Omelas

Does international law still matter when the world's most powerful countries can ignore it? And can democracy survive when governments, courts, and international institutions disagree over who should hold power? In this episode of the Omelas Podcast, host Aryaman Varma sits down with Professor Mattias Kumm, the Inge Rennert Professor of Law at NYU School of Law and a Research Professor at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. A leading scholar of constitutional law, international law, and legal philosophy, Professor Kumm has spent his career exploring the relationship between democracy, human rights, and political legitimacy. In this conversation, we explore: What global constitutionalism means and why it matters Whether international law can constrain powerful countries The relationship between democracy, courts, and populism Why American and European constitutional systems differ Whether the European Union is genuinely democratic What Ukraine and Gaza reveal about the international legal order The most dangerous legal ideas shaping our world today At a time when international institutions face growing scrutiny, this discussion examines some of the fundamental questions surrounding law, democracy, and the exercise of political power.

Why can two intelligent people receive exactly the same information and come away believing completely different things? Irina Luneva is a Professor of Accounting at NYU Stern whose research explores how information shapes financial markets, corporate decisions and investor beliefs. In this conversation, we explore why more information does not always lead to more agreement, whether markets really discover the truth, how investors interpret the same facts differently, and what corporate disclosure can teach us about human decision-making. We also discuss the relationship between companies and their lenders, why financial contracts are renegotiated, how banks and bondholders respond to ESG performance, and whether greater corporate transparency is always beneficial. Beyond finance, Irina and I discuss uncertainty, intellectual humility, how great researchers think, and what studying markets can teach us about making better decisions in everyday life. Irina joined NYU Stern in 2024 after completing her PhD in Accounting at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Before academia, she worked as an economist at the Central Bank of Russia. Topics include: • Why intelligent people disagree despite seeing the same facts • Can more information actually make disagreement worse? • Do financial markets reveal the truth? • How investors process uncertainty • Corporate disclosure and transparency • Debt contracts and lender-borrower relationships • ESG and the cost of capital • Banks vs. bondholders • How great researchers choose problems • Making better decisions under uncertainty Follow the Omelas Podcast for long-form conversations with leading thinkers across business, finance, academia, politics and public life. Hosted by Aryaman Varma.

Award-winning documentary filmmaker Yoruba Richen joins Omelas to discuss her newest film, FREE JOAN LITTLE, and the extraordinary story behind one of the most significant criminal trials of the 1970s. Joan Little was a young Black woman incarcerated in North Carolina who was charged with murder after killing a white jailer whom she said sexually assaulted her. Her case became a national cause, bringing together civil-rights activists, feminists and prison-reform advocates—including figures such as Rosa Parks and Angela Davis. In this conversation, Yoruba and I discuss why Joan Little’s story has largely disappeared from popular memory, why Rosa Parks became involved in her case, the ethics of telling the story of someone who has chosen to remain private, and what FREE JOAN LITTLE can teach us about race, gender, incarceration and self-defense. We also explore Yoruba’s broader work on The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks and American Coup: Wilmington 1898, the relationship between journalism and activism, who gets to shape historical memory, and whether documentary filmmaking can actually create social change. Yoruba Richen is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and the founding director of the Documentary Program at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. Watch FREE JOAN LITTLE and follow Yoruba Richen to learn more about the film. Subscribe to Omelas for conversations with leading thinkers, investors, filmmakers, academics and changemakers.

In this episode of the Omelas Podcast, Aryaman Varma speaks with Asher Rogovy, founder and Chief Investment Officer of Magnifina (magnifina.com). Asher began his career in institutional finance, working across foreign exchange, derivatives and proprietary trading during the global financial crisis before moving into portfolio management. We discuss how professional investors identify mispriced opportunities, whether the S&P 500 has become dangerously concentrated, the risks of passive investing, AI and technology valuations, current investment opportunities, and some of Asher's highest-conviction trade ideas. We also explore what separates investing from speculation, how Asher manages downside risk, and what would cause him to change his mind on an investment. This conversation is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.

What does it actually take to build wealth, make smarter financial decisions, and avoid the mistakes that cost people money? In this episode of the Omelas Podcast, I sit down with Amir Noor, CFP®, EA and CRPS™, founder of N Financial Plans, to discuss the rules of money that most people are never taught.

What can 66 million years of Earth’s history teach us about the future? Bärbel Hönisch is a Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University and one of the world’s leading researchers in paleoceanography. In this conversation, we explore what ancient oceans reveal about atmospheric CO₂ and climate, why the speed of modern climate change matters, what the geological record can teach us about our future, and whether humanity has reasons to be optimistic.

Why has housing become so unaffordable, and who actually benefits when interest rates fall? Daniel Greenwald, Professor of Finance at NYU Stern, joins Aryaman Varma to explain the hidden financial forces shaping house prices, mortgages, corporate borrowing and wealth inequality.

Join us as we speak with Nazli Parvizi, the youngest executive director in NYC and the President of MOFAD. 

Jeffrey Hollender co-founded Seventh Generation and helped turn sustainable consumer products into a mainstream business. In our conversation, we explore the tension between profit and purpose, the shortcomings of corporate sustainability, and whether capitalism can be redesigned to produce better outcomes.

In this episode of the Omelas Podcast, we sit down with Eli Bartov to explore truth, trust, and the hidden power of numbers. We discuss how financial statements shape perception, where the line lies between reporting and manipulation, and what markets can reveal about human nature, incentives, and ethics.