

Clearer Thinking with Spencer Greenberg
Spencer Greenberg
Clearer Thinking is a podcast about ideas that truly matter. If you enjoy learning about powerful, practical concepts and frameworks, wish you had more deep, intellectual conversations in your life, or are looking for non-BS self-improvement, then we think you'll love this podcast! Each week we invite a brilliant guest to bring four important ideas to discuss for an in-depth conversation. Topics include psychology, society, behavior change, philosophy, science, artificial intelligence, math, economics, self-help, mental health, and technology. We focus on ideas that can be applied right now to make your life better or to help you better understand yourself and the world, aiming to teach you the best mental tools to enhance your learning, self-improvement efforts, and decision-making. • We take on important, thorny questions like: • What's the best way to help a friend or loved one going through a difficult time? How can we make our worldviews more accurate? How can we hone the accuracy of our thinking? What are the advantages of using our "gut" to make decisions? And when should we expect careful, analytical reflection to be more effective? Why do societies sometimes collapse? And what can we do to reduce the chance that ours collapses? Why is the world today so much worse than it could be? And what can we do to make it better? What are the good and bad parts of tradition? And are there more meaningful and ethical ways of carrying out important rituals, such as honoring the dead? How can we move beyond zero-sum, adversarial negotiations and create more positive-sum interactions?
Episodes
Mentioned books

4 snips
Mar 27, 2026 • 1h 17min
What beats intuition when it comes to doing good? (with Marcus Davis)
Marcus A. Davis, co-founder and CEO of Rethink Priorities, researches how to direct resources for maximum good. He explores why identical interventions often cost less in poorer regions and what drives cost-effectiveness differences. He argues radically different causes can be compared, discusses moral uncertainty and modeling big decisions, and offers practical guidance for everyday donors.

38 snips
Mar 19, 2026 • 1h 21min
Can averages explain a human life? (with Steven C. Hayes)
Steven C. Hayes, Emeritus Psychology Professor and developer of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), discusses whether population averages mislead our understanding of individual lives. He questions trait snapshots, explains why time and context matter, and argues for tracking processes over time. He also offers practical ideas like daily self-monitoring and values-driven action.

50 snips
Mar 5, 2026 • 1h 20min
Should science stop worshiping statistical significance? (with Andrew Gelman)
Andrew Gelman, Higgins Professor of Statistics and Political Science at Columbia, is a leading critic of sloppy statistical practice. He discusses why flawed studies persist, the limits of p-values, the need for better measurement and priors, how replication and criticism should work in science, and why Bayesian approaches and transparency can improve reliability.

40 snips
Feb 27, 2026 • 1h 22min
What happens when your co-workers are AIs? (with Evan Ratliff)
Evan Ratliff, journalist and immersive reporter known for investigating deception and tech, discusses voice cloning, how easily scammers exploit cloned voices, and experiments using a clone to study scam calls. He explores AI agents as co-workers: their memory systems, where they excel or fail, social-engineering risks, and the strange emotional and ethical impacts of working alongside talking AIs.

65 snips
Feb 21, 2026 • 1h 25min
Long COVID: what are the scientific facts? (with Carmen Scheibenbogen)
Carmen Scheibenbogen, a German immunologist and clinician who studies ME/CFS and long COVID, discusses whether long COVID is one illness or many. She covers viral persistence and EBV reactivation, immune dysregulation and autoantibodies, fatigue and post-exertional malaise, biomarker-driven subgroups, and what mechanism-first trials and better clinical care might look like.

88 snips
Feb 11, 2026 • 1h 23min
Our 300th episode! - How to have better intellectual conversations (with Uri Bram)
Uri Bram, CEO and Editor-at-Large at The Browser and former GiveWell communications lead, joins to explore how to make intellectual conversations feel like shared discovery. They cover mismatched goals, thinking in real time versus rehearsed answers, vibe and tempo, interruption norms, group dynamics, and practical ways to keep discussions curious and productive.

40 snips
Feb 5, 2026 • 1h 3min
How to use your career to help the world (with Devon Fritz)
Devon Fritz, co-founder of High Impact Professionals and former COO at Ambitious Impact, advises professionals on maximizing career impact and strategic giving. He discusses when a job can have more impact than donations. They explore measuring replaceability, building weighted factor models to guide big career choices, overcoming imposter syndrome, and practical ways to boost impact from inside organizations.

158 snips
Jan 28, 2026 • 1h 25min
Are personality types a statistical mirage? (with Colin DeYoung)
Colin DeYoung, psychology professor who studies personality structure and biology, explains personality as stable patterns of behavior, emotion, thought, and motivation. He discusses traits versus life adaptations. Topics include trait stability across the lifespan, psychotherapy’s effects on traits, person versus situation influences, trade-offs of the Big Five, life events that nudge traits, and dimensional models of psychopathology.

47 snips
Jan 21, 2026 • 1h 28min
Ambitious goals for reducing animal suffering (with Jeff Sebo)
In a thought-provoking conversation, Jeff Sebo, an NYU philosopher and director focusing on animal and environmental ethics, explores bold strategies to tackle industrial animal agriculture. He proposes a global ban by 2050, debates the balance of price, culture, and consumer choices in dietary shifts, and addresses the complexities of aligning ethics with everyday behavior. Sebo also touches on the pressing need for attention to wild animal welfare and the ethical implications of AI, urging proactive measures to shape a compassionate future.

20 snips
Jan 7, 2026 • 1h 26min
Live at EA Global - The future of U.S. foreign aid (with Dean Karlan)
Dean Karlan, Frederic Esser Nemmers Distinguished Professor of Economics at Northwestern and founder of Innovations for Poverty Action, dives into U.S. foreign aid challenges. He discusses the misconception that aid comprises a large budget portion and how this affects public support. Karlan emphasizes the need for evidence-based decision-making in aid initiatives and describes innovative strategies for improving procurement processes. He also highlights the impact of the USAID shutdown, advocating for reforms that prioritize efficiency and partner government involvement.


