TRC #725: Infant Simulator Programs + Book Reviews: The Thinking Machine, The Philosopher in the Valley & Peak Human

TRC #725: Infant Simulator Programs + Book Reviews: The Thinking Machine, The Philosopher in the Valley & Peak Human

From The Reality Check by The Reality Check

January 15, 2026 · 27 min · Episode 725

About this episode

The episode discusses the efficacy of Infant Simulator Programs and reviews three books related to technology and society.

For our first show of 2026 Adam looks at the efficacy of Infant Simulator Programs, which involves giving a fake baby to high school kids to discourage teen pregnancy. Darren gives us a review of three books, "The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World's Most Coveted Microchip" by Stephen Witt, "The Philosopher in the Valley: Alex Karp, Palantir, and the Rise of the Surveillance State" by Michael Steinberger and "Peak Human: What We Can Learn From History's Greatest Civilizations" by Johan Norberg.

People in this episode

Host: Adam

Guest: Darren

Topics covered

  • Infant Simulator Programs
  • Teen Pregnancy
  • Book Reviews
  • Surveillance State
  • Civilizations

Keywords

  • Infant Simulator Programs
  • Teen Pregnancy
  • Book Reviews
  • Nvidia
  • Palantir
  • Surveillance State
  • Civilizations

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Nvidia, Palantir

Books & works: The Thinking Machine, The Philosopher in the Valley, Peak Human

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