Best of the Pod: Dwarkesh Patel’s Quest to Learn Everything
Dwarkesh Patel is on a quest to know everything. He’s using LLMs to enhance how he reads, learns, thinks, and conducts interviews. Dwarkesh is a podcaster who’s interviewed a wide range of people, like Mark Zuckerberg, Tony Blair, and Marc Andreesen. Before conducting each of these interviews, Dwarkesh learns as much as he can about his guest and their area of expertise—AI hardware, tense geopolitical crises, and the genetics of human origins, to name a few. The most important tool in his learning arsenal? AI—specifically Claude, Claude Projects, and a few custom tools he’s built to accelerate his workflow.He does this by researching extensively, and as his knowledge grows, each piece of new information builds upon the last, making it easier and easier to grasp meaningful insights. In this interview, I turn the tables on him to understand how the prolific podcaster uses AI to become a smarter version of himself. We get into:How he uses LLMs to remember everythingHis podcast prep workflow with Claude to understand complex topicsWhy it’s important to be an early adopter of technologyHis taste in books and how he uses LLMs to learn from themHow he thinks about building a worldview His quick takes on the AI’s existential questions—AGI and P(doom)We also use Claude live on the show to help Dwarkesh research for an upcoming podcast recording.This is a must-watch for curious people who want to use AI to become smarter.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Sponsor: Gemini: Experience high quality AI video generation with Google's most capable video model: Veo 3. Try it in the Gemini app at gemini.google with a Google AI Pro plan or get the highest access with the Ultra plan.Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-.... It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: / danshipper Timestamps:00:00:00 - Teaser00:01:44 - Introduction 00:05:37 - How Dwarkesh uses LLMs to remember everything 00:11:50 - Dwarkesh's taste in books and how he uses AI to learn from them 00:17:58 - Why it's important to be an early adopter of technology 00:20:44 - How Dwarkesh uses Claude to understand complex concepts00:26:36 - Dwarkesh on how you can compound your intelligence 00:28:21 - Why Dwarkesh is on a quest to know everything 00:39:19 - Dan and Dwarkesh prep for an upcoming interview 01:04:14 - How Dwarkesh uses AI for post-production of his podcast 01:08:51 - Rapid fire on AI's biggest questions—AGI and P(doom)Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Dwarkesh Patel: / dwarkesh_sp Dwarkesh’s podcast and newsletter: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/; https://substack.com/@dwarkesh Dwarkesh’s interview with researcher Andy Matuschak on spaced repetition: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/p/andy-... The book about technology and society that both Dan and Dwarkesh are reading: Medieval Technology and Social ChangeDan’s interview with Reid Hoffman: https://every.to/chain-of-thought/rei... The book by Will Durant that inspires Dwarkesh: Fallen Leaves https://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Leaves-... One of the most interesting books Dwarkesh has read: The Great Divide https://www.amazon.com/Great-Divide-N...Upcoming guests on Dwarkesh’s podcast: David Reich https://reich.hms.harvard.edu/ and Daniel Yergin https://www.danielyergin.com/
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Intentional Tech: Designing AI for Human Flourishing | Alex Komoroske
The smallest technical decisions become humanity's biggest pivots:The same-origin policy—a well-intentioned browser security rule from the 1990s—accidentally created Facebook, Google, and every data monopoly since. It locks your data in silos—and you stayed where your stuff already is. This dynamic created aggregators.Alex Komoroske—who led Chrome's web platform team at Google and ran corporate strategy at Stripe—saw this pattern play out firsthand. And he's obsessed with the tiny decisions that will shape AI's next 30 years:Whether AI keeps memory centrally or user-controlled?Is AI free/ad-supported or user-paid?Should AI be engagement-maximizing or intention-aligned?How should we handle prompt injection in MCP and agentic systems?Should AI be built with AOL-style aggregation or web-style openness?This is a much-watch if you care about the future of AI and humanity.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper Sponsors: Google Gemini: Experience high quality AI video generation with Google's most capable video model: Veo 3. Try it in the Gemini app at gemini.google with a Google AI Pro plan or get the highest access with the Ultra plan.Attio: Go to https://attio.com/every and get 15% off your first year on your AI-powered CRM.Timestamps:Introduction: 00:01:45Why chatbots are a feature not a paradigm: 00:04:25Toward AI that’s aligned with our intentions: 00:06:50The four pillars of “intentional technology”: 00:11:54The type of structures in which intentional technology can thrive: 00:14:16Why ChatGPT is the AOL of the AI era: 00:18:26Why AI needs to break out of the silos of the early internet: 00:25:55Alex’s personal journey into systems-thinking: 00:41:53How LLMs can encode what we know but can’t explain: 00:48:15Can LLMs solve the coordination problem inside organizations: 00:54:35The under-discussed risk of prompt injection: 01:01:39Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Alex Komoroske: @komoramaCommon Tools: https://common.tools/ The public Google document with Alex’s raw ideas and thoughts: Bits and BobsA couple of Alex’s favorite books: Why Information Grows by Cesar Hidalgo and The Origin of Wealth by Eric Beinhocker
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Arc Had Millions of Users. Why They Left It Behind for Dia. | Josh Miller and Hursh Agrawal, cofounders of The Browser Company
If you had millions of people using a product you spent years building, would you kill it?That’s exactly what The Browser Company did with Arc.The internet backlash was intense, but cofounders Josh Miller and Hursh Agrawal saw that AI was about to make the web something you talk to, not just click into. The best home for that assistant was the thing that's already between you and the internet—the browser. And they realized they couldn’t just duct-tape it on to Arc.One year of heads-down work later, the team launched Dia in beta, and people are raving about it. Dia is a sleek, fast, browser with AI at its core—it gets better with every tab you open, becoming more and more helpful with time. And even though it’s still early, Josh and Hursh’s big pivot looks like one for the ages.This week on AI & I, Josh and Hursh joined me for their first full-length podcast about their pivot from Arc to Dia. We talk through their decision-making process, the very public backlash the company faced, and the grit it took to stay the course. If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper Sponsor:Attio: Go to https://attio.com/every and get 15% off your first year on your AI-powered CRM.Timestamps:Introduction: 00:01:13The story of how Dan might’ve been the CEO of The Browser Company: 00:02:47The moment Josh and Hursh knew they had to walk away from Arc: 00:09:42How to handle the weight of the unknown in a pivot: 00:17:08The prototype-driven culture that kept The Browser Company alive: 00:23:31Why having a product loved by millions of users isn’t enough :00:25:42The architectural decisions underlying how Dia was built: 00:33:29How Dia almost shipped without its best feature: 00:47:12The best ways people are using Dia in the wild: 00:51:18How Josh and Hursh think about competing with incumbents: 01:07:55How romanticism informs the product decisions behind Dia: 01:17:04Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Hursh Agrawal: @hurshJosh Miller: @joshmMore about Dia: https://www.diabrowser.com/ Writer and investor M.G. Siegler’s essay about the AI browser wars: https://spyglass.org/ai-browser-wars/
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How We Built Our AI Email Assistant: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Cora
You don’t need to handle your inbox anymore. It’s Cora’s job now. Cora is the AI chief of staff we built for your email at Every. It’s been in private beta for the last 6 months and currently manages email for 2,500 beta users—and today we’re making it available for anyone to use. Start your free 7-day trial by going to: https://cora.computer/Cora is the $150K executive assistant that costs $15/month. Or $20/month if you want an Every subscription, too. This is what that actually means:Cora understands what’s important to you, screens your inbox, and only lets the most relevant emails through. The rest of your emails are summarized in a beautifully designed brief that’s sent to you twice a day.If it has enough context, Cora drafts replies for you in your voice.You can talk to Cora like you would your chief of staff—you can give it special instructions on how you want certain emails handled, ask it to summarize things, and even give you an opinion on complex decisions.In this episode of AI & I, I sat down with the team behind Cora—Brandon Gell, head of the product studio; Kieran Klaassen, Cora’s general manager; and Nityesh Agarwal, engineer at Cora—for a closer look at how it all came together. We talk about:The story of the first time Brandon, Kieran, and I used Cora, while sipping wine at the Every retreat in Nice. The evolution of Cora’s categorization system, from a 4-hour vibe-coded prototype to a multi-faceted product with thousands of happy users.The features on Cora’s roadmap we’re most excited about: a unified brief across different email accounts, an iOS app, and an even more powerful assistant.This is a must-watch if you’re curious about what it feels like to give Cora your inbox, and take back your life. Go to https://cora.computer/ to start your 7-day free trial now.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.Sponsor: Experience high quality AI video generation with Google's most capable video model: Veo 3. Try it in the Gemini app at gemini.google with a Google AI Pro plan or get the highest access with the Ultra plan.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper Timestamps:Introduction: 00:01:40Three ways Cora transforms your inbox (and your day): 00:04:21A live walkthrough of Cora’s features: 00:05:09The inside story of the first time Kieran, Brandon, and Dan used Cora: 00:12:13Train Cora like you would a trusted chief of staff: 00:16:30The AI tools that blew our minds while building Cora: 00:27:25How we build workflows that compound with AI at Every: 00:30:34The dream features that we’d like to put on Cora’s roadmap: 00:42:36Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Try Cora now with a 7-day free trial: cora.computer The episode about how Kieran and Nityesh use Claude Code to build Cora: "How Two Engineers Ship Like a Team of 15 With AI Agents"
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Inside OpenAI: Coaching the People Creating AGI | Joe Hudson, Founder of The Art of Accomplishment
Joe Hudson is a coach who works with the executives building AGI at OpenAI. From inside OpenAI, he witnesses the full spectrum of human emotion that comes with bringing something new into the world—the exhilaration, the terror, the weight of it all. He feels these emotions, too: He believes AI will eventually replace what he does as a coach.But instead of fixating on that fear, Hudson is asking a deeper question: Who is he becoming in the meantime? He believes that moments like this—when we can feel the ground quiver—can be powerful catalysts for transformation, but only if we’re willing to face the uncertainty they bring.In this episode of AI & I, Dan Shipper sits down with Hudson to talk about how he’s answering that question. They get into what happens when the thing you’ve built your life around might disappear, how to find who you are beneath your professional identity, and why Hudson believes intention is the key to growing with AI.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper Sponsor: Experience high quality AI video generation with Google's most capable video model: Veo 3. Try it in the Gemini app at gemini.google with a Google AI Pro plan or get the highest access with the Ultra plan.Timestamps:Introduction: 00:01:49What it feels like inside the room where AGI is being built: 00:03:14The most important question to ask yourself as AGI approaches: 00:08:15The importance of sitting with uncertainty: 00:17:49How Joe is preparing his daughters for a post-AGI world: 00:21:11How we think, feel, and react; the three layers of human awareness: 00:27:25Staying grounded while coaching the people shaping our future: 00:35:34Why Joe doesn’t take things personally—even when the stakes are high: 00:42:44Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Joe Hudson: @FU_joehudson; Learn more about the coaching and workshops that Joe runs: Art of Accomplishment
Learn how the smartest people in the world are using AI to think, create, and relate. Each week I interview founders, filmmakers, writers, investors, and others about how they use AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Midjourney in their work and in their lives. We screen-share through their historical chats and then experiment with AI live on the show. Join us to discover how AI is changing how we think about our world—and ourselves.
For more essays, interviews, and experiments at the forefront of AI: https://every.to/chain-of-thought?sort=newest.
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