Okay, well, for this episode, the first of the new year, I am presenting the audio of

my live event with Eric Weinstein and Ben Shapiro that we did in San Francisco a few weeks

back to say that this audio has been much anticipated, really is an understatement. Ben has an enormous

following online and I have been hearing from all of you, mostly on social media and in

comment threads. I really haven't been sitting on this audio for any other reason than I had

many other podcasts in the queue and I couldn't decently hold them for much longer, but the

time has arrived. And I just have a few things to say by way of preamble. I introduce both of these

guys on stage, so I don't need to do that here. Eric Weinstein, many of you know from a previous

podcast. He's always great. Ben, as many of you know, is quite a polarizing and controversial figure.

I got a fair amount of grief when I announced that we would be doing a podcast together,

also a ton of enthusiasm from his fans. Needless to say, I can't take responsibility for everything Ben

has said or written in the past. I'm certainly unaware of most of what he's said and written,

but I'm aware of enough to know that he has like many of us operating in this space on these

topics been unfairly maligned and demonized by his detractors. I think any comparison between him and

Milo Yanopoulos is quite unfair given the differences in how they operate. This is something I say

on stage at the beginning of this event, but that's a comparison that's often made. Ben and I

disagree about some fundamental things here and it was really, I found myself in a situation which

I often find myself in on the podcast where I have to play host and debate partner simultaneously.

And I've begun to feel that there really is no perfect way to split that baby. And I certainly

didn't do it perfectly here. More and more, I try to err on the side of being the gracious host

who is not going to let things get bogged down. But the scientist and philosopher in me who

can't let a bad point stand invariably flirts with the ditch on the other side of the road.

...