Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist
Episodes
Ep 54: Peter Attia on the Science of Longevity, Willpower vs Environment, and Why Americans Are Increasingly Unhealthy
19 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Peter Attia is a renowned physician, podcast host, and best-selling author of "Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity." Peter received his M.D. from ...
Ep 53: Airbnb Co-Founder Joe Gebbia Transformed the Hospitality Industry; Learn What He's Building Next with Samara
12 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Joe Gebbia is the co-founder of Airbnb, which grew from an experiment in his San Francisco living room into a multi-billion dollar global company that...
Ep 52: An Orthodox Jew Building in Saudi Arabia! The Middle East's Modern Renaissance with Yitz Applbaum
05 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Yitz Applbaum is a philanthropist, international bon vivant, and accomplished venture capitalist specializing in Israel and the Middle East. He began ...
Ep 51: Adm. Bill McRaven on Lessons from the bin Laden Raid, Why "Make Your Bed" Went Viral, and Addressing Russia & China
29 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Admiral Bill McRaven is an American hero and former Commander of U.S. Special Forces Command who oversaw the planning and execution of the raid to kil...
Ep 50: Legendary Music Manager Troy Carter on Making Lady Gaga a Superstar & Why He's Speaking Out for School Choice
22 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Troy Carter is an iconic music manager who helped launch Lady Gaga to stardom and worked with many prominent artists such as Eve, John Legend, and Meg...
Ep 49: Eboo Patel's Inspiring Journey from Social Activist to Social Entrepreneur
15 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Eboo Patel is the Founder and President of Interfaith America and author of "We Need to Build: Field Notes for Diverse Democracy." Why did a Rhodes Sc...
Ep 48: Rahul Gandhi on Disrupting the $38 Billion Storage Industry
08 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Rahul Gandhi is the CEO and President of Clutter (formerly MakeSpace) – a leader in the self-storage industry. The son of Indian immigrant entrepren...
Ep 47: John Chambers & Pankaj Patel Changed the World with Cisco. Now They're Doing It Again with Nile.
01 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
John Chambers is the former Chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems, responsible for growing the company from nearly $2 billion in revenue to almost $50 bil...
Ep 46: Mike Pompeo on Negotiating with Tyrants, Spy Balloons (or UFOs?) & Why Trump Didn't Ban TikTok
22 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Sec. Mike Pompeo is a former entrepreneur, congressman, CIA Director, Secretary of State, and author of the new book, "Never Give an Inch: Fighting fo...
Ep 45: John Mack — Wall Street Legend & Former Morgan Stanley CEO
15 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
John Mack is the former CEO and Chairman of the Board of Morgan Stanley and author of the new book, “Up Close and All In: Life Lessons from a Wall S...
Ep 44: Dr. Clay Johnston Transformed Dell Medical School. Now He's Redesigning Primary Care.
08 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Clay Johnston is the Former Dean of the University of Texas Dell Medical School and Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of Harbor Health. Johnsto...
Ep 43: Ryan Holiday on Stoicism, Virtue & Ancient Wisdom for Modern Life
01 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan Holiday is a college dropout turned best-selling author and publisher of the world's largest podcast and newsletter focused on Stoic philosophy: ...
Ep 42: Kimmy Scotti on How to Spot — and Build — the Next Big Thing
26 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Kimmy Scotti is Founding Partner of 8VC and the Co-Founder & Chairman at Fig.1. After launching a popular consumer brand as a teenager, Scotti went on...
Ep 41: Iyinoluwa "E" Aboyeji — Africa's Great Tech Entrepreneur
18 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I've known Iyinoluwa "E" Aboyeji since he was an aspiring, 19-year-old entrepreneur. Today, he's the founder of two African unicorns, Andela and Flu...
Ep 40: Andrew Yang on Building a New Political Party & Using Incentives to Fix Dysfunction
11 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Andrew Yang is an entrepreneur, former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, and author of "Forward: Notes on the Future of Our Democracy." A lawyer...
Psychedelic Medicine, Value-Based Care & Why Medical School Is Broken with Sebastian Caliri
09 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sebastian Caliri is Partner at 8VC with a focus on healthcare investing. Previously, Sebastian spent four years at Palantir where he was responsible f...
The Secrets to Building Great Products with Tony Fadell, Creator of the iPod, iPhone, & Nest Thermostat
20 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tony Fadell is one of the great engineers, designers, and business leaders of our time, responsible for creating the iPod, iPhone, and Nest Thermostat...
Zach Latta: Building Hack Club & Inspiring the Next Generation of Coders
27 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Joe Lonsdale sits down with Zach Latta, Founder of Hack Club, a non-profit network of high school coding clubs with over 15,000 members worldwide. At ...
Gene Berdichevsky and Sila’s Game-Changing Battery Technology
21 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Gene Berdichevsky is the co-founder and CEO of Sila, a next-gen battery technology company. Previously, he was the seventh employee at Tesla, where he...
Reprogramming Cells, Decentralizing Pharma, and Understanding the Biotech Revolution.
18 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Francisco Gimenez is Partner at 8VC and focuses on Bio-IT investments. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford in Biomedical Informatics and B.S. in Elect...
The New Age of Nuclear: Oklo’s Amazing Small Reactor That Reuses Nuclear Waste
06 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jacob DeWitte is the Co-Founder and CEO of Oklo, a nuclear energy startup building small advanced reactors that can reuse spent fuel from conventional...
Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper: Why Russia’s Invasion Is Failing & How to Bring More Innovation to the Pentagon
31 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Mark Esper served as the U.S. Secretary of Defense from 2019 to 2020 and Secretary of the Army from 2017 to 2019. He's currently the Distinguished...
Free Housing Won’t Solve Homelessness. Judge Glock Explains What Will.
23 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Judge Glock is the Director of Research and Policy at the Cicero Institute and an expert on housing and homelessness in the U.S. In this episode, Gloc...
How the Renaissance Sparked an Entrepreneurial Explosion with Jeannette zu Fürstenberg
16 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Jeannette zu Fürstenberg is Co-Founder and General Partner of “La Famiglia”, a Berlin-based Venture Capital fund, and holds a Ph.D. in Philos...
How to Take on Big Healthcare & Other Entrenched Interests and Win with Jared Meyer
09 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jared Meyer is the Executive Director of Cicero Action. In this episode, Jared discusses how special interests stifle competition and why Cicero Actio...
Unlearning Race and Restoring Liberalism with Thomas Chatterton Williams
02 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Thomas Chatterton Williams is a writer, cultural critic, fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and author of two critically-acclaimed books on ...
Hayes Barnard Is Revolutionizing Solar Tech & Green Housing
23 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hayes Barnard is the Founder and CEO of GoodLeap, one of the fastest-growing and largest financial technology companies in the renewable energy sector...
Fast Grants, Faster Science, and Reviving a Culture of Innovation with Tyler Cowen
16 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tyler Cowen is a professor, best-selling author, blogger, podcaster, and one of the most influential economists of this generation. In the early days ...
Building a New World-Class University with University of Austin President Pano Kanelos
10 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Pano Kanelos is the President of the University of Austin (UATX), the most ambitious new university venture in America in decades. Recognizing the pli...
Former UN Ambassador Kelly Craft: How to Deter Russian Threats to Ukraine & Hold China Accountable
02 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ambassador Kelly Craft is a businesswoman, philanthropist, and former diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 2019 to 2021 a...
Charles Koch Explains How His Love of Philosophy Built One of America’s Most Successful Companies
26 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Charles Koch, Chairman and CEO of Koch Industries, is one of the great business minds of our time. He grew a small engineering firm from $21 million i...
How to Defeat Special Interests & Cronyism with Florida’s Speaker of the House Chris Sprowls
20 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Chris Sprowls is the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. Under his leadership, Florida has set itself apart as one of the most innovati...
Are Billionaires Bad? A Friendly Debate Over Income Inequality and Big Tech with Rep. Ro Khanna
14 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Congressman Ro Khanna is the Democratic Congressman from California’s 17th District, which covers large swaths of Silicon Valley. A self-described "...
The Power of Adversity with NFL Star Dhani Jones
05 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dhani Jones spent 11 seasons in the NFL as a middle linebacker, the linchpin of the defensive unit. Since then, he has become a leader in other arenas...
Forget Free College —This Texas College Is the Future of Higher Ed
29 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Mike Reeser and Michael Bettersworth are the Chancellor and Chief Innovation Officer, respectively, at Texas State Technical College (TSTC). In 2014, ...
How to Fix Dysfunctional Government with Esper CEO Maleka Momand | Season 2 | Episode 19
22 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Maleka Momand is the co-founder and CEO of Esper, a technology platform that transforms how governments oversee the regulatory process. In recent deca...
Directed Energy, Force Fields, and the Future of Defense Tech with Epirus Co-Founder Bo Marr | Season 2 | Ep 18
16 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Over the past few decades, the U.S. military’s long-held advantages have waned. Today, we are reliant on outdated technologies and in jeopardy of ...
How to Fix America’s Division with KIND Bar Founder Daniel Lubetzky
15 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Daniel Lubetzky is the founder of Peaceworks, the OneVoice Movement, and the multi-billion dollar snack company KIND. The son of a Holocaust survivo...
Maureen Hillenmeyer: Discovering New Life-Saving Drugs from the Natural World | Season 1| Ep 16
24 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Maureen Hillenmeyer is the Founder and CEO of Hexagon Bio, a cutting-edge biotech company whose mission is to harvest new drugs and cures from the nat...
Ep 15: Whole Foods Founder & CEO John Mackey: Conscious Capitalism and Repairing America's Division
15 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 1978, John Mackey co-founded his first natural foods store in Austin, Texas with only $45,000. Two years later, he and his business partners l...
Jake Kloberdanz: Cause-Centric Commerce and the Art of Award-Winning Winemaking | Season 1 | Ep 14
09 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jake Kloberdanz is the CEO and Founder of ONEHOPE Wine, an award-winning vineyard located in the heart of Napa Valley. What sets ONEHOPE apart is its ...
Sal Churi, Keri Findley, and Wesley Chan: Innovators Changing Our World Right Now | Season 1 | Ep 13
03 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week's episode features three talented and successful innovators behind many game-changing technologies and companies. First is Sal Churi, ...
Former D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty: Courage, Accountability, Better Schools, and Safer Cities | Season 1 | Ep 12
25 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Adrian Fenty is currently a founding managing partner at MaC Venture Capital, a former advisor at Andreessen Horowitz, and served as the Mayor of...
Niall Ferguson: Why Civilizations Rise & Fall | Season 1 | Ep 11
18 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Niall Ferguson is a renowned historian, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and prolific author of more than a dozen best-selling works on e...
Balaji Srinivasan: Bitcoin, China, the "Woke" Mob, and the Future of the Internet | Season 1 | Episode 10
11 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Balaji Srinivasan is a bold and forward-thinking writer, investor, and entrepreneur, who was formerly the Chief Technology Officer of Coinbase an...
NFL Legend Ronnie Lott: Grit, Leadership, and What America Means to Him | Season 1 | Episode 9
03 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ronnie Lott is an NFL Hall of Famer, four-time Super Bowl champion, and one of the greatest defensive players of all time. But his impact and legacy o...
Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper: Rejecting Wokeness, Addressing China, and Defending Western Values | Season 1 | Ep 8
27 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
From 2006 to 2015, the Right Honorable Stephen Harper served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada. His premiership confronted challenges ranging from ...
Sujay Jaswa: Billion Dollar Wins -- and Losses -- and Solving Silicon Valley's #1 Problem | Season 1 | Ep 7
22 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How do you transform a startup into a household name? Ask Sujay Jaswa. When he joined Dropbox in 2010, the company had 16 million users. By the time h...
Arthur Brooks on Finding Authentic Happiness and Making Poverty Escapable | Season 1 | Ep 6
13 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The United States is the most prosperous and advanced nation in the history of humanity—but it's currently facing a crisis of happiness. What went w...
Palmer Luckey on Creating Oculus Rift, Anduril, and Game-Changing Defense Tech | Season 1 Ep 5
06 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Palmer Luckey is as close as it gets to a real-life Iron Man. As a teenager, he worked on virtual reality headsets until he eventually created the Ocu...
Bari Weiss on Defending Western Civ and the New School Movement | Season 1 Ep 4
29 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This moment in our culture was made for a writer and thinker like Bari Weiss. What can Americans do to beat back the wave of illiberalism currently sw...
Kimbal Musk on Building Great Companies and Community | Season 1 Ep 3
29 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When Kimbal and Elon Musk immigrated to the U.S. from South Africa to start their first company, they couldn't afford both an apartment and an office—...
Ashton Kutcher: China, TikTok, and Influencing American Minds | Season 1 Ep 2
29 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
More than 70 percent of child sex trafficking happens online. When Hollywood superstar Ashton Kutcher first heard this statistic, he knew he had to do...
Dr. Rick Klausner on the Biotech Revolution | Season 1 Ep 1
29 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Curing cancer, eliminating diseases, reprogramming cells to help 80-year-olds feel like they're 30 -- could it all be possible in our generation?Ameri...