Bloom

Dr. Paul Monk on Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

In this episode, Nick and Paul discuss the emergence of Artificial Intelligence and the critical question: What does it mean to be human in the age of AI?

Nick and Paul discuss:

• Intelligence and the Turing Test: Examining the definition of intelligence, the limitations of computational capacity, and the philosophical significance of the Turing Test.
• Emotions vs. Logic: Using the Voigt-Kampff test from Blade Runner (1982), they contrast human emotional responses with the strictly logical outputs of machines.
• The Loss of Vocation and Craft: Concern over AI displacing white-collar workers and the resulting alienation and loss of meaning derived from one's trade or craft.
• Arendt and the Human Condition: Discussing Hannah Arendt's work, The Human Condition, and the crucial connection between hand, brain, and work for human flourishing.
• The Educational Crisis: The impact of AI on learning, including the alarming rise of student reliance on AI to generate essays and the concept of hallucination in LLMs.
• Creativity and the Algorithm: Questioning if AI-generated music and poetry are genuine creativity or merely the highly sophisticated execution of algorithmic formulas.
• Historical Disruption: Comparing the AI revolution to past technological shifts, drawing on literary examples like Dickens's Hard Times and Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.
• The Problem of Consumerism: Reflecting on the "unnaturalness" of the cult of optimisation in late-stage capitalism and the loss of traditional rhythms like the Biblical Sabbath.
• The Poet's Perspective: Dr. Monk's personal decision not to use AI to augment his writing, as it lacks feeling and the poems would not be authentically his creation.
• Transhumanism and the Singularity: Considering the terrifying prospect of a transhuman reality where machine acceleration (the Singularity) may ultimately challenge the meaning of being an embodied intelligence.

Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilisation in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China. 

Dr. Paul Monk on Geopolitics, World Order, and Good Judgement

In this podcast, Nick Fabbri and Dr. Paul Monk discuss the fragility and instability of the global order following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and reflect on the nature of international relations and decision-making.

Key Discussion Points include:

• The Unipolar Moment and US Decline: Discussing Aaron Friedberg's 1988 book, The Weary Titan, which anticipated relative US decline just before the unipolar moment of the 1990s.
• Self-Inflicted Wounds: Examining the seismic shock of 9/11, the costly counterinsurgency wars that followed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008 as failures of foresight.
• The China Bet: Analysing the failure of the Western bet that China's admission to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001 would lead to inevitable political reform and democratisation.
• The Problem of "Black Swans": Arguing that events like 9/11 and the GFC were not true black swan events but were foreseeable had there been better intelligence and regulatory oversight.
• States as Non-Unitary Actors: Challenging international relations theory by arguing that states are not unitary rational actors but are driven by interest groups, demagogues, and dictators.
• Grand Strategy and Empire: Examining the concept of grand strategy through historical cases like Imperial Britain, the Roman Empire, and the expansionist strategies of Russia and the Ming Dynasty in China.
• The Century of Humiliation: Discussing the Chinese Communist Party's strategic propagation of the Century of Humiliation narrative to justify its autocratic power and military build-up.
• Brownian Motion in Geopolitics: Introducing the concept of Brownian motion to describe the "turbulence or indeterminacy at the molecular level", referring to the micro forces that often cause major geopolitical surprises.
• The Deficit in Prediction: Citing Philip Tetlock's research, they note that political experts' long-term predictions are often no more accurate than "chimps throwing darts at a board".
• The Need for Scenarios and Nimbleness: Concluding that instead of making bold predictions, policymakers must use scenario analysis and focus on variables within the Brownian movement to improve strategic resilience and flexibility.

Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilisation in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China. 

Dr. Paul Monk on Poetry (Part 3): 'Love On The Road of Life', for Claudia

In this episode, Dr. Paul Monk features a selection of poems from his recent anthology, Love on the Road of Life. This collection is dedicated to his lifelong companion, Claudia Alvarez, and celebrates their deep, 20-year relationship lived largely across continents. Paul credits Claudia with having been the catalyst for him embracing his identity as "a writer and a poet".

Key discussion points include:

• The Poetic Vocation: Monk shares the preface to his anthology, framing the work as a story of their relationship and a "thank-you note" to Claudia for convincing him to abandon being a businessman and step into his authentic self as a writer and a poet.
• Literary Context: The discussion opens with a quote from William Waters on the lyric address, setting the stage for poetry as "intimate conversation".
• The Frodo Moniker: Poems reflect on his childhood, shaped by Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, which led Claudia to affectionately dub him "Frodo Baggins".
• Childhood Influences: Early work recalls pivotal moments, including receiving a biography of Stalin on his 12th birthday and his "reckless" 1975 manifesto for self-actualisation upon dropping out of law school.
• Volcanic Texts and Mortality: Philosophical poems draw on the ruined library of Philodemus of Gadara beneath Vesuvius to question the endurance of his own work and contemplate mortality.
• The Alma Mahler Pitch: Reciting "Our Ringstrasse moment," Monk recounts Claudia's bold declaration that she is "Alma Mahler" and that he is destined for greatness, likening their struggle to a Mahler tragedy that finds its way to companionship.
• Existential Therapy: Poems like "Shrovetide" and "Finding the Clearing" are "tributes to what we've accomplished," reflecting the emotional and psychological difficulties of building intimacy and overcoming their "mutually tortured gaze".
• Geological Metaphor: Using travel as a catalyst for verse, poems employ complex metaphors, such as linking their distance and union to the tectonic collision of continents (Silurian) and the Panama Canal linking oceans.
• Victory of Love over Pain: The anthology includes poems written during his metastatic melanoma diagnosis, with "The Secret Key" suggesting his defiance of poor prognoses was due to Claudia's love.
• The Poetic End: The poem "Percy Bysshe Shelley" serves as a tribute and a declaration of his identity as a Romantic poet, celebrating the living of a "poetic life".

Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China. 

Dr. Paul Monk on Poetry (Part 2): Further Poems from 'Red Ochre For The Moon Goddess' and 'Wine On The Flames'

In this podcast, Nick Fabbri and Dr. Paul Monk discuss and recite a further selection of poems from Monk's recent collections dedicated to his muse, Rachael: Red Ochre For The Moon Goddess and Wine On The Flames. These 600+ poems represent a unique, enduring, and intellectually intimate poet-muse relationship forged largely across continents and oceans.

Key Discussion Points include:

• Poetry as Self-Expression: Contrasting his objective world affairs analysis with the self-expression of poetry, which reflects inner feelings, experience, and meaning.
• The Extraordinary Muse: Monk credits Rachael's deep literacy, wit, and singular focus on wanting poetry for catalyzing the abundance of his verse (600+ poems).
• The Poetic Act vs. Life: A core paradox is discussed: their relationship is sustained because a conventional life is not possible due to distance and age, allowing them to be fully engaged in "loving and living" through poetry.
• Classical and Erotic Metaphors: Monk frames the relationship using classical literature for erotic or political contexts, such as Odysseus and Circe in the Odyssey ("In the House of the Goddess") or the long courtship likened to Alexander the Great's Siege of Tyre ("The Siege of Tyre").
• The Battle of the Soul: Poems reflect the internal struggle between the poet's rational mind and his fervent emotional reality, often using military and mythological figures like Rommel of the Heart or the dismembered Osiris (raised by Rachael/Isis).
• Metaphysics of Love: Monk utilises complex philosophical concepts, like the search for transcendent purpose, referencing Goethe's Roman Elegies and the Kabbalah (the garden of pomegranates) to give dignity and meaning to their unconventional relationship.
• Tributes to the Classics: The collections frequently engage with literary masters, including reflections on Catullus ("Catullus 101"), Shelley ("Reading Epipsychidion"), and the medieval poets Dante and Petrarch.
• Modernity and Romance: The poetry blends the ancient and modern, contrasting Verdi's La Traviata (with his rival as Baron Douphol) with spontaneous modern communication, such as Rachael's elegant Latin text: amor recumbens aurorae.
• The Final Elegy: The structure is bookended by an elegy (Book XXIV) that appropriates the funeral pyre of Hector from the Iliad, suggesting that the collected verse itself is the glistening "Wine On The Flames" of his mortal experience
• The Poet's Lot: The ultimate goal is the preservation of this unique love, culminating in the sonnet's wish that the 700 poems would be "roses dried and pressed/ Heaped around your place of final rest".

Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilisation in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China. 

Dr. Paul Monk on the Nature of Autobiography and Memoir

In this podcast, Nick Fabbri and Dr. Paul Monk discuss the decision to write his three-volume autobiography and reflect on the nature, structure, and meaning of autobiography and memoir.

Key discussion points include:

• Why Write: Monk's impetus to write his own life story to preserve his interpretation of events, citing Socrates' idea that the "unexamined life is not worth living".
• Autobiography's Purpose: Exploring the purpose of memoir beyond mortality, citing Emperor Septimius Severus's famous nihilistic verdict: "Omnia fui, sed nihil expedit" (I have been everything, and it amounts to nothing).
• Literary Models: Monk discusses multi-volume influences like Simone de Beauvoir and Marcel Proust’s massive, meditative novel In Search of Lost Time.
• Volume One: Dreaming of Elrond: Covering his Catholic childhood and his seminal decision to drop out of law school on "Independence Day," 1975.
• Educational Pursuit: His intense effort to secure a liberal arts education at Melbourne University and the crushing financial barrier to attending US graduate schools.
• Volume Two: The Gnomes of Russell Hill: Detailing his PhD on US counter-insurgency and his subsequent period in the Australian Defence bureaucracy.
• Bureaucratic Failure: His experience with "institutional anti-learning mechanisms" and the Kafkaesque difficulty of obtaining a security clearance.
• Career and Integrity: His principled decision to leave government after being denied development, choosing integrity and imagination over a conventional career path.
• Volume Three: A Writer and a Poet: Detailing his career in critical thinking consulting (Austhink) and the transformative influence of his partner Claudia, who gave him "licence" to embrace his authentic self as a writer and a poet.
• Love and Poetic Intimacy: Reflecting on his development of authentic love and "profound, poetic intimacy" with both Claudia and Rachael, as registered in his major cycles of poetry.

Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China. 

Dr. Paul Monk on Poetry (Part 1): 'Red Ochre For The Moon Goddess' and 'Wine On The Flames'

In this podcast, Nick Fabbri and Dr. Paul Monk discuss and read from two major collections of love poetry written for Paul’s muse, Rachael: Red Ochre For The Moon Goddess and Wine On The Flames. These 600+ poems document their extraordinary, long-distance relationship, which Monk calls the "culminating experience" of his life.

Key Discussion Points include:

• Poetry as Self-Expression: Monk asserts that poetry is self-expression, contrasting it with his objective writings on geopolitics and history. He views poetry as being "for the real world".
• The Catalytic Muse (Claudia): The initial "efflorescence" of his poetry was encouraged by his partner Claudia, who told him he was "a writer and a poet" and helped transition his identity away from a businessman and bureaucrat.
• The Neruda Variations: The initial cycle of poetry, The Neruda Variations, was written as a catharsis for his grief after Claudia's departure in 2007.
• The Advent of Rachael: His later love and muse, Rachael, initiated the relationship by asking for poetry, leading to a long-distance intimacy established using modern technologies.
• Metaphors of Competition: Poems often use metaphors of rivalry and risk, positioning the poet as a disadvantaged competitor (a retiarius fighting a murmillo in "Gladiator") or a daring figure (Alex Honnold free-soloing El Capitan in "Mastered Beauty").
• Myth and Muse: Classical and literary figures are invoked to frame the romance, such as Odysseus and Circe ("In the House of the Goddess"), the exiled poet Ovid ("Your Ovid"), and the lovers of Marilyn Monroe ("Marilyn's Men").
• Philosophical Poetics: Monk discusses the technical and emotional blend of his writing, as demonstrated by the feeling of being the piano played by Martha Argerich during a Rachmaninoff performance ("Martha Argerich").
• The Book's Meaning: The title Red Ochre For The Moon Goddess signifies Rachael as a seductive, primordial muse, while Wine On The Flames references the cremation of Hector in the Iliad, reflecting the heroic, yet late-life nature of the endeavour.
• Art and Reality: Poems like "Nook and Book" grapple with the fundamental question of whether their "transcendent" poetic relationship can ever be translated into a conventional cohabitational reality.

Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China. 

Dr. Paul Monk on The Lord of The Rings

In this podcast, Nick Fabbri and Dr. Paul Monk discuss J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, reflecting on its profound personal and societal impact, and its depth as a work of fantasy.

Key Discussion Points include:

• A Profound Personal Impact: The book had a deeper impression on Paul's education and life than any other work from his youth, helping instil within him a love of learning, knowledge, language, meaning, and poetry.
• The Teacher's Voice: Paul still recalls passages read by his fifth-grade teacher, Kathleen Gill, in 1967 as if he were hearing them yesterday, noting how the oral transmission of the story impacted his mind.
• A Guide for the Perplexed: Monk views the novel as an "indirect guide for the perplexed," offering insights close to the work of philosopher Martin Heidegger and serving as a release from the "strictures of various realisms".
• The Call to Adventure: The dramatic intrusion of the outside world, where Frodo learns he holds the One Ring, is analysed as the moment history and conflict are "thrust onto your doorstep".
• The Role of the Hobbit: Highlighting the Christian message that the meek and simple (like Sam Gamgee) can make a crucial difference in the world's large affairs, reinforcing the dignity of the common person.
• Storytelling and Agency: The poignant conversation between Frodo and Sam on the stairs of Cirith Ungol, realizing they are "in the same tale still," which affirms human agency within predetermined historical dynamics.
• Nature and Rootedness: Evoking the character of Treebeard (Enta, Latin for beings) to reflect Tolkien's appreciation for nature, rootedness, and slow change, contrasting it with the materialist, mechanizing impulse of modernity.
• Love and Mortality: Reflecting on the inscription on Tolkien's tomb—Beren and Lúthien—as a symbol of transcendent love that crosses racial and immortal barriers.

Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China. 

Navigating Djibouti’s Future: Youth Empowerment, Diplomacy, and Development with Haibado Abdoulkader Yacin

In this episode of the Oxford Policy Podcast, host Nick Fabbri sits down with Haibado Abdoulkader Yacin, a Mastercard Foundation AfOx Scholar and Master of Public Policy student at Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government. Haibado, a dedicated public servant from Djibouti, shares her incredible personal story and journey from Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa, to studying and working across three continents.

Haibado’s experiences span her role advising the Minister of Finance in Djibouti on youth employment and entrepreneurship, to her involvement in civil society movements focused on educational reforms. As someone passionate about sustainable development and the empowerment of Africa’s youth, Haibado reflects on how her international education shaped her perspective, and discusses her work in shaping opportunities in Djibouti through policy and public service.

Nick and Haibado delve into Djibouti’s strategic role in international security, its unique cultural and diplomatic identity, its history of colonisation and migration, as well as some poetical reflections on Haibado's home. Tune in for an inspiring conversation on leadership, policy innovation, and the future of development in Africa.

Gargi Sharma Goel on Economic Policy, India, and her Journey at Oxford

In this episode, Nick Fabbri speaks with Gargi Sharma Goel about her life and career in New Delhi, India, her work in the Ministry of Finance and Indian Revenue Service, key economic and tax policy interests, her journey to the Master of Public Policy at Oxford, balancing parenthood with studies, and the happiest memories from her time in the UK.

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Gargi Sharma Goel is career civil servant, part of the Indian Revenue Service, and works in the Ministry of Finance of the government of India. Gargi lives in New Delhi. Gargi focuses on tax policy and has been involved in the preparation of the Union Budget. She keeps a close watch on the pulse of the Indian economy and has undertaken many policy initiatives for its growth and development. Her key area of interest has been the utility of tax policy for socio-economic welfare, and she is interested in exploring tax policy as a tool for promoting equitable growth across all sections of society.

Gargi's other field of interest has been international taxation and transfer pricing. She has also been involved with OECD two-Pillar International Tax negotiations for tax-sharing in the digitalised and borderless world, where she endeavours to establish cooperative and fair tax sharing mechanisms.

Gargi is a World Bank Scholar.

Tony Abbott on Service, Politics, Democracy, and Australia

In this episode crossposted from the Oxford Policy Podcast, Nick Fabbri speaks with The Hon. Tony Abbott AC, Former Prime Minister of Australia. They discuss:

• The influence of the Jesuits, Oxford, and Father Paul Mankowski on Mr. Abbott's life and leadership qualities
• The art of effective opposition and developing alternative policies for the nation
• Achievements and regrets of the Abbott Government in office
• The role of government in fostering trust and cohesion in communities
• National service and giving back to the country
• National identity, immigration, and multiculturalism
• Industrial and energy policy
• The state of right of centre politics globally, and what a conservatism for the 21st century might look like
• The importance of promoting classical education and an understanding of western civilisation to strengthen cultural self-confidence
• The global security situation and the need for a military, industrial, and cultural re-armament to resist the authoritarian axis of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea
• Poetic reflections on Australia and advice to young Australians abroad