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經濟學人2026.10.10《科技及文化版Podcast》諾貝爾獎科幻突破、空氣殘留DNA刑案新法、OpenAI解開數百數學謎題；同步直擊矽谷億萬富豪播客圈、美國槍枝文化真相與品牌托特包狂熱！ — Transcript

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0:00Welcome to the Haige Book Club Podcast.
0:02Today, we're sharing four articles from
0:04the October 10th issue of The
0:05Economist’s Technology section, along
0:07with five articles from the Culture
0:09section to enjoy with your coffee while
0:11enriching your perspective and
0:13understanding of human nature. Let’s
0:15start by diving into the Technology
0:17section.
0:18>> Yes, absolutely.
0:19>> There are four articles we’ll be
0:21exploring in the Technology section
0:22today; let’s take a quick look at the
0:24headlines. First, this year's Nobel
0:27Prize in science reads like real-world
0:29science fiction; second, burglars might
0:31be identified through DNA in the air.
0:34Third, OpenAI claims to have solved
0:36hundreds of long-standing mathematical
0:38problems. And fourth, should you use a
0:40tongue scraper? If you’d like to jump
0:43to a specific article, there are
0:45timestamps in the description below to
0:47help you navigate, and I hope you like
0:49this arrangement.
0:50>> The range of topics covered today is
0:52truly quite extreme.
0:53>> It really is.
0:55>> We aren’t just looking at the most
0:57abstract micro-mechanisms in physics
0:59and chemistry; we’re also confronting
1:01the limits of human logical computation
1:02and returning to the mundane details of
1:04our daily lives. Our mission today is
1:08to translate these seemingly dense
1:10scientific texts into knowledge
1:11perspectives you can apply directly.
1:14>> That’s right, so let’s dive right
1:16in without holding anything back. This
1:18is the first article: this year's Nobel
1:20Prize in science reads like real-world
1:22science fiction. Honestly, this year's
1:24Physics laureate, Professor Francis
1:26Halzen from the University of Wisconsin
1:29–Madison, completely caught my
1:31attention.
1:31>> Oh, how so?
1:33>> Since 1992, the Physics Prize has
1:35almost always been awarded to a team,
1:37but this time it’s a rare instance of
1:39an individual honor. I looked it up,
1:42and it’s because he built something
1:44called the IceCube Neutrino Observatory
1:46. It’s a massive detector buried deep
1:49beneath the Antarctic ice sheet, with a
1:52volume of one cubic kilometer—the
1:54scale is staggering. But what I don’t
1:57understand is that it took 14 countries
1:59, 450 researchers, and work from 2004
2:02to 2011 to build it, all just to catch
2:05something called a neutrino. Are these
2:08neutrinos around us right now as we
2:10listen to this episode?
2:13>> Actually, not just around us; right
2:15this second, about 65 billion solar
2:17neutrinos are passing through an area
2:19the size of your fingernail every
2:21single second without hitting anything.
2:23Wow, 65 billion.
2:25>> Yes, and it passes through your
2:27headphones, through your brain, and
2:29even straight through the entire Earth,
2:31yet you don't feel a thing. That's why
2:33neutrinos have always been called "
2:34ghost particles" by the scientific
2:36community. Because they are
2:37electrically neutral and extremely tiny
2:39, they are almost completely immune to
2:41the universe's most powerful forces:
2:43electromagnetism and gravity.
2:45>> That sounds impossible to catch.
2:46Exactly. They only interact with
2:49ordinary matter occasionally through an
2:51extremely short-range force called the
2:53weak nuclear force. This is exactly why
2:55they are so incredibly difficult to
2:57detect.
2:59>> So, it sounds like holding a giant
3:01block of ice in the middle of a
3:02blizzard, trying to catch a completely
3:04invisible mosquito.
3:06>> Hey, that’s actually quite an apt
3:08metaphor. But since the sun already
3:10produces so many neutrinos, why did
3:12Professor Halzen go through all that
3:14trouble to build this massive
3:15observatory at the South Pole?
3:17>> Because searching for solar neutrinos
3:19is no longer considered a new discovery
3:21. The professor’s ambition is much
3:22greater; he wants to capture
3:24high-energy neutrinos coming from deep
3:26space. Imagine those extreme celestial
3:28objects in the universe, like
3:30supermassive black holes or supernova
3:32explosions.
3:33>> Uh-huh.
3:33>> When they erupt, they produce extremely
3:35high-energy protons. But since protons
3:37are positively charged, they get
3:39constantly deflected by various
3:40interstellar magnetic fields during
3:42their long journey to Earth.
3:43>> I see, so their path gets bent and
3:45twisted.
3:46>> Right. By the time we finally observe
3:48them on Earth, you have no way to trace
3:50them back to their origin. However,
3:52these extreme events also produce
3:54high-energy neutrinos at the same time.
3:56Because neutrinos are uncharged and
3:58completely unaffected by magnetic
4:00fields, they act as the universe's
4:01perfect interstellar messengers, flying
4:03straight to Earth in an absolutely
4:05direct line.
4:06>> Wow. So, if we can capture them, it’s
4:08equivalent to seeing exactly where
4:09those ultra-high-energy engines deep in
4:11the universe are located.
4:12>> That's right.
4:13>> But concretely speaking, how does a
4:15cubic kilometer of ice actually "see" a
4:17neutrino?
4:18>> This is actually the fascinating part
4:21of physics: when a neutrino happens to
4:23collide with an oxygen or hydrogen atom
4:25in the ice, it creates a charged
4:27particle, such as a muon.
4:29>> Hmm, a muon. And this charged particle
4:33travels through the ice at a speed that
4:35actually exceeds the speed of light in
4:37that medium. At this moment, it
4:39produces a faint flash of light known
4:41as Cherenkov radiation.
4:43>> It sounds like a sonic boom for light.
4:45>> Exactly right. So, the IceCube detector
4:48contains over 5,000 optical sensors,
4:51just staring day after day into that
4:53deep, dark ice, waiting for those
4:55billionths of a second of blue light.
4:58As it turned out, in 2013, just two
5:00years after completion, they
5:02successfully captured 28 high-energy
5:04cosmic neutrinos.
5:05>> No wonder he won the Nobel Prize alone;
5:07it’s essentially like gifting
5:08humanity a brand-new pair of eyes to
5:10see the universe. But what moved me
5:13most was when a reporter asked him what
5:14this new window might discover in the
5:16future, and he replied that the truly
5:18exciting thing is that I cannot answer
5:20that question yet.
5:22>> Yes, that is the true value of
5:23scientific exploration into the unknown
5:25. This spirit of embracing the unknown
5:27is truly fantastic; let's move on to
5:29the next topic, which also feels like
5:31science fiction: using light to control
5:33the brain, known as optogenetics. Well,
5:36this year's three winners are Karl
5:37Deisseroth from Stanford University,
5:39Peter Hegemann from Humboldt University
5:41of Berlin, and Georg Nagel from the
5:43University of Würzburg.
5:45>> I read that this massive revolution in
5:47neuroscience actually started from
5:49single-celled algae in a stagnant pond.
5:52That’s such a huge leap! The path of
5:55scientific development is often just
5:57that dramatic. In the 1990s, Hegemann
5:59was studying a single-celled green alga
6:01called*Chlamydomonas*, and he
6:03discovered that this extremely
6:05primitive organism reacts to light much
6:07faster than human eyes do. Why would
6:10that be? Isn't the human eye supposed
6:12to be more advanced?
6:13>> Because our human retinal
6:14photoreception mechanism is incredibly
6:16cumbersome; photons hitting the cells
6:19trigger a complex series of protein
6:21cascades before finally opening ion
6:22channels to generate neural electrical
6:25signals. But Hegemann discovered that*
6:27Chlamydomonas*compresses this super
6:29complex process into a single step.
6:31Wait a second, so you're saying the
6:33light-sensitive protein in the algae is
6:35itself a light-gated door—as soon as
6:37light hits, the door opens, letting
6:39ions pass through to create an electric
6:41current?
6:41>> That’s a very precise description.
6:43Later, a Japanese genomics team decoded
6:45the algae's genes, and then Nagel
6:47conducted an extremely bold experiment:
6:49he took this gene, known as
6:51Channelrhodopsin-2, and implanted it
6:53directly into frog oocytes.
6:54>> Wow, cross-species implantation.
6:57Exactly, and he confirmed that this
6:58protein could function as a
7:00light-stimulated ion channel in other
7:02organisms as well. However, at this
7:04stage, it was at most just a really
7:06cool biological phenomenon; what truly
7:08turned it into a revolutionary tool was
7:10the genius move by the third winner,
7:12Deisseroth.
7:13>> I read in the literature that he
7:15inserted this gene into the brain
7:17neurons of mice, right? And he invented
7:19an ultra-thin optical fiber that goes
7:22directly into the mouse's brain; when
7:24the light turns on, he could actually
7:26remotely control the mouse to move its
7:28whiskers. It’s like having a remote
7:30control for specific brain circuits.
7:32>> That’s why optogenetics has rocked
7:34the entire field of biomedicine. In the
7:37past, we could only use electrodes or
7:39drugs to study the brain, but those
7:40methods were like using a shotgun,
7:42affecting all the surrounding brain
7:44cells.
7:44>> Right, there was simply no way to
7:46control it precisely. Exactly, but now
7:48through genetic engineering, we can
7:50make only specific neurons grow these
7:52light-sensitive gates, so scientists
7:54are using this technique in animal
7:56models to precisely toggle specific
7:58neural circuits related to depression,
8:00schizophrenia, dementia, and even
8:02addictive behaviors.
8:03>> I heard they are also trying to restore
8:05vision for patients with retinitis
8:06pigmentosa, right?
8:07>> Yes, the range of applications is
8:09extremely broad.
8:10>> From algae under a microscope, it has
8:12actually become a key to unlocking the
8:13mysteries of the human brain. The
8:15extensibility of science is truly
8:17amazing. Let’s talk about this
8:19year’s Chemistry Prize; it was
8:20awarded to Henri Kagan from
8:22Paris-Saclay University and Seiji Arai
8:24from Tokyo University of Science. It
8:26relates to the mystery of mirror
8:27symmetry in the origin of life. That
8:29sounds a bit abstract; why is the "
8:32handedness" of molecules so important?
8:35>> This phenomenon is known as chirality
8:36in chemistry. You can look at your
8:38hands right now; your left and right
8:40hands are mirror images, they look the
8:42same, but you can never perfectly
8:43overlap your left hand onto your right
8:45hand.
8:46>> Yeah, the thumbs would be pointing in
8:47opposite directions.
8:48>> Exactly, that is chirality. The
8:51physical laws of the universe are
8:52theoretically perfectly symmetrical, so
8:54in the early primordial Earth, random
8:56chemical reactions should have produced
8:58left-handed and right-handed molecules
9:00in a one-to-one ratio.
9:01>> That sounds reasonable, a fifty-fifty
9:03chance. But here is the weird part:
9:05life on Earth is extremely biased.
9:08Almost all amino acids that make up our
9:10bodies are left-handed, and all sugar
9:12molecules are right-handed. Wait a
9:15second, if it started out fifty-fifty,
9:17how did life suddenly decide to lean
9:20entirely to one side? Did these two
9:22winners solve this mystery?
9:24>> Actually, they didn't travel through
9:26time to see exactly what happened 4
9:28billion years ago, because the reagents
9:30they use didn't exist back then, but
9:31they proved how it happened in terms of
9:33chemical mechanisms. Oh, how so?
9:36>> In 1986, Soai first broke the norm by
9:38discovering that if there is a slight
9:41imbalance of about 3: 1 between
9:43left-handed and right-handed molecules
9:45in a catalyst, it could result in a
9:47product with a six-fold imbalance, and
9:49most amazingly, the self-amplification
9:51reaction published by Soai in 2003.
9:53>> Yeah, I saw that figure in the data and
9:55thought it was absolutely insane.
9:57Soai's experiment only requires
9:59repeating the reaction three times to
10:01increase the solution's asymmetry by
10:03630,000 times. How, how is that even
10:05possible?
10:05>> Its mechanism is very ingenious; the
10:07chiral molecules produced in the Soai
10:09reaction turn back to act as templates
10:11for the next reaction.
10:13>> Templates.
10:14>> Yes, meaning that once there is even a
10:16tiny bit more of a left-handed molecule
10:18in the solution, these left-handed
10:20molecules grab onto the new raw
10:21materials, forcing them to grow only
10:23into a left-handed shape; it's a type
10:25of geometric chemical replication. Wow,
10:27so a tiny random perturbation can
10:29snowball and amplify 630,000 times
10:31within just three cycles, completely
10:33swallowing up the molecules on the
10:35other side.
10:36>> Exactly, this shows us that the birth
10:38of highly singular chiral life from
10:40non-chiral chaos is actually completely
10:42consistent with the laws of chemistry.
10:45>> Got it. It's like two armies facing off
10:47in the universe. As long as one side
10:50has a bit more luck and one extra
10:51soldier, they can eventually use this
10:54snowball effect to completely dominate
10:56the world. From particles in the depths
10:58of the universe to the self-replication
11:00of molecular structures, we see how
11:02scientists capture and understand those
11:04invisible, microscopic things, and this
11:06mindset of capturing the invisible is
11:08now being applied directly to crime
11:10scenes. This brings us to today's
11:11second article. Burglars could be
11:14identified through DNA in the air. The
11:16evolution of this field is really fast;
11:18in the past, forensic investigators
11:20were looking for nothing more than
11:22footprints, fingerprints, and clothing
11:24fibers, later advancing to finding
11:26contact DNA on tools.
11:27>> Right, you see that in TV shows all the
11:29time.
11:29>> But now, criminals are facing a new
11:31threat they can't defend against: the
11:33personal suspended "debris cloud"
11:35emitted by their own bodies.
11:37>> Debris cloud. That sounds a bit creepy.
11:41What exactly is this cloud made of?
11:43>> Actually, our bodies are shedding tiny
11:46tissues every second. This debris cloud
11:49contains shed skin cells, fine dandruff
11:51, and tiny saliva droplets sprayed when
11:54you breathe or talk. The study recently
11:56published in the journal*Forensic
11:59Science International: Genetics*by Kara
12:01Fantinato's team at Oslo University
12:03Hospital utilizes environmental DNA, or
12:06eDNA, technology.
12:07>> Mm-hmm. Actually, ecologists have been
12:09using eDNA for 20 years now. They can
12:12just sample lake water or the air to
12:14know which animals are in the
12:15environment, like tracking invasive
12:17Burmese pythons in the Florida
12:19Everglades.
12:20>> I heard someone sampled the water from
12:21Loch Ness, right?
12:22>> Yes, and they found it was full of eel
12:25DNA, with absolutely no trace of
12:27reptiles or plesiosaurs.
12:28>> So, the true identity of the Loch Ness
12:30Monster is likely just a giant eel. But
12:32what happens if you apply this
12:34technology to an indoor crime scene?
12:36>> Well, scientists actually succeeded in
12:38extracting and identifying the genetic
12:40profiles of employees from office air
12:42back in 2022. To test its potential in
12:44criminal investigations, they designed
12:47a simulated burglary experiment
12:48spanning two continents. They recruited
12:5022 volunteers to enter test houses,
12:53with half in Oslo, Norway, and half in
12:55Adelaide, Australia. The experimental
12:57details are quite vivid. The volunteers
13:00had to rummage through the houses like
13:02burglars for 15 minutes, and then
13:04researchers waited 30 minutes, likely
13:06to simulate the delay before police
13:08arrive at the scene.
13:09>> Exactly. Then, forensics personnel in
13:11full protective gear entered and
13:13started devices similar to specialized
13:15vacuum cleaners, continuously pulling
13:17in indoor air for two hours to collect
13:19DNA, while also gathering dust that had
13:21settled on the floors. But there was a
13:23huge gap in the results, right?
13:24>> The gap was very significant. In the
13:26Oslo lab, the probability of
13:28successfully matching the burglar's
13:30genetic profile from the air was as
13:32high as 82%, but in Adelaide, Australia
13:34, the success rate dropped to just 36%.
13:36>> Why would there be such an extreme
13:38difference? It couldn't be that
13:40Australian burglars shed less skin,
13:42right?
13:42>> Of course not. This actually highlights
13:44that eDNA is heavily influenced by
13:46environmental variables. Differences in
13:48climate conditions directly affect the
13:50degradation rate of nuclei. Plus, the
13:52number of residents and how often the
13:54room is cleaned determine the
13:56concentration of residual DNA in the
13:57air. An even more serious problem lies
14:00in the blind spot of this technology:
14:02it’s overly sensitive.
14:03>> Exactly, that was my biggest question
14:05when reading this article. Just imagine
14:08: if I happen to walk down the street,
14:10and a strong gust of wind blows my
14:12dandruff into an open window at a
14:14second-floor crime scene, or if the
14:16homeowner accidentally brushed against
14:18me on the subway and brought my cells
14:20home, wouldn't I get picked up by this
14:22super-sensor and become the prime
14:24suspect?
14:26>> The concern you’re raising is known
14:27in forensic science as "background
14:29noise," which is something Dr. Nato
14:31specifically emphasized in the study.
14:33There was also a slightly awkward
14:34episode during the experiment.
14:36>> Oh, what kind of episode?
14:38>> Even though the forensics team entered
14:40the scene wearing full-body cleanroom
14:42suits, the vacuum device still
14:43collected trace amounts of the
14:44researchers 'DNA from the air. And
14:47whenever someone walks around the room,
14:49footsteps stir up old DNA that has
14:51accumulated in the carpets or dust for
14:53months.
14:54>> Wow, it seems like this could never
14:56serve as hard evidence for a conviction
14:58in court.
14:59>> It certainly cannot be used as evidence
15:01at this stage; Dr. van der Berg himself
15:03believes its current role is merely an
15:05investigative tool, just a small piece
15:07of a larger puzzle. In the future, the
15:08forensic community must standardize
15:10laboratory techniques for air sampling
15:12and fully understand the innate
15:14differences in the amount of DNA
15:15individuals shed. Human forensic
15:17experts will still need to expend
15:19significant logical deduction to
15:20explain why this DNA appeared there.
15:22>> That is truly a critical point to
15:24consider. Forensic science still
15:26requires the human brain to piece
15:28together these logical puzzles. But
15:30what if one day even the most complex
15:32logical deduction no longer requires
15:34humans? This leads us nicely into
15:35today's third article. OpenAI claims to
15:38have solved hundreds of long-standing
15:40mathematical problems. Everyone, please
15:42take note of this timeline: just a few
15:44days ago, on October 6, 2026, OpenAI
15:46dropped a bombshell that completely
15:49shocked the academic world.
15:50>> This news really exploded throughout
15:52the academic community.
15:53>> Exactly, they announced that an
15:56unreleased AI model has solved at least
15:58372 long-unsolved mathematical problems
16:01. And it fully automatically generated
16:04over 700 research papers. That is just
16:06insane. The entire mathematical
16:08community is currently in a state of
16:10mixed awe and panic. These 372 problems
16:12were selected from a pool of 4,000,
16:14covering everything from algebra,
16:16geometry, and probability, all the way
16:18to the most fundamental fields of logic
16:20.
16:21>> Uh-huh.
16:21>> The most exaggerated figure is that the
16:23average computing power required for
16:24this AI to solve each problem is only
16:26equivalent to about three hours of
16:28inference using publicly available
16:29models.
16:30>> Three hours to solve problems humans
16:31haven't been able to crack for decades?
16:33Specifically, what level of problems
16:35did it actually solve?
16:37>> Let’s look at two of the most
16:38shocking mathematical milestones. Just
16:40last month, in September 2026, this
16:42model provided the solution to the
16:44Navier-Stokes existence and smoothness
16:46problem in a short 88 hours. Wow,
16:48Navier-Stokes? Isn't that one of the
16:51legendary Millennium Prize problems?
16:54>> Exactly, it touches on the underlying
16:56logic of fluid dynamics, which relates
16:58to how we accurately predict weather,
17:00turbulence, and even blood flow in
17:02vessels. Furthermore, it has made
17:03massive progress on the Riemann
17:05Hypothesis regarding the distribution
17:07of prime numbers.
17:08>> Even progress on the Riemann Hypothesis
17:10? Yes, it even proposed a solution for
17:12the 3D Kaka-Duck conjecture. You should
17:16know this conjecture is closely related
17:18to the research field of Hong Wang from
17:20NYU, who won the Fields Medal, the
17:22highest honor in mathematics, in July
17:242026.
17:25>> It sounds like AI is mass-producing
17:28Nobel Prize-level discoveries. But I
17:30have to challenge that notion. Just
17:31like when we take an Uber to an
17:33unfamiliar destination, I only care
17:35about arriving safely; I don't
17:36necessarily need to know how the driver
17:38bypassed the traffic. If AI can help us
17:40design perfect fluid dynamics models to
17:42make planes safer, why is there such a
17:44massive backlash and anxiety in the
17:46scientific community? What is there to
17:48protest about?
17:49>> That's actually a great question,
17:50because mathematics and engineering are
17:52fundamentally different. Engineering
17:55values results, but mathematics is a
17:56discipline of truth and understanding.
17:59This leads to the biggest current
18:00controversy: the issue of transparency.
18:03Transparency.
18:04>> Although OpenAI claims to have solved
18:06372 problems, they only provided code
18:08to ensure logical consistency for 127
18:11of them. Even more critically, they
18:13only disclosed the internal reasoning
18:14process for ten of those problems.
18:17>> In other words, the AI gives a massive,
18:19complex answer and tells us it's the
18:21truth, but humans can't even fathom how
18:23it was derived. This is precisely the
18:25core reason behind the protest signed
18:27by 8,000 top mathematicians. Since the
18:29Navier-Stokes problem was solved last
18:30month, 28 Fields Medalists have led the
18:32publication of an open letter.
18:33Mathematicians fear that this "black
18:35box" style of mass-produced math will
18:37completely stifle the human process of
18:39developing new techniques and asking
18:40new questions.
18:41>> Indeed, in the past, when humans tried
18:42to solve a difficult problem, they
18:44might have invented calculus or
18:45developed entirely new branches of
18:46topology along the way. Exactly. If we
18:48only pursue the final answers spat out
18:50by AI, humanity will face an extremely
18:52hollow dilemma. As the open letter
18:54warns, we get the final answer but
18:56forever lose the understanding of the
18:58truth, which is completely contrary to
18:59the ultimate goal of the mathematical
19:01field.
19:02>> This is truly a form of existential
19:04crisis for humanity. If logical
19:05deduction, this trait humans are most
19:07proud of, is completely stripped away
19:09by machines, then where does the value
19:11of a mathematician lie? Faced with this
19:13protest from 8,000 people, does OpenAI
19:15have any response measures?
19:17>> They truly recognized this crisis, so
19:19they immediately established an
19:20independent advisory board consisting
19:22of nine top mathematicians, including
19:24Martin Hairer from EPFL in Switzerland,
19:26who was one of the original signatories
19:28of the open letter.
19:29>> Oh, bringing the protesters in as
19:31advisors. Yes, and OpenAI promised to
19:33fund a series of seminars. The goal of
19:36these seminars isn't to verify if the
19:37AI's math is correct, but to help
19:39humans understand the results that
19:41these AIs produce.
19:42>> Wow, this is undoubtedly the most
19:44surreal moment in the history of
19:45science; humans actually need to hold
19:47seminars to learn how to understand the
19:49math written by machines we created
19:51ourselves. This massive amount of
19:53information is dizzying, and one might
19:55even get parched from dry mouth during
19:57intense debates. Speaking of mouths,
19:59let’s shift our perspective from the
20:01cloud and the mathematical black box
20:03back to the mouth we open in front of
20:05the mirror every morning. This brings
20:07us to today's final article, the fourth
20:09article: Should you use a tongue
20:11scraper?
20:12>> This transition is very vivid. Actually
20:15, tongue scrapers have really shined in
20:17pop culture lately, with influencers
20:19like Hailey Bieber and Gus Petropoulos
20:21packaging them as an indispensable part
20:23of a healthy routine.
20:25>> It feels like a lot of people are
20:26promoting them.
20:27>> Yes, but this is definitely not a
20:29modern-day scam; people have been using
20:31tongue scrapers throughout history
20:32since the time of Ancient Rome.
20:34Napoleon even had his own custom silver
20:36tongue scraper, and America's founding
20:38father, George Washington, carried one
20:40wherever he went. Since historical
20:42figures loved them so much, what is the
20:44scientific mechanism behind it? Why do
20:46we need to specifically scrape our
20:48tongues?
20:48>> To answer this, we need to take a
20:50closer look at the oral micro-ecosystem
20:52, or the microbiome. Our mouths are
20:54actually like a thriving tropical
20:56rainforest, home to about 700 species
20:58of bacteria, plus various fungi and
21:00viruses.
21:01>> 700 species sounds incredibly lively.
21:04>> It really is. Your tongue, because its
21:06surface is covered in tiny bumps called
21:08papillae, acts like a giant sponge that
21:10carries up to two-thirds of the
21:12microorganisms in your entire mouth.
21:14>> Two-thirds? So if oral hygiene is poor,
21:16does the tongue become a massive
21:17headquarters for bacteria?
21:19>> Exactly. Poor hygiene habits, smoking,
21:21or a high-sugar diet can allow these
21:23microorganisms to form a thick biofilm
21:25on the surface of the tongue. This
21:27biofilm is the main cause of cavities,
21:29gum disease, and chronic bad breath.
21:31>> That sounds terrifying.
21:32>> Especially in the deep crevices between
21:34the tongue's bumps; those are the
21:35perfect breeding ground for anaerobic
21:37bacteria. As the name implies, they
21:39don't need oxygen for metabolic
21:40respiration, but breaking down proteins
21:42produces foul-smelling sulfur compounds
21:44, which is the root cause of morning
21:46breath; it sounds absolutely essential
21:48to scrape away this biofilm full of
21:50sulfur compounds. But coming back to
21:52the core point of this article: do we
21:54really need to buy a specialized tongue
21:56scraper? Do scientific experimental
21:58data prove that it’s more effective?
22:00>> Well, this is the most interesting part
22:02of evidence-based medicine; let's break
22:05down four specific clinical studies,
22:06starting with a 2018 experiment on 36
22:09gingivitis patients that indeed proved
22:11scraping the tongue coating can
22:12significantly reduce bad breath.
22:14>> Hmm, that makes sense.
22:16>> Next is a 2015 study on 45 children,
22:18which found that cleaning the tongue
22:20can drastically reduce Streptococcus
22:22mutans, the main cause of tooth decay.
22:25But this experiment also reached a
22:27startling conclusion. What conclusion?
22:31>> Whether you use an expensive
22:32specialized tongue scraper, just a
22:34regular toothbrush, or even just rinse
22:36with salt water, the antibacterial
22:38effect achieved is exactly the same.
22:40>> Ha, exactly the same. So, it's like
22:42dealing with a thick, grime-filled
22:44carpet; you don't necessarily need to
22:46go buy a specialized expensive metal
22:48scraper, you can just use the vacuum
22:50cleaner you already have at home—your
22:52toothbrush—to clean the surface, and
22:54the result is actually identical. That
22:56vacuum cleaner analogy is very precise,
22:58and subsequent experiments have
23:00continuously verified this; a 2021
23:02study on 56 halitosis patients
23:04confirmed that scraping and brushing
23:06the tongue are equivalent in removing
23:08biofilm and reducing sulfur compounds.
23:10>> In other words, the tool isn't the
23:12point at all. Exactly, and a latest
23:152026 experiment on 80 halitosis
23:16patients went further to find that the
23:19most effective odor-removal formula
23:21isn't some magical tongue scraper, but
23:23brushing the tongue plus using
23:24Streptococcus salivarius.
23:26>> Streptococcus salivarius? Is this some
23:29kind of probiotic?
23:30>> That's right, it's an oral probiotic,
23:32and its mechanism is competitive
23:33exclusion; it involves introducing a
23:35large number of good bacteria to occupy
23:37the territory, effectively squeezing
23:39out those Streptococcus mutans that
23:40cause odors and cavities. Wow, using
23:42magic to defeat magic—using good
23:44bacteria to defeat bad bacteria.
23:46>> But besides removing odor, I heard that
23:48scraping the tongue has another hidden
23:50benefit: they say it makes food taste
23:52better. Is there any scientific basis
23:53for that?
23:54>> There is indeed such a claim. A 2025
23:56review report examined four trials and
23:58found that scraping away the thick
24:01biofilm on the tongue can increase the
24:03taste buds' perceived intensity of
24:05saltiness. One study even showed that
24:07up to 60%of participants felt their
24:09sense of taste had become sharper.
24:12While the benefits sound great, what is
24:14the final recommendation from dental
24:16experts? Should we be obsessively
24:18scraping our tongues every single day?
24:19Zoe Brooks, a dentistry professor at
24:21the University of Plymouth, issued a
24:23crucial medical warning, noting that
24:25the sample sizes for these four studies
24:27are still too small. More importantly,
24:29our mouths need to maintain a delicate
24:31balance; certain healthy tongue
24:33bacteria help us convert nitrates into
24:35nitric oxide, which is highly
24:37beneficial for regulating blood
24:38pressure. Oh, so over-cleaning is
24:40actually counterproductive.
24:42>> Exactly. If you use a tongue scraper
24:44too aggressively and clear away too
24:45many healthy bacteria, you might
24:47actually compromise your immune
24:48defenses. Therefore, the medical
24:49community’s most trusted advice
24:51remains the basics: brush thoroughly
24:53twice a day, use dental floss for those
24:55hard-to-reach spots, and cut back on
24:56sweets.
24:57>> That's right, no matter how things
24:58change, the fundamentals are always the
25:00most important. Today, we took a
25:02fascinating journey from the
25:03microscopic to the macroscopic—from
25:05neutrinos traveling unimpeded from deep
25:07space to neurons in the brain
25:09controlled by light beams, to personal
25:11DNA suspended in the air. We witnessed
25:13AI upending human cognition through
25:15vast, opaque mathematical computations,
25:17and finally returned to the complex
25:19microscopic ecosystem on our tongues.
25:22It makes me wonder: imagine if we
25:24combined all of today's topics—could
25:26there come a day when a super-powerful
25:28OpenAI model solves a perfect "
25:30locked-room" mystery by analyzing the
25:32oral microbiome DNA left in the air
25:33from our breath because we didn't use a
25:35tongue scraper? Technological progress
25:39is making everything that was once
25:40invisible impossible to hide. That
25:42concludes all the content for the
25:43technology section. Alright, next, we
25:45will continue by sharing articles from
25:47the culture section.
25:48>> Yes, exactly. Welcome to today’s deep
25:51dive. We are going to immerse ourselves
25:54in the culture section of The Economist
25:56, where we’ll discuss five incredibly
25:58profound articles in one go.
25:59>> Right, we have a really rich lineup
26:01prepared for today.
26:03>> So, to help you prepare for the journey
26:05ahead, I’ll quickly read the titles
26:06of the five articles we’ll be
26:08exploring today.
26:09>> No problem, everyone can take a listen.
26:11>> The first is: "Superstar Podcasts Are
26:13Silicon Valley's Way of Talking to
26:15Itself." Second: "The Social Network Is
26:17a Classic That Takes Itself Too
26:19Seriously."
26:20>> Third: "Gladwell and Shapiro’s
26:22Intense Debate on Gun Control." Fourth:
26:25"Want to Take a Trip to the Middle East
26:27?" And finally, the fifth piece: why
26:29are your favorite bakeries and coffee
26:31shops selling tote bags now?
26:32>> Wow, that’s quite a range—from
26:34Silicon Valley podcasts all the way to
26:36Middle Eastern history, and finally
26:38back to our everyday tote bags. Right.
26:41Although these topics might seem
26:42unrelated on the surface, if you listen
26:45carefully to today's content, you'll
26:47find a core common thread.
26:48>> Oh, how so?
26:51>> It’s about how, in our current
26:52society of information overload and
26:54extreme ideological division, people
26:56build their own little bubbles and even
26:58shut out those with different opinions.
27:01>> True, it’s basically the concept of
27:03creating an echo chamber.
27:05>> Exactly. Alright, let’s jump right
27:07into the first article. This is the
27:09first piece for today. Picture this:
27:12two guys who transitioned from
27:13entrepreneurs to podcast hosts, one
27:15named Jordi Hace and the other J.N.
27:17Kogen.
27:19>> Their morning routine is absurd: they
27:21bring a copy of the Wall Street Journal
27:23and walk into a Los Angeles sauna. Wait
27:25, taking a newspaper into a sauna?
27:27Wouldn't it get ruined?
27:28>> I know, super pretentious, right? They
27:31sweat it out in there, soak up all the
27:33day’s tech and finance news, then
27:35walk out and put on super crisp suits
27:37—complete with neckties.
27:39>> Wow, that’s quite a contrast.
27:42>> Then they start recording a podcast
27:44called TBPN. The full name is "Tech
27:47Business Podcast Network." Hearing that
27:49name, it sounds like a serious,
27:51hardcore business analysis show,
27:53doesn't it?
27:54>> If you think that, you couldn't be more
27:56wrong. You click play and it’s full
27:58of canned sound effects like gongs,
28:00drums, and air horns—you know, that "
28:02ba-ba-ba" sound.
28:03>> Wait, air horns on a tech business show
28:06?
28:07>> Yes, even the president of TBPN, DABC,
28:09says it’s basically a late-night talk
28:12show style variety program.
28:14>> That is so unconventional. But you know
28:17what’s the most ridiculous part? This
28:19rowdy show has actually replaced the
28:21CNBC we used to watch, and now plays
28:23all day on TVs in the offices of many
28:25top Silicon Valley tech companies.
28:28>> Wow, this perfectly reflects a cultural
28:30phenomenon in Silicon Valley: that "
28:32power law" they believe in so strongly.
28:35>> How so?
28:35>> In the podcasting world, the "
28:37winner-takes-all" phenomenon is
28:39extremely obvious. In the end, only a
28:41tiny fraction of shows can climb to the
28:43top of the pyramid and become giants.
28:45>> Yeah, that's true. Once you become a
28:47giant in this field, you can attract
28:49demigod-level figures in tech to your
28:51show. Take TPPN, which you just
28:53mentioned; they’ve interviewed
28:55OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Meta’s Mark
28:57Zuckerberg.
28:58>> That guest list is just insane. But if
29:00it were just inviting big shots to
29:02share their insights, that would be one
29:04thing. Based on the article’s
29:05description, it feels like this has
29:07turned into a closed-off cult of
29:08personality.
29:09>> Exactly, it’s just everyone patting
29:11each other on the back.
29:12>> Just like the article mentions another
29:14super popular podcast called "All-In."
29:16The four hosts of that show are all
29:18billionaires who span the tech world
29:19and have deep ties to political power.
29:22>> Right, their influence is massive.
29:25>> They held a summit in Los Angeles this
29:27September, and guess who showed up?
29:29Elon Musk and Jensen Huang were both
29:31there in person.
29:32>> That lineup is basically the Oscars of
29:33the tech world. But the most dramatic
29:37detail is that while Jensen Huang was
29:39on stage, Donald Trump—the
29:41president-elect of 2024—actually
29:43called Jensen directly.
29:46>> Wow, he called him directly?
29:48>> Yeah, and Jensen didn't shy away from
29:50it at all; he put the president on
29:52speakerphone right there for the whole
29:54audience to hear. Just imagine that
29:56scene—this is no longer just a simple
29:58interview. This is basically flexing
30:00muscles, showing everyone the direct
30:02intersection of tech and political
30:04power.
30:05>> It really is just a "look how
30:07influential we are" kind of vibe.
30:09>> This actually brings up a very worrying
30:11issue: the Silicon Valley podcast scene
30:13has become an inbred echo chamber. "
30:16>> Inbred" is such a precise term for that
30:18.
30:18>> Yeah, look at this outrageous figure:
30:20back in April, it was reported that
30:23OpenAI dropped about $ 100 million to $
30:25200 million to buy TPPN outright. Wait,
30:28$ 100 to $ 200 million for a podcast
30:30that had only been around for 18 months
30:33?
30:34>> Right, but the most absurd part is that
30:36when Sam Altman himself went on TPPN
30:38for an interview, neither side even
30:40mentioned their ownership relationship
30:42—not a single word.
30:44>> My god, if this were traditional news
30:46media, that would be a complete
30:47violation of journalistic ethics.
30:49>> They would be absolutely crucified for
30:50it. But they don’t seem to care at
30:52all; for instance, the hosts of "All-In
30:54" have openly said on air that
30:56they’re besties with the billionaires
30:58they interview.
31:00>> Besties? A bunch of billionaires
31:01calling each other besties—that is
31:03truly cringeworthy.
31:05>> There’s another example. The article
31:07mentions a podcast host named David
31:09Sacks. He's only 26, sports a big beard
31:11, and looks exactly like one of those
31:14high priests of AI research.
31:15>> Mm-hmm.
31:16>> Do you know who he used to live with?
31:18He once shared a roof in San Francisco
31:20with a researcher from Anthropic. This
31:22network of connections is truly
31:24impenetrable.
31:25>> And what about that Lex Fridman, right?
31:27The computer scientist with the low,
31:29raspy voice; his podcast episodes are
31:30longer than it takes to run a marathon.
31:32>> Yeah, they start at several hours long.
31:35>> The whole thing feels like a metaphor I
31:37came up with—like a massive walled
31:39garden where the gardeners only talk to
31:40each other every day about how great
31:42their fertilizer is and how beautiful
31:44their flowers are.
31:45>> Completely ignoring what people on the
31:46outside are doing.
31:47>> Exactly, they don't care what those
31:49outside the wall are eating, or even if
31:51anyone out there is starving. Actually,
31:53if we step back from a historical
31:54perspective, this is an inevitable
31:56result of the structural shift between
31:58the tech industry and traditional media
31:59.
32:00>> How so? Wasn't it like this before?
32:02>> Not at all. Think back to the internet
32:05boom in the 1990s; there was this
32:07magazine called Wired, which was like a
32:10gospel for the tech world.
32:12>> Oh yeah, it was huge back then.
32:14>> The founding editor, Jane Metcalfe,
32:16once said that back then, their
32:17coverage of the internet industry was
32:19like Rolling Stone reporting on rock
32:21music—filled with that cool,
32:23counter-cultural vibe.
32:24>> Like there was this sense of rebellious
32:26spirit.
32:26>> Exactly. But later, as these tech
32:29giants grew larger and wielded immense
32:32power and wealth, traditional media
32:34naturally started to challenge their
32:36hegemony.
32:37>> That's the responsibility of the media.
32:39>> But Silicon Valley executives don't see
32:41it that way; they feel that your
32:43questioning as old-school traditional
32:45media is anti-American and hinders
32:46innovation. Plus, with old media's own
32:49business models suffering, Silicon
32:50Valley just thinks you're all just sour
32:53grapes.
32:53>> So they simply started their own media
32:55to say what they want to hear.
32:56>> Right, and the 2024 US presidential
32:58election was a major watershed moment;
33:00politicians, especially the Trump
33:02campaign, found these podcasts to be
33:04the perfect propaganda channel,
33:06completely free from the filtering and
33:08bias of traditional media.
33:10>> No wonder David Sacks and Chamath, the
33:12co-hosts of "All-In," previously hosted
33:14a fundraiser for Trump in San Francisco
33:17. And then Trump actually appeared on
33:18their show later.
33:19>> This directly catapulted the status of
33:21these tech podcasts to an unprecedented
33:23height.
33:25>> There is a vivid scene in the article
33:27where David Sacks, to maintain his
33:29persona as a "Trump AI whisperer" for
33:31over a year, actually wore a Russian
33:33fur hat to an event.
33:36>> He really goes all out for
33:37entertainment. Their shows have such
33:40powerful styles and flywheel effects;
33:42for instance, Sacks loves playing the
33:44contrarian, often blasting what he
33:46calls "lame-stream media" on air and
33:48mocking effective altruism.
33:50>> However, young Dwarkesh Patel is the
33:52complete opposite; he admits that he
33:54was inspired by effective altruism to
33:56start his AI podcast.
33:57>> As for TBPN, which we mentioned earlier
33:59, they use their deep venture capital
34:01knowledge to decode the entire industry
34:03in a humorous way.
34:04>> This flywheel effect is truly
34:06terrifying. Do you remember Patel?
34:08Before he blew up in 2024, he once
34:10posted a screenshot on Twitter showing
34:13his bank balance was down to just $
34:150.14.
34:15>> $ 0.14? He couldn't even afford a cup
34:17of water with that.
34:18>> Exactly. But after Zuckerberg appeared
34:21on his show, ad deals started flying in
34:23like snowflakes. Media analyst Josh
34:25Kaplan described it as a form of "
34:27luxury media" that commands extremely
34:29high-value eyeballs. "
34:30>> Luxury media"—that’s a fitting term
34:32. So, is Silicon Valley now just
34:33dominated by this monolithic culture of
34:35the "Great Man" theory?
34:36>> Exactly. Like another podcaster,
34:38Patrick O'Shaughnessy, who bluntly
34:40stated, "We aren't journalists; we are
34:42zealots." Now, even top-tier VCs like
34:44a16z are launching their own podcasts.
34:47>> Wow, the players are now the referees.
34:49If the Theranos scandal happened today,
34:51these people would never expose the
34:53truth like the Wall Street Journal did
34:55in 2015.
34:56>> Not a chance. They’d only ask the
34:58founders, "How grand is your vision?"
35:00This has become seriously detached from
35:02reality. The article cites an
35:04observation from podcaster David Sera,
35:06who noted that at tech dinner parties
35:08nowadays, there are only two topics: AI
35:10optimism or AI doomerism.
35:12>> It's as if everyone is reading the same
35:13Twitter thread every single day, with
35:15absolutely nothing else to talk about.
35:17PR consultant Lulu Cheng Meservey hit
35:19the nail on the head: tech people spend
35:2190%of their time talking to other tech
35:23people. So, when a billionaire tells
35:26you on a podcast whether or not to buy
35:28AI, it just doesn't resonate with us
35:30normal folks at all.
35:31>> Right, the disconnect is too vast.
35:33Veteran editor Jim VandeHei put it well
35:36: these podcasts are like "golden
35:38tickets" on a rocket ship. If an AI
35:40apocalypse ever happens, these Silicon
35:42Valley elites can just hop on a rocket
35:44to Mars and keep recording their
35:45podcasts. The problem is, if everyone
35:47else is dead, who exactly is going to
35:49listen to a podcast recorded on Mars?
35:51>> That right there is their biggest blind
35:53spot.
35:53>> Alright, that was our first article. We
35:56just saw how Silicon Valley keeps
35:58inflating its own myth, so now let's
36:00move to our second article and see how
36:02Hollywood, in turn, portrays these tech
36:04moguls in films.
36:05>> That’s a really interesting
36:07comparison.
36:07>> This article actually compares two
36:10movies: the 2010 blockbuster "The
36:12Social Network," and its upcoming
36:14sequel, titled "The Social Talk."
36:16Before we get into these two films, we
36:17have to look at some staggering data to
36:19see just how much things have changed
36:20over the last decade or so.
36:22>> Go ahead, I'm listening.
36:23>> When the first film was released in
36:252010, Zuckerberg was only 26, starting
36:28out in his Harvard dorm with 500
36:30million users, the world's youngest
36:32billionaire, and TIME's Person of the
36:34Year.
36:35>> Back then, he really seemed like a
36:36child prodigy.
36:37>> Exactly, but now he's 42, with a user
36:40base of 3 billion and a personal net
36:43worth of $ 250 billion. $ 250 billion
36:46—that number is so big I can't even
36:48wrap my head around it.
36:49>> The level of influence is on a
36:51completely different scale.
36:52>> The plot of this sequel centers on Wall
36:54Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz,
36:56played by Jeremy Allen White, and how
36:58he obtained internal confidential
37:00information from whistleblower Frances
37:02Haugen of Facebook’s Civic Integrity
37:04team.
37:05>> Right, the whistleblower is played by
37:06Mikey Madison, and I’ve heard the
37:08film’s structure is just like its
37:10predecessor, using that non-linear,
37:12cross-cutting narrative style. The
37:13screenplay is still by the familiar
37:15Aaron Sorkin, but this time he’s not
37:17just the writer; he’s actually
37:18replaced David Fincher to take the
37:19director's chair himself.
37:21>> That’s a pretty major change.
37:22>> And because the lead from the first
37:24film, Jesse Eisenberg, refused to
37:26reprise the role, Zuckerberg is played
37:28this time by Jeremy Strong from "
37:29Succession."
37:30>> He’s a great actor, but the article
37:32doesn't seem to think very highly of
37:34the movie.
37:34>> Yeah, the article points out the
37:36biggest issue: the company, Facebook
37:38itself, has changed completely. What do
37:41you mean?
37:42>> In 2010, Facebook was the cool thing to
37:44do, but now, it’s become a pariah
37:46despised by lawmakers, lawyers, and
37:48countless parents.
37:50>> True, they’ve faced so many
37:51controversies in recent years, like the
37:53endless court settlements over harming
37:55children.
37:56>> Also, they previously tried to suppress
37:58critical voices, like issuing a gag
37:59order on the book "Careless People"
38:01written by a former executive, which
38:02ended up backfiring and making things
38:04even bigger. No wonder the data shows
38:06Zberg's approval rating in the U.S. has
38:08now fallen to negative 43.
38:11>> Negative 43.
38:12>> Yeah, that approval rating is barely
38:14leading Russia's Putin by just a little
38:16bit.
38:17>> Wow, that reputation is truly rock
38:19bottom, which leads this movie to seem
38:21like a sermon for the true believers.
38:23>> Exactly, the article felt the style was
38:25too preachy. Although Jeremy Strong
38:28accurately captured Z's monotonous
38:30voice and those subtle body movements,
38:32the depth of the character is gone; the
38:34previously arrogant yet complex genius,
38:37filled with tragic insecurities, has
38:39now become a cartoonish villain.
38:42>> A cartoon villain? Is it really that
38:44exaggerated?
38:44>> It really is. Listen to this specific
38:47scene in the movie: sitting on that
38:49bulletproof sofa at imperial
38:50headquarters, screaming frantically at
38:52the screen and his trembling
38:54subordinates below. When a subordinate
38:57carefully suggests, "Boss, couldn't we
38:59sacrifice some engagement to reduce
39:00that harmful content?"
39:02>> Hmm, that sounds like a reasonable
39:04suggestion.
39:05>> But the Z in the movie just mocks it,
39:07swearing at civic integrity, while a
39:09ridiculous-looking PR person next to
39:11him sneers and says, "Our company is
39:13above the government."
39:15>> Wow. Those lines really sound like
39:17something a bad guy in a superhero
39:19movie would say. Yeah, and then other
39:22executives scream like megaphones that
39:24if engagement drops, it will be a
39:26terrible earnings report. Don't you
39:28think this dialogue is really crude?
39:30>> It really lost its nuance and
39:32complexity. This actually points to a
39:34deeper dilemma faced by the
39:36screenwriter, Sorkin. The movie
39:37strongly implies throughout that
39:39Facebook should take the initiative to
39:41delete lies on the internet. Isn't that
39:42right?
39:43>> But think about it, if that holds up
39:45logically, doesn't it just mean
39:47propping up this flawed Zberg as the
39:49ultimate arbiter of global truth?
39:51>> Oh, you're right, that power is
39:53terrifying.
39:54>> Ironically, a line from the movie
39:56itself is surprisingly persuasive: "
39:58Voters aren't children, Facebook isn't
40:00a referee; we are the public square."
40:03>> That line actually quite supports the
40:04lead character.
40:05>> But the way the whole film is handled
40:07is just too flat; the 2010 original is
40:10a classic because there were no real
40:12heroes—there were flashy suits and
40:14absurd twin brothers, everyone had
40:16flaws.
40:17>> But this sequel has turned into a tired
40:19story of good versus evil: the diligent
40:21journalist and brave whistleblower are
40:23the good guys, while the devious,
40:24robotic techies are the villains. This
40:26makes me feel compelled to ask a
40:28question. What question? Is Silicon
40:30Valley making the same mistake as those
40:32tech bloggers we mentioned in our first
40:34article?
40:34>> What do you mean?
40:35>> It's just that they both simplify
40:37complex reality into a black-and-white
40:39binary opposition; the bloggers think
40:41they’re always right, and Hollywood
40:42thinks you’re all wrong.
40:44>> Wow, that’s a precise connection—it
40:46really is exactly like that.
40:48>> But Hollywood really loves adapting
40:50Silicon Valley stories lately, like "
40:52Super Pumped" about Uber, "WeCrashed"
40:54about WeWork, and "The Dropout" about
40:56Theranos. Audiences also love watching
40:58these stories of people falling from
41:00grace.
41:01>> True, and there’s more to come. On
41:02October 8th, Paramount + will air a
41:04show called "Cupertino," which is about
41:06how law firms take on big tech
41:07companies, and there’s also the
41:09latest documentary on Theranos founder
41:11Elizabeth Holmes.
41:12>> It feels like Hollywood doesn't plan on
41:14letting tech go anytime soon.
41:15>> The wildest part is that a movie called
41:17"Artificial" is coming out this
41:19December about the story of OpenAI, and
41:21it features the former Spider-Man,
41:22Andrew Garfield, playing Sam Altman.
41:25>> This casting is quite interesting, so
41:27let’s see if Hollywood can actually
41:28break out of this cartoon villain
41:30framework. Alright, now we’re moving
41:32on to our third article.
41:33>> Mm, the third one already.
41:35>> We just talked about how Hollywood and
41:36Silicon Valley are fighting a narrative
41:38war for influence; now, through the
41:40lens of ideological differences and
41:42persuasion, we’re pivoting to one of
41:43the most deep-seated and difficult
41:45cultural conflicts in American society.
41:47>> Which is the gun issue in the United
41:49States.
41:49>> Exactly. When it comes to guns, the US
41:51really is an exceptional country—the
41:53so-called "American exceptionalism."
41:55>> It is certainly an exception. If you
41:56look back at the last few decades,
41:58countries like Australia and Great
41:59Britain had serious mass shootings 30
42:01years ago, and they immediately
42:02tightened their laws—they acted very
42:04quickly.
42:05>> Right, and in the UK today, it’s
42:06practically impossible to legally own a
42:08handgun. In Australia, to own a gun,
42:10you have to go through super strict
42:12license applications, registration, and
42:14deep background checks, but the US is
42:16an entirely different parallel universe
42:18. There’s a statistic in the article
42:20stating that as many as 40%of people in
42:22the US live in households with guns.
42:24And that number is still growing; every
42:27year, over a million Americans buy a
42:29gun for the first time and become
42:31owners.
42:31>> An extra million people every year—
42:33that’s truly outrageous. So, why
42:35exactly is it like this? This article
42:38introduces the work of two authors who
42:40approach this issue from completely
42:42different angles.
42:43>> The first is the well-known bestselling
42:45author Malcolm Gladwell.
42:47>> That’s right, he released a new book
42:49called "The American Way of Killing."
42:52The content of this book actually comes
42:54from his podcast, "Revisionist History.
42:56"
42:56>> He turned his podcast content into a
42:58book.
42:59>> Yes, the book has ten short chapters
43:01filled with various ideas and many
43:03maxims that feel like social science
43:05fortune cookies. But the article
43:08critiques that he heavily relies on
43:10unedited podcast transcripts, which
43:12makes for a somewhat irritating read.
43:15>> That doesn't sound very literary. Still
43:17, his core arguments are quite
43:18counterintuitive, right?
43:20>> Really counterintuitive; don't we
43:21generally think that assault rifles
43:23should be banned? But Gladwell says the
43:25assault rifle bans most people support
43:28are actually useless.
43:29>> Why are they useless?
43:30>> Because data shows the vast majority of
43:32gun deaths in America are actually
43:34caused by ordinary handguns.
43:36>> Oh, that point actually makes sense.
43:38>> He also refutes the leftist view on
43:39defunding the police, pointing out that
43:42European cities effectively prevent
43:44crime because their police forces are
43:46actually much larger than those in the
43:48U.S.
43:48>> Those points sound pretty
43:49well-supported by data.
43:51>> The points are fine; the problem is his
43:53tone. The article says his writing is
43:55very sharp and filled with reprimands;
43:57he directly accuses Americans of moral
43:59recklessness, saying their discourse on
44:02guns is extremely dishonest.
44:03>> Wow, that's a very harsh thing to say.
44:05>> It is.
44:06>> Look. This preachy tone only satisfies
44:09those who already agree with him,
44:11making them think, "Yes, yes, well said
44:13." But for gun advocates, this
44:16condescending criticism only pushes
44:18them further away.
44:20>> Really, no one likes being lectured to
44:22like they're stupid.
44:24>> This reminds me of the approach taken
44:26by the second author, a sociologist
44:27from the University of Texas named
44:29Harel Shapira. He did something
44:31incredibly brave. What did he do?
44:34>> To study this issue, instead of hiding
44:35in an air-conditioned room looking at
44:37data, he personally went to Texas and
44:39spent years taking firearms training
44:41courses.
44:41>> Wow, going deep into enemy territory;
44:44that’s some thorough field research.
44:46>> Right, and he ended up discovering
44:48something very surprising. He
44:49originally thought those gun
44:51instructors might be extreme lunatics
44:52hiding in basements, ready to go to war
44:54with the deep state at any moment.
44:56>> Movies often portray them that way.
44:58>> It turned out to be the complete
44:59opposite. These instructors are mostly
45:02very conservative professionals, but
45:03they have a deeply ingrained warrior
45:05mindset.
45:07>> Warrior mindset—what is that concept?
45:10>> They divide everyone in the world into
45:12three categories. The first is the
45:13passive sheep. The second is the
45:16predator that harms others, or the wolf
45:17, and they themselves aspire to be
45:19sheepdogs protecting the flock.
45:22>> So they view themselves as protectors.
45:24What about the police?
45:25>> In their view, the police are merely a
45:28reactionary force. Usually, by the time
45:30police arrive, the damage is already
45:32done, so a sheepdog must be ready to
45:34face danger at any time; this is why
45:36instructors encourage students to carry
45:38a loaded gun whenever they go out.
45:40>> My god, carrying a loaded gun—how
45:42stressful is that?
45:44>> It’s incredibly stressful. Sapira
45:46found that these students 'daily lives
45:48are filled with fear; they’re even
45:50afraid to go to a gas station, feeling
45:51they face a constant threat of violent
45:53death in public. A state of constant
45:55tension like that is bound to lead to
45:57trouble sooner or later.
45:58>> Exactly. The article mentions a tragic
46:01and fatal consequence: one night, an
46:02instructor shot and killed a young
46:04Black man who had entered his home.
46:07>> A break-in?
46:08>> No, the truth is heartbreaking. The
46:11deceased was actually a young man with
46:13mental disabilities who had escaped
46:14from a nearby care facility. Because he
46:18was cold, scared, and disoriented, he
46:20was just knocking on people's doors on
46:22the street for help. Oh my god.
46:25>> Yet, when faced with this unarmed young
46:27man, the instructor fired five shots
46:29directly at him.
46:30>> Wait, five shots? That’s clearly an
46:32overreaction.
46:34>> Yes, but the most frustrating part is
46:36that, under Texas law, the instructor
46:38ultimately faced no charges and was
46:39completely acquitted.
46:41>> That is just tragic; it’s entirely a
46:43tragedy caused by this "warrior" logic.
46:45So, although Sapira deeply doubted
46:47whether these instructors were truly
46:49the "good guys with guns" they claimed
46:51to be, he didn't lash out at them like
46:53Gladwell did.
46:54>> What did he choose to do instead?
46:56>> He chose to listen to them with empathy
46:57and curiosity, trying to understand the
46:59root of their fear rather than rushing
47:01to judge them.
47:02>> That is really not easy to do.
47:04>> I came up with a metaphor: I feel like
47:06Gladwell is holding a giant megaphone,
47:08constantly shouting at a high wall.
47:10>> And the people behind the wall don't
47:12want to listen at all. Exactly, but
47:13Sapira’s approach is to slowly dig a
47:15hole in that wall, trying to see what
47:17the people on the other side are really
47:19thinking. If you were an audience
47:20member, which approach would persuade
47:22you?
47:22>> Definitely the latter; you have to
47:24understand the other person's fears
47:26before you can even have a conversation
47:27. But looking back at the realistic
47:29data, there's a survey from the KFF
47:31think tank that is truly alarming. What
47:33survey?
47:33>> The survey states that a huge number of
47:36American adults have actually been
47:38threatened by a gun, witnessed a
47:39shooting, or even lost family members
47:41to gun violence.
47:42>> That's such a high percentage of people
47:44with traumatic experiences.
47:45>> Yet if you look at the laws in recent
47:47years, they haven't tightened; instead,
47:49they've become more relaxed, and now
47:50many states even allow permitless carry
47:52. Sigh, the final conclusion of this
47:54article is quite helpless; they say
47:56this problem might only be resolved
47:57when, someday in the future, American
47:59voters finally decide—like the
48:01Australians and British did back then
48:03—that they’ve had enough, and only
48:05then will real change be possible.
48:07>> Until then, these tragedies will likely
48:09continue to happen.
48:10>> Right. Although the mood is a bit heavy
48:12, we are now moving on to the fourth
48:14article. We are moving from the
48:16violence and divisions within the U.S.
48:17to a higher perspective on the world's
48:19most complex geopolitical conflicts. So
48:21, we're talking about the Middle East.
48:22>> That's right. Ready for a trip to the
48:24Middle East? The opening of this
48:26article describes what's known as the
48:28most expensive party in history; the
48:30imagery is truly staggering.
48:32>> Oh, you're talking about that
48:34celebration in 1971, right?
48:36>> Yes, it was hosted by the Shah of Iran
48:38to celebrate the 2,500 th anniversary
48:40of the Persian Empire, specifically
48:42held at the ancient ruins of Persepolis
48:44.
48:44>> The level of luxury is honestly beyond
48:46what we ordinary people can imagine. It
48:49was literally throwing money into the
48:50water; they stocked piles of Moët&
48:52Chandon champagne and top-tier wines
48:54like Château Lafite Rothschild, and
48:56even the meals were flown in from the
48:58famous Maxim's restaurant in Paris.
49:01>> Eating high-end Parisian cuisine in the
49:03middle of the desert.
49:04>> But the detail that left me dumbfounded
49:06—and even felt a bit cruel—was that
49:08they actually imported 50,000 songbirds
49:10just to decorate the venue.
49:11>> 50,000 birds. Yes, and because the
49:14desert weather was so hot, all 50,000
49:16little birds were literally baked to
49:18death on the spot.
49:19>> Wow, that is just too absurd.
49:21>> Even more absurd was the Shah's
49:22attitude; at the time, many people in
49:23the country couldn't even afford a meal
49:25, and when people criticized his
49:26wastefulness, guess how the Shah
49:27replied?
49:28>> What did he say?
49:28>> With a tone that showed he was
49:30completely out of touch with the
49:31suffering of the people, he said, "What
49:32else?""We certainly couldn't serve
49:33these foreign dignitaries bread and
49:35radishes."
49:35>> That is basically a modern version of "
49:37let them eat cake." No wonder this
49:39party became the catalyst for the
49:40revolution. Exactly. Later, Ayatollah
49:42Khomeini, who led the Iranian
49:44Revolution, outright denounced the
49:45celebration as a "devil's festival."
49:47>> The judgment of history comes around
49:48quickly.
49:49>> Just seven years later, the king was
49:51forced into exile overseas. Everyone he
49:53left behind in the country was executed
49:55, and an angry mob even dragged the
49:56king's beloved horse into the street to
49:58be publicly tortured and eventually
50:00shot dead.
50:01>> That really is a tragic ending. And
50:04this entire dramatic historical scene
50:06is the opening of the new book "The
50:08Cold War" by historian Simon Sebag
50:10Montefiore.
50:12>> The ambition of this book is massive;
50:14it covers over a full century of Middle
50:16Eastern history from 1900 to the
50:18present day.
50:19>> It really is, and his perspective is
50:22unique. He rarely brings Turkey, Iran,
50:24Israel, and all the Arab nations into
50:27the same narrative framework. In the
50:30past, many histories of the Middle East
50:32were written from the perspective of
50:34Western imperialism, but this book
50:35tries to balance that by using the
50:37personal stories of rulers to lighten
50:39the weight of religion and geopolitics.
50:42But honestly, trying to squeeze over
50:44100 years of history into one book—
50:46spanning from the 1914 Ottoman entry
50:48into the war against the Allies, to the
50:501932 founding of Saudi Arabia, and then
50:53on to the founding of Israel, the
50:54Iranian Revolution, the Sudanese Civil
50:57War, and even the bloodshed of the last
50:59three years.
51:00>> That sounds like a very fast pace.
51:02>> Exactly. You gain breadth, but you
51:04inevitably sacrifice some depth. For
51:06example, the Armenian Genocide of
51:091915-1916, such a monumental historical
51:11event, takes up less than a page in the
51:14book.
51:15>> That is indeed a bit of a shame.
51:16However, using the personal stories of
51:18rulers to connect everything really
51:19fills in a lot of details we didn't
51:21know.
51:21>> For instance?
51:22>> Well, for example, people might think
51:24that Iran and Israel are like fire and
51:26water today, but did you know that when
51:27Israel was founded, Iran was the second
51:29country in the world, after the United
51:31States, to recognize the new state of
51:33Israel?
51:33>> Wow, the second to recognize it? That
51:35is such a far cry from their
51:37relationship now.
51:38>> There's another interesting detail:
51:40Egyptian leader Nasser once privately
51:42told Soviet leader Brezhnev that if he
51:44were in the shoes of the Israeli leader
51:46, he would never give up the occupied
51:48territories.
51:49>> It’s really interesting to hear that
51:51come from someone in the opposing camp.
51:53It seems the book’s depictions of
51:55these historical figures are also quite
51:57vivid. Super vivid. The author holds
51:59nothing back. Take the former King
52:01Farouk of Egypt, for instance; the book
52:03says the CIA mockingly called him a "
52:05fat bastard."
52:06>> A "fat bastard."
52:08>> And then there’s Mossadegh, who
52:09pushed for the nationalization of
52:11Iranian oil; the author describes him
52:13as a frail, sickly old man who wore
52:15pajamas.
52:16>> Handling major state affairs in his
52:18pajamas.
52:18>> But I think the funniest one is the
52:20first president of the Islamic Republic
52:22of Iran, Abolhassan Banisadr. What
52:24happened to him?
52:25>> The book describes him with a funny
52:26little mustache, wearing oversized
52:28glasses and a super sharp, tailored
52:30suit. Looking at his photos, he doesn't
52:33look like a president at all, but
52:34rather like a French New Wave film
52:36director.
52:37>> These details really make these
52:38historical figures feel instantly
52:40three-dimensional.
52:41>> Exactly. This book is written from the
52:43perspective of the country itself
52:44rather than that of a Western invader,
52:46which is actually very valuable in this
52:47era where the U.S. is gradually
52:49withdrawing from its dominant position
52:50in the Middle East. But writing about
52:52recent history must be quite
52:53controversial, right?
52:54>> Absolutely. For instance, the book's
52:56analysis of the October 7, 2023 attacks
52:58and Israel's subsequent campaign—
53:00which the author calls the largest,
53:02longest, and most unrestrained war in
53:04history—is actually quite reasonable.
53:06>> But in such a polarized atmosphere,
53:08reasonable analysis often ends up
53:10pleasing no one. That’s true, but
53:12which part of the book do you rate the
53:13highest?
53:14>> I think the most striking part is that
53:16the author directly compares the global
53:18impact of the Iranian Revolution to the
53:20French Revolution of 1789 and the
53:22Russian Revolution of 1917. He believes
53:24this revolution fundamentally changed
53:26the world. After hearing this history,
53:28I have a deep sense of wonder; it's
53:30like a butterfly effect. Who could have
53:32imagined that an ultra-luxurious party
53:35back then, where 50,000 birds died from
53:37the heat, would eventually become the
53:39catalyst for a revolution that reshaped
53:41the modern global political landscape?
53:45>> Ah, history is truly full of incredible
53:47drama.
53:49>> Stepping back from a century of history
53:51, we finally arrive at our fifth and
53:53final article for today. Finally
53:55returning to the daily lives of modern
53:57people.
53:59>> Yes, we are shifting the atmosphere
54:00from the grand currents of history to
54:02the daily behaviors of us modern people
54:04trying to find a tiny sense of
54:06belonging in this atomized society.
54:09>> Which is exactly what we mentioned
54:11earlier: why your favorite bakeries and
54:13coffee shops are all selling tote bags
54:15now.
54:16>> The source of all this can be traced
54:18back to the famous American supermarket
54:21chain Trader Joe's; they triggered a
54:23super crazy tote bag frenzy. I saw the
54:25news, it was really over the top.
54:28>> Just this September 30th, they released
54:30a limited-edition Halloween mini tote
54:33bag, priced very affordably at just $
54:352.99.
54:36>> $ 2.99, that's less than 100 NT dollars
54:40.
54:40>> But that bag is super small, only about
54:42the size of an iPad, and honestly, you
54:44can't really fit anything practical
54:46inside it.
54:46>> But everyone still fought over them,
54:48right? That's right, there are long
54:51lines outside stores across the U.S.,
54:53forcing them to strictly limit how many
54:55each person can buy. Even crazier, this
54:58$ 2.99 bag is being resold on auction
55:01sites for $ 20, with some even listing
55:03it for a staggering $ 50,000.
55:05>> $ 50,000 for a mini canvas bag. The
55:08world has truly gone mad.
55:10>> It sounds ridiculous, but there's a
55:13massive "merch" economy hidden behind
55:15it. Oxford Economics estimated some
55:19startling figures. Do you know how much
55:21is spent globally each year on this
55:23kind of merchandise, including licensed
55:25products, apparel, and branded goods?
55:28>> How much?
55:28>> A whopping $ 338 billion.
55:31>> $ 338 billion? That number is insane.
55:34Everyone really loves buying merch.
55:37>> Exactly, now every store is selling it,
55:39from the bakery on the corner to
55:41top-tier tech companies. Take the big
55:43data firm Palantir; back in July, they
55:45actually released a line of tennis
55:47apparel featuring their logo.
55:49>> Tech companies in tennis gear?
55:51>> And then there's OpenAI. They recently
55:55launched a whole clothing line, only
55:57for netizens to ruthlessly mock it,
55:58saying wearing it out in public is the
56:00best way to get bullied.
56:03>> That’s really savage. But seriously.
56:06In the past, when we talked about
56:08merchandise, we usually thought of kids
56:10' stuff, like Elsa dresses or Buzz
56:12Lightyear toys.
56:13>> Or the fan economy—for example, if
56:16you go to a Harry Styles concert in
56:18London, fans spend an average of 100
56:21pounds, about $ 135 each.
56:23>> And then there are sporting events.
56:25Like the classic blue-and-orange merch
56:27for the New York Knicks or Arsenal
56:29Football Club, which saw their merch
56:32revenue grow by 26%for the 2024-25
56:34season. Reaching 130 million pounds.
56:38>> Those are just traditional mindsets.
56:40The marketing logic today is completely
56:42different. Just think about it:
56:43mass-producing a canvas tote bag costs
56:46less than a dollar.
56:47>> Super cheap.
56:48>> But as soon as a consumer carries it
56:50out, over the bag's lifespan, it could
56:52be seen by thousands and thousands of
56:53people.
56:54>> A walking billboard. Exactly, like
56:58Daunt Books in London or Shakespeare
57:00and Company in Paris. Their canvas bags
57:03have long since generated billions of
57:04impressions for their brands.
57:06>> Some brands even inject humor to play
57:08on this psychology. The article
57:11mentions Aldi supermarket; for the
57:12World Cup, they actually released a
57:14spoof England football jersey.
57:16>> A spoof jersey? Yes, the selling points
57:18for this jersey were that it’s
57:20water-resistant and odor-resistant. Why
57:21? Since it was meant to help sports
57:23fans at bars shield themselves from
57:25beer sprayed by overly excited people,
57:27guess what happened?
57:28>> Did it sell well?
57:29>> 55 seconds. It sold out completely in
57:32just 55 seconds.
57:33>> That is just incredible. But getting
57:35back to the consumer mindset, why are
57:37we so obsessed with buying these things
57:39now?
57:39>> Exactly. I have a closet full of tote
57:41bags I barely use. NYU scholar Jared
57:44Watson and brand consultant Conor
57:46Archibold offer a deep psychological
57:48analysis for this.
57:49>> How so?
57:51>> They say that young people raised in
57:53the digital age would rather show off
57:55their personalities through their
57:56experiences or places they've been,
57:58rather than buying expensive designer
58:00bags or watches. Oh, so the symbol of
58:03status has shifted. It used to be about
58:05the price tag on your clothes; now
58:06it’s about your taste and sense of
58:08belonging.
58:09>> Exactly right. This is actually an
58:11antidote to our modern, atomized
58:13society.
58:13>> Society today really does feel very
58:16alienated. Nearly half of people in
58:18Western countries don't belong to any
58:20religious groups, sports clubs, or
58:22civic organizations.
58:23>> Everyone is an isolated individual. So,
58:26when you head out wearing a T-shirt
58:28from an obscure independent café or
58:30carrying a unique tote bag no one has
58:32seen before, it feels like you're a
58:35small fish in a vast ocean.
58:37>> And then?
58:38>> Then you try to use that bag as a
58:40signal to find other little fish just
58:42like you. Do you know what the ultimate
58:44goal is?
58:45>> What is it?
58:46>> It’s when you're walking down the
58:48street, a stranger who "gets it" sees
58:50your bag and gives you a knowing nod of
58:52approval. Wow, that moment really makes
58:54you feel like you're not alone and that
58:56someone understands you. It’s such a
58:58wonderful feeling, and this trend is
59:00growing—even individuals are making
59:02custom merch now.
59:04>> Like going on Etsy to find someone to
59:06make exclusive cups or matches for your
59:08birthday party or wedding.
59:11>> Even high-end magazines like
59:12Architectural Digest are exploring
59:14whether your home should have its own
59:16exclusive merch. In this digital age,
59:19physical mementos have become more
59:21valuable than ever. That’s so true.
59:24>> So, for those listening right now, take
59:26a moment to think about this. Think
59:28about your favorite tote bag in your
59:30closet. Do you carry it every day
59:34because you actually love the design,
59:35or is it that deep down, you're
59:37secretly hoping some total stranger on
59:38the street will give you that knowing
59:40nod?
59:42>> That is a fantastic reflection. If we
59:45were to summarize today's journey.
59:47>> Sure, let's wrap it up. We started with
59:50stock speculation, seeing billionaires
59:52trying to drop 100 to 200 million
59:54dollars to build their own power echo
59:57chambers within podcasts.
59:58>> Only listening to what they want to
1:00:00hear.
1:00:00>> Next, we saw Hollywood use the camera
1:00:02lens to simplify complex reality into
1:00:04black-and-white moral oppositions.
1:00:07>> Exactly.
1:00:08>> Then we explored the extreme mindset
1:00:10Americans have toward gun defense, and
1:00:12the bloodshed and polarized trends in
1:00:14Middle Eastern history driven by the
1:00:16personalities of rulers—all seemingly
1:00:18about conflict and division.
1:00:21>> Yes. But perhaps in the end, when we
1:00:24are deep in this atomized world of
1:00:26extreme information overload and deeply
1:00:28divided beliefs,
1:00:30>> Mhm.
1:00:30>> We spend 2.99 dollars on a small tote
1:00:33bag, trying to find someone in the vast
1:00:36sea of people who understands us. This
1:00:38might just be the purest and most
1:00:40authentic survival defense mechanism we
1:00:42humans have. That’s all for today’s
1:00:45Hai-Ge Book Club. Thanks for listening,
1:00:47see you next time, bye-bye.

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of 經濟學人2026.10.10《科技及文化版Podcast》諾貝爾獎科幻突破、空氣殘留DNA刑案新法、OpenAI解開數百數學謎題；同步直擊矽谷億萬富豪播客圈、美國槍枝文化真相與品牌托特包狂熱！ by 海格讀書會(每周更新)專注財經及經濟學人分享 , generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 11,152 words across 1,927 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

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