Jeremiah

Welcome to the Astral Codex X podcast for the 13th of January, 2026.

Title, Mantic Monday, The Monkey's Paw Curls.

This is an audio version of Astral Codex X, Scott Alexander's Substack.

If you like it, you can subscribe at astralcodex10.substack.com.

The Monkey's Paw Curls.

Isn't may you get exactly what you asked for one of those ancient Chinese curses?

Thank you for listening, and I'll speak to you next time.

Welcome to the Astral Codex X podcast for the 6th of January, 2026.

Title, Highlights from the Comments on Boomers.

This is an audio version of Astral Codex X, Scott Alexander's Substack.

If you like it, you can subscribe at astralcodex10.substack.com.

Before getting started, first, I wish I'd been more careful to differentiate the following claims.

1.

Boomers had it much easier than later generations.

2.

The political system unfairly prioritizes boomers over other generations.

3.

Boomers are uniquely bad on some axis like narcissism, selfishness, short-termism, or willingness to defect on the social contract.

Anti-boomerism conflates all three of these positions, and in arguing against it I try to argue against all three of these positions, I think with varying degrees of success.

But these are separate claims that could stand or fall separately, and I think a true argument against anti-boomerists would demand they declare explicitly which ones they support, rather than letting them switch among them as convenient, than arguing against whichever ones they say are key to their position.