Best Shirley A. Scott Podcasts (2025)

1
RAG Risks: Why Retrieval-Augmented LLMs are Not Safer with Sebastian Gehrmann - #732 57:09

3d ago57:09

57:09

Today, we're joined by Sebastian Gehrmann, head of responsible AI in the Office of the CTO at Bloomberg, to discuss AI safety in retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems and generative AI in high-stakes domains like financial services. We explore how RAG, contrary to some expectations, can inadvertently degrade model safety. We cover examples o…

1
Mark Whitaker on ‘The Afterlife of Malcolm X: An Outcast Turned Icon’s Enduring Impact on America’ 1:11:05

7d ago1:11:05

1:11:05

Larry is joined by writer and media executive Mark Whitaker to discuss his newest book ‘The Afterlife of Malcolm X: An Outcast Turned Icon’s Enduring Impact on America’. They begin their conversation by talking about what inspired Mark to write the book and detailing Malcolm X’s Shakespearean life journey from harrowing childhood to celebrated civi…

1
152: “How to Be an Other Woman” by Lorrie Moore 34:05

9d ago34:05

34:05

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “How to Be an Other Woman” by Lorrie Moore. (Read First Section and Second Section.) What can we learn from this mock self-help instructional story? How are …

1
Riley Special 32:04

8d ago32:04

32:04

There are no words so there is no description. Besides of course this description, which is a description. But not like, a description, description. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Cloud10

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From Prompts to Policies: How RL Builds Better AI Agents with Mahesh Sathiamoorthy - #731 1:01:25

11d ago1:01:25

1:01:25

Today, we're joined by Mahesh Sathiamoorthy, co-founder and CEO of Bespoke Labs, to discuss how reinforcement learning (RL) is reshaping the way we build custom agents on top of foundation models. Mahesh highlights the crucial role of data curation, evaluation, and error analysis in model performance, and explains why RL offers a more robust altern…

1
Larry Wilmore on the Trump Administration, Pope Leo XIV, the State of Hollywood, and More 1:04:49

14d ago1:04:49

1:04:49

Larry starts off a special listener mailbag episode by sharing some of his biggest concerns with Donald Trump’s second term so far and his administration’s attack on government agencies and the Constitution. Next, he talks about the brand-new Pope Leo XIV and the role of religion in modern society (22:23). After the break, Larry discusses the futur…

1
Summer Special 34:26

15d ago34:26

34:26

It might not be summer yet but it's still time for our first ever Summer Special. We talk city names, unveil a new Candle of the Month and countdown the Top 5 Summer Movies of All Time. Pointless: 00:00 Candle of the Month: 12:00 The Best Summer Movies: 19:49 Contact the Show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

1
How OpenAI Builds AI Agents That Think and Act with Josh Tobin - #730 1:07:27

18d ago1:07:27

1:07:27

Today, we're joined by Josh Tobin, member of technical staff at OpenAI, to discuss the company’s approach to building AI agents. We cover OpenAI's three agentic offerings—Deep Research for comprehensive web research, Operator for website navigation, and Codex CLI for local code execution. We explore OpenAI’s shift from simple LLM workflows to reaso…

1
Leah Litman on ‘Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes’ 1:03:23

21d ago1:03:23

1:03:23

Larry is joined by professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School and co-host of the podcast ‘Strict Scrutiny’, Leah Litman, to discuss her forthcoming book ‘Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes’, publishing on May 13th. They begin their conversation by talking about how the politi…

1
151: “The Daemon Lover” by Shirley Jackson 26:45

23d ago26:45

26:45

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “The Daemon Lover” by Shirley Jackson. What can we learn from this psychological thriller? How can anxiety drive a story? How can the prose and details creat…

1
Tornado Researchers Dr. Jana Houser and Dr. Paul Markowski 1:03:26

22d ago1:03:26

1:03:26

With winds of over 300 miles per hour, Tornadoes are a incredibly destructive force of nature. But what causes them, why can’t we predict them and will climate change make them worse? Tornado Researchers Dr. Jana Houser and Dr. Paul Markowski are trying to answer these questions and more. We talk what causes tornadoes, why they only happens in cert…

1
CTIBench: Evaluating LLMs in Cyber Threat Intelligence with Nidhi Rastogi - #729 56:18

24d ago56:18

56:18

Today, we're joined by Nidhi Rastogi, assistant professor at Rochester Institute of Technology to discuss Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI), focusing on her recent project CTIBench—a benchmark for evaluating LLMs on real-world CTI tasks. Nidhi explains the evolution of AI in cybersecurity, from rule-based systems to LLMs that accelerate analysis by p…

1
Generative Benchmarking with Kelly Hong - #728 54:17

1M ago54:17

54:17

In this episode, Kelly Hong, a researcher at Chroma, joins us to discuss "Generative Benchmarking," a novel approach to evaluating retrieval systems, like RAG applications, using synthetic data. Kelly explains how traditional benchmarks like MTEB fail to represent real-world query patterns and how embedding models that perform well on public benchm…

1
Earthquake Geologist Dr. Wendy Bohon 1:09:58

1M ago1:09:58

1:09:58

We all know what an earthquake is but what’s actually happening deep inside the Earth when the ground starts to shake. Earthquake Geologist Dr. Wendy Bohon studies earthquakes. We talk the science behind earthquakes, earthquakes myths and what Hollywood gets wrong. Then, it’s Hummers and Cybertrucks vs. Pintos and Jeeps as we countdown the Top 5 Mo…

1
Daniel Lubetzky on the Builders Movement, ‘Shark Tank,’ Kind LLC, and More 1:08:16

1M ago1:08:16

1:08:16

Larry is joined by billionaire entrepreneur and ‘Shark Tank’ costar Daniel Lubetzky, and they begin their conversation by analyzing the importance of independent thought in today’s political climate. They then focus on the objectives of the Builders Movement and Daniel's efforts to curb political extremism and heal divisions within the business com…

1
White Collar Crime Researcher Dr. Will Thomas 1:16:14

1M ago1:16:14

1:16:14

From Fraud and Bribery to Money Laundering and Insider Trading, Dr. Will Thomas studies white collar crime. We talk how white collar crimes are committed, why criminals get away and what happens to the nearly $800 billion lost every year to white collar crime. Then, we countdown the Top 5 Stores to Wander Around In Dr. Will Thomas: 00:58 Pointless:…

1
150: “Babylon Revisited” by F. Scott Fitzgerald 37:37

1M ago37:37

37:37

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Babylon Revisited” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. What can we learn from this story? How can fiction subtly reveal character motives? How can we use a slippery poi…

1
The Breakdown of A Few Things I've Learned 52:41

1M ago52:41

52:41

About that back to weekly promise. . . Things don't always turn out how we plan. Christopher didn't plan to discover he was neurodivergent at 47 years old. But he did. He devotes this episode to looking at how that has changed his perspective on things, and how he plans to approach movie criticism and podcasting going forward.…

1
Exploring the Biology of LLMs with Circuit Tracing with Emmanuel Ameisen - #727 1:34:06

1M ago1:34:06

1:34:06

In this episode, Emmanuel Ameisen, a research engineer at Anthropic, returns to discuss two recent papers: "Circuit Tracing: Revealing Language Model Computational Graphs" and "On the Biology of a Large Language Model." Emmanuel explains how his team developed mechanistic interpretability methods to understand the internal workings of Claude by rep…

1
Technosexuals Mandroid Exotica and Robo Grrl 52:36

1M ago52:36

52:36

From Robots and Androids to Planes and Phones, Technosexuals are attracted to technology. We talk technosexuality, robot lovers and more with Technosexuals, Mandroid Exotica and Robo Grrl. Then, it’s towels and books vs. t-shirts and pictures as we countdown the Top 5 Hardest Things to Get Rid Of. Mandroid Exotica and Robo Grrl: 01:14 Pointless:17:…

1
Teaching LLMs to Self-Reflect with Reinforcement Learning with Maohao Shen - #726 51:45

2M ago51:45

51:45

Today, we're joined by Maohao Shen, PhD student at MIT to discuss his paper, “Satori: Reinforcement Learning with Chain-of-Action-Thought Enhances LLM Reasoning via Autoregressive Search.” We dig into how Satori leverages reinforcement learning to improve language model reasoning—enabling model self-reflection, self-correction, and exploration of a…

1
Tara Palmeri on ‘Somebody’s Gotta Win’ and ‘The Red Letter’ 1:01:02

2M ago1:01:02

1:01:02

Larry is joined by political journalist Tara Palmeri, writer of ‘The Red Letter’ Substack and host of The Ringer podcast ‘Somebody’s Gotta Win’, to discuss all of the latest buzz shaking up Washington D.C. They begin their conversation by analyzing the possible political repercussions of Trump’s new tariffs. This leads into a talk about the viabili…

1
Language Creators (Conlangers) David J. Peterson and Jessie Peterson 1:16:53

2M ago1:16:53

1:16:53

From Dothraki in Game of Thrones to Chakobsa in Dune, Language Creators (Conlangers) David J. Peterson and Jessie Peterson have created dozens of new languages for many of your favorite movies and TV shows. We talk what goes into creating a new language, anthropomorphic beavers and plot secrets hidden in languages. Then, we unveil a new Candle of t…

1
149: “The Martyr” by Mary Gordon 22:07

2M ago22:07

22:07

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “The Martyr” by Mary Gordon. What can we learn from this story of a character trying to remember and understand their brother? How does foreshadowing structu…

1
Waymo's Foundation Model for Autonomous Driving with Drago Anguelov - #725 1:09:07

2M ago1:09:07

1:09:07

Today, we're joined by Drago Anguelov, head of AI foundations at Waymo, for a deep dive into the role of foundation models in autonomous driving. Drago shares how Waymo is leveraging large-scale machine learning, including vision-language models and generative AI techniques to improve perception, planning, and simulation for its self-driving vehicl…

1
Alex Isenstadt on ‘Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump's Return to Power’ 59:25

2M ago59:25

59:25

Larry is joined by Axios Senior Political Reporter Alex Isenstadt to talk about his new book ‘Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power’. They begin their conversation by discussing Alex’s approach to writing the book and the environment surrounding Trump when he decided to run for president a second time. They then analyze the personali…

1
Sleep Psychologist Dr. Jade Wu 1:01:10

2M ago1:01:10

1:01:10

Sleep Psychologist Dr. Jade Wu helps people fall asleep and stay asleep. We talk the latest science on why sleep is important, what happens to us if we don’t get enough sleep, and why when you sleep is just as important as how long your sleep. Then, it’s Lions and Tigers vs, Bobcats and Cougars and we countdown the Top 5 Cats. Dr. Jade Wu: 01:04 Po…

1
Dynamic Token Merging for Efficient Byte-level Language Models with Julie Kallini - #724 50:32

2M ago50:32

50:32

Today, we're joined by Julie Kallini, PhD student at Stanford University to discuss her recent papers, “MrT5: Dynamic Token Merging for Efficient Byte-level Language Models” and “Mission: Impossible Language Models.” For the MrT5 paper, we explore the importance and failings of tokenization in large language models—including inefficient compression…

1
Krys Marshall on ‘Paradise’ 1:13:54

2M ago1:13:54

1:13:54

Larry is joined by actress Krys Marshall to talk about the Season 2 release of her Hulu show ‘Paradise’. They begin their conversation by examining Marshall’s upbringing and the many factors that inspired her to become an actor. This leads to a conversation about the mental, interpersonal, and familial hurdles Krys overcame to reach her personal go…

1
Hand Tap Tattoo Artist Lane Wilcken 1:05:29

2M ago1:05:29

1:05:29

Traditional Hand Tap tattoos aren’t just tattoos, they’re a unique, ceremonial experience specifically designed to connect someone with their history, ancestors and culture. Hand Tap Tattoo Artist Lane Wilcken has honed his craft for more than a decade. We talk the process behind Hand Tapped tattoos, the unique story behind each tattoo and connecti…

1
Scaling Up Test-Time Compute with Latent Reasoning with Jonas Geiping - #723 58:38

2M ago58:38

58:38

Today, we're joined by Jonas Geiping, research group leader at Ellis Institute and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems to discuss his recent paper, “Scaling up Test-Time Compute with Latent Reasoning: A Recurrent Depth Approach.” This paper proposes a novel language model architecture which uses recurrent depth to enable “thinking in l…

1
148: “A Visit of Charity” by Eudora Welty 26:14

2M ago26:14

26:14

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “A Visit of Charity” by Eudora Welty. What can we learn from this story about lonely people? How can distinct characters help develop a theme from several di…

1
Tariff and Trade Economist Dr. Katherine Schmeiser Lande 53:18

2M ago53:18

53:18

Tariffs are currently front and center of the economic world. But what exactly is a tariff and how does it affect you? Tariff and Trade Economist Dr. Katherine Schmeiser Lande studies the impact of tariffs. We talk the impact of tariffs on consumers, a growing trade war and if we’re headed towards a recession. Then, we countdown the Top 5 Pieces of…

1
Imagine while Reasoning in Space: Multimodal Visualization-of-Thought with Chengzu Li - #722 42:11

2M ago42:11

42:11

Today, we're joined by Chengzu Li, PhD student at the University of Cambridge to discuss his recent paper, “Imagine while Reasoning in Space: Multimodal Visualization-of-Thought.” We explore the motivations behind MVoT, its connection to prior work like TopViewRS, and its relation to cognitive science principles such as dual coding theory. We dig i…

1
Speed Skier Marc Amann 1:00:59

3M ago1:00:59

1:00:59

At over 240 kilometers per hour, Professional Speed Skier Marc Amann is one of the fastest skiers on Earth. We talk getting started in Speed Skiing, the goal every Speed Skier is chasing and why stopping is really the hardest part. Then, we unveil a new Candle of the Month and countdown the Top 5 Movie Characters We’d Like to Hang Out With. Marc Am…

1
Inside s1: An o1-Style Reasoning Model That Cost Under $50 to Train with Niklas Muennighoff - #721 49:29

3M ago49:29

49:29

Today, we're joined by Niklas Muennighoff, a PhD student at Stanford University, to discuss his paper, “S1: Simple Test-Time Scaling.” We explore the motivations behind S1, as well as how it compares to OpenAI's O1 and DeepSeek's R1 models. We dig into the different approaches to test-time scaling, including parallel and sequential scaling, as well…

1
George & Teddy Kunhardt on ‘Becoming Katharine Graham’ 1:05:31

3M ago1:05:31

1:05:31

Larry is joined by filmmakers George and Teddy Kunhardt to discuss their newest documentary ‘Becoming Katharine Graham’, currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video. They begin their conversation by talking about what inspired them to start the project and shining a light on the male-dominated world Katharine lived in when she was running the Washing…

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147: “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” by Philip K. Dick 29:57

3M ago29:57

29:57

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” by Philip K. Dick. What can we learn from this classic work of science fiction? How can a story keep redefining itself…

1
Cult Survivor Daniella Mestyanek Young 1:26:30

3M ago1:26:30

1:26:30

Daniella Mestyanek Young spent more than a decade in the infamous “Children of God” religious cult. Now, she’s here to tell her story. We talk why people join cults, the extreme difficulty of leaving a cult and the growing influence of cults in America. Then, it’s Cubans and Reubens vs. Grilled Cheese and Peanut Butter and Jelly as we countdown the…

1
Accelerating AI Training and Inference with AWS Trainium2 with Ron Diamant - #720 1:07:05

3M ago1:07:05

1:07:05

Today, we're joined by Ron Diamant, chief architect for Trainium at Amazon Web Services, to discuss hardware acceleration for generative AI and the design and role of the recently released Trainium2 chip. We explore the architectural differences between Trainium and GPUs, highlighting its systolic array-based compute design, and how it balances per…

1
The Breakdown of Movies Like They Used to Make 1:18:41

3M ago1:18:41

1:18:41

Christopher Spicer is finally back with a new episode where he discusses ten movies from the 2020s that prove that sometimes they do make them like they used to. He explores gonzo horror, earnest blockbusters, stunt-filled adventures, erotic thrillers, and blockbuster-style dramas that have been released in the last five years that he feels are wor…

1
Thomas Chatterton Williams on "How the Woke Right Replaced the Woke Left" 1:07:28

3M ago1:07:28

1:07:28

Larry is joined by writer and cultural critic Thomas Chatterton Williams to discuss his latest essay for The Atlantic, "How the Woke Right Replaced the Woke Left". They begin by shining a light on the political left’s weak hold on the cultural landscape, and breaking down the definition, history, and downfall of "woke" ideology. Next, they take a l…

1
Lucid Dreaming Researcher Dr. Deirdre Barrett 54:21

3M ago54:21

54:21

Can we control our dreams, and if so, how do we dot it. Dream Researcher and Lucid Dreaming Expert Dr. Deirdre Barret has spent decades studying how we can influence our dreams. We talk Lucid Dreaming, how to know when you’re dreaming and why we have dreams. Then, it’s Mario World and Hyrule vs. Vice City and Pokemon as we countdown the Top 5 Video…

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π0: A Foundation Model for Robotics with Sergey Levine - #719 52:30

3M ago52:30

52:30

Today, we're joined by Sergey Levine, associate professor at UC Berkeley and co-founder of Physical Intelligence, to discuss π0 (pi-zero), a general-purpose robotic foundation model. We dig into the model architecture, which pairs a vision language model (VLM) with a diffusion-based action expert, and the model training "recipe," emphasizing the ro…

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146: “Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut” by J. D. Salinger 24:53

3M ago24:53

24:53

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut” by J. D. Salinger. What can we learn from this classic Salinger story? Can a third person point of view be purely external? Ho…

1
Dream Researcher Dr. Dylan Selterman 1:06:15

3M ago1:06:15

1:06:15

They only happen when we’re sleeping but our dreams can have a profound effect on what we do when we’re awake. Dream Researcher Dr. Dylan Selterman studies how dreams impact our daily lives, our relationship and the choices we make. We talk why we dream, why some people are dreaming less and controlling our dreams. Then, we countdown the Top 5 Comm…

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AI Trends 2025: AI Agents and Multi-Agent Systems with Victor Dibia - #718 1:44:59

3M ago1:44:59

1:44:59

Today we’re joined by Victor Dibia, principal research software engineer at Microsoft Research, to explore the key trends and advancements in AI agents and multi-agent systems shaping 2025 and beyond. In this episode, we discuss the unique abilities that set AI agents apart from traditional software systems–reasoning, acting, communicating, and ada…

1
Roy Wood Jr. on ‘Lonely Flowers’ and ‘Have I Got News for You’ 1:06:27

3M ago1:06:27

1:06:27

Larry is joined by actor and comedian Roy Wood Jr. and they begin their conversation by acknowledging Black History Month. Roy then breaks down his new CNN show ‘Have I Got News for You’ and opines on whether or not comedic "bubbles" will last under the new Trump administration (5:41). They then pivot to his recently released stand-up special on Hu…

1
Love and Loneliness Research Dr. Jacqueline Olds 1:15:51

4M ago1:15:51

1:15:51

Why do we fall in love and what happens to our bodies and brains when we do? Psychiatrist and Love Researcher Dr. Jacqueline Olds has spent decades finding the answers to those questions. We talk why we fall in love, tips for a healthy relationship and the pain of loneliness. Then, we unveil a new Candle of the Month and countdown the Top 5 Popular…

1
Speculative Decoding and Efficient LLM Inference with Chris Lott - #717 1:16:30

4M ago1:16:30

1:16:30

Today, we're joined by Chris Lott, senior director of engineering at Qualcomm AI Research to discuss accelerating large language model inference. We explore the challenges presented by the LLM encoding and decoding (aka generation) and how these interact with various hardware constraints such as FLOPS, memory footprint and memory bandwidth to limit…

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Shirley A. Scott Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen