Nate Meyvis

The new intellectual athletes

Here is Sajith Pai on podcasts. My favorite section is his characterization of elite podcasters as "learning athletes." This is the, or a, right way to think about them. A few notes:

  1. My favorite such people are the newsletter-writers: Byrne Hobart, Zvi Mowshowitz, Simon Willison, and Matt Levine.1 So, don't think you need to be listening to podcasts to consume these outputs.
  2. There does seem to be something new about this subspecies of intellectual. I'm well aware that hyper-learners have always existed,2 but some combination of new business models (Substack and similar), new tools (the Internet and LLMs), and a certain vibe has created what feels to me like a distinctive and new sort of public figure.
  3. Part of my reason for reading these people is just to marvel at them: recall how George Will said that "sports serve society by providing vivid examples of excellence."

  1. There are other wonderful "learning athletes" out there; these are the ones that fit my tastes and interests the best.↩

  2. I did a Ph.D. about Plato.↩

#potofhoney #intellectual life #productivity #reading