Win-Win with Liv Boeree
Win-Win with Liv Boeree explores the games that shape our world. Hosted by poker champion Liv Boeree, it uses game theory to examine humanity's biggest challenges. The show features leading thinkers and looks for ways to turn lose-lose dilemmas into clear win-win outcomes. It aims to help listeners understand and change the systems behind these problems.
Episodes
#56 - Txana Tuwe - Amazon Indigenous Elder on Ancient Technologies and AI
Can indigenous wisdom help us navigate these modern times? Fresh perspectives are in short supply these days, and it's not often you get to interview someone who has lived most of their lives entirely outside of modern society. So when I got the opportunity to speak to Txana Tuwe - elder of the Huni Kuin tribe, from deep in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, I jumped at the chance. We discuss his li
#55 - Dean Ball x Daniel Kokotajlo Anti-Debate - Should GOVERNMENTS or MARKETS control AI?
Advanced AI is coming. Is it time for the government to step in and regulate? Or is it better in the hands of the market and tech CEOs? Or is there a more nuanced way to think about this topic entirely? Welcome to the ANTI-DEBATE. It's debating, but with a positive-sum twist! My guests today are two of the most qualified people on either side this topic: former Trump AI advisor Dean Ball, and
#54 - Greg Lukianoff - Free Speech in the Age of AI
Free speech is often treated as a political issue. But what if it’s the foundational technology that makes peaceful civilization possible in the first place?I sat down with Greg Lukianoff — free speech advocate, first amendment attorney, and longtime leader of FIRE.org — to explore why freedom of expression is humanity’s ultimate win-win innovation.Greg strongly believes free speech is at risk acr
#53 - John Schultz - Why Google Made ChatGPT, Gemini & Claude Play 900,000 hands of Poker...
Which LLM is best at POKER? What about the social deception game Werewolf? This week I'm collaborating with @googledeepmind and @kaggle to explain their new “AI Game Arena” project, designed to test all the top LLMs at various games. The Game Arena is a massive research project to create new AI benchmarks, and understand what really makes these general-purpose AIs tick. It also helps u
#52 - Will MacAskill - What Comes AFTER Superintelligence?
Superintelligence is predicted to arrive within a decade. If that's true, then what comes AFTER? And how can we prepare for it?Which is why I sat down with one of the few people actively thinking about this: philosopher Will MacAskill. Will heads up Forethought, a research nonprofit focused on how to navigate the transition to a world with superintelligent AI systems. He’s also a former Oxford
#51 - Tyler Cowen - Markets, Institutions and Why AI Hype is (Probably) Overblown
What if the biggest risk from AI isn’t superintelligence gone rogue, but the inflexibility of our human institutions?My guest today, Tyler Cowen, thinks so. Tyler is a professor at George Mason university and one of the most celebrated economists in the world. And unlike many AI proponents, Tyler strongly challenges the idea that intelligence alone determines outcomes in society, and instead point
#50 - Samantha Sweetwater - Why Indigenous Wisdom Is Important In The AI Age
What if the purpose of life is to find ways of harmonizing the forces of nature, including the nature of ourselves?My guest this week thinks so. I sat down with systems thinker and "True Human" author Samantha Sweetwater to talk about the metacrisis and the future of civilization in the age of AI. Samantha’s work bridges complexity science, indigenous wisdom, embodiment, and systems theory to expl
#49 - British Politician Katie Lam - Defeating Grooming Gangs, Stagnation & Safetyism
Britain was once a beacon of liberty, and the birthplace of the industrial revolution. So why is its economy floundering, while the USA is surging? Has a culture of extreme bureaucracy turned the former global powerhouse into a stagnant "nanny state"?My guest today is Katie Lam, a Member of Parliament willing to speak uncomfortable truths. From the grooming gangs scandal, to anarcho-tyranny, to an
#48 - Jim Rutt - Why Capitalism Is Now A Game of Mind Control
Capitalism has historically been our biggest blessing. But what if it's now turning into our biggest curse? Is it time to change the game?My guest today believes so. Jim Rutt is an early internet pioneer, complexity scientist, former chairman of the Santa Fe Institute, and co-founder of the Game B movement... and he has a lot to say about how our economic and technological systems have trapped us
#47 - Emmett Shear - Why NATURE Holds the Answers To AI Alignment
Superintelligent AI is rapidly approaching, and humanity (specifically, the labs building it) is still a long way from proving it can be safely controlled. But what if that’s the wrong way of viewing the problem? Is there a way to instill values to the mutual benefit of both humans and machines?In this episode of the Win-Win Podcast, Liv sits down with Emmett Shear — Twitch co-founder, former inte
#46 - Isabelle Boemeke - Why Nuclear Power Is The Rad Future We Need
Energy is the lifeblood of civilization. Is nuclear power the source of abundant clean energy that's been under our noses this whole time?In this episode of the Win-Win Podcast, Liv sits down with Isabelle Boemeke (founder of Isodope & energy expert) to tackle the debate between abundance and degrowth, sustainability, safety & energy infrastructure concerns, AI and emerging technologie
#45 - Dominic Cummings - Stagnation, Corruption & Rebooting The System
Dominic Cummings is one of the most polarizing figures in Britain. He's a political strategist who masterminded the main campaign for Brexit. He was also Chief Advisor to Prime Minister Boris Johnson for some of his term, including through COVID. He even had Benedict Cumberbatch play him in a movie! He's also a student of systems, having worked in or around government and civil institutions all hi
#44 - Dean Spears - Population Decline Is Worse Than You Think
The world is having fewer babies than ever. But how bad is this, really? What's causing it? Is there a win-win solution out there that can help people have more babies, if they want them?In this special "Win-Win Live" event, I speak to Professor Dean Spears - a demographer and economist whose research examines the impact of population decline. He's the author of the book "Af
#43 - Jamie Joyce - Democracy, Digitization and Debates
Democracy is in deep trouble. Could replacing politicians with real data save it? In this episode Liv sits down with Jamie Joyce – founder of the Society Library — to explore one of the most urgent questions of our time: how do we make sense of complex issues in the age of misinformation, algorithmic bias, and AI slop?We hear what happens when you treat information not as content to consume, but a
#42 - Anthony Aguirre and Malo Bourgon - Why Superintelligent AI Should Not Be Built
Humanity is in a race to build superintelligent AI gods. What happens if we create beings smarter than us—and can no longer steer them?In this special Win-Win IRL episode, Liv Boeree sits down with Anthony Aguirre (CEO of Future of Life Institute) and Malo Bourgon (CEO of MIRI) for a no-holds-barred conversation on finding alignment, avoiding power concentration and surveillance states, and the ge
#41 - Harper Carroll - AI & The Spirituality of Silicon Valley
What if AI isn’t replacing us—but redefining what it means to be skilled? Liv talks with engineer and educator Harper Carroll about how AI is transforming education, leveling the playing field for creators, and reshaping how we build, learn, and make decisions. A grounded look at the tools, challenges, and surprising upsides of the AI era, as well as a personal exploration of the spirituality (or
#40 - Lewis Bollard - How to End Factory Farming
Factory farming is one of the most universally loathed industries on Earth —so why is it still growing?Today I chat with Lewis Bollard, a leading researcher in farm animal welfare and global food policy, to understand the true scale and impact of industrial animal agriculture, and what we can do to improve it. We hear how corporate lobbying and political corruption have allowed the normalization o
#39 - Daniel Kokotajlo - Wargames, Superintelligence & Quitting OpenAI
AI is developing at breakneck speed—but are we properly prepared for what’s coming? To explore this question Igor and I grabbed leading AI researcher and forecaster Daniel Kokotajlo for a conversation about why he left OpenAI, what's right and wrong with their company culture, and how tabletop wargames are one of the best tools we have to prepare for AGI and superintelligence in the current hy
#38 - Manu Meel - Healing Political Polarization
Protests, lock-ins, encampments…the culture on university campuses is certainly fraught these days! As political discourse worsens among young people, I couldn’t think of anyone better to explore this issue with than Manu Meel. Manu is the founder and CEO of Bridge USA; a movement to help students and other young people engage in constructive dialogue and disagreement to improve the quality of pol
#37 - Tim Urban - Beating Procrastination, Parenthood, and Politics
In this episode of the Win Win Podcast, Liv and Igor sit down with Wait But Why creator Tim Urban to explore everything from his unexpected pet tortoise, Winston, to the mind-bending implications of superintelligent AI.We hear about his latest foray into book writing, and how he’s structured his workflow to overcome his damn procrastination monkey. The crew also discuss such classics as free will,
#00 - Daniel Schmachtenberger - AI, Capitalism, Misalignment & Moloch
A deep dive into the game theory and exponential growth underlying our modern economic system, and how recent advancements in AI are poised to turn up the pressure on that system -- and our wider environment -- in ways we have never seen before. Not a conversation for the faint hearted, but crucial nonetheless. Daniel Schmachtenberger is a founding member of The Consilience Project, a research org
#36 - Bill Perkins - Space and The Future of Satellite Imaging
In this episode of the Win-Win podcast we are floating off the coast of Starbase, watching the live launch of Starship 6 with Bill Perkins.
Bill is a founder of two satellite imaging companies that aim to address environmental issues by making satellite data—once inaccessible to the public—widely available, revolutionizing everything from climate monitoring to illegal fishing enforcement. We also
#35 - Allison Duettman - Cooperation, Technology and the Power of Existential Hope
Explore the future of cooperation and technology in this thought-provoking episode of the Win Win Podcast! Liv chats to Allison Duettman from the Foresight Institute about how to harness emerging technologies like AI, nanotechnology, and blockchain to create a freer, more coordinated world. They explore concepts like "existential hope," "multipolar active shields," and "Pa
#34 - Igor Kurganov - Liv's World Series Poker Win and Fixing Social Media
n case you missed it, Liv just won a record-breaking $2,800,000 in the World Series of Poker last month In this episode, she and Igor discuss her victory, why it represents a win-win for both her and animals... how to fix social media... Magnus Carlsen's jeans drama, a drunken game of backgammon and much more.
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro and Backgammon
2:45 - Liv’s World Series of Poker Win
10:19 - L
#33 - Alexandra and Andrea Botez - Competition, Sisterhood and the Social Media Game
The Botez sisters are no strangers to competition. But how do they manage their competitive urges? How does it affect their relationship to one another, as sisters?
These are just some of the many intimate topics we cover in today's Win-Win episode. Best known for their hilarious chess streaming videos, Andrea and Alexandra Botez are some of the world's most celebrated gamers - born into a house
#32 - Scott Aaronson - The Race to AGI and Quantum Supremacy
How fast is the AI race really going? What is the current state of Quantum Computing? What actually *is* the P vs NP problem? - former OpenAI researcher and theoretical computer scientist Scott Aaronson joins Liv and Igor to discuss everything quantum, AI and consciousness.
We hear about his experience working on OpenAI's "superalignment team", whether quantum computers might break Bitcoin, the
#31 - Kristian Rönn - Escaping The Moloch Trap
How do we escape Moloch’s trap for good?
In this special Burning Man edition of Win-Win, Liv forgoes the usual purple chairs for dusty playa to chat with Kristian Rönn. Kristian is the CEO and co-founder of Normative, a platform for helping industries strive for net zero emissions.
With intellectual roots in Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute and his own mission to create positive-sum solution
#30 - Nate Silver - Predicting Elections in Chaotic Times
Can we still accurately model elections in such chaotic times? Are prediction markets the future of news?
Nate Silver thinks so - Nate is a renowned election analyst, author and former professional poker player. He's the founder of FiveThirtyEight, whose statistical models revolutionized election forecasting, earning him national acclaim.
His two books "On The Edge: The Art of Risking Everything
#29 - Peter Wang - Founder of Anaconda on Open Source, AI & Virtual Worlds
Open-source movements have historically been a great source of collaboration. Can we harness the power of open source software, science or AI to help solve the world's coordination problems? Or could it just make everything worse?
This is the main topic covered in today's episode of the Win-Win Podcast. Liv is joined by Peter Wang, a physicist, computer scientist, and founder of Anaconda, one of
#28 - Liv Boeree & Igor Kurganov - The Secrets of Relationship Success
What are the key ingredients of successful long-term relationships? How can couples better navigate conflict? What about jealousy?
In this very personal Win-Win episode, professional poker couple Liv and Igor discuss what they've learned from the ten years of dating each other. Prepare yourself for plenty of strategy, anecdotes and smack talk!
Chapters
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:29 - Secret Ingredi
#27 - Sean Carroll - The Enigma of Complexity
Is complexity the new frontier of physics? How should we approach metaphysical uncertainty? What makes a great Physicist?
These are just some of the questions covered in this Win-Win episode with the incredible Sean Carroll. Sean is a theoretical physicist and philosopher who specializes in quantum mechanics, cosmology, and philosophy of science.
Chapters
00:01:59 - New Discoveries of the Webb
#26 - David Shapiro - Why We Must Defeat Nihilism
Nihilism has become all too popular, and this man is on a mission to fix that! David is a philosopher and technologist focussed on understanding and healing what he calls the "Nihilism Crisis" - the crisis of meaning the world is currently suffering from, especially as it transitions into the AI age.
If you're interested in AI alignment, game theory, incentive design, Moloch and com
#25 - AJ Jacobs - The Power of Social Experimentation
How literally should we take the US Constitution? What about the bible? Should we experiment with radical honesty with strangers?
Those are just some of the questions human guinea pig A.J. Jacobs spends his life trying to answer. An author and journalist, he regularly immerses himself into extreme social experiments to understand the world better (and then usually writes a book about it). And thi
#24 - Samo Burja - How to Prevent Civilizational Collapse
Why did Rome fall? What can we learn from past civilization collapses to protect our own? How do we fix our Institutions? In this Win-Win episode I speak to Samo Burja - a leading geopolitical analyst and founder of the intelligence brief Bismarck Analysis.
Samo is a prolific writer on nature of power, leadership, bureaucracy and governance. If you're worried about the health of our institutions
#23 - Harleen Kaur - Exposing News Media Bias
Polarization, echo chambers... how do we fix the problem of biased news? That's a problem today's Win-Win guest has dedicated her life to solving.
Harleen Kaur is the founder of Ground News, a news aggregator platform that provides overviews of what different media outlets across the political spectrum report, so that consumers can get a clearer and more impartial perspective. We explore
#22 - Wes Carter - Closing the Loop on Packaging Pollution
Is it possible to solve ocean pollution by turning the packaging industry into a closed-loop economy?
Wes Carter thinks so. Wes is the Founder of a New Earth Project and President of Atlantic Packaging, on a personal mission to stop the significant pollution the packaging industry causes. In this episode we hear what it would take to close the loop on the economy via new types of biodegradable m
#21 - Hannah Ritchie - How We Can Become the First Truly Sustainable Generation
Sustainability. It's a buzzword that gets lots of headlines, but what if our definition of it is incomplete? That's the view of Hannah Ritchie - Hannah is the lead Environmental Scientist at OurWorldinData.org - a leading data science organization that analyses data to find out the true state of our world.
In today's conversation we explore her findings on the planet's biggest is
#20 - Nick Bostrom - Utopia, Superintelligence and Digital Minds
What would life look like in a fully automated world? How would we derive meaning in a world of superintelligence?
Today's Win-Win episode is all about utopias, dystopias and thought experiments, because I'm talking to Professor Nick Bostrom. Nick is one of the world’s leading philosophers - he's a leading thinker on the nature of consciousness, AI, catastrophic risks, cosmology… he’s also the g
#19 - Marcus Daniell - The Hyper-Competitive World of Pro Tennis
What sacrifices does it take to be a pro tennis player? Is it possible to have a healthy mindset at the highest stakes?
Marcus Daniell understands it all - he has played professional tennis for over 20 years, a career that has earned him an Olympic medal and a whole lot of wisdom around the nature of competition. He is also the founder of High Impact Athletes, a movement of professional athletes
#18 - Chris Anderson - The Power of Infectious Generosity
What if we could harness the power of the internet to make kindness go VIRAL?
That's the topic of this conversation with Chris Anderson -- Chris has run TED (of the famous TED talks) for the last twenty years, and recently wrote a book called "Infectious Generosity", which seeks to understand the nature of human kindness, and find ways to make it spread in the digital age. A crucia
#17 - Dan Hendrycks - Are AI worries overblown?
The rate of AI progress is accelerating, so how can we minimize the risks of this incredible technology, while maximizing the rewards?
Today I am speaking to leading AI researcher Dan Hendrycks — Dan is the founder of Center for AI Safety, and lead advisor to Elon Musk's X.AI. He was also the architect behind the "Mitigating Risks" letter that was signed by Demis Hassabis, Sam Altm
#16 - Noor Siddiqui - Is Embryo Screening the Future of Reproduction?
Most people want to give their children the best start in life, but what if that "best start" could be determined *before* birth? That's what today's guest Noor Siddiqui believes -- her Mom progressively lost her vision due to a degenerative retinal condition, which made her determined to find a way to prevent her own children from the same fate.
A computer scientist by training
#15 - Magatte Wade: Unleashing Africa's Potential
Magatte is an entrepreneur on a mission: to unleash the potential of Africa. She’s a well known speaker, author and researcher who has written extensively about economic structures in the developing world, and the urgent need to create fairer regulatory environments to give everyone on earth access to the power of markets.
She is also the founder of various Senegalese companies including Adina d
#14 - Boyan Slat: Solving Ocean Plastic
Today's Win-Win episode is with Boyan Slat. Boyan is the founder and CEO of the Ocean Cleanup, the famous organization that's trying to rid our waterways of plastic for good. I ask him why plastic has become such a problem, the difference between effective and ineffective regulation (ahem Plastic Straw Ban!), the importance of mindset when solving hard problems, and of course, his relation
#13 - Tim Dodd ”The Everyday Astronaut” on Space, Competition and the Dear Moon Mission
In this Win-Win episode Liv chats to Tim Dodd a.k.a. the Everyday Astronaut about his upcoming mission to the Moon, the economies of space, the pros and cons of competition, rocketry, SpaceX, NASA and much more. We also hear his insights on what it takes to build a successful youtube channel in today’s hyper competitive creator environment. Not one to miss!
#12 - Uma Valeti: Cultivated Meat and Food Sustainability
In this special Win-Win Podcast episode, Liv chats to Uma Valeti, founder and CEO of Upside Foods, about the meat industry and why cultivated meat may offer a solution to the growing environmental, health and ethical issues posed by current meat production methods.
#11 - Jamie Wheal: Tackling the Meaning Crisis
In today's episode I chat with one of my favourite thinkers and writers: Jamie Wheal. I got to know Jamie through our mutual interest in, well, the hot mess that our civilization seems to be going through, and I knew he'd make a great guest for Win-Win because he's one of those rare folks who can combine both intellectual rigor and a deep love for physicality and nature. So as well as
#10 - Frank Lantz: The Beauty of Games
In this episode I speak with award-winning game designer Frank Lantz about the beauty of games and what we can learn from them. It goes without saying that games are an integral part of life and our personal development, but what is it that draws us to playing? And what role does playing games serve in society at large?
#9 - Haralabos Voulgaris: Being the Best at Sports Betting
In this Win-Win Podcast Episode, Liv and Igor chat to one of the world’s most successful sports bettors: Haralabos ”Bob” Voulgaris. Revered for his hyper-analytical, data-driven approach to gambling, Bob soon became known as one of the most prolific NBA bettors in the history of the basketball, a reputation that even got him hired by Marc Cuban to run strategy for the Dallas Mavericks!
#8 - Simon Sinek: Competition, Business and the Infinite Mindset
In this week’s Win-Win episode, I chat to legendary thinker and speaker Simon Sinek about the nature of competition in business, and in particular, the key ingredient of all enduring companies and leaders: The Infinite Mindset. We also explore the pros and cons of short-term goals, the power of enemies, Moloch Traps, how to be a better speaker, the need for optimism, and so much more. Not one to m
#7 - Joseph Gordon-Levitt: AI and The Film Industry
Hollywood is currently at a standstill due to the joint writer’s & actor’s strike, in part because of the growing threat from generative AI. In this episode, I talk to one of the industry’s greatest talents and thinkers -- Joseph Gordon-Levitt -- about how he believes the industry needs to adapt in the age of synthetic media. We also hear his thoughts on how addictive technology and competitive dy
#6 - Cate Hall: Poker, Pandemics, Overcoming Addiction, and Meeting God
What is it like to be an atheist who suddenly meets God? What is wrong with the current US’s legal system? How can poker make us think more clearly about existential risk? These are just a couple of the many topics I cover with former lawyer-turned-pokerpro-turned-biotech CEO Cate Hall.
#5 - Isabelle Boemeke: The Cut-Throat Worlds of Modelling and Activism
In this fifth episode of the Win-Win Podcast, I sit down with my good friend Isabelle Boemeke to discuss how competition manifests in the worlds of modelling and activism.
#4 - Jordan Hall: Building a better civilization
A philosophical and technical dive with Ttchnologist and systems thinker Jordan Hall into the anthropological drivers of competition, complexity, power structures, and the role of AI in shaping a post-competitive, ”Game B” future.
#3 - Carl Robichaud: Solving the Nuclear Dilemma
Nuclear war is arguably the ultimate example of a lose-lose game. But how high is the risk today? Liv Boeree speaks to nuclear weapons policy expert Carl Robichaud to understand what the world has learned from the last ~70 years under the nuclear shadow.
#2 - Bill Perkins: Sex, Markets and Maximizing Life Fulfillment
In this episode I sit down with Bill Perkins, a top energy trader and author of ”Die with Zero”. We discuss everything from the ups and downs of the trading world and Wall Street to crazy prop betting, power dynamics, poker, and how to optimize your money for maximum fun and fulfillment.
#1 - Molly Bloom: Finding peace after losing everything
Liv Boeree sits down with Molly Bloom, someone so interesting she has literally had a movie made about her life. Molly made a name for herself running some of the highest staked poker games in LA and NYC for the rich and famous - that is, until it all came crashing down. We get into her journey of overcoming adversity and finding inner peace in this episode!
COMING SOON - Win-Win with Liv Boeree
Hey everyone, Liv Boeree here! You might know me from poker, science shows, or my Youtube channel where I dress up as scary game-theory monsters. Either way, I’m super happy to say I’m finally starting my own podcast!
It’s going to be called the Win-Win Podcast, and it’s really an exploration of competition and all the ways it manifests, for better or worse, in our modern day society. In this show
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