Aug 8, 2026 · 1 hr 51 min · 13 segments
[Nassim Nicholas Taleb](x.com/nntaleb) hosted Geoff for a casual conversation in his library. Their discussion began with books and meandered through a dozen topics before concluding for supper. Show…
Nassim TalebGuest
Geoff GrahamHost
So the entire, what we call Western civilization, in fact, is, uh, you know, let's call it, uh, um, uh, you know, Middle Eastern, European civilization, okay? It started from the writing in, in Sumer.
And, and remarkably, I'm, I'm gonna give a lecture online, and I had a book, um, about Umberto Eco's library.
The book is upstairs by my bed because I'm rereading it, where he's saying the book is a real object-
You see, I don't particularly like this author, uh, Steven Pinker, but look what I have here.
So the entire, what we call Western civilization, in fact, is, uh, you know, let's call it, uh, um, uh, you know, Middle Eastern, European civilization, okay? It started from the writing in, in Sumer.
And, and remarkably, I'm, I'm gonna give a lecture online, and I had a book, um, about Umberto Eco's library.
The book is upstairs by my bed because I'm rereading it, where he's saying the book is a real object-
You see, I don't particularly like this author, uh, Steven Pinker, but look what I have here.
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