In this episode of Now I Get It, I dive deep into how cultural differences shape the United States—past and present. Drawing from Geert Hofstede’s groundbreaking IBM studies, I explore how nations differ across dimensions like inequality, gender roles, religion, and individuality. Through that lens, I connect these global cultural frameworks to America’s own fragmented identity—how early immigrant roots, regional histories, and moral certainties have divided and defined the country’s political landscape.

I also unpack how gender distinctions, religion, and attitudes toward uncertainty influence everything from politics to personality. From Appalachian independence to New England collectivism, from authoritarian comfort to improvisational freedom, these cultural currents still ripple through every debate we have today. Understanding them, I argue, is the first step toward finding balance amid the chaos.

In this episode, you will learn:

• (00:00) How IBM’s cultural research helps explain America’s divided identity
• (03:10) Why early immigrant settlements still shape regional attitudes centuries later
• (04:46) The political fault line between equality and inequality in U.S. ideology
• (08:51) How gender, religion, and cultural “masculinity” define national outlooks
• (11:57) The psychology of authoritarianism and the comfort of conformity
• (15:40) Why improvisers crave freedom while stabilizers seek safety
• (17:49) How time orientation—past, present, or future—shapes cultural behavior
• (21:30) The historical tug-of-war between Boston and Charleston—and what it still means today

Let’s connect!

linktr.ee/drprandy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Now I Get It, I dive into the hidden logic behind borders—why they exist where they do, and how geography quietly shapes the course of world history. From the frozen plains of Russia to the mountains of Ukraine, I explore how natural barriers like rivers, lakes, and mountain ranges determine a nation’s defensibility—and how the absence of these barriers has fueled centuries of conquest, paranoia, and power struggles.

We’ll unpack how historical trauma and geography combine to drive geopolitical decisions, often leading nations to create the very dangers they fear most. Using Russia’s ongoing conflict with Ukraine as a case study, I explore how geography’s invisible hand still dictates modern strategy, politics, and security—and how the destruction of natural defenses like wetlands may have left Europe more vulnerable than ever before.

In this episode, you will learn:

• (00:45) Why geography—and not just politics—defines how nations form and defend themselves
• (02:30) The contrast between Europe’s natural borders and Asia’s open expanses—and why it matters
• (03:40) How Russia’s fear of invasion is rooted in centuries of trauma and geography
• (05:10) Why Putin’s war in Ukraine is both strategic and self-defeating
• (06:45) The hidden value of wetlands and natural barriers in modern defense
• (07:50) How fear-driven decisions create the very threats nations seek to avoid

Let’s connect!

linktr.ee/drprandy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Now I Get It, I explore why simply memorizing formulas in math—or blindly trusting any model—can lead to catastrophic outcomes. I take a hard look back at the financial meltdown and show how a lack of deep understanding, not just fraud, helped steer us into crisis. It wasn’t that the models themselves were flawed; it was that people used them without grasping their limits, breaking the very assumptions they were built on.

From there, I connect the dots to today’s frontier: artificial intelligence. We dive into how AI has evolved, from early struggles to today’s large language models, and why what looks like intelligence is often just really good pattern-matching (and yes, BS-ing). But the stakes are far higher than math class. Whether it’s driverless cars, legal briefs, or drones in warfare, AI is already reshaping society—and the real danger is how humans will choose to use it. I close with a challenge: educate yourself, because the future of AI depends on whether we use it wisely or repeat history’s mistakes.

In this episode, you will learn:

• (00:34) Why “just following formulas” in math can lead to real-world disasters
• (01:17) How the Quaker ethic of honesty once fueled prosperity—and why forgetting it hurt us
• (02:46) What went wrong with financial models during the meltdown and why users misunderstood them
• (04:12) The mechanistic view of intelligence and why building AI always takes longer than expected
• (05:40) How large language models mastered BSing—and why their “hallucinations” fool even experts
• (07:08) Why AI-driven drones and robots raise dangerous questions about life-and-death decisions
• (09:06) How society normalizes new tech—from Waymo cars to armed robots—and why awareness matters

Let’s connect!

linktr.ee/drprandy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.