PODCAST · society
Moral Mayhem
by Regan Arntz-Gray & Vaishnav Sunil
Hosted by real-life partners, Vaishnav and Regan, Moral Mayhem offers non-batshit-crazy, good-faith commentary from the center-right (in the words of a listener). Always irreverent, sometimes funny. moralmayhem.substack.com
Episodes
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Optimizing Towards Nothing
Steven Bartlett said two glasses of wine ruined three days of his life, and the internet lost it. Who is more fragile, Stevie boy or the internet? Get full access to Moral Mayhem Podcast at moralmayhem.substack.com/subscribe
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Is Libertarian Paternalism an Oxymoron?
In this episode, we discuss Cass Sunstein’s “Why Nudge?” and his defense of “libertarian paternalism,” the idea that the state should steer people toward better choices and can do so without violating the tenets of classical liberalism. Get full access to Moral Mayhem Podcast at...
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Debunking Creedal Beliefs: Abortion, Vaccines and Daryl Cooper
In this episode, we discuss philosopher Hrishikesh Joshi's paper "Debunking Creedal Beliefs." A creedal belief is one where: (1) there's little personal cost to being wrong, (2) the belief is policed by your social circle, and (3) it's not trivial to verify. Joshi argues you should hold these...
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Self-Interest and the Good Life with Greg Salmieri
In this episode, we sit down with Greg Salmieri, senior scholar of philosophy at the Salem Center at UT Austin, to discuss ethical egoism—the theory that central to what makes an action good, what makes it right, what makes it moral—is that it benefits the person taking it. Salmieri argues that...
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From Peterson's Lobsters to Trump's Fine People: Matt Teichman on Conversational Implicature
In this episode, philosopher and host of the Elucidations podcast, Matt Teichman, joins us to explore conversational implicature & the hidden rules that help us understand what people mean beyond their literal words. We dive into Paul Grice's cooperative principle and discuss a few real-world...
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Gender Grievances and Feminism with Bryan Caplan
In this episode, we talk with Bryan Caplan about his letter to his daughter on feminism. We cover whether women have been historically disadvantaged, how male and female experiences stack up today, the problems with viewing identity groups through a justice lens, arranged marriages, the gender...
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Markets, Morality, and Middlemen: Defending Finance Bros
In this episode of Moral Mayhem, we stick up for those without a voice — bankers and hedge fund managers. We explore why middle men and financiers - from ancient moneylenders to modern hedge funds - are unique objects of scorn in the eyes of the public. We discuss the ethics of payday lending and...
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Dating and Discourse with Jacob Falkovich
This week we were joined by our friend Jacob Falkovich. Jacob publishes some of the best “White-pilled” dating advice out there on his blog Second Person, and in addition to being a great Twitter follow he’s also known for putanumonit. We discuss the importance of agency in dating, the negativity...
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Is Love Blind?
We’re talking about Love is Blind, the ‘scientific’ dating ‘experiment’ to discover how shallow reality TV stars really are (see the video version on Youtube). The show involves men and women dating in pods where they can hear but not see one another, and ultimately getting engaged “sight unseen”...
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Robin Hanson (Part Two): Cash, Cradles and Careers
In this episode, we chat with Robin Hanson about his proposed solution to falling fertility rates in the US: since each newborn is effectively responsible for hundreds of thousands in national debt obligations, governments could endow parents with a portion of their children’s future tax payments…
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Robin Hanson (Part 1): Why Unchallenged Values Become Existential Threats?
In this conversation, we chat with Robin Hanson about his thesis on cultural drift, exploring the implications of the global monoculture and reduced selection pressures on the long-term future of humanity. We think through the mechanisms for and potential solutions to cultural drift, such as deep...
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The Hanson Hypothesis: Global Unity or Collective Suicide?
In this episode of Moral Mayhem, we discuss and debate the ideas presented in Robin Hanson's essays on cultural drift. We examine his central argument that the emergence of a global monoculture, coupled with reduced existential pressures such as war and famine, enables the persistence of...
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Everybody Hates Legal Immigrants
In this episode, we explore the moral tension surrounding illegal immigration in the United States. We discuss: * The ethical implications of deporting people who have built lives in America * The disparity in moral outrage between the fates of legal and illegal immigrants * The selection effects...
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Adverse Selection in Dating and Job Markets: The Hidden Costs of Easy Filtering
In this episode, we discuss the hidden pitfalls of modern dating apps and job search platforms. We explore how the necessity of filtering large pools of candidates, combined with the limitations of relying on easily legible traits, can lead to counterintuitive outcomes. We discuss: * Why the…
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Moral Mayhem with Maxim Lott: Election Betting Markets, Presidential Debate and Norm Violations in American Politics
In this episode, we sit down with Maxim Lott (author of Maximum Truth) to dive into prediction markets, focusing on election betting markets. We explore liquidity, market depth, and whether concerns over market manipulation hold water. We also indulge in some meta-political analysis, offering our...
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Categories, Prediction Error and Discrimination
In this episode of Moral Mayhem, we bravely wade into the minefield of racial groups and racism. We start with the usefulness of race as a category and when it might be appropriate to view the world through this lens. We touch on genetic diversity, interracial relationships, affirmative action,...
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Moral Mayhem with Alex Kaschuta: Pragmatism over Radical Ideas in Life, Love and Politics
In this episode, we chat with Alex Kaschuta, writer and host of the Subversive podcast. We discuss: --> Alex's journey from diversity management to dissident right activism to cultural commentary --> The evolution of dating in the age of apps and changing economic roles --> The risks of…
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The Moral Status Quo: Misguided Mercy and Modern Antisemitism
We’re joined for a second time by Martin Greenwald aka The Socratic Psychiatrist on Substack. We discuss whether corporal punishment would be a more ethical alternative to extended prison time, critiques of soft parenting and the infamous Collins’ “bop”, antisemitism and the cynical weaponization...
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Moral Mayhem with Chris Best
In this episode, we chat with Chris Best, CEO and Co-Founder of Substack. We discuss Substack's origin story, revenue model and its effects on the information ecosystem. We also speculate on the effects of remote work on productivity and trust, on why Canadians are more woke on average, and why...
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Fighting Over Fetuses: The Morality, Politics and Future of Abortion
In this episode, we dissect (no pun intended) the issue of abortion, discussing both the object level political and moral considerations and the political polarization around the issue. We discuss the rights based framing of abortion but also spend time on the less discussed...
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Biden's Exit Strategy: To Praise or Not to Praise?
In this episode of Moral Mayhem, we dive into the recent political upheaval in the United States. We discuss our first impressions of Kamala Harris, debate the complexities surrounding Joe Biden's decision to step down, and the broader issues of norm violations in American politics. Get full…
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Mental Illness, Drug Use, Criminal Justice, Therapy Culture and More with Dr. Martin Greenwald
In this show, Regan and I chat with psychiatrist and author of the publication Socratic Psychiatrist, Dr. Martin Greenwald. Martin shares his experience treating serious mental illness, while contextualizing it both historically and politcally. We discuss the relationship between serious mental...
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AntiNatalism: Where Social Justice meets Negative Utilitarianism
In this episode, we talk about family YouTube channels and very briefly, the ethics of abandoning children before diving into the main topic: psychological and philosophical drivers of antinatalism. We discuss the relationship between climate change and fertility, between mental health and a...
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Statutory Rape & India’s Gaza
In this episode of Moral Mayhem, we dive into two unrelated topics: statutory rape laws in the western world and the state of Kerala in India. We explore the complexities of age-based consent laws, discussing agency, cultural norms, and the unintended consequences of well-intentioned legislation....
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Presidential Debate, Mary Harrington's Low IQ Babies and University Admissions
In this episode, we chat about the presidential debate and Biden's cognitive decline, respond to Mary Harrington's tirade against embryo selection and talk in depth about the objective function of universities, admission criteria, affirmative action, DEI and more. Get full access to Moral Mayhem...
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Moral Mayhem with Garett Jones: Prisoner's Dilemmas in Politics, Business and Life
In this episode, we welcome our first repeat guest back on the show, GMU economist Garett Jones. We discuss Garett's first book, the Hive Mind, comparing social versus individual returns to IQ. We spend a bulk of the episode talking about the mechanics of cooperation at the micro and macro scales…
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Moral Mayhem with Richard Hanania
In this episode, we sit down with Richard Hanania, prolific blogger, political commentator and author of the book "The Origins of Woke". We explore how civil rights law has shaped modern culture, debating the unintended consequences of anti-discrimination policies. We also discuss declining...
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Bryan Caplan on Housing, Immigration and Fertility
In this episode, we sit down with Bryan Caplan, economics professor at George Mason University and author of several popular books including Open Borders, The Myth of the Rational Voter, and most recently Build Baby Build. We dive into Bryan's case for radical deregulation in housing, exploring…
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The Invisible Shackles: Mental Health Labels and Personal Agency
In this episode, we chat about the increased normalization and diagnosis of mental health conditions like ADHD, autism and depression, exploring the balance between the benefits of increased awareness and the potential risks of over-diagnosis and false positives. We also flirt with the…
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The Optimal Rate of Sexism
In this episode, we talk about the difference between accepting and pathologizing sex differences, parsing the bell curve of the opposite sex, dynamics of the dating market, what pick up artists get right and more. In the last segment, we also talk about how the anti-woke crowd, that we usually...
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Western Civilization & The Paradox of Intolerance
Links and Resources: Tickets to Regan's Salon: End of Faith by Sam Harris Wikipedia: Karl Popper - Paradox of Intolerance You can email us your thoughts, feedback or ideas for episodes to [email protected] Get full access to Moral Mayhem Podcast at moralmayhem.substack.com/subscribe
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Contra Freddie DeBoer on the honest case for socialism
In this episode, we respond to Freddie DeBoer's case for socialism, in which he concedes that capitalism has driven massive welfare improvements, yet contends that it's rational to replace this process with a much more redistributive one now that society has made "sufficient" progress. We lay out...
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How much of education is signaling?
In this episode, we explore the question of why people value education? Do revealed preferences make a better case of education as a costly signal or a mechanism for human capital development? While it's obvious to most people that the answer is unlikely to be binary, we hash out our priors and...
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Warriors of Columbia, Anonymous Speech and the Future of Liberalism
Links: Get full access to Moral Mayhem Podcast at moralmayhem.substack.com/subscribe
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Beliefs That Sterilize The World with Malcolm Collins
Malcolm Collins joins us to explore the alarming decline in fertility rates and its potential consequences for civilization. We discuss the role of religion and the rise of a "shadow religion" threatening to sterilize the world. Malcolm also shares his take on the implications of depopulation…
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Canada: Politeness, Wokeness, and Assisted Dying
In this episode, Regan and I talk about topics that have landed Canada, her homeland, in the news recently - immigration, euthanasia and yes...wokeness. Get full access to Moral Mayhem Podcast at moralmayhem.substack.com/subscribe
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AI, Institutions, and the Future of Human Flourishing with Sam Hammond
In this episode, we interview Sam Hammond, a senior economist at the Foundation for American Innovation, about AI's potentially transformative impact on our institutions and economic growth. Sam shares his insights on how AI might affect centralization, coordination, and cooperation, drawing from...
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Careers: Aligning Stated and Revealed Preferences
In this episode, we explore why our career choices often fail to align with our stated values. We discuss what helped each of us course correct and delve into the interplay of money, meaning, and personal risk tolerance in career decisions. We explore the hidden influence of status quo bias, the...
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Animal Welfare and Moral Weight with Bob Fischer
In this episode, we interview Bob Fischer, a philosopher and senior researcher at Rethink Priorities. While discussing his work estimating the intensity of valenced states of farmed animals, we touch on likelihood of sentience, hedonism as a theory of moral value, evolutionary functions of…
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Immigrants & the Wealth of Nations with Garett Jones
In this episode, we interview Garett Jones, an economist at George Mason University Our discussion, initially aimed at Garett's latest book The Culture Transplant ends up delving into themes across his works - IQ as an externality, mechanisms that drive institutional quality, cultural persistence...
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A Canadian Take on Indians
In this episode, Vaishnav presses Regan on her observations of India. We riff on food, arranged marriages, sexual conservatism , politeness vs niceness and more. Get full access to Moral Mayhem Podcast at moralmayhem.substack.com/subscribe
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Eliezer's Call Option on Love
Guilty pleasure episode - we couldn't help but comment on the ongoing saga on twitter, catalyzed by Eliezer Yudkowsky's endorsement of buying a call option on love i.e communicating to your partner that the contract of marriage comes with an option to leave them for someone with mate value >=X.…
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Meditations on Effective Altruism
In this episode, we try and bring you both an outside and inside view on EA. We discuss both its features and its bugs but as general supporters of the movement, we take liberties to meditate on it's cultural ethos, ideological biases and inconsistencies.. Get full access to Moral Mayhem Podcast…
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Economics of Immigration
In this episode, we ask two broad questions about immigration from the host country's perspective: What are the parameters that make immigration net positive for the host country? How should immigration policy change to maximize human welfare? Resources and Links: Net economic cost of immigration...
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Free Speech: How slippery is your slope?
In this episode, Regan and I get abstract about another topical talking point: Free Speech. We unpack our intuitions on the the cash value of free speech, incitement to violence and offense as limiting principles, and the edge cases (no pun intended) of pornography and hate speech. We conclude by...
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Are we our identities?
In this episode, we dissect identity politics and its usefulness as political tool. Unfortunately, we don't stop there and ruminate on identity itself and ever ever so lightly brush against disability and fat activitism. Get full access to Moral Mayhem Podcast at moralmayhem.substack.com/subscribe
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Israel/Palestine: The Other Side of Statehood
In our debut episode of 'Moral Mayhem,' we delve into the deeply contentious Israel-Palestine conflict, focusing on a critical yet overlooked perspective. We set aside the political details of the current conflict and focus on the underlying morality of advocating for Palestinian statehood,...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Hosted by real-life partners, Vaishnav and Regan, Moral Mayhem offers non-batshit-crazy, good-faith commentary from the center-right (in the words of a listener). Always irreverent, sometimes funny.
moralmayhem.substack.com
HOSTED BY
Regan Arntz-Gray & Vaishnav Sunil
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Moral Mayhem have?
Moral Mayhem currently has 47 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Moral Mayhem about?
Hosted by real-life partners, Vaishnav and Regan, Moral Mayhem offers non-batshit-crazy, good-faith commentary from the center-right (in the words of a listener). Always irreverent, sometimes funny. moralmayhem.substack.com
How often does Moral Mayhem release new episodes?
Moral Mayhem has 47 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Moral Mayhem?
You can listen to Moral Mayhem on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Moral Mayhem?
Moral Mayhem is created and hosted by Regan Arntz-Gray & Vaishnav Sunil.
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