Infinite Loops

What actually happens after you donate a bag of clothes? Most people assume it gets sold locally to someone in need, but the reality is much bigger, stranger, and more global. In this episode of Infinite Loops, hosted by OSV's Nick Tawil, we sit down for a roundtable on the hidden global economy of secondhand textiles with Brian London, Marisa Adler, and Eric Stubin, all experts in the field. We discuss how the industry works, why fast fashion has made the problem harder, why 70% of the world uses secondhand clothing, what AI can and can't solve, and why turning an old shirt into a new shirt is still much harder than it sounds. Substack: https://newsletter.osv.llc/   

Jason Buck, founder and CIO of Mutiny Funds, joins Infinite Loops to tell the painful and darkly funny story of how the 2007–2008 crash destroyed his real estate business, wiped out his paper wealth, and taught him one of the hardest lessons in markets: being right is not the same thing as making money. Jason explains how he went from real estate developer to volatility trader and eventually built his philosophy around survival, resilience, and the "Cockroach Portfolio." He and Jim explore why true diversification always feels uncomfortable, why human behavior is the most persistent source of market mistakes, and why investing beliefs often resemble religion. Important Links: Learn more about Mutiny Fund here: https://mutinyfund.com/ Listen to more from Jason here: https://mutinyfund.com/podcasts

Chelsea Follett joins Infinite Loops to explain why the "good old days" were far darker than most people imagine — and why progress should never be taken for granted. Chelsea is the managing editor of Human Progress and author of Centers of Progress and the forthcoming The Grim Old Days. We discuss why humans are so drawn to nostalgia, what life was really like in the preindustrial past, why doomsday predictions keep failing, and how freedom, innovation, and open inquiry helped create the modern world. Important Links: Learn More about Chelsea's upcoming book here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Grim-Old-Days Read more of Chelsea's Human Progress work here: https://humanprogress.org/authors/chelsea-follett

Mykhailo Marynenko joins Infinite Loops for for a fascinating conversation about the future of AI, creative tools, privacy, and data ownership.  From growing up in his father's phone repair shop in Ukraine to building experimental AI systems today, Mykhailo has spent his life taking things apart, figuring out how they work, and rebuilding them in unexpected ways.  We explore how AI can help creators without replacing them, why privacy and data ownership matter, and what it means to design tools that give people more control over complex information. Important Links More about Misha: https://linktr.ee/0x77dev?utm_medium=mykhailo.link

On a February morning, Danielle Crittenden's world cleaved in two: the life before her daughter Miranda was found dead in her Brooklyn apartment, and the life after. Two years and three months later, Danielle joins Infinite Loops to discuss her luminous memoir, Dispatches from Grief, which unflinchingly traces the strange afterlife of grief with precision, restraint, and unexpected humor. This conversation explores what grief really feels like. With extraordinary honesty and grace, Danielle shares the physical pain, the loneliness of loss, and the slow work of carrying her daughter's memory forward.  Dispatches from Grief is out now: Infinite Books | Amazon Danielle's Substack: The Femsplainers With Danielle Crittenden

Saloni Dattani, author of the Scientific Discovery Substack and founding editor of Works in Progress magazine, joins Infinite Loops to discuss why medical innovation is often much slower than it needs to be. We explore why so much research still begins in animal models, how poor data distorts our understanding of disease, why clinical trials are one of the biggest bottlenecks in medicine, and how better systems could help promising treatments reach patients faster. Important Links: Read more from Saloni here: https://worksinprogress.co/our-authors/saloni-dattani And here: https://substack.com/@salonium And listen to Saloni's podcast "Hard Drugs" here: https://harddrugs.worksinprogress.co/

Why is hard work a form of laziness? Why should we be wary of short-term success? How can imagining parallel worlds help us make better decisions? Author, management advisor, and researcher Luca Dellanna joins us to discuss these questions and more! Important Links: Luca's Website Luca's Twitter Show Notes: Ergodicity: survival is king Why sample size matters The two types of competitors Teaching by signaling The parallel worlds approach to decision-making Racing to the bottom Why working hard can be a form of laziness The three things managers should prioritize Why desiring change isn't enough Fighting avoidance with actionable small steps "Mixed values produce mixed results" Thinking by writing What Luca has learned from living in multiple countries Luca as Emperor of the World MORE! Books Mentioned: Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder; by Nassim Nicholas Taleb What Works on Wall Street; by Jim O'Shaughnessy Ergodicity: Definition, Examples, And Implications, As Simple As Possible; by Luca Dellanna The Control Heuristic: The Nature of Human Behavior; by Luca Dellanna 100 Truths You Will Learn Too Late; by Luca Dellanna Tao Te Ching; by Lao Tzu

In this episode of Infinite Loops we spoke with Chris Sommers, CEO at Unhedged. We discuss: Sailing the world for 4 years without knowing how to sail Chris' experience at Greenlight Capital Shorting Lehman's stock in 2008 And much more… Follow Chris on Twitter (https://twitter.com/QuisitiveInvest) and learn more about Unhedged here (https://www.unhedged.com/).