Clearer Thinking with Spencer Greenberg

Clearer Thinking is a podcast about ideas that truly matter. If you enjoy learning about powerful, practical concepts and frameworks, wish you had more deep, intellectual conversations in your life, or are looking for non-BS self-improvement, then we think you'll love this podcast! Each week we invite a brilliant guest to bring four important ideas to discuss for an in-depth conversation. Topics include psychology, society, behavior change, philosophy, science, artificial intelligence, math, economics, self-help, mental health, and technology. We focus on ideas that can be applied right now to make your life better or to help you better understand yourself and the world, aiming to teach you the best mental tools to enhance your learning, self-improvement efforts, and decision-making. • We take on important, thorny questions like: • What's the best way to help a friend or loved one going through a difficult time? How can we make our worldviews more accurate? How can we hone the accuracy

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Every guest on Clearer Thinking with Spencer Greenberg

304 guests, ranked by how many people never want them back.

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Suzanne O'Sullivan
What is psychosomatic illness? (with Suzanne O'Sullivan) · Nov 2025

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Reid Hoffman
Is AI development moving too fast or not fast enough? (with Reid Hoffman) · Jun 2023

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Andrea Dunlop
Mothers who harm their children for attention (with Andrea Dunlop) · Sep 2023

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A.J. Jacobs
Death and Story-Telling (with A.J. Jacobs) · Oct 2020

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Daniel Kahneman
Beyond cognitive biases: improving judgment by reducing noise (with Daniel Kahneman) · Sep 2021

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Byrne Hobart
The FTX catastrophe (with Byrne Hobart, Vipul Naik, Maomao Hu, Marcus Abramovich, and Ozzie Gooen) · Nov 2022

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Sam Bankman-Fried
Crypto Pros and Cons (with Sam Bankman-Fried) · Apr 2021

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Scott Young
How can you learn more efficiently? (with Scott Young) · Dec 2024

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Jason Crawford
What causes progress? And how can we stop it from slowing? (with Jason Crawford) · Nov 2021

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Brian Nosek
Highs and lows on the road out of the replication crisis (with Brian Nosek) · Nov 2024

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Mary Roach
Exploring sex science and pseudo-science (with Mary Roach) · Jun 2022

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Simine Vazire
What do we know for sure about human psychology? (with Simine Vazire) · Sep 2024

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Thomas Thwaites
Becoming a goat to avoid existential dread (with Thomas Thwaites) · Aug 2024

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Bruce Friedrich
Can We End Factory Farming Without Giving Up Meat? (with Bruce Friedrich) · Sep 2026

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Carl Robichaud
The alternate histories and possible futures of nuclear weapons (with Carl Robichaud) · Feb 2024

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Cory Doctorow
Anti-interoperability, vendor lock-in, and high switching costs (with Cory Doctorow) · Dec 2022

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David Chalmers
Virtual reality, simulation theory, consciousness, and identity (with David Chalmers) · Jul 2023

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Jay Garfield
Suffering and the self (with Jay Garfield) · Oct 2024

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Jesse Singal
Social Science and Science Journalism (with Jesse Singal) · Apr 2021

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Michael Plant
Beyond saving lives: happiness and doing good (with Michael Plant) · 2 episodes

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Nate Soares
Will AI superintelligence kill us all? (with Nate Soares) · Oct 2025

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Toby Ord
How can we save the world? (with Toby Ord) · Jul 2021

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Will MacAskill
What should the Effective Altruism movement learn from the SBF / FTX scandal? (with Will MacAskill) · 2 episodes

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Alex Komoroske
Do organizations have to get slower as they grow? (with Alex Komoroske) · Dec 2022

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Bradley Tusk
What can we all agree on? (with Bradley Tusk) · 2 episodes

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Emmett Shear
Worldviews, altruism, and embracing variance (with Emmett Shear) · Jun 2024

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Matt Clifford
How can you tell if you're cut out for entrepreneurship? (with Matt Clifford) · Apr 2023

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Mike Maples
Pattern-breaking ideas, and startups that change the world (with Mike Maples) · Sep 2024

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Sam Arbesman
Do facts have an expiration date? (with Samuel Arbesman) · Oct 2025

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Samo Burja
Why do civilizations collapse? And is ours next? (with Samo Burja) · Aug 2021

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Alex Edmans
Seeing through cognitive traps (with Alex Edmans) · Sep 2025

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Blake Eastman
Common body language mistakes and how to avoid making them (with Blake Eastman) · Apr 2024

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Eric Zimmer
How Small Actions Rewrite Identity (with Eric Zimmer) · 2 episodes

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George Bonanno
What's true and what's myth about trauma? (with George Bonnano) · Apr 2026

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Helen Toner
AI, US-China relations, and lessons from the OpenAI board (with Helen Toner) · Feb 2025

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Iona Italia
Censorship, cancel culture, and truth-seeking (with Iona Italia) · May 2023

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Kristin Neff
Why is self-compassion so hard? (with Kristin Neff) · Mar 2022

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Loch Kelly
Accessing pure consciousness at any moment (with Loch Kelly) · Feb 2022

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Martha Nussbaum
The capabilities approach to welfare (with Martha Nussbaum) · Apr 2023

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Nicholas Gruen
When voting fails (with Nicholas Gruen) · Dec 2025

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Recent episodes

326 episodes from the feed, newest first.

The Race to Replace Us With AI (with Garrison Lovely)
with Garrison Lovely

Oct 2026
Why we procrastinate, and what actually helps (with Itamar Shatz)
with Itamar Shatz

Sep 2026
Neurodiversity, Autism, Awe, and Religious Experience (with Jonathan Machnee)
with Jonathan Machnee

Sep 2026
Can We End Factory Farming Without Giving Up Meat? (with Bruce Friedrich)
with Bruce Friedrich

Sep 2026
Our relationship to chatbots (with Claire Boine)
with Claire Boine

Aug 2026
The good advice you least want (with Cate Hall)
with Cate Hall

Aug 2026
Why housing costs so much and what can be done about it (with Alex Armlovich)
with Alex Armlovich

Jul 2026
How To Pursue Goals without Striving (with Stephen Zerfas)
with Stephen Zerfas

Jul 2026
Bicameral Minds and Leaderless Tribes (with Tor Parsons)
with Tor Parsons

Jul 2026
How Small Actions Rewrite Identity (with Eric Zimmer)
with Eric Zimmer

Jun 2026
The Twelve Levers for a better life (with Jeremy Stevenson)
with Jeremy Stevenson

Jun 2026
The Hidden History of Evidence-Based Everything (with Helen Pearson)
with Helen Pearson

Jun 2026
Is cash a better form of charitable aid? (with Nick Allardice)
with Nick Allardice

Jun 2026
When painful thoughts feel true but aren't (with Christine Padesky)
with Christine Padesky

Jun 2026
Could an international agreement protect us from dangerous AI? (with Malo Bourgon)
with Malo Bourgon

May 2026
Is patriarchy gone or hiding in plain sight? (with Kate Manne)
with Kate Manne

May 2026
Is string theory BS or the most promising theory in physics? (with Christian Ferko)
with Christian Ferko

Apr 2026
What's true and what's myth about trauma? (with George Bonnano)
with George Bonanno

Apr 2026
Are we in an honesty crisis? (with Christian B. Miller)
with Christian Miller

Apr 2026
What impact will AI have on jobs and the economy? (with Anton Korinek)
with Anton Korinek

Apr 2026
The seductiveness of secular gurus (with Christopher Kavanagh)
with Christopher Kavanagh

Apr 2026
What beats intuition when it comes to doing good? (with Marcus Davis)
with Marcus Davis

Mar 2026
Can averages explain a human life? (with Steven C. Hayes)
with Steven Hayes

Mar 2026
Should science stop worshiping statistical significance? (with Andrew Gelman)
with Andrew Gelman

Mar 2026
What happens when your co-workers are AIs? (with Evan Ratliff)
with Evan Ratliff

Feb 2026