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Curiosity Chronicle

Curiosity Chronicle

Sahil Bloom 444 Episodes Jul 23, 2026

Curiosity Chronicle is a podcast that delivers curiosity-inducing content every week. It is the audio version of a newsletter, encouraging listeners to explore new ideas and perspectives. The host, Sahil Bloom, shares insights and stories designed to spark curiosity and personal growth.

Episodes

How to Avoid Catastrophe: The Normalization of Deviance
How to Avoid Catastrophe: The Normalization of Deviance Jul 23, 2026 389 On January 27, 1986, just 16 hours before the Space Shuttle Challenger was set to launch, an engineer named Roger Boisjoly presented data showing a catastrophic risk with the shuttle's O-rings in cold temperatures.His warnings were overruled. The next morning, 73 seconds into its flight, the Challenger exploded, killing all seven crew aboard.Sociologist Diane Vaughn coined the term Normal
A Few Things I've Changed My Mind On
A Few Things I've Changed My Mind On Jul 21, 2026 658 I’m increasingly convinced that the willingness to change your mind is the ultimate sign of intelligence.The most impressive people I know change their minds often in response to new information or evidence. It's not that they lack conviction in their beliefs, but more so that they've developed enough self-awareness to understand what it would take to change them.The world will pressure y
How Old Will You Be If You Don’t?
How Old Will You Be If You Don’t? Jul 16, 2026 361 Last week, I ​wrote a piece​ about reinvention. Specifically, the myth of too late and how to reinvent your life at any age or life stage.It clearly struck a chord.I received thousands of replies in the days following the piece. One reader reply referenced a two-decade-old newspaper advice column segment that had resonated on the subject.Me being me, I decided to try to find the column. A
The Cobra Effects of Life
The Cobra Effects of Life Jul 14, 2026 529 In colonial India, a bounty on cobras was supposed to reduce the snake population. Instead, people started breeding cobras for profit — and when the policy ended, they released thousands into the streets. The result? More cobras than ever. This is Goodhart's Law: when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. And it's not just a business problem — it's happening in your
The Life-Changing Magic of Active Optimism
The Life-Changing Magic of Active Optimism Jul 9, 2026 440 There’s an old children’s fable I recently retold to my son about a farmer whose wagon wheel gets stuck in the mud.He calls on Hercules to come to his aid. Hercules appears, but rather than lifting the wagon, he speaks: "Do you think you can move the wagon by simply looking at it? Put your shoulder to the wheel."The farmer did so, and the wagon lurched forward as the wheel easily came uns
How to Reinvent Your Life in 30 Days
How to Reinvent Your Life in 30 Days Jul 7, 2026 874 Every single week, I invariably get a handful of emails from readers around the world with a similar general message.Stuck on a path. Living a life they didn’t really choose. Scared it’s too late to make a change.Given the frequency of these messages, I decided it warranted a deeper, more tactical guide.Here’s exactly how I would approach reinvention (at any age or life stage):•••This epi
The Frog Pond Effect
The Frog Pond Effect Jul 2, 2026 204 Have you ever noticed that growth feels like destruction?That getting better feels like getting worse?You're not doing something wrong. You're just experiencing something nobody told you about...•••This episode brought to you by:DeleteMe - DeleteMe makes it quick, easy, and safe to remove your personal data online. Origin Financial - Your personal AI Financial Advisor. Track your spending
Why Are You In Such A Rush?
Why Are You In Such A Rush? Jun 30, 2026 488 There’s a beautiful Zen parable that goes something like this:A man is walking across a field when a tiger leaps out from the trees and runs toward him.Fearing for his life, the man sprints away but quickly halts at a steep cliff. Facing a terrifying drop, with the tiger bearing down on him, he grabs hold of a single vine and lowers himself over the cliff’s edge.Looking up, he sees the ti
The Zipper Test: How to Stop Fooling Yourself
The Zipper Test: How to Stop Fooling Yourself Jun 25, 2026 362 My son just turned four. One of the things I love most about the age is the unbridled curiosity with which he explores the world.He's deep in the classic "why" phase, taking me down explanatory rabbit holes that go long past my point of comfort.But one of the most interesting prompts he asked recently was this one:"Tell me all about zippers."On any given day, zipper is replaced by some ba
7 Lies I Finally Stopped Telling Myself
7 Lies I Finally Stopped Telling Myself Jun 23, 2026 545 A few years ago, as part of the research for my ​first book​, I asked a group of centenarians for the advice they'd most like to give to their younger selves.One of them offered this piece of wisdom:"The most damning lie you can tell is the lie you tell to yourself."Those lies dilute your attention, pull you toward distractions, and cut into your confidence. They give you an easy out when
The Helsinki Bus Station Theory
The Helsinki Bus Station Theory Jun 18, 2026 407 In 2004, a Finnish-American photographer named Arno Minkkinen gave the commencement speech at the New England School of Photography.In the speech, he offered a powerful thought experiment:Imagine for a moment that you find yourself at the large bus station in the center of Helsinki.There are two dozen platforms at the station, each with several different bus lines departing from them boun
The 2 Types of Knowledge: Real vs. Surface
The 2 Types of Knowledge: Real vs. Surface Jun 16, 2026 430 In 1918, German theoretical physicist Max Planck won the Nobel Prize for his discovery of energy quanta.After winning the prize, he went on a tour, giving lectures at universities and institutions around the country on his findings.There’s an apocryphal story from that tour that I first came across while reading the transcript of Charlie Munger’s 2007 commencement speech at USC Law School

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