The Uniformity Of Crowds

Dick and Paul dig into why everything — restaurants, faces, portfolios, hiking trails, even AI chatbots — is starting to look exactly the same. From a Soho frozen yogurt line to Instagram Face to correlated markets flash-crashing in unison, they trace how social proof, algorithms, and the compulsion to "have done the thing" are quietly erasing variety everywhere you look. Plus: why ChatGPT always picks the number 7, why there are 900 cans of bear spray on a trail with zero bears, and what a fake barn in a Don DeLillo novel has to do with all of it.

Show Notes

The Jerk Store Called (YouTube)

The US Open wants to be for everyone. Not everyone knows the etiquette (CNN)

The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard

Timecodes

0:00 - Instagram Face

6:50 - The Stupidity of Crowds

12:50 - Expertise

22:20 - Brilliant Brains

25:20 - The Jerk Store

30:00 - The Bear Spray Paradox

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Two of the sharpest minds in tech, Dick Costolo and Paul Kedrosky, pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future that’s rushing toward us. With insider access, fascinating guests, and a healthy dose of irreverence, they’ll make you laugh while they explain how the world might end (and how we might still save it)