The Rules We Live By

A series made up of conversations with those who dictate, think deeply about, and seek to bend or break the rules we live by. It is run by the Los Angeles Review of Books’s science and law editor, Julien Crockett.

In Praise of Failure and Storytelling: A Conversation with Costica Bradatan
Costica Bradatan speaks with Julien Crockett about his new book “In Praise of Failure: Four Lessons in Humility.”
Julien CrockettOct 11, 2023
- Philosophy & Religion
Everything Is Embedded in What Came Before: A Conversation with Robert M. Sapolsky
Julien Crockett interviews Robert M. Sapolsky, author of “Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will.”
Julien CrockettOct 22, 2023
The Hold of the Dead Over the Living: A Conversation with Jill Lepore
Julien Crockett talks with Jill Lepore about her new book “The Deadline.”
Julien CrockettJan 2, 2024
The City of the Future: A Conversation with Antoine Picon and Carlo Ratti
For the Rules We Live By series, Julien Crockett interviews Carlo Ratti and Antoine Picon about their new book “Atlas of the Senseable City.”
Julien CrockettFeb 29, 2024
- Law
- Politics
How to Raise Your Artificial Intelligence: A Conversation with Alison Gopnik and Melanie Mitchell
Julien Crockett interviews Alison Gopnik and Melanie Mitchell about complexity and learning in AI systems, and our roles as caregivers.
Julien CrockettMay 31, 2024
- Science & Technology
Play and the Engine of Creation
Julien Crockett interviews Kelly Clancy about gamification, simulations, and her new book “Playing with Reality: How Games Have Shaped Our World.”
Julien CrockettNov 25, 2024
- Philosophy & Religion
- Science & Technology
Life Is More Than an Engineering Problem
Julien Crockett speaks with Ted Chiang about the search for a perfect language, the state of AI, and the future direction of technology.
Julien CrockettJan 19
- SF
- Science & Technology
The Rules We Live By: Year in Review
Julien Crockett looks back on the first year of the LARB series The Rules We Live By.
Julien CrockettJan 19
- Science & Technology
- Politics
Everything You Think Is Physical
Julien Crockett discusses cognition and metaphors with George Lakoff and Srini Narayanan, authors of “The Neural Mind: How Brains Think,” in a new installment of the series The Rules We Live By.
Julien CrockettOct 6
- Science & Technology