Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist

Ep 153: Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar on Heretics, AI Weapons, and Rebuilding the Arsenal of Democracy

08 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Shyam Sankar is one of my favorite American innovators. As CTO of Palantir, he's been a key leader for over 20 years and built much of what the compan...

Ep 152: Ben Black Runs America's $200B Foreign Investment Fund; Here's His Plan to Counter China & Rebuild American Influence

30 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ben Black is the CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). Backed by a $205 billion budget, his mandate is to invest in U.S...

Ep 151: The Myth of Michael Milken with Richard Sandler

24 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Milken revolutionized American finance and democratized access to capital for thousands of companies that Wall Street had previously written o...

Ep 150: How AI Is Transforming Diligence, Decision-Making & the Future of Investing with John Melas-Kyriazi

17 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

John Melas-Kyriazi is the co-founder and CEO of Standard Metrics, which powers portfolio management for more than 150 venture capital firms and 10,000...

Ep 149: Will Fry on the Small Business Succession Crisis & New Opportunities in the AI Age

09 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In the coming years, over two million small businesses will change hands or close their doors as Baby Boomers retire. Will Fry, Founder and CEO of Ame...

Ep 148: JoeBen Bevirt, Founder & CEO of Joby Aviation — Flying Cars Have Arrived

03 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Last year, JoeBen Bevirt joined the show to discuss the vision behind Joby Aviation and bringing air taxis to life. Now, he's back to talk execution a...

Ep 147: Scott Wu & Russell Kaplan on the New Era of Software Abundance

27 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Scott Wu and Russell Kaplan, co-founders of Cognition, are leading one of the fastest-growing, talent-dense AI companies. Their mission: make expert s...

Ep 146: Jake Paul & Geoff Woo on Building Anti Fund, the Future of the Creator Economy & How to Change the Culture

19 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Jake Paul is a social media influencer-turned-entrepreneur and boxer. He’s not only one of the most popular figures on the planet among Gen Z, but a...

Ep 145: SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler on Exposing Billions in Fraud & What AI Means for Small Business

13 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler is playing a pivotal role in our nation on two fronts: supporting the next generation of small business ow...

Ep 144: Jared Isaacman's Bold Vision for Moon Bases, Nuclear Power in Space, and Returning NASA to Greatness

03 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

As a teenager, Jared Isaacman built a billion-dollar payments company. He then pursued aviation, acquiring the world's largest private air force and c...

Ep 143: JD Ross on the New Invention Era & Building with AI in 2026

27 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

JD Ross is one of my favorite entrepreneurs. I hired him out of college at Addepar where he quickly became Head of Product. He went on to co-found Ope...

Ep 142: Understanding the AI Wave with 8VC's Alex Kolicich & Jack Moshkovich

17 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Advances in AI are occurring at a pace we haven’t seen before in Silicon Valley. How do we know what’s real versus hype? What does it mean for lar...

Ep 141: AI Hackers Are Here; Cybersecurity Legend Kevin Mandia Is Building the Answer

04 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

When Kevin Mandia’s phone rings, it’s often a Fortune 500 CEO or government leader with a billion-dollar problem. How did he become the go-to expe...

Ep 140: SEC Chairman Paul Atkins on Making IPOs Great Again, Crypto's Comeback & New Rules for Retail Investors

26 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

America’s capital markets are the envy of the world, but in recent years, misguided policies have driven innovation offshore and stifled the number ...

Ep 139: Make Government Beautiful & Functional Again with America's Chief Design Officer Joe Gebbia

20 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

First, he digitized the entire federal retirement process, cutting it from six months to a few days. Now, he’s overhauling the U.S. government’s o...

Ep 138: AI, Space-Based Interceptors & the Bleeding Edge of Warfare with Pentagon R&D Chief Emil Michael

09 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Emil Michael directs the U.S. military’s research and development of advanced technologies. Previously, he led global business growth for Uber — o...

Ep 137: Gov. Chris Sununu on AI vs Harvard, DOGE 2.0, and a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution

30 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Sununu is an MIT-educated engineer who won four terms as governor of New Hampshire. Now, he's leading the charge for a balanced budget amendment...

Ep 136: OPM Director Scott Kupor on Launching the U.S. Tech Force & Bringing Merit Back to Government

18 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week, OPM Director Scott Kupor launched the U.S. Tech Force to recruit an elite cohort of engineering talent into the federal government. What wi...

Ep 135: Philip Howard on Saving the American Spirit

11 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For decades, Philip Howard has been sounding the alarm: our government is broken, and tinkering around the edges won’t work. We need a new operating...

Ep 134: Inside the White House and the AI Race with OSTP Director Michael Kratsios

26 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Kratsios is the man of the hour, charged by President Trump to usher in the golden age of AI and American innovation. How is the White House a...

Ep 133: Matt Ridley on the Fight to Save the UK & How Extraordinary Ideas Evolve

21 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Do great men alter the course of history, or is everything more bottom-up than we realize? Or both? We credit Thomas Edison for the light bulb, but wh...

Ep 132: Sen. Bill Hagerty on Saving Memphis & Designing Regulatory Frameworks for AI and Crypto

06 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 2023, Memphis earned the distinction of the nation’s most violent and dangerous city. Senator Bill Hagerty had seen enough. Together with Preside...

Ep 131: How AI + Incentives Can 10X Learning & Save American Education with Tech Legend Joe Liemandt

17 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Joe Liemandt is a legend in the technology world. Starting in the 1990s, he built a multi-billion dollar software empire, before quietly stepping out ...

Ep 130: "Free speech is not enough" — UATX President Carlos Carvalho on Charlie Kirk, Fighting Communists & the Duty of a University

09 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Universities called for “free speech” after Charlie Kirk’s murder — UATX President Carlos Carvalho says they’re missing the point entirely. ...

Ep 129: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt Steps Up to Save Tulsa — and Prove What's Possible

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

America’s cities are dangerous and broken, and for too long, governors stood by as city officials failed their citizens. But Oklahoma Governor Kevin...

Ep 128: Hollywood Star Zachary Levi on Speaking Out for Trump, AI vs the Arts, and His $100M Texas Studio Project

25 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Zachary Levi is best known for starring in the popular TV series Chuck and hit movies like Shazam!, while millions of children, my daughters included,...

Ep 127: Max Meyer, Arena Magazine, and the Battle for Truth, Beauty & Progress

15 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Max Meyer is the Editor and Publisher of Arena — an American technology magazine that is pro-America and pro-technology! How did legacy media become...

Ep 126: Will AI Spark A New Logistics Revolution? Harish Abbott Helped Pioneer Next-Day Shipping — And He’s Betting Yes.

05 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Harish Abbott is a serial entrepreneur at the forefront of the logistics revolution. He sold his last company to Shopify in 2022 for over $2 billion, ...

Ep 125: Sen. Eric Schmitt on Exposing Mass Censorship & Outsmarting the Far-Left

29 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sen. Eric Schmitt is a fighter for our country — and knows how to win. In November 2022, as Missouri Attorney General, he sued the Biden administrat...

Ep 124: The Fearless Adversary of Venezuela's Dictators - A Special Interview with Maria Corina Machado

21 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we're honored to be joined by Venezuela's "Iron Lady" — Maria Corina Machado. She's been physically assaulted, forced into hiding, and se...

Ep 123: The New Space Age with Palantir Alum & Apex Space CEO Ian Cinnamon

13 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Reusable rockets, new economics, and surging investment are quickly making space one of the most promising areas for growth and innovation. Like other...

Ep 122: The AI Services Revolution with Shreyas Parab & Anton Lin of DayDream

06 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're talking dental billing! Why? Because large parts of the $5 trillion US services economy, like medical billing, are inefficient and dys...

Ep 121: Reid Hoffman on AI Optimism & How the Democratic Party Alienated Silicon Valley

28 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Reid Hoffman is a longtime leader in Silicon Valley and vocal AI optimist; he's also a major Democratic Party donor. What happens when AI runs headfir...

Ep 120: OMB Director Russ Vought on the Big Beautiful Bill, Making DOGE Permanent & the Looming Battle over Impoundment

22 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We're joined this week by a key architect of President Trump's budget and regulatory agenda: Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vough...

Ep 119: Former Waymo Leader Boris Sofman on Autonomous Construction & Bringing AI into the Physical World

16 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Construction is a $2 trillion U.S. industry ($13 trillion globally) that impacts nearly every aspect of our lives. Yet, building has become too expens...

Ep 118: Marc Andreessen on AI, Robotics & America's Industrial Renaissance

03 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

America's global ascendency was tied to its industrial strength. But since the 1960s, our manufacturing might gave way to white-collar services. Now, ...

Ep 117: Dave Rubin on the Woke Right, Free Speech vs Conspiracy Theories & His New Tequila Company

26 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Few people have been as influential as Dave Rubin in the new media movement and fight for free speech. He not only helped expose Big Tech's censorship...

Ep 116: California — the Next Revolution? A Conversation with Steve Hilton

19 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

California has been governed by left-wing, one party-rule for 15 years, and the results speak for themselves. How did California turn deep blue? What ...

Ep 115: Scott Wu, Devin, and a Trillion-Dollar Opportunity

12 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Scott Wu took the technology world by storm when he released a demo of Devin, the first AI software engineer. A year later, Devin has gone global, and...

Ep 114: Flying Cars Are About to Change the World — Joby CEO JoeBen Bevirt

04 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

JoeBen Bevirt has spent two decades building electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, and now he's on the cusp of commercial approval ...

Ep 113: Why Sam Lessin Believes AI Isn't Disruptive & Venture Capital Is Fundamentally Changing

17 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After leading the product team at Facebook, Sam Lessin became one of the top seed investors in Silicon Valley, known for cutting the first check into ...

Ep 112: Peter Thiel on DOGE, Tariffs, Building Generational Companies & the Future of Civilization

17 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From co-founding PayPal and Palantir to writing the first check into Facebook and investing early in SpaceX, AirBnB, and numerous other unicorns, Pete...

Episode 111: Sen. Tom Cotton on DOGE, TikTok, and "Seven Things You Can't Say About China"

03 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sen. Tom Cotton is a key leader on Capitol Hill, standing up to cronyism and grift at home and our adversaries abroad. Does he think DOGE can effect l...

Ep 110: Dr. Mike Israetel on Miracle Drugs, the Aesthetic Revolution, Living to 200 & New Frontiers in AI-Powered Medicine

14 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Mike Israetel is one of the most influential voices in health and fitness. What are the "miracle drugs" he thinks will upend modern medicine? Why ...

Ep 109: Anson Frericks on the Rise & Fall of Budweiser; Milton Friedman vs Klaus Schwab; and How to Save Corporate America

21 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Budweiser was the undisputed king of American beers, until one controversial ad campaign erased $40 billion in market cap and thousands of jobs. How d...

Ep 108: Tim Urban on Superintelligence, Mars, Fermi Paradox & How to Conquer a Society

14 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

My friend Tim Urban is one of the most influential writers and public intellectuals of the past decade. In 2015, his predictions about the coming AI w...

Ep 107: Off-Road Autonomy & Saving Soldiers' Lives with Overland AI CEO Byron Boots

30 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Self-driving is an immensely complex challenge; Tesla, Waymo, and others are locked in a years-long race. But equally challenging, and less known, is ...

Ep 106: Zac Bookman on Advice for DOGE & Building OpenGov into a $1.8 Billion GovTech Leader

23 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 2012, Zac Bookman and I set out to bring efficiency and transparency to state and local governments using the best of Silicon Valley technology. So...

Ep 105: What Can Aristotle Teach Us About AI? Training "Philosopher Builders" with Brendan McCord of the Cosmos Institute

14 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

AI is transforming our world. Yet many people building these technologies have no grounding in the principles of Western Civilization. With the wrong ...

Ep 104: Will AI Replace Coders? Terminal Co-Founder & CEO Dylan Serota

06 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How is AI augmenting software developers? Will it replace or commoditize certain roles? And how should aspiring engineers prepare for the future?This ...

Ep 103: Raj Bhakta Created WhistlePig; Now He's Reinventing the Whiskey Industry (Again)

29 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Raj Bhakta is best known as the founder of Whistlepig Whiskey. But he also served in the Marines, rode an elephant across the Rio Grande while running...

Ep 102: "If You're Not Blowing Stuff Up, You're Not Innovating!" — Stanford Professor Steve Blank

22 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In World War II, the U.S. government embraced a radical idea: putting scientists and technologists in charge of building advanced weapons. The rest, a...

Ep 101: Gov. Kevin Stitt — the Businessman Governor Standing Up to Special Interests

15 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What does political courage look like in action? What does it mean to stand up to special interests? And what are the fights we must take on — and ...

Ep 100: Why AI Is Underhyped with Elad Gil

02 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For Episode 100, we have a special conversation with Elad Gil, one of Silicon Valley's great thinkers, builders, and investors. Elad has been involved...

Ep 99: The Myth of American Inequality with Senator Phil Gramm

26 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer. The wealthiest among us don't pay their fair share in taxes. The American Dream is disappear...

Ep 98: How Wokeness Foments Antisemitism; a Conversation with ADL's Jonathan Greenblatt

18 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Founded in 1913, the Anti-Defamation League has played an important role in protecting the Jewish community and fighting for civil rights. But in rece...

Ep 97: Jimmy John Built a Restaurant Empire; Government Almost Destroyed It

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

At 19 years old, Jimmy John Liautaud dropped out of college to start his own sandwich shop. He spent 10 years perfecting his first 10 stores, before f...

Ep 96: Harvard Economist Roland Fryer on the Truth Behind Police Shootings & Using Data to Supercharge Meritocracy

20 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Roland Fryer is a profile in courage; the Harvard economist follows the data where it leads, no matter the outcome. He studied the impact of paying k...

Ep 95: Navy SEAL & Saronic CEO Dino Mavrookas on the Race for Autonomous Ships and Naval Dominance

12 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The U.S. Navy dominated in World War II, not because we had the most advanced ships, but because our industrial capacity was unmatched. When we lost a...

Ep 94: A Conversation with Turnaround King & U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross

30 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Wilbur Ross is one of the great turnaround artists in modern finance. Dubbed the "King of Bankruptcy," he restructured over $400 billion of assets, sa...

Ep 93: Cold War II & the Race for Technological Supremacy with CrowdStrike Co-Founder Dmitri Alperovitch

22 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

He predicted Vladimir Putin would attack Ukraine months before it happened. Now he believes similar signals foreshadow China invading Taiwan. What sim...

Ep 92: High-Power Microwave & the Rise of Electronic Shields with Epirus CEO Andy Lowery

16 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Electronic shields are iconic elements of Star Trek, Star Wars, and other great American sci-fi. Once a fantasy, we are now building versions of these...

Ep 91: "I whooped his ass!" Legendary Investor & Home Depot Founder Ken Langone on Leadership, Courage & Defeating the Bad Guys

03 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ken Langone's father was a plumber and his mother a cafeteria worker — neither made it past 8th grade — yet Ken became a multi-billionaire inves...

Ep 90: Ethan Penner on Choosing Greatness & Pioneering New Markets on Wall Street

23 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Is greatness a choice? If so, why doesn't everyone choose greatness? And more broadly, what are the prerequisites for a great society? This week, I'm...

Ep 89: Coleman Hughes on "The End of Race Politics" & the Worst Ideas Done in the Name of Diversity

16 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

At Columbia University's freshman orientation, Coleman Hughes and his classmates were separated into groups by skin color to discuss the effects of ...

Ep 88: A Conversation with MLK's Attorney & Speechwriter: Dr. Clarence Jones

10 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Clarence Jones is a giant of the civil rights movement. As the personal attorney and speechwriter for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he risked everyt...

Ep 87: Dr. Cliff Winston — Deregulate Lawyers, Deregulate Airlines, and Let Markets Correct Themselves

02 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Are government programs and interventions superior to market corrections? According to Dr. Cliff Winston, the evidence to support such a claim doesn’...

Ep 86: How to Design a STEM Curriculum for the 21st Century with Dr. David Ruth

25 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

STEM (science, technology, engineering & math) education is the backbone of the innovation economy. Yet at many schools, it's become stodgy and irrel...

Ep 85: The Path to Regime Change in Iran with Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi

18 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 1979, Crown Prince of Iran Reza Pahlavi was attending fighter pilot school in Lubbock, Texas when the Islamic Revolution overthrew his father's rei...

Ep 84: Sri Ganesan on Freshworks' Big Win, Building Rocketlane & India's Tech Boom

11 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

India’s tech ecosystem has hit an indisputable inflection point in recent years. For decades, American corporations outsourced basic services to Ind...

Ep 83: A New Cancer Breakthrough with Ivan Dimov of Orca Bio

05 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Every year, more than 20,000 Americans receive a bone marrow transplant — a Nobel prize-winning procedure that saves many lives but also carries gre...

Ep 82: Whitney Baker's Masterclass on Macro Investing & the State of the Economy

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What are the forces behind the scenes that drive financial markets? How do bubbles form — and are we in one now? What do the world's best investors ...

Ep 81: How Palantir Star Tyler Scriven Is Helping Small Businesses Compete Against Amazon

14 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

U.S. e-commerce sales eclipsed $1 trillion last year and are expected to double or triple over the next decade. As online demand increases, how can s...

Ep 80: Leonard Leo's Winning Strategy to Rebuild Institutions, Accelerate Innovation, and Save Our Country

08 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Leonard Leo is one of the most effective agents of legal and cultural change in America today. What's his playbook?  How can we apply it to other br...

Ep 79: Bjorn Lomborg and the 12 Best Policies to Help the World

29 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What are the single most effective policies for helping the world's poor? And what are we doing right now that's ineffective and should be stopped? T...

Ep 78: Emil Michael — the Master Dealmaker Behind Uber's Global Dominance

14 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

By the summer of 2012, ride-sharing had arrived: Uber launched its everyman product, UberX, and Lyft debuted hot on its heels. Today, Lyft's market ca...

Ep 77: Mike Solana on Exposing Government Corruption, Saving San Francisco, and Building a New Media Empire

08 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Can investigative journalism prevail over sensational clickbait? Is it time to give up on San Francisco? Is the First Amendment sufficient to prevent ...

Ep 76: Accelerate or Die! Guillaume Verdon and the e/acc Movement

31 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What is e/acc (effective accelerationism) and why is it going viral among tech's elite? Who are the leaders behind this movement and what are their a...

Ep 75: Leadership Lessons with Intuit Founder & Silicon Valley Legend Scott Cook

20 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Who should be in charge of the culture of a company? How do you maintain a spirit of innovation as an organization scales? How can executives be trans...

Ep 74: A Turning Point in Higher Education with Pano Kanelos & Niall Ferguson

13 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the wake of October 7, the decadence and rot of our legacy universities have been on full display. We've seen feckless leadership from college pre...

Ep 73: How Candid Health Is Fixing the $280B Healthcare Billing Fiasco, With Lessons from Palantir

07 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The U.S. spends $280 billion annually on healthcare billing!  It's an irrationally complex and outdated system in which most claims are adjudicated ...

Ep 72: Illegal Chinese Bio Labs & Secret Police in the U.S.; Investigating the CCP with Congressman Mike Gallagher

30 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Secret police groups, illegal bio labs, and large-scale influence operations — China is engaged in these activities inside the United States today. ...

Ep 71: Reinventing Community College with Tade Oyerinde, Chancellor of Campus

23 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ten million students attend community college annually, but only 30% ever graduate!  It's a massive economic loss to students and society.  What if...

Ep 70: "The Geek Way" — Andrew McAfee's New Book on the Radical Mindset that Transformed the World

15 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the last generation, the U.S. technology sector created many of the most valuable companies in the world. Has Silicon Valley figured out a better w...

Ep 69: How a Builder Mindset Is Solving the World's Ocean Trash Problem; Boyan Slat & The Ocean Cleanup

08 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We've all seen the images — garbage patches twice the size of Texas accumulating in the Pacific Ocean. Yet nothing was being done, despite billions ...

Ep 68: How to Generate Alpha in Volatile Markets with Jacob Miller of Opto Investments

02 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Will high interest rates and inflation be the norm for the foreseeable future? Are we living through a 1970s redux? How should investors navigate thes...

Ep 67: Brad Gerstner on the AI Supercycle & Restoring Faith in Capitalism with Invest America

25 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Nearly half of all Americans don't have investment accounts.  Financial literacy is the exception, not the norm, in most households.  Is it no wonde...

A Missing Israeli Soldier & the Truth About Hamas

13 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

On the morning of October 7, Roni Eshel was stationed at a military base in Nahal Oz, not far from Gaza. The 19-year-old soldier was serving her secon...

Ep 66: Bob McGrew — the Superstar Palantir Alum Leading OpenAI's Transformative Research Projects

18 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Bob McGrew is at the epicenter of the AI revolution.  As the VP of Research at OpenAI, he's instrumental in breakthroughs that are reshaping the worl...

Ep 65: Marc Andreessen and the Case for AI Optimism

18 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What's the best optimistic case for AI? Could AI actually save the world? What do the AI doomsayers get wrong? We dive deep into the AI debate with M...

Ep 64: The Palantir Interview with Dr. Alex Karp

14 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Over the past two decades, Palantir has prevented a large number of terrorist attacks, deployed the most advanced civil liberties data infrastructure ...

Ep 63: Eddie Margain on Fleeing Mexico, Preserving Rule of Law & Building Austin FC

22 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Eddie Margain quickly ascended the ranks as a Mexican entrepreneur but fled the country when the cartels threatened his family.  How does a nation lo...

Ep 62: Ben Rubenstein on How to Hire Great Salespeople & Why Resumes Are Largely Useless

15 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What are the three most important attributes of a successful salesperson? How do you identify talent capable of withstanding constant rejection? And h...

Ep 61: High School Dropout to Billion-Dollar Startup; How Guillermo Rauch Built Vercel

11 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How did a high school dropout from Argentina build a multi-billion dollar web infrastructure company that supports many of the world's largest compani...

Ep 60: Dr. Rebekah Gee Is Reinventing In-Home Care With Nest Health

01 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Could modernizing one of medicine's oldest practices — the house call — dramatically improve care for disadvantaged populations? What if doctors a...

Ep 59: Adi Berlia on India's Remarkable Rise Out of Socialism & How to Strengthen U.S.-India Ties

24 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In India, "entrepreneur" was once a dirty word; today it's one of the most desirable career paths for young people. How did this transformation occur?...

Ep 58: Eliot Hodges on Democratizing Access to Private Markets & Expanding the Innovation Economy

17 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How do we ensure that capital flows more efficiently to the best ideas and creates more value for society? One way is to enable more people to access ...

Ep 57: Balaji Srinivasan on the Origins & Severity of the Bank Crisis, the Future of Bitcoin, and "Make America States Again"

11 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Is the U.S. on the verge of an unprecedented banking crisis? Other than Bitcoin, where is Balaji keeping his money? Could the government try to confis...

Ep 56: A Philosopher in Construction? How Maria Davidson Is Reinventing the $250B Construction Materials Industry

03 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Maria Davidson is the Founder and CEO of Kojo. Each year, the U.S. construction industry spends roughly $250 billion on materials, much of which is st...

Ep 55: Nathan Mintz on Directed Energy, a Driverless Future, and How He Attracts the Top Engineering Talent

27 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Nathan Mintz is the Founder and CEO of Spartan Radar and, previously, the Co-Founder and CEO of Epirus.  In his twenties, Nathan sought to reform Cal...