Episode
#608: Signal Over Noise with Noah Feldman — The War in Ukraine (Recap and Predictions), The Machiavelli of Maryland, Best Books to Understand Geopolitics, The Battles for Free Speech on Social Media, Metaverse Challenges, and More
Description
Tim Ferriss and Noah Feldman on The War in Ukraine (Recap and Predictions), The Machiavelli of Maryland, Best Books to Understand Geopolitics, The Battles for Free Speech on Social Media, Metaverse Challenges, and More | Brought to you by MANSCAPED premium grooming products, Athletic Greens all-in-one nutritional supplement, and Allform premium, modular furniture. More on all three below. I rarely cover current events on this podcast, but this is a new experiment.To avoid overwhelm, I do not track the news 24/7 with doom scrolling. Rather, I depend on conversations with my smartest friends to find the signal in the noise. The following conversation with Noah Feldman (@NoahRFeldman) is an example of such a conversation, very similar to what we would have offline, and I wanted to share it with you. I learned a ton and changed my thinking a lot, which I always do.Noah Feldman is a Harvard professor, ethical philosopher and advisor, public intellectual, religious scholar and historian, and author of 10 books, including his latest, The Broken Constitution: Lincoln, Slavery, and the Refounding of America. You can find my interview with him at tim.blog/noah.Noah is the founder of Ethical Compass, which helps clients like Facebook and eBay improve ethical decision-making by creating and implementing new governance solutions. Noah conceived and designed the Facebook Oversight Board and continues to advise Facebook on ethics and governance issues.Feldman is host of the Deep Background podcast, a policy and public affairs columnist for Bloomberg Opinion, and a former contributing writer for The New York Times. He served as senior constitutional advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq and subsequently advised members of the Iraqi Governing Council on the drafting of Iraq’s interim constitution.He earned his A.B. summa cum laude from Harvard, finishing first in his class. Selected as a Rhodes Scholar, he earned a DPhil from Oxford University, writing his dissertation on Aristotle’s Ethics. He received his JD from Yale Law School and clerked for Justice David Souter of the US Supreme Court.He is the author of 10 books, including Divided by God: America’s Church-State Problem — and What We Should Do About It; What We Owe Iraq: War and the Ethics of Nation Building; Cool War: The United States, China, and the Future of Global Competition; Scorpions: The Battles and Triumphs of FDR’s Great Supreme Court Justices; and The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President.Please let me know what you think of this experimental format by sending me feedback on Twitter @tferriss. Do you love it? Do you hate it? Have suggestions for improvement? The usual long-form interviews with evergreen questions will still be the default and bread and butter of this podcast, but if you like this, I could see doing more of them, perhaps once a month or once every two months. It’s just an easy way to get caught up without drowning in news.Please enjoy!NOTE: This episode was recorded on June 22nd.*This episode is brought to you by MANSCAPED! MANSCAPED is bringing you the total package to ensure your package is the perfect package. No, I didn’t come up with that line… but I tested and loved their products, so I can vouch that I’m still intact and ready for my centerfold shoot. Was it scary? Yes. Was it worth it? Also yes. My girlfriend makes the effort, so I figured it was only fair. MANSCAPED is the most effective way to keep clean, pristine, and looking like a dream through the sweatiest summer months.The Perfect Package 4.0 is the ultimate grooming kit that includes everything you need for optimal below-the waist hygiene. Use their precision-engineered Lawn Mower 4.0—yes, “Lawn Mower”—electric trimmer to remove excess and avoid the dreaded swamp crotch. Feel confident in trimming hard-to-reach areas with MANSCAPED’s SkinSafe technology, which helps reduce the risk of nicks and snags. It’s time to take care of yourself; time for some basic landscaping. Get 20% off and free shipping with the code TIMTIM at Manscaped.com. *This episode is also brought to you by Athletic Greens. I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1 by Athletic Greens, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system. Right now, Athletic Greens is offering you their Vitamin D Liquid Formula free with your first subscription purchase—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones. Visit AthleticGreens.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive the free Vitamin D Liquid Formula (and five free travel packs) with your first subscription purchase! That’s up to a one-year supply of Vitamin D as added value when you try their delicious and comprehensive all-in-one daily greens product.*This episode is also brought to you by Allform! If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while, you’ve probably heard me talk about Helix Sleep mattresses, which I’ve been using since 2017. They also launched a company called Allform that makes premium, customizable sofas and chairs shipped right to your door—at a fraction of the cost of traditional stores. You can pick your fabric (and they’re all spill, stain, and scratch resistant), the sofa color, the color of the legs, and the sofa size and shape to make sure it’s perfect for you and your home.Allform arrives in just 3–7 days, and you can assemble it yourself in a few minutes—no tools needed. To find your perfect sofa and receive 20% off all orders, check out Allform.com/Tim.*[08:40] Russia vs. Ukraine: why?[17:31] The first Web3 war?[25:24] Will punishing Russian oligarchs make Putin blink?[29:06] Did Putin miscalculate, or is he just playing a longer game?[38:19] Could this conflict affect the US dollar’s status as a reserve currency?[42:11] Exploring base/best/worst possible outcomes of the conflict.[47:56] Recommended reading.[58:15] Free speech in the age of social media.[1:14:07] What’s at stake as free speech is legally reevaluated?[1:23:18] Enforcement, decentralization, and free market considerations.[1:31:09] Where Noah sees the free speech conversation in three years.[1:35:50] Will the future be colored predominantly in AR or VR?[1:39:45] Parting thoughts.*For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsorsSign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissYouTube: youtube.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferrissPast guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapters
The speaker talks about his experience with the Manscaped performance package 4.0 which includes products like lawn mower 4.0, trimmer, weed whacker, ear and nose hair trimmer, and crop preserver.
00:00 - 04:38 (04:38)
Summary
The speaker talks about his experience with the Manscaped performance package 4.0 which includes products like lawn mower 4.0, trimmer, weed whacker, ear and nose hair trimmer, and crop preserver. He recommends using the code TIMTIM for 20% discount and free shipping at manscaped.com.
Episode#608: Signal Over Noise with Noah Feldman — The War in Ukraine (Recap and Predictions), The Machiavelli of Maryland, Best Books to Understand Geopolitics, The Battles for Free Speech on Social Media, Metaverse Challenges, and More
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
In this podcast episode, Tim Ferris interviews Noah Feldman, a Harvard professor, ethical philosopher, public intellectual, religious scholar, historian, and author.
04:38 - 08:50 (04:11)
Summary
In this podcast episode, Tim Ferris interviews Noah Feldman, a Harvard professor, ethical philosopher, public intellectual, religious scholar, historian, and author. They discuss a range of topics, including Feldman's background, his work as a constitutional advisor in Iraq, and his latest book, "The Broken Constitution: Lincoln's Slavery and the Refounding of America."
Episode#608: Signal Over Noise with Noah Feldman — The War in Ukraine (Recap and Predictions), The Machiavelli of Maryland, Best Books to Understand Geopolitics, The Battles for Free Speech on Social Media, Metaverse Challenges, and More
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
Exploring the reasoning behind a side's decision to go to war, even when they know they are likely to lose and many lives will be lost, and the possibility of the underdog succeeding against all odds.
08:50 - 14:46 (05:56)
Summary
Exploring the reasoning behind a side's decision to go to war, even when they know they are likely to lose and many lives will be lost, and the possibility of the underdog succeeding against all odds.
Episode#608: Signal Over Noise with Noah Feldman — The War in Ukraine (Recap and Predictions), The Machiavelli of Maryland, Best Books to Understand Geopolitics, The Battles for Free Speech on Social Media, Metaverse Challenges, and More
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
Europe recognizes that if Putin can take over Ukraine, he's a threat to other countries in the region, making the idea of a safe and secure Europe, without war, false.
14:46 - 28:58 (14:11)
Summary
Europe recognizes that if Putin can take over Ukraine, he's a threat to other countries in the region, making the idea of a safe and secure Europe, without war, false.
Episode#608: Signal Over Noise with Noah Feldman — The War in Ukraine (Recap and Predictions), The Machiavelli of Maryland, Best Books to Understand Geopolitics, The Battles for Free Speech on Social Media, Metaverse Challenges, and More
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The speaker discusses how Putin's strategy for the war in Ukraine may not necessarily be to win outright, but to achieve more achievable objectives in order to avoid a prolonged war and negative consequences for the Russian public.
28:58 - 37:02 (08:04)
Summary
The speaker discusses how Putin's strategy for the war in Ukraine may not necessarily be to win outright, but to achieve more achievable objectives in order to avoid a prolonged war and negative consequences for the Russian public.
Episode#608: Signal Over Noise with Noah Feldman — The War in Ukraine (Recap and Predictions), The Machiavelli of Maryland, Best Books to Understand Geopolitics, The Battles for Free Speech on Social Media, Metaverse Challenges, and More
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The potential implications of the US freezing foreign assets, and the use of such an action as a political leverage, is discussed.
37:02 - 50:46 (13:44)
Summary
The potential implications of the US freezing foreign assets, and the use of such an action as a political leverage, is discussed. The stability of the dollar as the world's reserve currency is also considered.
Episode#608: Signal Over Noise with Noah Feldman — The War in Ukraine (Recap and Predictions), The Machiavelli of Maryland, Best Books to Understand Geopolitics, The Battles for Free Speech on Social Media, Metaverse Challenges, and More
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
In his book "Cool War", writer Noah Feldman talks about how the geopolitical disagreements between the US and China are going to deepen, causing them to act towards each other as though their interests are increasingly divergent, leading to a less-cold version of the Cold War.
50:46 - 57:30 (06:43)
Summary
In his book "Cool War", writer Noah Feldman talks about how the geopolitical disagreements between the US and China are going to deepen, causing them to act towards each other as though their interests are increasingly divergent, leading to a less-cold version of the Cold War.
Episode#608: Signal Over Noise with Noah Feldman — The War in Ukraine (Recap and Predictions), The Machiavelli of Maryland, Best Books to Understand Geopolitics, The Battles for Free Speech on Social Media, Metaverse Challenges, and More
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The ongoing debate around free speech encompasses ideas surrounding content moderation, platforms' right to remove content, and the deplatforming of Donald Trump.
57:30 - 1:10:17 (12:46)
Summary
The ongoing debate around free speech encompasses ideas surrounding content moderation, platforms' right to remove content, and the deplatforming of Donald Trump. Republicans are now supporting a new law that would prevent social media companies with over 50 million users from removing content based on the views expressed.
Episode#608: Signal Over Noise with Noah Feldman — The War in Ukraine (Recap and Predictions), The Machiavelli of Maryland, Best Books to Understand Geopolitics, The Battles for Free Speech on Social Media, Metaverse Challenges, and More
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The future of free speech on social media could involve a robust system of private actors, including newspapers and social media platforms, limiting speech extensively, but with other social media entities having different, freer rules.
1:10:17 - 1:25:03 (14:46)
Summary
The future of free speech on social media could involve a robust system of private actors, including newspapers and social media platforms, limiting speech extensively, but with other social media entities having different, freer rules. However, this may be difficult to achieve because start-up social media entities may depend on centralized infrastructure that can be controlled and that could limit free speech.
Episode#608: Signal Over Noise with Noah Feldman — The War in Ukraine (Recap and Predictions), The Machiavelli of Maryland, Best Books to Understand Geopolitics, The Battles for Free Speech on Social Media, Metaverse Challenges, and More
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The Metaverse or other emerging platforms may face pressure to implement content moderation and regulation of speech and conduct similar to Web 2.0 platforms.
1:25:03 - 1:32:18 (07:14)
Summary
The Metaverse or other emerging platforms may face pressure to implement content moderation and regulation of speech and conduct similar to Web 2.0 platforms. The question remains about whether the future of the internet will follow the decentralized structure of Web 1.0 or move towards centralized platforms with stricter rules and regulations.
Episode#608: Signal Over Noise with Noah Feldman — The War in Ukraine (Recap and Predictions), The Machiavelli of Maryland, Best Books to Understand Geopolitics, The Battles for Free Speech on Social Media, Metaverse Challenges, and More
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
It's difficult to determine what it means to be regulated and free when interacting in real-life with others while also participating in virtual or augmented reality, leading to discrepancies in sets of rules and obligations.
1:32:18 - 1:39:54 (07:36)
Summary
It's difficult to determine what it means to be regulated and free when interacting in real-life with others while also participating in virtual or augmented reality, leading to discrepancies in sets of rules and obligations.
Episode#608: Signal Over Noise with Noah Feldman — The War in Ukraine (Recap and Predictions), The Machiavelli of Maryland, Best Books to Understand Geopolitics, The Battles for Free Speech on Social Media, Metaverse Challenges, and More
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
In this podcast excerpt, the speaker invites people with knowledge about AR and VR to send feedback.
1:39:54 - 1:44:19 (04:24)
Summary
In this podcast excerpt, the speaker invites people with knowledge about AR and VR to send feedback. He also mentions his Five Bullet Friday newsletter with over 2 million subscribers.
Episode#608: Signal Over Noise with Noah Feldman — The War in Ukraine (Recap and Predictions), The Machiavelli of Maryland, Best Books to Understand Geopolitics, The Battles for Free Speech on Social Media, Metaverse Challenges, and More
PodcastThe Tim Ferriss Show
The Manscaped Performance Package 4.0 includes various grooming tools such as the Lawn Mower 4.0, weed whacker, ear and nose hair trimmer and more.
1:44:19 - 1:48:25 (04:06)
Summary
The Manscaped Performance Package 4.0 includes various grooming tools such as the Lawn Mower 4.0, weed whacker, ear and nose hair trimmer and more. The package provides customizable options for grooming needs and includes the best ball trimmer on the market.