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  • Frank Miller on Push the Wall, Batman, and Having No Plan B

    Frank Miller on Push the Wall, Batman, and Having No Plan B
    2026/07/08
    A Note from James:This is a very special episode for me.There have only been a few times in the history of this podcast when I’ve had the chance to sit down with one of my heroes. This is one of those times.Frank Miller is one of the most important storytellers of my life. When I first picked up Batman: The Dark Knight Returns in 1986, it completely changed what I thought comics could be. This wasn’t just another Batman story. It was a revolution. Frank took Batman out of the colorful, campy world I grew up with and turned him into something darker, mythic, terrifying, and psychologically real.There is a comic book industry before The Dark Knight Returns, and there is a comic book industry after The Dark Knight Returns. Every Batman movie since then carries Frank’s fingerprints in some way. But it wasn’t just Batman. Frank changed Daredevil. He created Ronin. He created Sin City. He showed that comics could handle adult stories, painful arcs, crime, tragedy, mythology, obsession, and moral ambiguity.But what matters most to me is that Frank is a master storyteller. And I love storytelling. Whether it’s books, podcasts, articles, comics, or just how we make sense of our lives, story is everything.So getting to sit down with Frank Miller and talk about Batman, myth, creativity, mentorship, discipline, and his new book, Push the Wall: My Life, Writing, Drawing, and the Art of Storytelling, was a dream come true.This was my first in-person podcast in years. Jay drove up from Atlanta. I flew into the city. And yes, I brought my copy of The Dark Knight Returns for Frank to sign.Episode Description:Frank Miller didn’t just write and draw some of the most influential comics of the modern era. He changed the grammar of comics.In this conversation, James sits down with Miller to talk about Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Daredevil, Ronin, Sin City, and Miller’s new book, Push the Wall. The conversation begins with Batman, but quickly becomes a larger discussion about how characters become myths.For Miller, Batman was never just a rich detective in a costume. The material was already there from the beginning: a child witnessing the murder of his parents, growing up without powers, building himself into a force through discipline, intelligence, and obsession. Miller’s goal was to pull that core truth out and make Batman stand beside older pulp and mythic figures like Zorro, The Shadow, and the hard-edged heroes of crime cinema.James and Frank also talk about how myths are built around simple central values. Superman is hope. Batman is justice, vengeance, effort, and fear. The art is not in making those ideas complicated. The art is in placing them inside a human context so they feel emotionally true.The discussion moves into the craft of comics itself: page layouts, panel borders, visual rhythm, and how the pictures carry most of the story. Miller reflects on the influence of Jack Kirby, Neal Adams, Denny O’Neil, Japanese samurai films, martial arts movies, Greek tragedy, Jean Giraud/Moebius, Lone Wolf and Cub, and the creative power of combining worlds that do not obviously belong together.They also talk about mentorship. Miller describes calling Neal Adams from the phone book, bringing him drawings, and enduring brutally honest criticism. That toughness, he says, was part of the training. To survive as an artist, you need egoism without egotism: enough belief to keep coming back, but enough humility to keep learning.The episode closes with practical advice for young artists today: go to conventions, build the strongest portfolio you can, seek out hard criticism, don’t chase only the biggest titles, protect your original ideas, and look for “losers” you can make great.What You’ll Learn:Why Frank Miller wanted Batman to become a myth, not just another superhero.How The Dark Knight Returns helped move comics toward darker, more adult storytelling.Why Batman’s lack of superpowers is exactly what makes him compelling.How mythic characters are built around simple core themes like hope, vengeance, justice, or discipline.Why comics are not just written stories with pictures, but a visual storytelling machine.How Miller learned from Jack Kirby, Neal Adams, Denny O’Neil, samurai films, noir, Greek tragedy, and European comics.Why creativity often comes from combining unrelated influences.What Miller means by “egoism, but not egotism.”Why young artists should seek out hard lessons instead of easy praise.How to enter comics today without giving away original work too early.Why determination, stamina, and a lack of Plan B shaped Miller’s career.What Miller is working on next, including a new Western-style Sin City story.Timestamped Chapters:[03:41] Meeting Frank MillerJames begins by holding up Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and asking what it means to be known through one defining work.[04:00] Before and After The Dark Knight ReturnsWhy James sees Miller’s Batman as a dividing line in...
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    41 分
  • Dr. David Sinclair: The First Human Trial of an Age-Reversal Therapy

    Dr. David Sinclair: The First Human Trial of an Age-Reversal Therapy
    2026/07/03
    A Note from James:I’ve been obsessed with anti-aging and longevity science for a long time. I’ve had many longevity researchers on the podcast, but this episode feels different because something we’ve been discussing for years has now moved into human trials.David Sinclair first came on the show in 2019, when his book Lifespan was published. He’s a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, and that first conversation changed how I lived. I started experimenting with intermittent fasting, paid much more attention to sleep, and began researching many of the supplements and lifestyle changes he discussed.But the most important idea David talked about wasn’t a supplement. It was the possibility of reversing cellular age using Yamanaka factors—genes that can reset the instructions cells use to function. At the time, nobody knew whether this could be done safely without causing cancer or making cells lose their identities.Now, a therapy based on three of those factors has entered its first human clinical trial. The initial target is age-related damage to the optic nerve, including open-angle glaucoma and non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy. The trial is designed primarily to evaluate safety, but researchers will also measure visual function.David explains how this technology worked in mice and nonhuman primates, why the eye was chosen as the first organ, and how the same approach might eventually be applied to the liver, lungs, joints, skin, and brain.We also cover the practical questions people always ask him: NMN, NAD, metformin, berberine, testosterone, growth hormone, diet, fasting, sleep, exercise, and what David himself has started—or stopped—taking.This is still experimental science. Nobody yet knows whether the animal results will translate into meaningful benefits for humans. But for the first time, researchers are beginning to test that question directly.About Lifespan: Dr. David Sinclair founded Lifespan to deliver clear, science-backed health insights that help people live longer, more vibrant lives.He's now building the world's largest community dedicated to extending human longevity well beyond today’s limits. Join early access at lifespan.com. New episodes of Lifespan with Dr. David Sinclair -- the #1 health and wellness podcast in its first season -- are now available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Lifespan.com.Episode Description:For years, longevity researchers have looked for ways to slow the biological processes associated with aging. Dr. David Sinclair and his collaborators are now testing a more ambitious possibility: whether damaged human cells can be restored to a younger, more functional state.The experimental therapy, ER-100, uses controlled expression of three transcription factors—OCT4, SOX2, and KLF4, collectively known as OSK. These are three of the four Yamanaka factors originally used to transform adult cells into pluripotent stem cells.Turning on all four factors can erase too much of a cell’s identity and has produced tumors and fatal outcomes in animal experiments. Sinclair’s team found that removing one factor, c-MYC, allowed cells to regain younger patterns of gene expression without completely returning to a stem-cell state.In preclinical studies, OSK restored youthful epigenetic patterns, promoted optic-nerve regeneration, and reversed vision loss in mouse models. Life Biosciences, a company Sinclair co-founded, has now moved the technology into a first-in-human Phase 1 trial involving people with open-angle glaucoma or non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.David explains how the therapy is delivered directly into the eye and activated using doxycycline, allowing clinicians to control when and for how long the genes are expressed. He also describes the development path that could follow if the treatment proves safe, including therapies targeting the liver and other organs, as well as future medicines that may reproduce similar effects without gene delivery.The conversation then turns to interventions available today. David distinguishes between promising research and claims that have moved ahead of the evidence, discussing NMN, injected NAD, growth hormone, testosterone, taurine, nattokinase, metformin, berberine, and nootropics.Throughout the episode, he emphasizes that no supplement has been shown to reproduce the effects researchers are attempting to achieve through partial epigenetic reprogramming—and that many of the most dramatic claims circulating online remain unsupported.Editorial Note:ER-100 is an investigational therapy. Authorization to begin a clinical trial does not mean the treatment has been proven safe or effective, nor has it been approved for clinical use.The Phase 1 study is primarily evaluating safety and tolerability, with additional measurements of visual function. Results from mice and nonhuman primates do not establish that the therapy will restore vision or reverse biological ...
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    49 分
  • How to Find Sure Things on Kalshi | Prediction Markets #1

    How to Find Sure Things on Kalshi | Prediction Markets #1
    2026/06/26
    Episode Description:Prediction markets allow people to trade contracts tied to real-world events—from elections and weather to rocket launches, airport traffic, awards, and the words a public figure might use during a speech.But James argues that having an opinion isn’t enough. Betting on your favorite team, preferred candidate, or a vague feeling about what might happen is speculation without an edge. His rule is simple: only participate when you believe you have an unfair advantage.In this solo episode, James explains the two advantages he looks for. The first comes from understanding how prediction-market participants behave—especially their tendency to overlook outcomes that appear almost certain because the potential payout looks small. The second comes from researching a particular market more thoroughly than the other participants.He walks through three trades he made: whether the U.S. government will confirm the existence of extraterrestrial life before 2027, whether SpaceX will exceed a specified number of June launches, and whether Donald Trump will use the phrase “movie star” during an upcoming speech. He also examines TSA passenger data to show why good research sometimes leads to the most important decision of all: not making the trade.The larger lesson is not that any outcome is guaranteed. It is that a repeatable process—researching the data, comparing your estimated probability with the market price, diversifying, and walking away when the edge is unclear—is more useful than betting on instinct.Editorial Note:Prediction-market contracts are speculative and can result in the loss of the full amount committed to a position. Short-term returns expressed on an annualized basis are hypothetical comparisons, not guarantees that the same opportunity can be repeated throughout a year. This episode is educational and reflects James’s personal reasoning, not individualized financial advice.What You’ll Learn:How binary prediction-market contracts are priced and settled.Why James avoids trades based only on personal preference or intuition.The two types of informational advantage he looks for before entering a market.Why apparently likely outcomes can still be priced below James’s estimate of their probability.How to compare a contract’s price with your independent estimate of the outcome.Why diversification matters when a single losing contract can erase several smaller gains.How historical speeches, launch schedules, and public datasets can inform a trade.Why declining to place a bet is often the correct conclusion when the evidence is inconclusive.Timestamped Chapters:[02:00] The Search for an Unfair AdvantageWhy James believes a feeling or personal preference is not a sufficient reason to place a bet.[02:43] What Is a Prediction Market?How event contracts cover subjects ranging from weather and elections to entertainment, sports, and public speeches.[03:29] How Yes-or-No Contracts WorkA hypothetical presidential contract illustrates pricing, payouts, and profit.[04:26] Don’t Bet on What You Want to HappenWhy fandom, political preference, and intuition can distort judgment.[05:12] Two Types of Informational AdvantageJames distinguishes between understanding market behavior and possessing unusually strong research about one event.[06:30] Why Traders May Overlook Near-CertaintiesHow small-looking payouts and the cost of tying up capital can leave heavily favored outcomes below full value.[07:52] Will the Government Confirm That Aliens Exist?James explains why he bought “No” contracts on an official confirmation occurring before 2027.[10:40] Diversifying a Basket of High-Probability TradesWhy James prefers multiple positions rather than concentrating everything in one supposedly certain outcome.[11:20] The SpaceX Launch TradeUsing completed launches, the remaining calendar, and an upcoming mission to evaluate a five-day contract.[13:38] Turning Presidential Speeches Into DataHow James analyzes recurring words and phrases instead of relying on opinions about Donald Trump.[15:38] Betting Against “Movie Star”Why past speeches, synonyms, context, and the market price led James to take the “No” side.[18:30] TSA Passenger Data—and Knowing When to PassHistorical checkpoint volume offers useful evidence, but not necessarily enough of an edge to justify a trade.[21:01] Three Trades and One Repeatable SystemJames reviews his positions and the difference between market-level and event-specific advantages.[23:00] Prediction Markets as a Continuing ExperimentWhy James plans to keep testing the approach and sharing shorter updates.Additional Resources:Kalshi: What Are Prediction Markets? — An introduction to event contracts, pricing, and settlement.Kalshi: How Prices Are Determined — How opposing orders are matched and market prices are established.Kalshi FAQ — Platform rules, prohibited conduct, trading mechanics, and account information.CFTC: Understanding Prediction...
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    22 分
  • Zynga Founder Mark Pincus: Why All New Fails + How to Copy to Millions

    Zynga Founder Mark Pincus: Why All New Fails + How to Copy to Millions
    2026/06/25
    A Note from James:Mark Pincus is one of the true OGs of the internet. You probably know him as the founder of Zynga, the company behind FarmVille, Zynga Poker, and Words With Friends. Zynga was eventually acquired by Take-Two in a transaction valued at approximately $12.7 billion. Before Zynga, Mark started Tribe, one of the first social networks—before MySpace and Facebook. He has spent more than 25 years building, failing, and studying what gets millions of people to click, play, share, and come back. His new book, Life at the Speed of Play, inspired me to start coming up with new business ideas while we were still recording.What I really love is how Mark teaches people to copy like a master without looking like a copycat. He has a framework called “Proven–Better–New.” Start with something that has already been proven. Make it obviously better. Then isolate the new idea you want to test. It’s one of the best systems I’ve heard for creating products people actually want.We talk about the early days of Facebook and MySpace, the failure of Tribe, the gaming industry, consumer psychology, AI coding, and how agents could eventually network and work for us while we’re doing something else.I loved talking with Mark. I was still thinking about this conversation afterward—and I’m literally building businesses based on what I learned. His new book is called Life at the Speed of Play. Listen to this episode, and then read the book.Episode Description:Most founders begin with an idea and then spend months—or years—trying to prove that people want it. Mark Pincus thinks that process is backward.At Zynga, Mark’s teams built “failure machines”: simple systems that allowed them to test hundreds of concepts before writing the code. They put unfinished ideas in front of real users, watched what people clicked, and refused to build anything until the demand was obvious. The objective wasn’t to avoid failure. It was to make failure fast, cheap, and useful.Mark explains the framework behind that process: Proven–Better–New. First, study an existing success down to every screen, click, and design decision. Then identify one improvement that current users would immediately recognize as better. Only after that should a team add the unproven idea—the part most likely to fail.James and Mark also examine the problems facing today’s consumer entrepreneurs. AI has made software easier to build, but distribution has become harder. People aren’t searching for new apps, established platforms restrict organic growth, and algorithmic reach isn’t the same as users actively sharing something with friends.Mark uses the failure of his early social network, Tribe, to explain why virality is not enough. Tribe grew quickly but lacked retention and trust. He ignored the communities users loved because they didn’t match the business model he had already chosen. That painful mistake became the foundation for much of his later product philosophy.The conversation ends with Mark’s current experiments: personal AI agents modeled after members of his family, a proposed work network built specifically for agents, an enterprise AI company called Hivemind, and the difficult decision to end a four-year passion project without abandoning the instinct behind it.This is a practical conversation about testing ideas, separating instinct from ego, learning from the past, and killing the wrong product before it consumes the right opportunity.What You’ll Learn:How to build a failure machine: Test headlines, offers, videos, and fake doors before investing in a finished product.How to apply Proven–Better–New: Begin with a proven behavior, make one unmistakable improvement, and isolate the risky innovation.Why distribution is now harder than development: AI can generate a prototype quickly, but it cannot guarantee attention, trust, or adoption.Why Tribe failed despite rapid growth: Virality without retention, safety, and alignment with user behavior does not create a lasting network.How to copy without becoming a copycat: Study successful products at the pixel level, preserve what works, and innovate only where it matters.When to abandon an idea: Preserve the underlying instinct, but stop funding the particular expression of it when the evidence turns against you.How AI agents may change networking: Agents could eventually search for opportunities, exchange work, build reputations, and bring useful leads back to their users.Timestamped Chapters: [02:00] Finding the “OMFG” Moment [02:58] A Note from James [05:00] Build a Failure Machine Before Building a Product [06:25] Testing Demand With Fake Doors and Broken Links [08:08] Writing Copy That People Actually Notice [10:52] Test More Ideas in a Week Than the Industry Tests in a Year [11:53] Why Neglected Products Become Innovation Labs [13:26] How Mobile Apps Slowed Product Experimentation [15:09] Can AI Bring Rapid Testing Back? [17:08] Why Consumer ...
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    1 時間 21 分
  • From the Archive: The 7 Techniques to Influence Anyone of Anything | Robert Cialdini

    From the Archive: The 7 Techniques to Influence Anyone of Anything | Robert Cialdini
    2026/06/19
    A Note from James:If I could tell my children to read one post of mine, it would be this post.Influence is how they will navigate a world of uncertainty.Robert Cialdini is the most influential person in the world. And by that I mean, he wrote the book Influence, which sold 3 million copies and defines the six critical aspects of all influence.Now he has a new book, Pre-Suasion, going 10x deeper into the concepts of persuasion. I got him on my podcast so I could ask the 1,000 questions I have.Small story from the book:If you name a restaurant “Studio 97” instead of “Studio 17,” people are more likely to tip higher.If you ask a girl for her phone number outside a flower store, triggering feelings of romance, she is more likely to give it to you than if you ask her outside a motorcycle store.And 500 other stories.The environment is just as important as what you say.Before the podcast began, I gave him a book as a gift: The Anxiety of Influence, a history of poetry.What would poetry have to do with influence and marketing?In all art, since the beginning of time, artists have built on the work of the artists of the generation before them.Beethoven depended on a Mozart to be a Beethoven. Picasso depended on a Cézanne. Without Michelson, there would be no Einstein.But poets, for some reason, would deny being influenced.“I never even read Ezra Pound,” shouted one poet at a critic.Poets want to be seen as original.Nobody is 100% original.This is the anxiety of influence.Almost all of our decisions, and even our creativity, are outsourced to the people around us who influence us: peers, teachers, religion, parents, bosses, etc.Our personality is our own particular mishmash of influences.How we deal with that anxiety, how we recognize the influences, learn from them, and build from them, is the birth of all of our creativity.Let me summarize the seven aspects of influence:Reciprocity: If you give someone a Christmas card, they will want to return the favor.Likability: Make yourself trustworthy. For instance, outline the negatives of dealing with you.Consistency: Ask someone for a favor. Now they will say to themselves, “I am the type of person who does James a favor.”Social Proof: If you are trying to get someone to do X, show them that “a lot of your peers do X.” For instance, if you are at a bar and you are a guy trying to meet women, bring your women friends and not your guy friends with you.Authority: “Four out of five dentists say…”Scarcity: “Only 100 iPhones left at this store!”Unity: You and I are the same because of location, values, religion, etc.I’ve used each of the above in business.They work.They will make you money.The entire purpose of language is to influence.We are not strong animals. We are weak.The language of influence saved us.Probably a word like “Run!” was the first word spoken.A word of influence.And it worked.I’m still running from the things I fear.So speak to influence.Don’t speak to call a flower yellow.Speak to breathe spirit into an idea, to be enthusiastic, to convey emotion, to influence.This is the only way to have an impact with your unique creativity.I gave Robert the book as a gift — reciprocity — assuming we would have a great podcast.And we did.But then I thought later, I can’t even remember how Robert got on my podcast.I highly recommend his book in the podcast and even in this post.As he got into his car after the podcast in order to go to his next interview, I started thinking:“Hmmm, who influenced who?”Episode Description:Robert Cialdini wrote the book on persuasion — literally. His classic Influence became one of the defining books on why people say yes, how decisions get shaped, and why the smallest cue in the room can change the outcome of a conversation.In this episode from the archive, James talks with Cialdini about Pre-Suasion, the idea that persuasion starts before the actual pitch. It begins with what people notice, what they feel, what is in the environment, and what frame has already been set before the first real ask is made.They talk about flower shops, restaurant names, voting booths, Warren Buffett’s shareholder letters, Anwar Sadat’s negotiation instincts, and the rabbi who helped save thousands of lives with one sentence. But the episode is not just about marketing. It is about how people make decisions under uncertainty — and how to use influence ethically, whether you are asking for a job, building a business, negotiating a deal, writing a sales letter, or trying to become more trusted.What You’ll Learn:Why persuasion often begins before the message — and how small cues in the environment can make people more receptive.How Cialdini’s original six principles of influence work: reciprocity, consistency, social proof, scarcity, authority, and liking.Why Cialdini added a seventh principle, unity — the feeling that “we are the same” — and why it can be even stronger than liking.When to ...
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    1 時間 8 分
  • From the Archive: Your Money Blueprint: Why You Keep Earning and Losing the Same Amount | T. Harv Eker

    From the Archive: Your Money Blueprint: Why You Keep Earning and Losing the Same Amount | T. Harv Eker
    2026/06/13

    Episode Description:

    In this episode from the early days of The James Altucher Show, James sits down with T. Harv Eker, author of Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, to examine why earning money, keeping money, and feeling secure about money are three very different skills.

    Harv recounts cycling through 14 jobs and 12 businesses before building a successful chain of fitness stores—and then losing much of what he had earned. That experience forced him to confront what he calls a person’s “money blueprint”: the beliefs about wealth, work, success, and self-worth that are often absorbed long before we recognize them.

    Although this conversation was originally recorded years ago, Harv’s advice still applies today. He explains how to separate your identity from your financial results, challenge inherited beliefs, create income that does not depend entirely on your time, and recognize the thoughts that quietly keep you inside your comfort zone.


    What You’ll Learn:

    • Why making money and keeping money require different skills
    • How childhood experiences can shape your unconscious expectations about wealth
    • A four-step process for replacing beliefs that no longer support you
    • Why Harv believes active income should eventually be converted into passive income
    • How the words “Thank you for sharing” can interrupt an unhelpful thought before it controls your behavior


    Timestamped Chapters:

    • [01:07] How your childhood creates a financial blueprint
    • [02:57] Harv’s 14 jobs, 12 businesses, and repeated failures
    • [04:42] Persistence, entrepreneurship, and learning inside another business
    • [06:44] Building and selling a chain of fitness stores
    • [10:52] The difference between making money and keeping it
    • [12:21] What happens when self-worth becomes tied to net worth
    • [13:53] Recognizing the financial patterns inherited from his father
    • [14:39] The family crisis that forced Harv to change
    • [17:41] Why a lack of money may be a symptom rather than the problem
    • [18:10] Studying conditioning, biofeedback, and behavioral change
    • [20:02] Harv’s experience with Zen practice
    • [21:46] Reconciling spirituality, generosity, ambition, and wealth
    • [23:47] Awareness, understanding, disassociation, and reconditioning
    • [26:32] Challenging the belief that wealthy people are inherently bad
    • [30:00] How new evidence can weaken an old belief
    • [31:35] Why Harv prioritizes passive income
    • [35:13] The business formula: model, systemize, and duplicate
    • [39:49] The four words Harv uses to interrupt negative thinking
    • [43:07] How to respond to negative friends and family members
    • [45:58] Growing from informal coaching to an international training company
    • [50:07] Three questions for deciding what you genuinely want
    • [56:15] Final thoughts


    Additional Resources:

    • T. Harv Eker’s official website
    • Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth — Harv’s book about identifying and revising the unconscious beliefs that shape financial behavior.
    • Success Resources — The personal-development events company that acquired Peak Potentials Training in 2011.
    • Entrepreneur — The business publication Harv recalls reading at the beginning of his entrepreneurial career
    • American Gigolo — The Richard Gere film referenced during the discussion of inversion boots


    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    59 分
  • The Viral Chess Cheating Scandal with Anal Beads: Ben Mezrich Reveals the Full Story

    The Viral Chess Cheating Scandal with Anal Beads: Ben Mezrich Reveals the Full Story
    2026/06/02
    A Note from James:Oh my gosh, one of my favorite guests ever: Ben Mezrich.Ben wrote Bringing Down the House, which became the movie 21. He wrote The Accidental Billionaires, which became The Social Network. And now his latest page-turner, Checkmate, is about one of the most explosive scandals in modern sports: the Hans Niemann chess cheating controversy that took over the world.You remember the story. Magnus Carlsen, the greatest chess player of all time, loses to this completely arrogant, egotistical 19-year-old bad boy of chess. Then Magnus accuses him of cheating. This had basically never happened before at that level in chess.What followed was a viral meltdown: the infamous anal beads tweet, death threats, lawsuits, chess.com, Netflix documentaries, and a chess world at war with itself.Ben spent over a year with Hans Niemann. He got access to Magnus’s camp, chess.com, and the drama behind the chessboards. So we talk about whether Hans actually cheated that day, the insane rise of online chess during COVID, the world of prodigies, the generational clash inside elite chess, and how one suspicious game nearly destroyed a young player’s career.So welcome to one of my favorite guests, Ben Mezrich.Episode Description:James talks with bestselling author and screenwriter Ben Mezrich about Checkmate, his new book on the Magnus Carlsen–Hans Niemann chess cheating scandal. It’s classic Mezrich territory: brilliant young people, high-stakes competition, huge money, a gray area between genius and rule-breaking, and a story that becomes much bigger than the facts alone.The conversation is especially strong because James knows the chess world firsthand. He was a master-level player, helped build early internet chess infrastructure, knows many of the top players, and has commentated on Norway Chess. That gives the interview a different texture: Ben brings the reporting and the narrative access, while James brings the chess context and the ability to test the story move by move.They talk about Hans’s rise, Magnus’s suspicion, chess.com’s cheating algorithms, why online cheating is different from over-the-board cheating, the role of the infamous anal beads tweet, and the psychological cost of being publicly accused without definitive evidence. The question underneath the whole episode is not just “Did Hans cheat?” It’s: what happens when reputation, genius, technology, money, and suspicion all collide on one chessboard?What You’ll Learn:Why the Carlsen–Niemann scandal became a global story far beyond the chess world.How Ben Mezrich got access to Hans Niemann, chess.com, Magnus’s camp, and the hidden details around the scandal.Why cheating online is easier to detect than many people think, while over-the-board cheating may be harder to catch.Why Magnus’s accusation is both serious and complicated, even without definitive public evidence.How the anal beads rumor actually started—and why it turned a chess controversy into an internet phenomenon.Why Hans Niemann’s comeback to elite chess is so unusual after that level of reputational damage.How Ben thinks about stories involving ambition, genius, scams, gray areas, and young people breaking rules.Timestamped Chapters:[02:00] Preview: Hans Niemann, Magnus Carlsen, and the cheating accusation[02:59] A Note from James: Ben Mezrich returns[04:17] James’s chess background and connection to the story[04:45] Ben’s year embedded with Hans Niemann[05:00] Why elite chess players have such unusual personalities[05:42] Why chess carries cultural weight[06:15] Why the scandal exploded worldwide[07:44] Chess.com, streaming, and the billion-dollar chess economy[08:12] The Mezrich formula: genius, ambition, gray areas, and scandal[09:49] Online cheating vs. over-the-board cheating[10:29] Why technology has changed cheating in chess[11:44] The reputational risk of cheating over the board[12:37] Why top-20 chess status matters financially[13:12] Hans Niemann’s unusually fast rise[14:00] COVID, online chess, and Hans’s obsessive tournament grind[15:49] Suspicious patterns, livestreams, and uncertainty[17:09] Hans’s history of online cheating[17:33] Hans living alone in New York as a teenager[18:42] Not getting into Harvard and resetting his life around chess[19:35] James admits he may have been the first person to cheat online[20:42] Why cheating can help build a streaming reputation[21:29] How chess.com detects online cheating[22:04] Magnus’s gut feeling after the Sinquefield Cup game[23:19] Magnus’s state of mind before playing Hans[24:00] The photographer incident no one knew about[25:19] Magnus confronting the photographer[26:47] Hans’s body language during the game[27:32] Why Magnus felt “nobody plays me like this”[28:08] Hans’s explanation of the win[29:00] The psychological battle between Hans and Magnus[29:43] Magnus’s breakfast with Danny Rensch before the game[31:00] Why prior online cheating changes how opponents ...
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    1 時間
  • Opus Dei: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church | Gareth Gore

    Opus Dei: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church | Gareth Gore
    2026/05/26
    A Note from James:Have you ever read The Da Vinci Code?That book was definitely a page-turner. Before I read it, I had never really heard of Opus Dei. And after today’s conversation with Gareth Gore, you might wish you had never heard of Opus Dei either.In The Da Vinci Code, Opus Dei is a mysterious organization tied to the Catholic Church, secret history, and global power. But today’s guest, Gareth Gore, started investigating Opus Dei from a completely different angle. He was looking into the 2017 collapse of a major Spanish bank. He found something much bigger: a secretive organization with connections to global finance, politics, elite schools, the FBI, and even the highest levels of power in Washington, D.C.His book is Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church. And what he found is disturbing. Officially, Opus Dei promotes holiness in everyday life. And honestly, I like parts of that idea. But Gareth argues that behind the public message is a high-control organization built on secrecy, manipulation, financial opacity, and alleged abuse.We talk about how Opus Dei recruits from both the ultra-wealthy and the desperately poor, the strange ownership structures tied to hundreds of millions of dollars, the Robert Hanssen spy scandal, alleged influence in Washington, and Gareth’s recent private meeting with Pope Leo, where he says he gave the Pope a dossier calling for serious action.This is an eye-opening story. Here’s Gareth Gore.Episode Description:James talks with investigative journalist Gareth Gore about Opus Dei, the secretive Catholic organization at the center of Gareth’s book Opus. What started as Gareth’s investigation into the collapse of Banco Popular in Spain led him into a much larger story about money, power, religious authority, alleged exploitation, and the ways an institution can hide behind noble language while pursuing a much harder political and financial agenda.Gareth explains that Opus Dei officially presents itself as a Catholic movement dedicated to helping ordinary people find holiness through daily work. But his argument is that the public message conceals a high-control system built around recruitment, secrecy, spiritual pressure, and influence inside elite institutions. He describes Opus Dei as both an official part of the Catholic Church and, in his view, an abusive cult. Opus Dei strongly disputes Gareth’s book, calling it a false picture based on distorted facts and conspiracy theories.The conversation moves from Opus Dei’s founding in Spain in 1928 to its special status as a personal prelature, its alleged links to Banco Popular, its recruitment practices, the Robert Hanssen spy scandal, elite schools, Washington power networks, and Gareth’s recent meeting with Pope Leo. The episode is useful because it does not treat Opus Dei as just a conspiracy theory symbol from The Da Vinci Code. It asks a more direct question: what happens when a religious organization accumulates money, secrecy, political influence, and moral authority at the same time?What You’ll Learn:What Opus Dei officially is, and why its status as a personal prelature matters.How Gareth Gore went from investigating a Spanish bank collapse to writing a book about Opus Dei.Why Gareth argues that Opus Dei’s public message differs sharply from its internal practices.How Banco Popular allegedly became a financial engine for Opus Dei-linked projects.Why Gareth compares aspects of Opus Dei to a high-control cult.What Gareth says happened in the Robert Hanssen spy scandal.Why the alleged recruitment of minors and underprivileged girls has become one of the most serious issues around the organization.What Gareth told Pope Leo in their private meeting.Timestamped Chapters:[02:00] Gareth Gore on Opus Dei as an alleged abusive cult[02:41] Opus Dei as a “rising militia”[03:54] A Note from James: from The Da Vinci Code to Gareth’s investigation[05:54] Gareth joins the show[06:00] How James first heard of Opus Dei[06:37] Gareth’s background as a financial journalist[07:11] What is Opus Dei?[07:45] Opus Dei’s status as a personal prelature[08:40] Why that structure gives Opus Dei unusual freedom[09:15] Gareth’s argument: official Catholic structure, unofficial high-control group[10:03] The positive public message of “holiness in everyday life”[10:43] Josemaría Escrivá and Opus Dei’s founding[12:00] When Gareth thinks the movement turned political[13:30] Spain on the edge of civil war[14:14] Escrivá’s followers as a “secret army”[15:19] Why Opus Dei recruits from elites[16:00] Why Opus Dei also recruits from the poor[17:09] Underprivileged girls and alleged domestic servitude[17:37] How recruitment works by invitation[19:15] Lifelong study, confession, and spiritual guidance[19:54] Opus Dei’s modern agenda[20:46] Sex, family values, and political identity[22:05] Why Dan Brown chose Opus Dei for The Da Vinci Code[24:...
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