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In this episode, Erik is joined by Byrne Hobart, author of tech and finance newsletter The Diff, to discuss Sam Altman's ousting from OpenAI, Microsoft's role in the story, the new competitive landscape for AI companies, and Effective Altruism's past and present.
Today on Upstream we’re dropping a special episode of Age of Miracles which dives into the rise and fall of nuclear power in the 20th century, and what we can learn about pushing nuclear into the 21st century.
Balaji Srinivasan returns to Upstream for an unfiltered conversation about recent events: SBF's conviction and the conflict in the middle east
Erik is joined by Sam Lessin, General Partner at the early-stage VC firm Slow Ventures, essayist, and former VP of Product at Facebook.
Erik Torenberg sits down with Aaron Ginn, the CEO and co-founder of Hydra Host and the co-founder of the Lincoln Network (now Foundation for American Innovation). They discuss tech and politics, US-China relations, the GPU revolution, and foreign policy predictions.
Erik Torenberg sits down with Michael Guimarin, a Silicon Valley operator and educator who helps people hone their information diets, to discuss the divide between institutions and networks and how to shift from consensus to resonance.
Writer and political scientist Richard Hanania is back on Upstream to discuss Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican establishment, the sexual revolution, immigration, and his ideological differences with Curtis Yarvin
Robin Hanson, economist, author ,and futurist, sits down with Erik Torenberg to discuss Robin’s ideas about status, truth, and the outlook for innovation.
Ben Horowitz, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and one of the most influential venture capitalists of the last decade, sits down with Erik for podcast Turpentine VC. They shed light on how Ben thinks about firm-building and where the future is going.
Erik Torenberg sits down with Jon Askonas to look at the impact of disruptive technology in important areas like the media, religion, culture, and politics. Jon is an assistant professor of politics at Catholic University, a senior fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation and a writer for publications like The New Atlantis and Compact.
Balaji Srinivasan joins Erik Torenberg and Moment of Zen co-host Dan Romero to share his new theory of the Tribal Lens, why cognitive territories will gain increasingly more power than land-defined territories, why the US is no longer a beacon in the world, and Balaji strategy to fix San Francisco.
Erik Torenberg sits down with Emad Mostaque, founder of Stability AI, and Sam Lessin, GP of Slow Ventures and former VP Product at Facebook to debate how paradigm shifting AI will be for the different sectors of the global economy, and whether AI is actually a good investment for Venture Capital.
Erik Torenberg sits down with Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican presidential candidate rapidly rising in the polls.
Samuel Hammond is a DC-based senior economist for the Foundation for American Innovation, a think tank focused on bridging the cultures of Silicon Valley and DC.
Biotech founder and investor Martin Shkreli joins Erik Torenberg and his co-host Jesse Genet on In The Arena podcast to dissect his controversies and crises through the lens of leadership.
Bryan Caplan is a writer and professor of economics at George Mason University, as well as the author of four books, including The myth of the Rational Voter, and The Case Against Education.
Marc Andreessen of Andreessen Horowitz sits down with Erik Torenberg and his Moment of Zen co-hosts Dan Romero and Antonio Garcia Martinez to discuss AI, religion, San Francisco politics, Eric Vogelin, and life extension.
We're excited to introduce Upstream listeners to Econ 102 from Turpentine. In episode 1, Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg discuss the highs and lows of Biden's first term, Biden's policies in comparison to previous presidents and other leaders, as well as China - its real estate sector, industrial and manufacturing industries, and its views on tech.
In this episode, Erik sits down with Agnes Callard to discuss her views on disagreement and progress, her inclination to question and operate outside of accepted societal structures, and why empathy is not always positive.
Erik sits down with writer and political scientist Richard Hanania. This extended discussion encompasses Richard’s intellectual education and views on how the world works, including affirmative action, the dynamic divide between conservatives and liberals, government overreach, geopolitics, and intellectual contemporaries worth reading.
In this episode, Erik sits down with Balaji Srinivasan to discuss the Fiat Crisis, geopolitics, and the signs of decline for a hyperpower.
This week our guest is Kevin Kelly, the founding executive editor of Wired magazine, technologist, and author. We go into Kevin’s predictions for AI, interspeciation, and how humans need to be having more children.
![[Bonus] Palmer Luckey of Anduril Industries on China, DefenseTech, and U.S. Policy | The HIll & Valley](https://images.podpage.com/https%3A%2F%2Fmegaphone.imgix.net%2Fpodcasts%2Fd29f4366-0c6a-11ee-a163-c38ec53726f5%2Fimage%2F7d34e7.png%3Fixlib%3Drails-4.3.1%26max-w%3D3000%26max-h%3D3000%26fit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat%2Ccompress?auto=format%2Ccompress&w=100&s=cb990783aa59f95a5b524c94392e5dcf "[Bonus] Palmer Luckey of Anduril Industries on China, DefenseTech, and U.S. Policy | The HIll & Valley")
Palmer Luckey is the founder of defense technology company Anduril Industries and Oculus VR.
Erik Torenberg sits down with Tim Urban, writer of the popular blog Wait But Why, and author of the 2023 book What’s Our Problem? where he offers a framework for thinking about our chaotic political landscape. In this discussion, Erik and Tim discuss liberalism, why heresy is important, and the notion of equality.