TRC #725: Infant Simulator Programs + Book Reviews: The Thinking Machine, The Philosopher in the Valley & Peak Human

For our first show of 2026 Adam looks at the efficacy of Infant Simulator Programs, which involves giving a fake baby to high school kids to discourage teen pregnancy. Darren gives us a review of three books, “The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World’s Most Coveted Microchip” by Stephen Witt, “The Philosopher in the Valley: Alex Karp, Palantir, and the Rise of the Surveillance State” by Michael Steinberger and “Peak Human: What We Can Learn From History’s Greatest Civilizations” by Johan Norberg.

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Infant Simulator Programs

Efficacy of infant simulator programmes to prevent teenage pregnancy: a school-based cluster randomized controlled trial in Western Australia – The Lancet

An infant simulator programme did not reduce teenage pregnancy – BMJ

Robot babies increase teen pregnancy rates – The Kids Research Institute

Teenage pregnancy rates have fallen across the world – Our World In Data

Book Reviews

The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World’s Most Coveted Microchip by Stephen Witt

The Philosopher in the Valley: Alex Karp, Palantir, and the Rise of the Surveillance State by Michael Steinberger

Peak Human: What We Can Learn From History’s Greatest Civilizations by Johan Norberg