#436 - All About Inflation: A Dialogue with Mark Blyth and Nicolò Fraccaroli
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Mark Blyth and Nicolò Fraccaroli on inflation. They define inflation, provide positive and negative of inflation, and how prices are measured. They talk about housing interest rates, Federal Reserve, inflation in the 70s, Biden stimulus, Hyperinflation in Turkey and Argentina, Trump’s tariffs, and many more topics. Mark Blyth is the William R. Rhodes ’57 Professor of International Economics and the Director of the Rhodes Centre for International Economics and Finance at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. He holds a joint appointment in the department of political science. He studies the politics of growth, distribution and decarbonization and why people continue to believe dubious economic ideas despite buckets of evidence to the contrary. He is the author of many award-winning books including his most recent (co-authored with Nicolò Fraccaroli), Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers. Nicolò Fraccaroli is an Economist at the World Bank and Visiting Scholar at Brown University. He has an MSc in Political Economy of Europe from the London School of Economics and PhD in Economics from the University of Rome Tor Vergata. Before joining the World Bank, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate and Adjunct Professor at Brown University. He has also worked at the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, and the Inter-American Development Bank. His work focuses on political economy with data-driven applications to the topics of central banking, populism, and finance. His work has featured on the Financial Times, the Guardian, and other outlets, and in the speeches of various policymakers including Mario Draghi and Christine Lagarde. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
--------
1:22:08
--------
1:22:08
#435 - The Ballistic Movement Within Sports Medicine: A Dialogue with Henry Abbott
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Henry Abbott on the Peak Performance Project (P3) within sports medicine. They discuss the landscape of injuries in the U.S., P3, chronic injuries, healthy movement and hip rotation, landing and ACL injuries, prevention and recovery, mental endurance, and many more topics. Henry Abbott is an award-winning journalist and founder of TrueHoop. He led ESPN’s 60-person NBA digital and print team, which published several groundbreaking articles and won a National Magazine Award. He is the author of the book, Ballistic: The New Science of Injury-Free Athletic Performance. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
--------
1:13:03
--------
1:13:03
#434 - Shifting Sands of the Sahara: A Dialogue with Judith Scheele
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Judith Scheele about the human history of the Sahara. They discuss the perceptions of the Sahara, landscape of the Sahara, sand and freshwater, multiple uses of camels, peoples of the Sahara, Slavery and race in the Sahara, Islam, contemporary Sahara, and many more topics. Judith Scheele is professor of social anthropology at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, EHESS). She has spent almost two decades living in and researching Saharan societies. She is the author of three previous books and is the author of the recent book, Shifting Sands: A Human History of the Sahara. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
--------
58:59
--------
58:59
#433 - Empire of AI: A Dialogue with Karen Hao
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Karen Hao about OpenAI and the current landscape about AI. They discuss the origins of OpenAI, Sam Altman and his motivations, his relationships with Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, using cheap labor in Venezuela and Kenya for AI, supercomputers and mega campuses for data centers, and many more topics. Karen Hao is a bestselling author and award-winning reporter covering artificial intelligence. She was an application engineer at the first startup to spin out of Google[x]. She received a B.S. in mechanical engineering and minor in energy studies from MIT. She has written for many publications such as The Atlantic and others. Previously, she was a foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal focused on AI & China, and a senior editor at MIT Technology Review, where she wrote about the latest AI research & its social impacts. She has been a fellow with the Harvard Technology and Public Purpose program, the MIT Knight Science Journalism program, and the Pulitzer Center’s AI Accountability Network. She was the first journalist to profile OpenAI and author of the book, Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
--------
52:16
--------
52:16
#432 - American Authoritarianism and Erosion of Democracy: A Dialogue with Katherine Stewart
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Katherine Stewart about democracy and American authoritarianism. They discuss the evolution of conservatives to the Far Right, critiques of the Far Right, reactionary nihilism and the anti-woke. They discuss issues such as abortion, conservative conventions, religion, and many more topics. Katherine Stewart is a journalist and author who has been covering the rise of the anti-democratic movement for over 16 years. Her writing appears in The New York Times op ed, New Republic, Religion News Service and others. Her 2012 book, The Good News Club: The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children, focused on the religious right’s efforts to undermine public education. Her previous book, The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism (Bloomsbury 2020), won First Place in the Nonfiction Books category from the Religion News Association, as well as a Morris B. Forkosch Best Book award. The Power Worshippers formed the basis of the documentary feature God & Country, produced by Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner; Stewart served as executive producer. Her latest book, Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy (Bloomsbury 2025), is an instant New York Times bestseller. Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
Converging Dialogues is a podcast that is designed to have honest and authentic conversations with a diversity of thoughts and opinions. Wide-ranging topics include philosophy, psychology, politics, and social commentary. A spirit of civility, respect, and open-mindedness is the guiding compass. convergingdialogues.substack.com
Ireland