Let's Know Things

Let's Know Things

A calm, non-shouty, non-polemical, weekly news analysis podcast for folks of all stripes and leanings who want to know more about what's happening in the world around them. Hosted by analytic journalist Colin Wright since 2016. letsknowthings.substack.com

Episodes

July 15, 2025 17 mins

This week we talk about AI therapy chatbots, delusions of grandeur, and sycophancy.

We also discuss tech-triggered psychosis, AI partners, and confident nonsense.

Recommended Book: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

Transcript

In the context of artificial intelligence systems, a hallucination or delusion, sometimes more brusquely referred to as AI BS, is an output usually from an AI chatbot, but it can also be from another...

Mark as Played

This week we talk about crawling, scraping, and DDoS attacks.

We also discuss Cloudflare, the AI gold rush, and automated robots.

Recommended Book: Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

Transcript

Alongside the many, and at times quite significant political happenings, the many, and at times quite significant military conflicts, and the many, at times quite significant technological breakthroughs—medical and otherwise—flooding the news these days,...

Mark as Played
July 1, 2025 15 mins

This week we talk about the NOAA, FEMA, and the SSMIS.

We also discuss Arctic ice, satellite resolution, and automated weather observation stations.

Recommended Book: Superbloom by Nicholas Carr

Transcript

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, is a US scientific and regulatory agency that tackles an array of environmental, climatic, and weather-related issues, alongside its responsibilities managing oceanic ecos...

Mark as Played
June 24, 2025 18 mins

This week we talk about OPEC, the Seven Sisters, and the price of oil.

We also discuss fracking, Israel and Iran’s ongoing conflict, and energy exports.

Recommended Book: Thirteen Ways to Kill Lulabelle Rock by Maud Woolf

Transcript

The global oil market changed substantially in the early 2000s as a pair of innovations—horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing—helped the plateauing US oil and gas market boom, unlocking a bunch of sh...

Mark as Played
June 17, 2025 19 mins

This week we talk about tit-for-tat warfare, conflict off-ramps, and Israel’s renewed attacks on Iran’s nuclear program.

We also discuss the Iron Dome, the Iran-Iraq War, and regime change.

Recommended Book: How Much is Enough? by Robert and Edward Skidelsky

Transcript

In late-October of 2024, Israel launched a wave of airstrikes against targets in Iran and Syria. These strikes were code-named Operation Days of Repentance, and it marke...

Mark as Played
June 10, 2025 21 mins

This week we talk about drone warfare, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and total war.

We also discuss casualty numbers, population superiority, and lingering munitions.

Recommended Book: The Burning Earth by Sunil Amrith

Transcript

Eight years after Russia launched a halfheartedly concealed invasion of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, under the guise of helping supposedly oppressed Russian-speakers and Russia loyalists in the area, in Februa...

Mark as Played
June 3, 2025 15 mins

This week we talk about gene-editing, CRISPR/Cas9, and ammonia.

We also discuss the germ line, mad scientists, and science research funding.

Recommended Book: The Siren’s Call by Chris Hayes

Transcript

Back in November of 2018, a Chinese scientist named He Jiankui achieved global notoriety by announcing that he had used a relatively new gene-editing technique on human embryos, which led to the birth of the world’s first gene-edited bab...

Mark as Played
May 27, 2025 11 mins

This week we talk about greenhouse gases, renewable energy capacity, and China’s economy.

We also discuss coal power plants, natural gas, and gigatons.

Recommended Book: What If We Get It Right? by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

Transcript

In 2024, global CO2 emissions hit a new all-time high of 37.8 gigatons, that figure including emissions from industrial processes, oil well flaring, and the combustion of fuel, like petroleum in a vehicle.

A...

Mark as Played
May 20, 2025 12 mins

This week we talk about kidnappings, ransoms, and bitcoin.

We also discuss crypto wealth, robberies, and memecoins.

Recommended Book: The Status Game by Will Storr

Transcript

In 2008, a white paper published by someone writing under the pen name Satoshi Nakamoto proposed a method for making a decentralized asset class called a cryptocurrency that led to the creation of bitcoin, which was implemented and began trading in 2009.

While ther...

Mark as Played
May 13, 2025 17 mins

This week we talk about the NHTSA, CAFE standards, and energy efficiency.

We also discuss incentive programs, waste heat, and the EPA.

Recommended Book: Africa Is Not a Country by Dipo Faloyin

Transcript

In the United States, fuel-efficiency laws for vehicles sold on the US market are set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA. They set the Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE standards by which vehicle-make...

Mark as Played
May 6, 2025 15 mins

This week we talk about the Marshall Plan, standardization, and USB.

We also discuss artificial intelligence, Anthropic, and protocols.

Recommended Book: Fuzz by Mary Roach

Transcript

In the wake of WWII, the US government implemented the European Recovery Program, more commonly known as the Marshall Plan, to help Western Europe recover from a conflict that had devastated the afflicted countries’ populations, infrastructure, and econom...

Mark as Played
April 29, 2025 17 mins

This week we talk about British India, Kashmir, and water treaties.

We also discuss the global order, sovereignty, and tit-for-tat escalation.

Recommended Book: Power Metal by Vince Beiser

Transcript

When then British India was partitioned by the British in 1947, the country carved up by its colonialist rulers into two new countries, one Hindu majority, the Union of India, and one Muslim majority, the Dominion of Pakistan, the intentio...

Mark as Played
April 22, 2025 18 mins

This week we talk about AI chatbots, virtual avatars, and romance novels.

We also discuss Inkitt, Galatea, and LLM grooming.

Recommended Book: New Cold Wars by David E. Sanger

Transcript

There’s evidence that the US Trump administration used AI tools, possibly ChatGPT, possibly another, similar model or models, to generate the numbers they used to justify a recent wave of new tariffs on the country’s allies and enemies.

It was also rece...

Mark as Played
April 15, 2025 17 mins

This week we talk about smishing, Huione, and scams.

We also discuss money laundering, the Cambodian government, and Tether.

Recommended Book: The Longevity Imperative by Andrew J. Scott

Transcript

The portmanteau ‘smishing’ combines SMS and phishing to refer to the practice of using text messages to trick the recipients of said messages into revealing information that allows scammers to access their victim’s accounts on various platfo...

Mark as Played
April 8, 2025 22 mins

This week we talk about taxes, reciprocity, and recession.

We also discuss falling indices, stagflation, and theories of operation.

Recommended Book: The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Transcript

Stagflation, which is a portmanteau of stagnation and inflation, is exactly what it sounds like: a combination of those two elements, usually with high levels of unemployment, as well, that can cause a prolonged period of economic sluggis...

Mark as Played
April 1, 2025 18 mins

This week we talk about Studio Ghibli, Andrej Karpathy, and OpenAI.

We also discuss code abstraction, economic repercussions, and DOGE.

Recommended Book: How To Know a Person by David Brooks

Transcript

In late-November of 2022, OpenAI released a demo version of a product they didn’t think would have much potential, because it was kind of buggy and not very impressive compared to the other things they were working on at the time. This p...

Mark as Played
March 25, 2025 19 mins

This week we talk about Elon Musk, deportations, and the First Amendment.

We also discuss electric vehicles, free speech, and Georgia.

Recommended Book: Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Transcript

Greenpeace is a protest-focused, environmentalist nongovernmental organization that was originally founded in Canada in the early 1970s, but which has since gone on to tackle issues ranging from commercial whaling to concerns about genetic engineer...

Mark as Played
March 18, 2025 19 mins

This week we talk about tariffs, consumer confidence, and trade wars.

We also discuss inflation, GDP, and uncertainty.

Recommended Book: A Brief History of Intelligence by Max S. Bennett

Transcript

On January 20, 2025, mere hours after being sworn into his second term in office as President of the United States, Donald Trump announced new 25% tariffs on most incoming goods from Canada and Mexico, accusing the two allies of failing to h...

Mark as Played
March 11, 2025 21 mins

This week we talk about Euromaidan, minerals deals, and propaganda.

We also discuss European security, NATO, and the western-led world order.

Recommended Book: Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Transcript

In February of 2014, pro-Russian protests racked parts of southeastern Ukraine and Russian soldiers, their uniforms and weapons stripped of flags and other identifying markers, occupied another part of Ukraine called Crimea.

This was seemingl...

Mark as Played
March 4, 2025 20 mins

This week we talk about Luna 2, soft-landings, and Firefly Aerospace.

We also discuss the private space launch industry, lunar landers, and regolith.

Recommended Book: The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey

Transcript

In 1959, Luna 2, a Soviet impactor-style spacecraft, successfully reached the surface of the Moon—the first-ever human-made object to do so.

Luna 2 was very of its era; a relatively simple device, similar in many ways to th...

Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.

    24/7 News: The Latest

    The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.

    Stuff You Should Know

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    The Bobby Bones Show

    Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.

    Latino USA

    Latino USA is the longest-running news and culture radio program in the U.S. centering Latino stories, hosted by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Maria Hinojosa Every week, the Peabody winning team brings you revealing, in-depth stories about what’s in the hearts and minds of Latinos and their impact on the world. Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for exclusive episodes, sneak peaks and behind-the-scenes chisme on Latino USA and all our podcasts. www.futuromediagroup.org/joinplus

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.