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Chris Lattner: The Future of Computing and Programming Languages [audio]

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Re: Chris Lattner: The Future of Computing and Programming Languages [audio]

#61

Post by gen220 »

st1x7 wrote: post #52
gen220 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tyler is an exceptionally good interviewer, in a way you can only get by exceptional preparation. We’re lucky to have him. I haven’t heard a better interviewer since Charlie Rose (who had a team working for him, of course). Does anyone know of similar interviewers in this vein? Long form and exceptionally-prepared?

> I haven’t heard a better interviewer since Charlie Rose Really? Rose is a serial interrupter. Might as well have Gary Vee interview people if you think Charlie Rose is any good.

Yeah, they obviously have different interview styles, but a lot of the difference can be explained by the mediums, and their respective backgrounds. Personally I appreciate them both, but I can respect that you wouldn't find his style enjoyable.

However, I'll defend Rose, in that he always picked interesting guests, and did good prep work. It's true that he steered the conversation in the direction he wanted it to go. But, of course, he had 60 minutes, and was recording for a broad television audience. The constraints were/are very different from Tyler's, personality differences notwithstanding.

If you listen to the interviews where he gets to break out of the normal 60 minute boundaries, I think you'll find his style shifts with the medium. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOUzTd-Ge_g

I've never heard of Gary Vee. However, based on a cursory search, I don't think a hyperbolic comparison helps your argument! :)

Re: Chris Lattner: The Future of Computing and Programming Languages [audio]

#62

Post by typon »

cma wrote: post #44
melling wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve done a couple of his surveys and mentioned that I think those questions are a waste of time. Donald Knuth handled it well. Do we live in a simulation? Hanging out debating unanswerable questions all the time has zero value.

Not to be a romantic, but what do you think of neuralink (asked to someone in unrelated field to fulfill weird Musk quota the podcast seems to have)?

I don't understand the obsession with Elon Musk some seemingly smart individuals seem to have. Seems like such a waste of time.

Re: Chris Lattner: The Future of Computing and Programming Languages [audio]

#63

Post by apsanz »

gen220 wrote: post #48
iguy wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel the same way at OP, amazing guests, but can't he push them a bit? What I'd like is more like what Tyler Cowen does, on non-tech subjects [1]. He gives the impression of having read all their books (and their opponents') not just having skimmed Wikipedia over breakfast. He keeps it moving, and often gets people a little bit off-balance, not aggressively, but enough to make people think afresh and not just repea…

Tyler is an exceptionally good interviewer, in a way you can only get by exceptional preparation. We’re lucky to have him. I haven’t heard a better interviewer since Charlie Rose (who had a team working for him, of course). Does anyone know of similar interviewers in this vein? Long form and exceptionally-prepared?

I am a big Tyler Cowen fan and like his choices for guest but it is almost on listenable to me. He prepares his exact questions beforehand and tends to stick to them instead of having a conversation. It makes his delivery wooden and the interview boring.

Re: Chris Lattner: The Future of Computing and Programming Languages [audio]

#64

Post by drannex »

sod wrote: post #54
blinkingled wrote: post #47

Lot of people complaining about the interviewer's skill - yes it is different and it can feel like stoned teenager with disorganized thoughts asking questions that form mid sentence :) - but if you give it some space, let it be, it's not bad at all. I actually like the slower pace and very down and dirty style of questioning - as opposed to the fast, high level, polished way that becomes inaccessible some times.

I hope Lex stays this way. The only interview podcast I know of where most of the focus is on the guest. The way he talks, listens and follow up on what the guest says lets me fully engage in the thoughts of the interviewee.

If you are interested in something similar that focuses more on engineering and science and goes far more in depth then I highly suggest Omega Tau (http://omegataupodcast.net/category/podcast-en/) by far the best podcast I have ever found.

Re: Chris Lattner: The Future of Computing and Programming Languages [audio]

#65

Post by PascLeRasc »

st1x7 wrote: post #2

Every time I run across an episode of this podcast I need to weigh in my interest in a great guest versus having to listen to Lex's monotone voice and meaning-of-life type questions. The disparity is amazing - the list of guests is easily the best out of any podcast that has guests that I've ever come across; and the delivery of the host is just about the worst I've come across too. I guess I'll listen to this one.

I feel the same with with Sam Harris's podcasts. He always has super interesting guests on but I feel like he's barely putting in effort to even speak, almost like vocal fry, and somehow ends up complaining about social media in every interview.

Re: Chris Lattner: The Future of Computing and Programming Languages [audio]

#66

Post by cma »

typon wrote: post #62
cma wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to be a romantic, but what do you think of neuralink (asked to someone in unrelated field to fulfill weird Musk quota the podcast seems to have)?

I don't understand the obsession with Elon Musk some seemingly smart individuals seem to have. Seems like such a waste of time.

It could be in this case a kind of arranged deal. Lex made a controversial paper about Tesla driver monitoring not being needed (based on users selected from an unbiased pool of... Tesla online fan clubs), flattering to Tesla's position, and promoted it before getting peer review. A few weeks later he had Musk on the podcast and got onto the Joe Rogan podcast and brought into a kind of mutual-shilling podcast circle.

https://www.thedrive.com/tech/27359/mit-study-showing-high-f...

Re: Chris Lattner: The Future of Computing and Programming Languages [audio]

#68

Post by threatofrain »

chongli wrote: post #42
crispyambulance wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Genius", "contrarian" and "patriot" are all characterizations that don't have any basis in reality. What has he ACTUALLY DONE other than talk up a storm that amounts to not much at all? AFIAK, he's just an employee of Peter Thiel.

He’s a social critic. “What have you actually done?” is the most common non sequitur used to silence critics and dissidents since time immemorial. It’s irrelevant. Anyone is allowed to be a critic. Their accomplishments have no bearing on the veracity of their arguments. That would be an appeal to authority.

It’s an appeal to the authority of credibility. The more you speak through the language of results, the more credible you are. It’s this appeal to credibility that people rely on when they choose doctors or lawyers.

Re: Chris Lattner: The Future of Computing and Programming Languages [audio]

#69

Post by jb1991 »

melling wrote: post #51

Early in the interview Lattner does a great job of selling Swift. Value types (with copy on write), progressive disclosure, ... I think Swift is a great language but the lack of cross platform development is holding it back.

I agree, I'm coming around to the fact that Swift is probably the best-designed language in widespread use right now. I've used many and tried many more, and I don't know if it is the original Rust team's involvement with its evolution or just the brilliance of its creator but Swift has really hit a sweet spot in all the many axes of language design. It is just so... productive. Things feel so much easier in Swift, yet it is more flexible than most other popular languages.

Re: Chris Lattner: The Future of Computing and Programming Languages [audio]

#70

Post by justicezyx »

The podcast was targeted at casual audiences, who generally are normal engineers in the software trade, or even ones outside of software.

The content is fairly shallow.

I am looking for content that actually can describe practitioner problems, not just superficially on general conceptual problems.

One that delivered by John Carmark would be one such example. But John probably is on another level than Chris here, and is very rare.

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