Mentions personal use of Against Empathy.

Transcript context

…On your Substack, Small Potatoes, you wrote a post on doing academic interviews. The interviewers, at a general level — what’s the bias they’re most likely to have? Oh, all sorts of biases. I’m almost leaning towards — your book aside — jettisoning interviews sometimes, getting rid of them. But all sorts of biases. They’re biased by charm. They’re biased by quickness. They’re biased by flattery. In fact, part of my advice, to put it somewhat cynically, is for people on job interviews, know the person you’re talking to, do the research, because it’s flattering. Somebody comes into my office and says, “Oh, my God, it’s such an honor to meet you. I read Against Empathy, and it changed my life.” I don’t want it to sway me, but it’s hard for it not to, and so yes, that’s our weakness. I’ve wondered quite often, why is flattery undersupplied in these contexts? Because by no means does everyone do it. It’s not very costly. Even if you’re not fully believed, it can have a positive impact on the person. Why isn’t the supply of flattery just way, way up there? Every job interview.…

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