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This week on Upstream, Nathan Labenz of The Cognitive Revolution podcast and Brian Chau, a machine learning engineer who recently founded the Alliance for the Future, talk about Brian's efforts in Washington, D.C. to influence AI policy based on informed AI optimism. After their conversation, Nathan and Erik chat about the AI landscape.
This week on Upstream, we’re releasing an episode from Turpentine’s show Live Players with Samo Burja. Erik and Samo discuss China’s universities and the future of China’s elites.
This episode was initially recorded before a live audience in 2018. Erik talks with Naval Ravikant and Balaji Srinivasan about the history of money and centralization and why crypto has the potential to fulfill the promise of the internet.
This week on Upstream, Erik is joined by Nathan Labenz and Noah Smith for a deep dive on how AI will impact job markets, the social contract, and the role of the government.
This week on Upstream, Erik is joined by David Friedman for a deep dive on anarcho-capitalism, utilitarianism, and more.
In this special roundtable episode, Erik Torenberg is joined by Brad Hargreaves (the founder of Common, co-founder of General Assembly, and writer of Thesis Driven) and Noah Smith (podcast host, economist and writer of Noahpinion).
This week on Upstream, Erik is joined by Alex Blania, who, with Sam Altman, co-founded Tools for Humanity, the organization behind Worldcoin. Erik and Alex go deep on Worldcoin, AGI, and other future tech.
This week on Upstream, Erik is joined by Igor Kurganov, poker player and founder of Raising for Effective Giving.
This week on Upstream, Erik is joined by Liron Shapira to discuss the case against further AI development, why Effective Altruism doesn’t deserve its reputation, and what is misunderstood about nuclear weapons.
This week on Upstream, Erik is joined by Rob Henderson, psychologist and author of the newly released Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class. They discuss dating, cancel culture, luxury beliefs, and more.
This week on Upstream, Erik is joined by Lyn Alden, an investment strategist known for her unique blend of engineering, tech, and finance expertise. They discuss her book Broken Money, macro trends, and her best advice in the face of an uncertain economic future.
On this episode of Upstream, Erik sits down with e/acc founder Bayeslord and writer Nadia Asparouhova to discuss the foundations and future of the e/acc movement.
On this episode of Upstream, Erik sits down with Tyler Cowen to discuss Harvard, AI, Javier Milei's legacy, the value of non-legibility in talent spotting, and more.
This week on Upstream, political scientist and writer Ricard Hanania returns to the show. Erik and Richard discuss wokeness, the Israel-Palestine conflict, the mythos of the modern right, Richard's upcoming debate with Curtis Yarvin, and more.
This week on Upstream, the tables are turned, and Erik is sitting in the guest seat. We're airing an episode the podcast Where It Happens hosted by Greg Isenberg. They discuss B2B creators, how to find profitable niches, how to monetize media businesses, and more.
In this episode of Upstream, Erik sits down with theoretical physicist and startup founder Steve Hsu. They discuss political polarization in academia, the fertility crisis, AI, and more.
On today's Upstream, Erik interviews Itay Vinik to get an overview of the markets and current macro environment, learn frameworks for adjusting an investing strategy based on rising or falling interest rates, and debunk common investment myths.
On today's Upstream, we're sharing a recent episode where Balaji Srinivasan joins Nathan Labenz to discuss the future of AI: polytheistic AI and AI gods, human-AI symbiosis, and how AI will be controlled.
This week, in a departure from Upstream's usual format, Erik sits downs with friends Nick DeWilde, Sean Linehan, and Justin Mares to exchange startup ideas in a new format called "Request for Startups." Please note that this ...
In this episode, Erik sits down with Noor Siddiqui, founder and CEO of Orchid. They discuss Orchid's recent breakthrough in embryo whole genome sequencing, the fertility crisis, parenting, dating, and more.
Beff Jezos, the anonymous co-founder of the effective accelerationism movement (also known as "e/acc") recently had his identity revealed by Forbes reporters. He gives the inside story to Erik Torenberg, Antonio Garcia Martinez, Dan Romero, his e/acc cofounder bayeslord, and The Cognitive Revolution podcast host Nathan Labenz.
In this episode, Erik sits down with Samo Burja, political scientist and founder of Bismarck Analysis. They discuss Samo's term "live player" and today's live players, including Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and George Soros.
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.