wowamusic zapsplat.com Affiliates Clearer Thinking GuidedTrack Mind Ease Positly UpLift [Read more]

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• What is psychosomatic illness? (with Suzanne O'Sullivan)

  Read the full transcript here. Note: Please note that in this episode, Spencer and Dr. O'Sullivan discuss a controversial and complex medical topic where the science is still in development and there is a lot of ongoing debate. We don't know whether or not the perspective that Dr. O'Sullivan expresses is correct, but the topic appears to be an important one as we look towards the future of neurophysiological diagnostics and treatment. What changes when long COVID is split into medical damage, post-viral fatigue, misattribution, and psychosomatic mechanisms? When symptoms soar while tests stay normal, what should count as evidence? When do surveys without controls manufacture a syndrome we then chase? Does renaming “psychosomatic” to “functional” clarify or conceal? If long COVID and severe COVID affect different populations, what follows for causation and care? How do clinicians explain mind–body pathways without sounding dismissive? When is stopping more tests the most scientific decision? What actually helps once the testing spiral ends - graded activity, distraction skills, or non-reactive awareness? Can early diagnosis break fear–avoidance loops before habits harden? How should we meet chronic pain when anatomy is silent? If suffering is real and causes are mixed, how should we measure success? Suzanne O'Sullivan is an Irish physician practising in Britain, specialising in neurology and clinical neurophysiology. In addition to academic publications in her field, O'Sullivan is an author of acclaimed non-fiction focusing on medical casework related to neurology and medically unexplained illness. Links: Is It All in Your Head? (Book) The Age of Diagnosis: How Our Obsession with Medical Labels Is Making Us Sicker (Book) Staff Spencer Greenberg — Host + Director Ryan Kessler — Producer + Technical Lead WeAmplify — Transcriptionists Igor Scaldini — Marketing Consultant Music Broke for Free Josh Woodward Lee Rosevere Quiet Music for Tiny Robots wowamusic zapsplat.com Affiliates Clearer Thinking GuidedTrack Mind Ease Positly UpLift [Read more]

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• What causes mass shootings? (with Ragy Girgis)

  Read the full transcript here. What do we miss when we treat public shootings as the whole story of mass murder? If public events are a small slice, how should prevention and attention shift? Does saturation coverage turn tragedy into aspiration for the fame-seeking few? Do school “active-shooter” drills protect kids—or seed fear and imitation? Should reporting drop names and faces to starve the infamy motive? How should we talk about risk without distorting it? Can culture stop romanticizing guns without denying self-defense? Are the core drivers of public mass shootings nihilism, toxic self-regard, and a fascination with guns more than psychosis? If suicide removes the final barrier, how should that reshape prevention?Should screening target a narrow profile rather than broad traits with sky-high false positives? If most weapons used are legally owned, what levers actually matter - enforcement, registration, or smart-gun locks? Do “more weapons” predict fatalities better than weapon type, and what policy follows from that? What would it take for laws, norms, and platforms to make infamy harder to harvest? How do we design prevention that is specific, ethical, and effective? Ragy Girgis, MD, MS, is a Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry and New York State Psychiatric Institute. He is an expert in psychosis (e.g., schizophrenia), violence in mental illness, and mass murder/shootings. Dr. Girgis often conducts studies involving MRI, PET (Positron Emission Tomography) and clinical trials, and is the curator of the Columbia Mass Murder Database. Dr. Girgis has published numerous peer-reviewed scientific papers on these topics and several books on severe mental illness, including a recent book on the interface between religion and psychiatry, “On Satan, Demons, and Psychiatry: Exploring Mental Illness in the Bible." Links: Dr. Girgis' Selected Publications Dr. Girgis' latest title: On Satan, Demons, and Psychiatry: Exploring Mental Illness in the Bible Staff Spencer Greenberg — Host / Director Ryan Kessler — Producer + Technical Lead WeAmplify — Transcriptionists Igor Scaldini — Marketing Consultant Music Broke for Free Josh Woodward Lee Rosevere Quiet Music for Tiny Robots wowamusic zapsplat.com Affiliates Clearer Thinking GuidedTrack Mind Ease Positly UpLift [Read more]

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