Tamara Winter (X) is the Commissioning Editor of Stripe Press, where she exercises her taste to identify the knowledge and "ideas for progress" that matter most in alignment with Stripe's mission: to increase the GDP of the internet."Tammy" worked at the Charter Cities Institute and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, which is chaired by Tyler Cowen. Tammy is obsessed with tacit knowledge and the illegible parts of the world that actually support so much of our lives, work, and societies. This includes taste, charisma, relationships, and a wide-range of load-bearing infrastructure that supports healthy and trustful societies, from small-talk and manners to hidden forces that prevent anti-social behavior and maintain safe places to live and work.We discuss this and more, including how she selects the ideas worthy of Stripe's audience, her unique career path, her refreshing take on agency, her standards for herself, reading and writing, and how she chooses how to spend her time. Above all, Tammy's incredible love of other people shines throughout the conversation.Full episode transcript with all linked references: https://dialectic.fm/tamara-winterTimestamps2:09: Taste, absorbtion, and influences10:54: Deploying your taste15:49: Ideas that matter and taking yourself seriously22:13: Aesthetics24:16: Choosing Teachers and Authors28:15: Charisma & delightfullness privilege34:59: Living a relational life44:07: Trust, social scaffolding, and small talk51:01: Erosion of social norms, low-trust environments, and load-bearing infrastructure1:02:17: Cultural arson and the dark sides of "you can just do things"1:15:44: The healthy kind of agency1:20:45: Tammy's N-of-1 path and who she aspires to rhyme with1:28:38: Red herrings of success and focusing on outcomes1:32:22: Assortive everything1:37:52: Personal and professional standards1:43:06: Journaling, great writing, and audience1:57:29: Reading & BiographiesKey Links:The Art of Doing Science and Engineering - Richard HammingOn Self-Respect - Joan DidionScaling People - Claire Hughes JohnsonHigh Growth Handbook - Elad GilVirginia Woolf on MontaigneAva on TammyOld Enough!Sort By Controversial - Scott Alexander (Scissor Statements)Scarf tweetTammy's advice to young peopleAn Elegant Puzzle - Will LarsonInteractThe Making of Prince of Persia - Jordan MechnerFrank Sinatra Has a Cold - Gay TaleseWhy not inquire together more? - Tyler CowenThe Common Reader - Henry OliverIn Five Years - Rebecca SerleWalt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination - Neal GablerUp from Slavery - Booker T. WashingtonAnna: The Biography - Amy OdellThe Rise of Theodore Roosevelt - Edmund MorrisBrian JacquesA Pattern Language - Christopher W. AlexanderDialectic with Jackson Dahl is available on all podcast platforms.Join the ⁠telegram channel for Dialectic⁠Follow ⁠Dialectic on Twitter⁠Follow Dialectic on InstagramSubscribe to Dialectic on YouTube