I wrote a while back about maximizing quality inputs in order open up the adjacent possible. While I make no effort to curate the inputs, I love to see how they interact. A circle of sorts came together today.

I listen to a ton of podcasts from nearly every genre, and a while ago I noticed how many smart people said they read Tyler Cowen’s Marginal Revolution blog every day, so I investigated him more fully. I read a bunch of his books and binge-listened to every episode of his podcast Conversations with Tyler as soon I discovered it. One of my favorite interviews was the one with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Fascinating.

Separately, I came across Jesse Thorne’s The Turnaround, an interview podcast about interviews. One of my favorite interviews of his was the one with Marc Maron. I’d previously heard Maron’s WTF Pod praised by other folks I admired, so I dug in a little here too. I’ll never be able to catch up on his back catalog¹, but I always watch his feed for guests I’m interested in. Thus, I particularly pleased to see his most recent episode was one with Kareem Abdul-Jabar.

So, what does this matter? I have no idea. All I know is I was fascinated to be able to hear an economics professor and a comedian both interview an NBA all-star I watched play when I was a kid. Sometimes it’s just nice to hear smart people talk.