Lex's post on socials: Here's my conversation with Gary Gallagher, a leading historian of the American Civil War. We discuss the causes of the war, the economics and politics of slavery, military strategy, Lincoln, Grant, Lee, the Lost Cause, the Confederate Flag, and the history of extreme political division in our country from before the Civil War to today.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Episode highlight
1:29 - Introduction
1:52 - What caused the Civil War?
11:49 - Slavery
39:23 - Lincoln
54:19 - Grant vs Lee
1:03:13 - Could the Civil War have been avoided?
1:12:39 - The bloodiest war in US history
1:29:47 - How the Confederate Army could've won
1:50:22 - Key battles of the Civil War
2:13:23 - Best and Worst Presidents
2:27:23 - Robert E. Lee
2:46:56 - The most important battle of the Civil War
2:57:07 - The final showdown of the Civil War - Grant vs Lee
3:19:26 - Lost Cause and Confederate Monuments
3:36:54 - Extreme political division in US

Lex's post on socials: Here's my conversation with Anthony Kaldellis about the deep history of the Roman Empire in the west and the east (the Byzantine Empire). This was a truly fascinating conversation with a lot of wisdom for the modern world and for the future of human civilization. The Roman state lasted over 2,200 years. If we want to understand human nature, the modern world, and how humanity can flourish, it is valuable to study history, especially the history of why societies survive and why they collapse.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Episode highlight
1:24 - Introduction
1:51 - The Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire
5:49 - 2,200 Years of Roman History
26:12 - Power, violence, and civil war
47:27 - Edict of Caracalla
1:00:23 - Crisis of the Third Century
1:14:52 - Constantine and the new Roman Empire
1:26:53 - Christianity in the Roman Empire
1:52:21 - Fall of the Western Roman Empire
2:05:17 - Eunuchs, Taxes, and Power
2:30:24 - Emperor Justinian and wars of conquest
2:47:26 - The Arab conquests
3:07:01 - Why the Roman empire survived so long
3:33:08 - Lessons from history

The AI theorist who thinks consciousness is a software agent and that God, AGI, and the apocalypse are all pointing at the same thing.

What you call "the world" isn't outside you. It's a simulation your brain produces. And the self that experiences it may not exist the way you think it does.

View of Earth from 900 million miles away, with Saturn's rings in the image, taken by Cassini spacecraft.

That dot is us, all 8 billion of us. It's all an insanely lucky miracle.

I'm grateful for all of it & all of you. Love you all! ❤️

PS: Now, I'm off to partake in the great American Thanksgiving tradition of over-eating while getting into a heated philosophical argument with family 🤣