A conversation with Noah Smith. Polymath, renaissance man: neither description does justice to this extraordinary writer. Intelligence, wit and wisdom in abundance. And optimism.
One of the best ever Other Hand Conversations
Chris Johns
Noah Smith majored in physics and switched to economics for his PhD. An academic career beckoned but didn’t last long. A blogging hobby became his job. Bloomberg came knocking, not the last invitation he would receive to write professionally. Well-known venture capitalists persuaded him to move to this platform, Substack. New media - the landscape is changing. Is this the future of long-form journalism?
His site is well-worth a subscription. Only about 1/3 of his posts are behind the paywall. His Substack site is the only one that I pay for. Worth every cent!
He can be found on Twitter.Noah has written about an incredible range of topics. He persuades us that the humble battery is both fascinating and of profound importance . His deep dives into tech bubbles past and present are essential reading. Fukuyama’s end of history is given a once-over. Worried about the implications of Artificial Intelligence for your job prospects? Noah supplies much needed reassurance. ‘AI is just us talking to ourselves in a fancy way’. The ‘jobs apocalypse’ should not be on our list of serious concerns.
There is a mini-industry in doom-mongering these days. He never minimises the problems we really do face, but debunks some of the myths and supplies not a little optimism.
Economists have been oft criticised for their obsessive pursuit of mathematical sophistication - Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman has called it the pursuit of beauty at the expense of truth. Noah thinks the math these days isn’t that pretty - clunky in fact.
He argues that the energy crisis will not result in deindustrialisation for Europe. He knows a lot about China, Japan, Mexico and Pakistan. He thinks a Chinese invasion of Taiwan will result in WW3. Noah is particularly worried about the UK - a country gripped in a weird anti-growth pathology. A country in worse shape than the US. ‘Extinction Rebellion is a maudlin bloc party’.
He has explored the origins of wokeness. Noah exhorts us to read books and stop watching too much TV. He loves Rabbits: ‘vegan cats’. Noah offers insight into fundamental but simple economic concepts that we all need to understand.
Unsurprisingly, Noah is an advocate for knowing about stuff in depth. He has concluded that podcasts aren’t necessarily the best medium for this! I think this podcast both reinforces and refutes his view: yes, one 30-40 minute conversation can only touch on some of these subjects, but it can also take us relatively deeply into one or two topics in ways that traditional media today does not. And podcasts can encourage all of us to dig deeper.
This ranks amongst one of the best conversations I have had on The Other Hand Podcast. Do give it a listen. You won’t be disappointed. You might even be uplifted. Oh, it really helps that as well as being super smart, Noah doesn’t let it get to him. A thoroughly decent, nice, person.