Cognitive Revolution "How AI Changes Everything"
A podcast exploring the technical and societal impacts of AI through deep-dive interviews with the researchers and engineers building the future.
This is a dual-format show for the technically-minded. The main episodes are deep-dive interviews that get into the weeds of AI research with top practitioners, focusing on mechanistic understanding and safety implications. A secondary format, "AI:AM," is a co-hosted daily news briefing that covers the industry's market moves, policy debates, and latest model releases.
“The show uniquely combines highly technical interviews about the internal workings of AI models with broader discussions on civilizational impact. A standout feature is host Nathan Labenz's practice of asking guests to argue against their own positions.”
Who hosts this show
Hosted by AI analyst Nathan Labenz, The Cognitive Revolution features long-form interviews with leading AI researchers, engineers, and thinkers. The show explores the technical underpinnings of AI systems, from model interpretability to consciousness, and zooms out to discuss the societal, political, and economic implications of the technology's rapid advancement. While co-founded with venture capitalist Erik Torenberg, Labenz is the primary host. The channel also includes a regular news segment, "AI:AM," which analyzes daily industry developments.
Credentials & credits
- Host, The Cognitive Revolution
- Founder and former CEO, Waymark
- Member, OpenAI GPT-4 Red Team
- AI Analyst and Entrepreneur
- Studied Chemistry and Philosophy at Harvard
Other ventures
- Waymark (AI-powered video creation)
- Turpentine (Podcast Network)
What kind of podcast
- Country
- United States
- Region
- usa
When new episodes drop
- 01
- 02Learning Expert Judgment and AI ConsciousnessJun 26, 2026 · 3h 00m
- 03AI for Science & Sovereign AIJun 25, 2026 · 2h 44m
- 04Post-AGI Equilibria: Are There Any Good Ones?Jun 24, 2026 · 2h 55m
- 05Compute Improves Compute + Europe 2031Jun 23, 2026 · 2h 02m
- 06The God We Deserve: Nonzero's Robert Wright on AI as Humanity's Ultimate TestJun 23, 2026 · 2h 29m
- 07Swyx on AI.Engineer + State of SWEJun 22, 2026 · 3h 02m
- 08
Notable episodes
- 01AI:AM #4: Cameron on Model Consciousness, Duvenaud's Gradual Disempowerment...
Features interviews on two key AI topics: the technical measurement of consciousness in models and the societal risk of 'gradual disempowerment' by AI systems.
- 02The God We Deserve: Nonzero's Robert Wright on AI as Humanity's Ultimate Test
A discussion with a prominent author framing AI not just as a technical challenge, but as an evolutionary and philosophical test for humanity.
- 03AI:AM #3: Zvi on Fable, the Cases For & Against the Ban...
A timely analysis of a major policy event—the attempted government ban of an Anthropic model—dissecting the technical and political arguments.
What you'll be asked on this show
Nathan Labenz often opens with a broad, framing question before diving into specifics. He uses his own narrative voice-overs to transition between topics, creating a structured, almost documentary-like flow. A key technique is to ask guests to explain the connection between a technical concept (like valence in a model) and a practical concern (like AI safety). His most recognizable move is asking guests to steelman the opposition, explicitly requesting the evidence or results that cut against their own stated views.
The main show is a long-form interview format, often using the host's narrative voice-overs to frame topics and structure the conversation into distinct, titled parts. A secondary format, "AI:AM," is a co-hosted daily news discussion analyzing market and policy developments.
Questions the host keeps coming back to
4 cataloguedIf you're going on this show as a guest, expect some version of each of these. Each note explains when the host reaches for it.
controversy
2- Q.01
“What evidence or results cut against your own view?”
A signature closing question used to test a guest's intellectual honesty and explore counter-arguments.
- Q.02
“What's the connection between [a technical concept] and AI alignment or safety?”
He frequently asks this to bridge theoretical research with practical, high-stakes safety concerns.
process
1- Q.01
“What kind of evidence—behavioral or internal—do you find more compelling?”
This question probes a guest's epistemological stance on how to truly understand AI models.
mindset
1- Q.01
“Is [a core concept like consciousness] all-or-nothing, or a matter of degree?”
An opening question used to establish a guest's foundational view on a complex topic.
Signature segments
- · AI:AM (daily news show)
- · Asking guests for counter-arguments to their views
- · Narrative voice-over intros and transitions
- · Structured episodes with titled parts
Topics covered repeatedly
Who gets booked here
Guests are typically AI researchers, professors, and engineers at the forefront of the field, often with a focus on interpretability, safety, or frontier model development. Recent guests include individuals from Reciprocal Research, the University of Toronto, and authors like Robert Wright.
- Cameron Bergon AI:AM #4: Cameron on Model Consciousness, Duvenaud's Gradual Disempowerment, swyx's AI-Eng Alpha
- David Duvenaudon AI:AM #4: Cameron on Model Consciousness, Duvenaud's Gradual Disempowerment, swyx's AI-Eng Alpha
- Robert Wrighton The God We Deserve: Nonzero's Robert Wright on AI as Humanity's Ultimate Test
- Zvi Mowshowitzon AI:AM #3: Zvi on Fable, the Cases For & Against the Ban, + AI for Math, Logistics & More
- Shawn “swyx” Wangon AI:AM #4: Cameron on Model Consciousness, Duvenaud's Gradual Disempowerment, swyx's AI-Eng Alpha
Where to find this show
Audience & reach
Sponsors include AI-native companies (Anthropic) and services for the tech industry (Mercury). The audience is estimated to be highly technical and influential within the AI ecosystem, including builders, investors, and policy leaders.
Subscriber and view counts are pulled live from YouTube and re-verified on a 30-day cycle. Listener estimates for the RSS feed aren't published here unless they're host-verified.
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People also ask
- Who are the hosts?
- The primary host is Nathan Labenz, an AI analyst and entrepreneur. Erik Torenberg is the co-founder, and Prakash Narayan often co-hosts the "AI:AM" news segments.
- What is the format of the show?
- It has two main formats: long-form, technically deep interviews with AI experts, and a daily news show called "AI:AM" that covers current events in the industry.
- Is this podcast still active?
- Yes, it publishes multiple episodes per week, including both interviews and daily news segments.
- Where can I listen to the podcast?
- The podcast is available on major platforms including YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
- What makes this podcast different from other AI shows?
- It stands out for its technical depth, its focus on the host's direct line of questioning, and its dual format combining deep-dive interviews with timely news analysis.
Built from the show's public RSS feed, YouTube, the host's own websites, and the cited sources below. Computed and AI-extracted fields are labelled. Facts only — no private info, no fabrication, no transcripts republished.
Sources & how this page was built
This page is AI-assisted, grounded in the public sources cited below, and host-verifiable. We publish facts only; we do not republish transcripts. If anything here is wrong, the host can claim and correct the page above.Model: gemini-2.5-pro · high confidence
- [01]Official 'About' Pagecognitiverevolution.ai
- [02]The Cognitive Revolution Substackcognitiverevolution.substack.com
- [03]Nathan Labenz - Maven Course Biomaven.com
- [04]Nathan Labenz - HAPPINESS.info Interviewhappiness.info
- [05]Erik Torenberg - All American Speakers Bioallamericanspeakers.com
- [06]Turpentine Media Networkturpentine.co
- [07]Cognitive Revolution on YouTubeyoutube.com
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