Aporia: Aporia Podcast

Video: Immigration and the Eastern Bloc

Aporia — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 14:18:27 GMT

Noah discusses the reasons why Eastern Europe has had so much less immigration than Western Europe.

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Video: Factors reducing crime

Aporia — Wed, 27 May 2026 18:45:00 GMT

A few weeks ago, we published Part 2 of Noah’s video on the decline of crime in Britain. That one dealt with the the reasons people think crime has risen. We’re now publishing Part 3, which examines the reasons crime has fallen.

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Podcast: Genes and Social Mobility

Sat, 16 May 2026 18:08:15 GMT

Noah is joined by Gregory Clark to discuss his research on genes and social mobility. They first cover his 2023 paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, as well as the criticisms it provoked and Greg’s responses to them. They next turn to the taboo within academia surrounding genetic causes of social outcomes. They conclude by discussing Greg’s forthcoming book: For Whom the Bell Curve Tolls.

Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

00:55 Inside the PNAS Study

04:18 Genetics vs Culture Clues

07:52 Publication Pushback

09:20 Scandinavian Replication

11:39 Assortative Mating Explained

14:58 Marriage Patterns and Inequality

18:57 How People Match by Status

25:34 Building the Massive Dataset

32:10 What Social Status Means

37:13 Responding to Critics

39:43 Sibling Correlations Argument

42:32 Wealth Shocks Fade Out

45:34 Adoption and Adult Outcomes

46:30 Norway Study and Wilson Effect

48:48 Critiques and Measurement Error

52:39 Moral Panic and Racism Claims

56:24 Funding Bias in Social Science

01:01:36 Why Even Geneticists Downplay Genes

01:04:24 Where the Field Goes Next

01:06:19 Book Publishing Roadblocks

01:12:05 Book Structure and Policy Implications

01:15:46 Academic Publishing Chills Debate

01:19:30 Closing Thoughts and Farewell

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Video: Skewed perceptions of crime

Aporia — Wed, 06 May 2026 16:43:31 GMT

A few weeks ago, we published Part 1 of Noah’s video on the decline of crime in Britain. That one dealt with the evidence crime has fallen. We’re now publishing Part 2, which examines the reasons people think crime has risen.

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Podcast: The Akbari–Piffer controversy

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 15:56:19 GMT

Noah is joined by Davide Piffer to discuss a recent paper by Ali Akbari and colleagues (published in the prestigious journal Nature). The paper presents evidence of selection for intelligence in Europeans over the last 18,000 years. However, it fails to cite prior work by Davide and others. Noah and Davide discuss the science and ethics of this controversy.

Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome and Paper Overview

00:43 Key Findings Across Traits

02:43 Controlling for Ancestry

08:14 Confounds and Genetic Hitchhiking

11:27 Data Embargo Controversy

12:48 Challenging the Sapient Paradox

17:09 Polygenic vs Single Gene Selection

21:30 How This Compares to Piffer’s Research

24:50 Citation Dispute and Complaints

38:14 Future Directions and Africa Data

41:23 New Project on Civilization Stages

44:51 Closing Remarks

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Video: The decline of crime in Britain

Aporia — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:03:08 GMT

In Part 1 of a three-part video on the decline of crime in Britain, Noah discusses the evidence that crime has fallen.

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Video: Environment and the black–white IQ gap

Aporia — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:54:19 GMT

Noah argues that none of the commonly cited environmental explanations can explain more than a small portion of the gap.

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Video: Are we ruled by midwits?

Aporia — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 19:23:16 GMT

Noah considers how smart our lawmakers really are, and whether they’re getting less smart over time.

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Video: Genes, IQ and the ethos of science

Aporia — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 13:11:06 GMT

Noah argues that scientists have abandoned traditional scientific norms in the context of genes and IQ.

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Video: Who counts as English?

Aporia — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 15:08:34 GMT

Noah considers whether being English is a matter of ancestry, culture or both.

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Podcast: Trump and Deportations

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 16:07:19 GMT

Bo and Noah discuss their recent essays, ‘The Ruin of Conservatism’ and ‘The trouble with Trump’s deportations’. They consider to what extent Donald Trump’s character is a political liability, damaging conservatism at home and abroad. They then turn to his immigration policy, which looks unlikely to deliver what supporters hope for.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction and Welcome

00:32 Critique of Donald Trump

01:30 Trump’s Immigration Policies

05:16 Trump’s Character and Behavior

09:58 Trump’s Greenland Proposal

17:12 Impact on US and Global Politics

19:13 Trump’s Influence on Conservatism

35:24 Immigration Under Trump vs. Biden

39:12 Analyzing Immigration Trends Under Trump

39:52 Economic Factors Influencing Illegal Immigration

40:45 The Inefficiency of ICE Crackdowns

43:32 Trump’s Deportation Numbers Compared to Obama and Biden

47:14 The Case for E-Verify

49:21 Business Lobby Influence on Immigration Policy

53:53 Challenges and Arguments Against Mass Deportation

01:02:31 Cultural and Political Implications of Immigration Policies

01:11:04 Concluding Thoughts on Immigration and Trump

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Video: Italy's low murder rate

Aporia — Sun, 01 Feb 2026 14:09:08 GMT

Noah considers why Italy, a country known for the mafia, has such a low murder rate.

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Podcast: Intelligence and Liberalism

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 17:02:14 GMT

Bo and Noah discuss Noah’s recent essay ‘Why are intelligent people more liberal?’, which examines the link between intelligence and social liberalism. They consider whether cognitive errors and elite blind spots are more important for explaining the link than pro-sociality and moral universalism. And they ask what this all means for conservatism.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction and Overview

01:27 Defining Social Liberalism

02:32 Intelligence and Political Identity

04:53 Correlation Between Intelligence and Social Liberalism

09:02 Potential Causal Explanations

11:32 Cognitive Errors and Social Norms

22:21 Pro-Social Behavior and Intelligence

26:21 Tradition vs. Novelty

32:49 Discrimination Against Conservatives in Academia

33:28 Evolutionary Novelties and Moral Expertise

34:28 Cognitive Errors and Political Views

35:16 Populism and Intellectual Elites

36:59 Intelligence and Unusual Political Views

38:22 Political Interest and IQ Correlation

38:59 Political Identity and Online Behavior

43:34 Social Liberalism and Intelligence

44:34 Paternalism and Social Norms

49:36 Reasoning and Moral Principles

56:00 Promoting Intellectualism on the Right

58:42 Concluding Thoughts on Social Liberalism and Conservatism

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Podcast: When Efficiency Makes Life Worse

Thu, 08 Jan 2026 17:33:30 GMT

Bo and Noah discuss Bo’s recent essay ‘Against Efficiency’, which explores whether our relentless pursuit of precision and convenience has come at the expense of true happiness. The conversation covers everything from baseball analytics to the Amish community.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction and Overview

00:32 The Case Against Efficiency

02:27 Efficiency in Personal Relationships

05:37 Efficiency in Reading and Cultural Pursuits

12:42 Efficiency in Sports: Baseball Analytics

20:50 Efficiency in Chess: The Impact of Computers

28:46 Local Identity in Sports

29:45 Player Empowerment and Team Loyalty

32:52 The Impact of Efficiency on Community

36:12 Convenience vs. Human Flourishing

40:44 Happiness and Technological Advancement

44:48 Evolutionary Perspectives on Happiness

49:31 The Role of Inefficiency in Meaningful Lives

57:56 Balancing Efficiency and Meaning

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Video: IQ and missing heritability

Aporia — Sat, 27 Dec 2025 17:52:05 GMT

Noah explains why he doesn’t believe the heritability of IQ has been substantially overestimated.

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Podcast: Why Disgust Matters

Sun, 14 Dec 2025 16:31:19 GMT

Bo and Noah discuss Bo’s recent article ‘The Case for Disgust’, which argues that disgust ought to inform our moral and political judgments. They consider the evolutionary basis of the disgust response, ideological differences in disgust sensitivity, and whether disgust is an irrational bias or a useful indicator of further harms.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction and Overview

00:26 The Case for Disgust

01:36 Functions of Disgust in Morality

03:10 Evolutionary Basis of Disgust

04:31 Disgust and Contamination

08:08 Disgust in Social and Political Contexts

17:01 Disgust and Symbolic Values

21:16 Disgust as a Heuristic for Harm

21:55 Introduction to Homosexuality and Polyamory

22:23 Disgust and Polyamory

22:52 Moral Disgust and Social Norms

25:07 Incest and Moral Dumbfounding

28:08 Homosexuality and Social Conservatism

31:48 Disgust as a Moral Heuristic

36:25 Abortion and Moral Disgust

42:46 Symbolic Values and Community Norms

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Video: Will humans thrive in the AI era?

Aporia — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 16:32:14 GMT

A few weeks ago, we published Part 1 of Noah’s video lecture on AI. That one dealt with AI’s impact on the labour market. We’re now publishing Part 2, which considers whether humans will thrive in the AI era.

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Podcast: Is Feminization Degrading Institutions?

Sun, 23 Nov 2025 16:50:23 GMT

Bo and Noah discuss Helen Andrews’ article on the “feminization” of institutions, as well as the responses from David French, Richard Hanania, Paul Bloom and Bo himself. They consider whether men and women differ in their propensity for truth-seeking, how scientific institutions generate knowledge, and why some male-dominated institutions are not concerned with truth.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to the Aporia Podcast

00:26 Helen Andrews’ Thesis on Feminization

02:33 Criticisms and Responses to Andrews’ Article

08:09 The Evolutionary Case for Gender Differences

19:41 Coalitional Morality and Gender

30:22 Group Dynamics and Gender Interaction Effects

35:14 The Impact of Wokeness and Cancel Culture

36:23 Paul Bloom’s Article and the Scout vs. Soldier Mindset

39:30 Masculinity Archetypes: The Artist and the Berserker

39:46 Autism and Gender Differences

43:10 Greater Male Variance and Its Implications

53:18 The Role of Traditional Sex Roles in Academia

56:02 Meritocracy and Gender in Academia

58:50 The Influence of Feminization on Institutions

01:03:34 Final Thoughts on Gender and Institutional Change

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Debate: Can Intelligence Be Engineered?

Mon, 10 Nov 2025 20:00:37 GMT

Noah Carl and Emil Kirkegaard debate the philosophers Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith about the thesis of their book Why Machines Will Never Rule the World — that artificial general intelligence is “impossible”. The discussion covers the the challenges of modelling complex systems, the nature of human creativity, and the evolution of human intelligence.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction and Guest Introductions

00:41 Debate Setup and Initial Arguments

01:31 Defining Intelligence and Engineering Challenges

02:29 Explicit vs Implicit Engineering in AI

03:46 The Limits of Machine Learning

06:02 Critique and Counterarguments

10:30 The Turing Test and Its Limitations

15:55 Creativity and Novelty in AI

26:36 Holistic View of Intelligence

30:04 Evolution and Intelligence: From Bacteria to Social Mammals

31:09 AI and Human Emotions: Mimicking Nature

32:08 Challenges in Understanding Biological Neural Networks

34:10 The Limits of Simulating Physics and Evolution

35:46 Mathematics and the Complexity of Life

37:13 The Inherent Irregularities of Natural Systems

39:28 Skepticism About AI’s Potential

41:50 The Future of AI and Its Limitations

44:54 The Role of Thermodynamics in Understanding AI

56:11 Final Thoughts and Upcoming Projects

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Video: You're going to be replaced

Aporia — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 19:32:21 GMT

Noah examines AI’s impact on the labour market, drawing on the latest evidence.

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Noah Carl is an Editor of Aporia.

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