Odd Lots

Superintelligent AI risk is the focus here, as Nate Soares lays out why he believes alignment is impossible and why advanced systems could go rogue. The conversation explores a stark, long-running doomsday view that has moved from the fringe toward the mainstream.

AI is rapidly changing both mathematical research and math education. Justin Solomon of MIT explains the Navier-Stokes problem, why an AI-generated proof is difficult even for experts to evaluate, and how teachers and mathematicians are adapting.

Europe’s economic problems are the focus here, but with a challenge to the usual story of decline. Dominik Leusder argues that the Draghi report may have mismeasured the scale of Europe’s weaknesses, while the conversation ranges across competitiveness, AI, productivity, energy, demographics, and China.

US Treasury yields are surging, and this episode asks whether bonds are becoming fundamentally riskier. Carolin Pflueger joins to explore why government debt has turned more stock-like, what that means for hedging, and how Fed credibility shapes the bond market.

Airline fuel hedging is the focus here, with former Qatar Airways treasurer David Kang explaining how carriers use swaps and options to manage volatile jet fuel costs. The episode also gets into why heating oil is used as a proxy, how fare increases and surcharges help, and what airlines share with oil refineries.