Mark Halperin

So first, explain why Thomas Paine is such an interesting character to you.

It's an amazing life.

And as you suggested in some of your description,

One of the historical geniuses of what occurred was you had people arguing for revolution, the ultimate act of instability and change.

And yet other colleagues of theirs, smart enough, thoughtful enough to simultaneously break something and build something.

And build something that was required to not just get the country going, but then has sustained us through 250 years.

So talk about how Lafayette fits into that.

How does Lafayette interact with this concept of revolution and then building at the same time?

Beautiful.

These are two great characters.

And again, the first half of the book is going to tell you great characters, great plot developments, and great meaning for understanding the founding of the country.

But as I said, also laying the predicate for the second half of the book, which is about where we are now.

And I'm determined, Jonathan, to not be on the wrong side of history for my country and for my son in trying to ring the alarm bell about the AI revolution.

and just how massive it is it may it may revolutionize life in a positive way it may destroy the planet but explain the connection between the revolution of the founding of this nation and the revolutionary moment we find ourselves in now

And again, just to make it more explicit for those who want to understand the book and go read it, what's the connection between the first half of the book as you grapple with the second half?

How does the experience of Lafayette, the experience of Payne and the others, how does that inform how we grapple now with the revolution of robotics and AI?

Yeah, beautifully said.

The line from Hamilton that I think about, that it defines the difference between the US and Europe and defines those of us who are optimistic that we will conquer AI and turn it into something positive, even if there are some short-term problems, is from, I'm not throwing away my shot.

I'm young, scrappy, and hungry.

And that defines the United States today.