The Accent Podcast

Dr. Allen Frances is a Chairman Emeritus of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine. He is best known for serving as chair of the American Psychiatric Association task force overseeing the development and revision of the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). Dr. Frances is the founding editor of two well-known psychiatric journals: the Journal of Personality Disorders and the Journal of Psychiatric Practice. During the development of the current diagnostic manual, DSM-5, Dr. Frances became critical of the expanding boundaries of psychiatry and the medicalization of normal human behavior, problems he contends are leading to the overdiagnosis and overtreatment of the "worried well" and the gross undertreatment of the severely ill. Dr. Frances is the author or co-author of multiple books within the fields of psychiatry and psychology. Dr. FRANCES's BOOKs: Saving Normal: https://amzn.to/497dxxq Essentials of Psychiatric Diagnosis: https://amzn.to/494eRBe FOLLOW Dr. FRANCES ON TWITTER: / allenfrancesmd SUPPORT THE ACCENT ON PATREON: / theaccentpodcast TIMESTAMPS 01:25 Changes since Saving Normal 02:30 What is DSM? 06:20 Inflation of diagnosis in children’s mental illnesses 14:10 Pharma advertises mental illnesses directly to people 17:00 Nature or Nurture – the root cause of mental illnesses 21:35 Psychotherapy 25:35 Depressions should not be confused with normal mammalian phenomena 29:35 Addiction to medication and drugs 37:45 Selecting psychiatrist

Brian Fagan is an Archeologist, Author, and Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at UC Santa Barbara. He has written a number of books on archeology, humans, and, most recently, climate change. We discussed Early Humans, the history of hunting, the most influential civilizations, and the effects of localized climate change, which by the way, has nothing to do with politics but rather the history of the phenomena. TIMESTAMPS 01:10 Did humans evolve from apes 04:25 Hunting of early humans 12:45 Neanderthals 14:40 Humans walked out from Africa 20:50 Most important human tool 22:50 Complexities of archeological discovery 27:25 First Civilizations 32:55 Most influential Civilizations 34:45 Inca Civilization 37:55 Were there lost Civilizations (Atlantis)? 40:50 Why Civilizations Fall 44:35 Localized climate change 50:25 The Future of the human race

James Pan is a former Hedge Fund manager who, a decade ago, returned funds to outside investors and converted his firm into a family office. If you search for CP&E Partners' letters, you will see the phenomenal performance that James has achieved, and he did it as a one-man-shop. In this interview, we discussed James' investment philosophy, investment process, current holdings, and many other things. Books James is Ayn Rand's fan, so don't forget to read Atlas Shrugged: https://amzn.to/3sqGEel Support the Accent on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theaccentpodcast TIMESTAMPS 02:05 Absorbing information 03:45 Path to a Family Office 09:15 Defining Value Investing 13:30 Looking for investment ideas 15:30 First thing to see in a stock 19:30 Valuing companies 25:10 Concentrated vs Diversified portfolio 31:10 Meta 34:30 Latest investment – U-Haul 43:35 Management assessment 44:50 NOL as part of the valuation 46:20 Rolls-Royce 49:05 Writing Call Options 55:35 Investing with Dyslexia 59:15 Definition of Happiness

Dr. Scott Aaronson is Schlumberger Centennial Chair of Computer Science at The University of Texas at Austin, and director of its Quantum Information Center. His research interests center around the capabilities and limits of quantum computers and computational complexity theory more generally. For the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 academic years, he is on leave to work at OpenAI on the theoretical foundations of AI safety. In this interview, Dr. Aaronson discussed a quantum computer, its comparison to classical computers, and its use cases. He also shared his take on the potential role of quantum computers in Artificial Intelligence. Get Scott Aaronson's Book Quantum Computing since Democritus: https://amzn.to/3E290yb Read Scott Aaronson's blog: https://scottaaronson.blog Support The Accent on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theaccentpodcast TIMESTAMPS 01:45 Misconceptions about Quantum computing 03:00 Quantum Computer vs Classical Computer 08:30 The Schrodinger equation 18:00 What is Quantum Computer good for? 28:45 The look of Quantum computers 43:40 Quantum Error Correction 46:50 Quantum computing in AI 55:25 Would you choose Machin Learning or Quantum Computer for a major 57:50 Take on Michio Kaku’s book Quantum Supremacy….(oh, well)

Joby Warrick is a best-selling author and a national security correspondent for The Washington Post. A two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, he served for 24 years with the Post’s national and investigative staffs, reporting from Washington and scores of cities around the world. He is the author of three two nonfiction books, including “The Triple Agent”, a New York Times best-seller about a CIA operation in Afghanistan; "Red Line", and “Black Flags”, a narrative account of the personalities and events that gave rise to the Islamic State. “Black Flags” was listed as one of the best books of 2015 by the New York Times, The Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, and numerous other publications, and it was the recipient of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction. BOOKs: Black Flags: https://amzn.to/3QE46NK The Triple Agent: https://amzn.to/49zq5On Red Line: https://amzn.to/3FYaLxo SUPPORT THE ACCENT ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/theaccentpodcast TIMESTAMPS 01:35 The most surprising thing about ISIS 03:30 Abu Musab al-Zarqawi 06:45 Afghanistan after the Soviet Union 08:00 Zarqawi in al-Jafr prison 10:05 Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi 13:00 Al-Qaida of Iraq, and Zarqawi’s weaponization of religion 17:30 Black Flags 20:00 The US invasion of Iraq 28:00 Big pause after Zarqawi 31:50 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and the Rise of ISIS 38:00 A typical ISIS Fighter 40:30 New ISIS 43:10 Roots of Islamic Radicalization 47:00 Joby’s books

Tapio Schneider is a climate scientist and a professor of environmental science and engineering at the California Institute of Technology. His research is focused on understanding how the turbulent dynamics of the atmosphere, from clouds to large-scale weather systems, shape Earth's climate. Ultimately, his goal is to develop a set of physical laws that govern climate. SUPPORT THE ACCENT ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/theaccentpodcast TIMESTAMPS 01:20 Climate Change or Global Warming? 04:25 Greenhouses and their effects 07:25 The worst-case scenario 12:30 Genesis of Thoughts on Climate Change 17:35 Melting of Ice Sheets 23:20 Disagreements on the Climate Change 27:50 Main emitters of greenhouses 30:35 Solutions to Climate Change 33:50 Do EVs make a difference 39:00 Why not switch to renewables

Tim Staermose is the founder of the African Lions Fund, which invests in sub-Saharan African “Frontier” economies, excluding South Africa. Tim is also an investment writer, and his website - www.GlobalValueHunter.com - is full of global value investing ideas. SUPPORT THE ACCENT ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/theaccentpodcast TIMESTAMPS 01:10 Perception of Africa (Factfulness book) 08:25 Long or Short-term opportunity: Main Thesis 13:25 Asian model will not work in Africa 16:10 Leading Industries 18:35 Valuations in Africa 21:55 Investment process 29:25 Banking Industry in Africa 32:10 Position sizing 35:10 Hedging 38:50 Taxation of the fund 40:15 Largest position (NMB Bank - Tanzania) 48:45 Recent investments (KCB Bank, Equity Bank, Safaricom – Kenya) 52:40 Selling stocks

Dr. Lalich is Professor Emerita of Sociology at CSU Chico, where she was awarded the Professional Achievement Honor. She is recognized international authority in the fields of Cults and Coercion and has written numerous books and articles on the subject. In this interview, Dr. Lalich discussed cults, who tend to join them, her experience being in a cult, children raised in cults, and many other things. Support the Accent on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theaccentpodcast Dr. Lalich's BOOKs: Escaping Utopia: https://amzn.to/43L7AmBBounded Choice:https://amzn.to/45XDtdwCults in Mind: https://amzn.to/3MSYUU2Taking Back Your Life: https://amzn.to/3oLHpgB TIMESTAMPS 01:05 The definition of Cult 08:05 The profile of a person joining a cult 11:00 Cult recruiters 12:20 Personal cult story 26:50 Is everything a cult? 28:20 Strangest cults 29:55 The largest cults 31:55 Children in cults 41:00 Social Media’s Role in cults 42:40 Pulling your loved ones out of the cult 44:15 Building a cult 48:00 Lalich Center on Cults on Coercion

Nolan Bushnell established Atari, Inc. and the Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre chain. He has been inducted into the Video Game Hall of Fame and the Consumer Electronics Association Hall of Fame, received the BAFTA Fellowship and the Nations Restaurant News "Innovator of the Year" award, and was named one of Newsweek's "50 Men Who Changed America". He has started over 20 companies and is one of the founding fathers of the video game industry. NOLAN's BOOKs: Shaping the Future of Education: https://amzn.to/3Sqrssq Finding the Next Steve Jobs: https://amzn.to/3ShSB0I SUPPORT THE ACCENT ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/theaccentpodcast WATCH THE ACCENT ON YOUTUBE: www.Youtube.com/TheAccentPodcast TIMESTAMPS 01:40 Nolan Bushnell’s Biopic 03:25 Story behind Atari 05:25 Birth of Computer Space! 07:35 The Story of Pong 11:00 Creating a new industry 12:05 Steve Jobs at Atari 15:20 Warner’s mismanagement of Atari 18:20 Nolan Bushnell’s story 25:45 Chuck E. Cheese 29:25 Catalyst Technologies: ETAK Navigator 32:00 Kadabrascope + Pixar 34:10 Raising Eight! children 38:10 Blitz

After reading the book “Philip and Alexander – Kings and Conquerors” and being blown away by a remarkable story, I absolutely had to invite its author, Dr. Adrian Goldsworthy, to the Accent. He is an ancient historian and novelist, who has written more than a dozen of non-fiction and fiction books, primarily focused on Ancient Rome (Check his books below). In this interview, we discussed Philip's role in the meteoric rise of Alexander and the life stories of this father-and-son duo. BOOKs: Philip and Alexander: Kings and Conquerors: https://amzn.to/445ti56 Caesar: Life of a Colossus: https://amzn.to/435Qteh Augustus: First Emperor of Rome: https://amzn.to/3PIWWsy Historical Novels: The Wall: https://amzn.to/3O7uJL3 Vindolanda: https://amzn.to/3PGLlu6 The Full Collection of Books on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3NWnvZX SUPPORT THE ACCENT ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/theaccentpodcast TIMESTAMPS 02:10 Underrated Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great 08:10 Philip on his way to the Throne 13:45 Philip’s reforms 21:05 Little casualties in wars 25:25 Taking Philip seriously 29:45 Philip II’s death 36:40 Alexander is the New King 43:05 First campaign 51:10 Diplomacy of Philip and Alexander 54:55 Defining Battles of Alexander 01:02:00 Conquering Empires is not Conquering the Provinces 01:06:45 Death of Alexander 01:07:00 Philip vs Alexander and their Roman counterparts 01:13:10 Dreams and Upcoming Books 01:17:15 Classics Influence on Dr. Goldsworthy

Amit Wadhwaney is a Portfolio Manager and Co-Founding Partner at Moerus Capital Management. He has over 25 years of experience researching and analyzing investment opportunities in developed, emerging, and frontier markets worldwide, and has managed global investment portfolios since mid-90s. Prior to founding Moerus, Amit was a Portfolio Manager and Partner at Third Avenue Management, where he founded the international business and was the manager of the Global Value Fund, Emerging Markets Fund, and International Value Fund. In this episode, we discussed Moerus' investment philosophy, current investments, position sizing, time of exit, and value investing in general. Support The Accent on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theaccentpodcast TIMESTAMPS 01:30 Jean-Marie Eveillard 06:50 Negative Environment for Value Investing 13:40 Which countries to invest in and which to avoid 20:20 Definition of Cheap and a current holding 27:50 Despegar as a value investing play 38:05 Position sizing 43:10 Existing positions 48:00 Looking for investment ideas 59:10 Currency risk

Tre Nation is the frontman of a hugely popular band, Ghost Hounds, whose latest single, "The Last Train to Nowhere," is playing all over the world. In this interview, Tre shared the story of the band, his musical taste, his upbringing, touring with Rolling Stones and ZZ Top, and many other things. Get the latest Ghost Hounds album, "First Last Time": https://amzn.to/3sYJCa3 Support The Accent on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theaccentpodcast TIMESTAMPS 01:25 Origin of Ghost Hounds 05:05 Ghost Hounds’ Music Style and Tre’s Voice 06:45 Song-writing process 08:55 New Album: First Last Time 11:30 Music Videos 14:00 The Band’s Manager 16:40 Motivation to keep going 18:35 Art vs Business 21:30 Growing up in San Antonio 25:15 Music or Physics 30:30 From Gospel to Rock-n-Roll 35:05 Tre’s preferred music style 39:50 Touring with Rolling Stones 44:20 Blitz

Gerald Posner is the author of thirteen acclaimed books, including New York Times bestsellers CASE CLOSED, WHY AMERICA SLEPT, and GOD's BANKERS. He is a contributor to Forbes. Posner was a finalist for the Pulitzer in History. “A merciless pit bull of an investigator,” concluded the Chicago Tribune. In this interview, we discussed Case Closed, a comprehensive and absolutely mind-blowing investigation of John F. Kennedy's assassination. Gerald covers the backstories of the main characters of the saga, Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby, and whether or not they had links to CIA, KGB, or Mafia. Links to select books: Case Closed: https://amzn.to/44F8wsB Pharma: Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America: https://amzn.to/3qXfnQo God's Bankers: A History of Money and Power at the Vatican: https://amzn.to/45AW26G Why America Slept: The Failure to Prevent 9/11: https://amzn.to/3Z0DJ8m Support the Accent on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theaccentpodcast TIMESTAMPS 01:55 Lee Harvey Oswald’s bio as the proof 07:40 Many “IFs” in the JFK case 12:50 Conspiracy about placing Oswald in the sniper nest 15:45 The most plausible and the dumbest conspiracies 19:20 Magic bullet 25:20 Jack Ruby 33:35 Yuri Nosenko – defected KGB agent 38:15 Is Gerald Posner a CIA agent? 42:50 Does new information change the conclusion? 46:50 Writing books across the spectrum of important issues

Carlo Cannell started Cannell Capital in 1992 with just $600k, and the fund grew over time to over $1 Billion. Unlike most fund managers, Carlo returned a portion of the assets back to investors, even though it meant less management fees. But that is not what Carlo is known for. Carlo has a superb track record investing in small-cap stocks, which he tends to hold for many years. Besides investing "long," his repertoire includes short-selling and occasional activist campaigns, which he discusses in this interview in detail. Disclaimer: No Investment Advice. The information shared in this episode has no regard to the specific investment objective, financial situation or particular needs of any specific recipient. The Book Carlo mentioned: A Money Mind at Ninety by Philip Carret: https://amzn.to/3D6uCZK Be the first to support The Accent at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theaccentpodcast TIMESTAMPS 01:55 Carlo on Carlo 05:00 Carlo’s investment style 13:05 Investment Process 16:00 Favored industries 19:20 Due Diligence 25:50 Investment Activism 28:45 Common Mistakes that Boards and Managements make 33:55 Valuing companies 35:45 Exiting positions 40:35 Shorting stocks 52:05 Sizing of Short Positions 55:40 Role of LPs 01:01:10 Returning half a billion to investors 01:05:35 Investment Management business is unique 01:08:15 Advice for individual investors

Dr. Robert Cialdini has spent his entire career conducting scientific research on what leads people to say “Yes” to requests. The results of his research, his ensuing articles, and New York Times bestselling books have earned him an acclaimed reputation as The Godfather of Influence. His books, including Influence and Pre-Suasion, have sold more than five million copies in 41 different languages. TIMESTAMPS 01:45 First encounter with influence 04:30 Principle of Unity 14:20 Principle of Social Proof 18:50 Principle of Reciprocation 21:25 Principle of Scarcity 24:20 Cialdini Institute 26:25 Principle of Authority 29:50 Principle of Liking 32:50 Principle of Commitment and Consistency 35:30 Pre-Suasion 38:00 Growing up in Post-war Milwaukie 42:20 Favorite childhood memory 48:10 University and writing The Influence 51:10 Influence at Work 53:15 Blitz

Dr. Donald Hoffman is a cognitive psychologist and famous science author. He is a professor in the Department of Cognitive Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. Hoffman studies consciousness, visual perception, and evolutionary psychology using mathematical models and psychophysical experiments. His research subjects include facial attractiveness, the recognition of shape, the perception of motion and color, the evolution of perception, and the mind–body problem. His latest book, The Case Against Reality, argues that the world is nothing like the one we experience through our senses. Subscribe to Accent Podcast on Youtube to see all episodes: https://www.youtube.com/theaccentpodcast The Case Against Reality: https://amzn.to/46pkLLS Be the first to support The Accent at: https://www.patreon.com/theaccentpodcast TIMESTAMPS 01:40 Take on AI, AGI, and ChatGPT 11:40 Threats of AI 13:45 Human Vision and Face Perception 18:00 Looking for Eyes 26:55 The Case Against Reality – Evolution by Natural Selection 34:55 Why Hoffman is wrong 39:55 Spacetime is Doomed 48:00 Thousand dimensions 50:25 Men vs Women Seeing colors 55:00 Designed simplicity 01:00:35 Reality misleads us 01:06:05 Consciousness 01:12:05 Dreams

Dr. Michael Shermer is the Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine, the host of the podcast The Michael Shermer Show, a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University, and the author of numerous New York Times bestsellers. Watch this episode with visual aid at www.YouTube.com/theaccentpodcast, and enjoy many more unpublished episodes. Dr. Shermer's books: Conspiracy: https://amzn.to/43cPsll Why People Believe Weird Things: https://amzn.to/45bkRX4 The Believing Brain: https://amzn.to/3MquA4c Support The Accent on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theaccentpodcast TIMESTAMPS 01:35 The First Recorded Conspiracy Theory 04:05 Defining Conspiracy Theory and Who Falls for Them 12:40 The Umbrella Man – JFK Conspiracy 15:15 The 9/11 Conspiracy 17:20 Types of Conspiracy Theories (OJ Simpson) 22:25 Where there is smoke, there is fire 26:55 The Deep State 30:35 Changing Mind on Conspiracy Theories and UFOs pictures 35:15 The Skeptic Society 37:25 ChatGPT 39:25 Backward Masking 42:50 How to think like a Scientist 47:40 Social Media’s Role in Conspiracy Theories 49:50 Being Michael Shermer

John Kleinheinz is the CEO of Kleinheinz Capital Partners, the investment advisor for the Global Undervalued Securities Fund, a global-macro-themed hedge fund that at its peak managed $4 billion. In the 1990s, he was a partner in an investment firm where he managed the Russia Value Fund, one of the earliest funds to invest in Russia, and formed at the inception of the Russian stock market following the voucher privatization program in 1994. John is a Chairman of the Board of Overseers for The Hoover Institution and on the advisory board of SIEPR (Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research). John's adventures in 1990s Russia are the basis for Josh Haven's book The Siberia Job. After reading the book, I had to speak to John to dig deeper into the events described in it, and boy, did I enjoy it. We also discussed John's investment philosophy and where he sees value in today's markets. This Episode is one of many on the Accent Wealth sub-channel on YouTube. If you enjoyed it, subscribe at www.Youtube.com/TheAccentPodcast TIMESTAMPS 01:40 Privatization in 1990s Russia 05:20 Russian Gold Rush 11:10 Illusive auctions for Russian companies 13:45 The results of the Russian investments 18:20 Life in Russia and Co-existence with Mafia 24:15 Kleinheinz Capital’s areas of interest 31:35 Investment process 36:15 Japanese market 40:10 Texas Central 44:00 The Hoover Institution

Paleontologist Jack Horner discovered the first dinosaur eggs in the Western Hemisphere, the first evidence of dinosaur colonial nesting, the first evidence of parental care among dinosaurs, and the first dinosaur embryos. Horner's research covers a wide range of topics about dinosaurs, including their behavior, physiology, ecology, and evolution. Due to struggles with the learning disability, dyslexia, Horner does not hold a formal college degree but was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Montana in 1986. Also in 1986, he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. He's a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University and is widely acknowledged to be the inspiration for the main character in the book and film Jurassic Park. Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theaccentpodcast TIMESTAMPS 02:25 T-Rex with feathers 10:30 Most intelligent dinosaurs 13:30 Historical misconceptions about dinosaurs 17:30 Interest in Dinosaurs 20:35 Verity of Dinosaurs across the World 21:40 B-Rex and Dinosaur's Soft Tissue 31:45 Favorite Dinosaur – Maiasaura 45:50 “Undiscovering” dinosaurs 49:55 Dino-chicken: How to Build a Dinosaur 56:45 The Jurassic Park 01:02:35 Is Jurassic Park possible? 01:06:15 On Jack Horner's Books: Digging Dinosaurs, and Maia: A Dinosaur Grows Up 01:06:50 Life as a Dyslexic

In this episode, I interviewed Dr. Avi Loeb, the longest-serving chair of the Astronomy department at Harvard University, the best-selling author, and one of the most influential people in Space (according to Time Magazine). We discussed Alien life, Interstellar objects visiting the Earth (Oumuamua), the limitation of the multiverse, time travel, and A.I. astronauts. We also discussed Dr. Loeb’s exploration projects, including Galileo Project and Starshot initiative that is working on a technology that would allow sending probes to Alpha Centauri and reach it within our lifetimes. Watch this episode with visual aid at www.YouTube.com/theaccentpodcast. Dr. Loeb's books: Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth https://amzn.to/3mPCScc Interstellar: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life https://amzn.to/40A3Wts My Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/theaccentpodcast TIMESTAMPS 01:00 Are we alone in the Universe? 04:45 Oumuamua 10:40 Galileo Project 12:10 Mainstream pushback against the alien origin of Oumuamua 26:50 Fermi Paradox 32:45 Biggest challenge for human space travel 38:30 Multiverse and String Theory 45:00 Reconciling Skeptics and String Theoreticians 54:00 Starshot Project (Alpha Centauri) 01:01:50 Time Travel 01:03:25 Dreams