Jesse Thorn - Episode 76

15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger

#Fascinating People #15 Minutes #15 Minutes Of Fame #Jamie Berger #Society

1:14:43

Artificial intelligence is evolving at an unprecedented pace—what does that mean for the future of technology, venture capital, business, and even our understanding of ourselves? Award-winning journalist and writer Anil Ananthaswamy joins us for our latest episode to discuss his latest book Why Machines Learn: The Elegant Math Behind Modern AI . Anil helps us explore the journey and many breakthroughs that have propelled machine learning from simple perceptrons to the sophisticated algorithms shaping today’s AI revolution, powering GPT and other models. The discussion aims to demystify some of the underlying mathematical concepts that power modern machine learning, to help everyone grasp this technology impacting our lives–even if your last math class was in high school. Anil walks us through the power of scaling laws, the shift from training to inference optimization, and the debate among AI’s pioneers about the road to AGI—should we be concerned, or are we still missing key pieces of the puzzle? The conversation also delves into AI’s philosophical implications—could understanding how machines learn help us better understand ourselves? And what challenges remain before AI systems can truly operate with agency? If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Sign up for our newsletter at techsurgepodcast.com for exclusive insights and updates on upcoming TechSurge Live Summits. Links: Read Why Machines Learn, Anil’s latest book on the math behind AI https://www.amazon.com/Why-Machines-Learn-Elegant-Behind/dp/0593185749 Learn more about Anil Ananthaswamy’s work and writing https://anilananthaswamy.com/ Watch Anil Ananthaswamy’s TED Talk on AI and intelligence https://www.ted.com/speakers/anil_ananthaswamy Discover the MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellowship that shaped Anil’s AI research https://ksj.mit.edu/ Understand the Perceptron, the foundation of neural networks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceptron Read about the Perceptron Convergence Theorem and its significance https://www.nature.com/articles/323533a0…

5 лет назад 1:17:00

MP3•Главная эпизода

Here’s my conversaion from back in February (2020), aka a zillion lifetimes ago, with podcaster, Maximum Fun creator, and, perhaps most publicly, Judge John Hodgman bailiff Jesse Thorn. That's him with the glorious facial hair, above. (photo: Ibarionex Perello)

It’s nice, you’ll like it.

Re: my callout to you all in the intro, you can reach me at info@15minutesjamieberger.com or find me on Insta or twitter at @15minsjamieb.

Thanks!

-jb

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

100 эпизодов

15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger

Jesse Thorn - Episode 76

15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger

32 subscribers

published 5 лет назад

MP3•Главная эпизода

Here’s my conversaion from back in February (2020), aka a zillion lifetimes ago, with podcaster, Maximum Fun creator, and, perhaps most publicly, Judge John Hodgman bailiff Jesse Thorn. That's him with the glorious facial hair, above. (photo: Ibarionex Perello)

It’s nice, you’ll like it.

Re: my callout to you all in the intro, you can reach me at info@15minutesjamieberger.com or find me on Insta or twitter at @15minsjamieb.

Thanks!

-jb

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

100 эпизодов

#Fascinating People #15 Minutes #15 Minutes Of Fame #Jamie Berger #Society

Wszystkie odcinki

15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger

1
Ayun Halliday - Episode 78 1:22:10

3 years назад1:22:10

1:22:10

Hello Listeners, It’s been going on two years since the last new episode, and I really wasn’t sure if there was going to be another one, but I came across someone whom I just had to invite on, and she said yes, and we had a lovely chat in July, and here we are! Whether this will be a coda or a reboot, we shall see - I’d love your input on that From Ayun Halliday’s website : “I was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and came of age at the height of the preppy craze. For some unfathomable reason, my grandparents had a subscription to The New Yorker. Every week, I’d paw through it, daydreaming of a glamorous future in which I’d be a celebrated stage actress, living in sin with some hot, devoted trumpet player in a Greenwich Village loft with a skyline view I’ve since learned is possible only from downtown Brooklyn or the western shores of New Jersey.” Ms. Halliday is a writer, actor, performance artist, zinester, the list goes on and on! She pubilshes the Zine The East Village Inky. It was and still is written and illustrated entirely by hand. I could spend a good while longer discussing some of her many other theatrical and publishing achievements, but what brought her to my attention this spring was the publication of her latest (7th) book, Creative, Not Famous: The Small Potato Manifesto , a compendium of Halliday’s words and illustrations along with input from a variety of creative people (I just can’t get myself to take the noun “creatives” seriously) who comprise “99.9% of all humans who … have not been and will never be rich as a result of their art. Nor will we be famous…at least not as famous as we deserve.” I heartily encourage you to look up any of the artists mentioned in our conversation and, especially if you’re a lil spud, to pick up a copy of the Small Potato Manifesto, available through Ayun’s site or wherever books are purveyed. For all episodes of this show, from small fries to Sedarises, please find us on the social mediae (insta/twitter) at 15minsjamieb, on facebook by just looking for the name of the show, or at 15minutesjamieberger.com , or email me at 15minutesjamieberger@gmail.com -Jamie Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger

1
George Saunders 1:23:43

4 years назад1:23:43

1:23:43

In celebration of the end of the Trump era, here's an old favorite from just a few months in, George Saunders, from back in early 2017. Belated Happy New Year and continuous happy (or at least way less sad) post-Trump to all! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger

1
David Sedaris Episodes 1 and 2 1:32:24

4 years назад1:32:24

1:32:24

David Sedaris and I talk about celebrity, grace, inappropriate jokes (this episode is NSFTG, not safe for Terry Gross, btw), being recognized in airports, our mothers, going on Colbert, agents, what’s good on pizza, Stormy Daniels, George Saunders, John Updike’s quote that “Celebrity is a mask that eats into the face,” getting laughs, the preciousness of anonymity, being mistaken for a woman, and MUCH MUCH MORE. Enjoy, and after you enjoy, please pass this one on. A much happier 2021 to all! - Jamie (Image by Anja Schutz ) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger

1
A.R. Moxon - Episode 77 1:10:32

4 years назад1:10:32

1:10:32

Hello friends. No time to talk. It’s 11/2/20 and I need to get this up today. I talked with A.R. Moxon, essayist, novelist, and twitter godsend these last four years, about Trump, Trumpism, the future, twitter virality leading to finding a publisher for his novel The Revisionaries, published last year and coming out in paperback in December, piano practice, 538, America, the future …. Find A.R. Moxon at http://armoxon.com and or @JuliusGoat on twitter. Deep breaths, everyone, deep breaths. -j http://15minutesjamieberger.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger

1
Meat for Tea Cast Episode with Jamie Berger as Guest 2:12:51

5 years назад2:12:51

2:12:51

I was a guest on the Meat for Tea Cast after my essay "Itch Itch Itch" was published in the stellar literary magazine of the same name earlier this year. Now I understand why some of my guests hesitate to post about our episodes. It leaves them in the position of writing to friends, family, and fans saying “Hey everyone here’s a conversation focused on ME! Awkward. With that in mind, Meat for Tea is a great magazine with a nifty podcast and host/publisher/editor Elizabeth MacDuffie and I had a long and enjoyable talk, for the two of us anyway. So Hey everyone here’s a conversation focused on ME! (and here's a link to the essay, which I read out loud at the end of the episode) https://psiloveyou.xyz/itch-itch-itch-8934f97ed7ed Stay Safe. Vote. BLM xox -Jamie Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger

1
Jesse Thorn - Episode 76 1:17:00

5 years назад1:17:00

1:17:00

Here’s my conversaion from back in February (2020), aka a zillion lifetimes ago, with podcaster, Maximum Fun creator, and, perhaps most publicly, Judge John Hodgman bailiff Jesse Thorn. That's him with the glorious facial hair, above. (photo: Ibarionex Perello) It’s nice, you’ll like it. Re: my callout to you all in the intro, you can reach me at info@15minutesjamieberger.com or find me on Insta or twitter at @15minsjamieb. Thanks! -jb Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger

1
Eugene Mirman (re-edit/reboot) - Episode 75 1:26:01

5 years назад1:26:01

1:26:01

Back in 2016, aka a zillion horror-movie lifetimes ago, my friend Eugene and I had a late-night conversation about fame, comedy, having a newborn baby boy, and much much more. I re-edited it to put it back out here on the occasion of the streaming release of the wonderful documentary "It Started as a Joke," which follows the decade long run of the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival along with the parallel story of Eugene and his wife Katie's battle with her cancer. That may sound like a rough juxtaposition, but it's extremely well done. You'll laugh, you'll cry - see it, it's not like you don't have any free time right now. http://prettygoodfriends.com/it-started-as-a-joke Best to all in these strange, tough times. -j Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger

1
Beth Lisick (reboot) - Episode 74 1:38:44

5 years назад1:38:44

1:38:44

Re-edit reboot of my 2017 two-episode conversation with Beth Lisick on the occasion of the publication of her great new and first novel, "Edie on the Green Screen." Congratulations, Beth! The episode starts with a serious #metoo conversation before moving on to lighter topics. So if you're needing light in these heavy times, after the intro, jump ahead about a half an hour. Best to you all, I wish you the best lives you can possibly live right now! -jamie Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger

1
Michael Ian Black - re-edit/reboot of episodes 50 & 51 1:02:34

5 years назад1:02:34

1:02:34

Back in 2017, I spoke to actor/writer/comedian Michael Ian Black for this show. At the time, I broke our conversation up into two episodes, each preceded by a long rant by me about the political and social injustices of the day. Well, it's the end of the year, and I'm exhausted by injustice, and decided to re-edit the conversation into a single, more entertaining whole. I think you'll enjoy it. We talk about fame of course, and about our mothers, about toe fungus, his feud with Marc Maron, the list goes on. Listening back, I found this, on how what's better than being a lead, the famous one, on a TV series, is being somewhere around 5-7 on the call list: "“If I knew that I would have an acting job for the next five years on a network show, where I didn’t even really have to think, it was just showing up, doing some scenes, having a free lunch and collecting a fat paycheck, I would like to do that for the next five years with the full knowledge that at the end of the five years I’d have enough money in the bank to write a novel, devote myself to the podcast, five years of being number 5-7 on the call sheet. There’s a sweet spot there that’s just ideal. I don’t want to be in every scene, I don’t want to solve the crime.” *** I wish us all better times, and a free and fair election, in 2020. -Jamie B. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger

1
Episode 2 - Tim Lockfeld 27:10

5 years назад27:10

27:10

My dear friend and former San Francisco Public Library colleague, skater, certified arborist, actor, adventure traveller, and raconteur, on how he brought punk and skateboarding together; the splendors and hazards of trimming Sharon Stone's trees; and other gems. A perfect example of the hardest-to-lure guest: the decidedly non-famous person who wants to come on a podcast and dig into the topic. It's still one of my favorites, back from when I didn't know what I was doing at all but sometimes it worked. Enjoy! -Jamie Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger

1
That First Hodgman Episode from back in aught-16 39:59

5 years назад39:59

39:59

If you listened to Episode 72 , with John Hodgman, or even if you didn't (you should), here's Episode 1, as promised, with same. Warning: there's a lot of ambient, though not unpleasant, noise (of a busy bar) in the interview, and then rather low sound quality for the Judge John Hodgman meetup, which ostensibly wasn't being recorded for the podcast, but which I wanted to include here for the true JJH Stans out there jonesin' for a deep cut. Image is a pic from the poster for the event at the Rendezvous in Turners Falls, MA, back in 2015 (yes I dithered an entire nother year before launching the show - don't do that!), designed by Anja Schutz . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger

1
John Hodgman (returns!) - Episode 72 1:29:30

5 years назад1:29:30

1:29:30

John Hodgman (returns!) - Episode 72 Hello Everyone! The very first guest on 15 Minutes was John Hodgman (and we’ll be reposting that episode right after this one). Back in Fall of 2015, we spoke for a nearly exact 15 Minutes (the only full episode with a guest that’s actually anywhere near that short, most are around an hour - yes, yes, but the name of the show, we know, we know). When I heard about his new book Medallion Status (pub. date 10/15/19!), which John describes as “your basic minor fame to no fame Hollywood memoir with some peeks into the secret clubs and hidden rooms that celebrity allowed me briefly to peek into,” I knew it was time to have him back, and this time we talked a whole lot longer. For those of you who don’t know him, and yes, Hodgmaniacs, there are those folks out there: JOHN HODGMAN is a writer, comedian, and actor. Most recently, he is the author of the acclaimed collection of funny true stories called VACATIONLAND. He also wrote three books of fake facts and invented trivia, all of them New York Times Bestsellers, and his writing has also appeared in The Paris Review, This American Life, The New Yorker , and Mad Magazine. After an appearance to promote his books on “The Daily Show,” he was invited to return as a contributor, serving as the show’s “Resident Expert” and “Deranged Millionaire.” For the past nine years, he’s also been the host of the popular Judge John Hodgman podcast, where he settles serious disputes between real people. He also contributes a weekly column under the same name for The New York Times Magazine. He’s also the host of the viral Instagram-live sensation Get Your Pets! with John Hodgman in which he talks to animals and their people in a live broadcast, while perhaps occasionally plugging his new book Medallion Status (http://bit.ly/MEDALLIONSTATUS) every so often. Over nearly an hour and a half, we talked a lot about the book and those rooms and clubs, his previous book, Vacationland , fame as addiction, adjusting and appreciating life as one’s status inevitably declines over time (We also go into how white men are handling the reality of their/our inevitably declining status), and why it’s really important for authors that readers pre-order their books if possible, and which you should do if you’re so inclined and you’re reading this before 10/15/19, and you should be so inclined, because Medallion Status and John Hodgman will make your life better. Where can you go to pre-order, you may ask? Why http://bit.ly/MEDALLIONSTATUS , that’s where! My short plug: Like Vacationland, the book ( and this 15 Minutes episode) is funny in ways many know John to be, as well as moving and contemplative in ways you might not expect. I gave it five starts on Good Reads. Early praise for Medallion Status : “This funny, sometimes delightfully absurd book offers sharp meditations on status, relevance, and age, and fame—or at least being fame-adjacent.” -PW “Hodgman offers thoughtful musings about human nature and our drive for status. An entertaining and endearing entry from the author of Vacationland (2017).” -Booklist (Note: this is one of those episodes with a false ending, so when you hear us saying bye, stick around for more!) But enough plugging, enjoy the episode! Oh, and when you do enjoy it, PLEASE PASS IT ON - you'll be helping a worthy author sell books, and an independent podcaster get listeners, both very difficult tasks in supersaturated markets. Thanks! -Jamie (Image: detail of Medallion Status cover by Aaron Draplin ) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger

1
Mari Naomi - Episode 71 1:21:40

5 years назад1:21:40

1:21:40

Mari Naomi is a graphic-memoirist, a term I just made up. That is, she’s a cartoonist who writes personal nonfiction. At least in her adult work, that’s what she does. I first encountered her cartoons on the Rumpus. I ended up following her on Twitter and patroning her on Patreon, and she has thoughts about fame! We talked about that and career and San Francisco and trolls and dating someone famous and living in LA and seeing stars and running into Bud Cort and fangirling out in Gelson’s and … well, come listen and you’ll find out! You can find her at http://marinaomi.com . Here’s some of what you’d learn about her there: “MariNaomi is the award-winning author and illustrator of Kiss & Tell: A Romantic Resume, Ages 0 to 22 (Harper Perennial, 2011), Dragon's Breath and Other True Stories (2dcloud/Uncivilized Books, 2014), Turning Japanese (2dcloud, 2016), I Thought YOU Hated ME (Retrofit Comics, 2016), and the Life on Earth trilogy (Graphic Universe, 2018-2020). Her work has appeared in over eighty print publications and has been featured on websites such as The Rumpus, LA Review of Books, Midnight Breakfast and BuzzFeed.” “She is the founder and administrator of the Cartoonists of Color Database , the Queer Cartoonists Database , and the Disabled Cartoonists Database . She is the cohost of the Ask Bi Grlz podcast with author Myriam Gurba.” *** You can find all episodes of this podcast at http://15minutesjamieberger.com and a really old site of my writing at http://jamiebergerwords.com , which I mention for the first time since starting this podcast because I’m starting to write a little after about a decade hiatus. Episode 72 will mark the return of Episode 1 guest John Hodgman, whose new book, Medallion Status , the follow up to his supergreat memoir Vacationland , will be out in mid-October. Thanks for listening! -jb Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger

1
Todd Barry - Episode 70 39:05

6 years назад39:05

39:05

Todd Barry and I talk a little about fame, but more about exercise, diet, doors that open out, and kittens! For the pic of Todd and Charlize Theron, please see the episode page on our site Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

15 Minutes: a podcast about fame, with Jamie Berger

1
Robyn Hitchcock - Episode 69 1:01:58

6 years назад1:01:58