All Episodes
Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist — 154 episodes
Ep 153: Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar on Heretics, AI Weapons, and Rebuilding the Arsenal of Democracy
Ep 152: Ben Black Runs America's $200B Foreign Investment Fund; Here's His Plan to Counter China & Rebuild American Influence
Ep 151: The Myth of Michael Milken with Richard Sandler
Ep 150: How AI Is Transforming Diligence, Decision-Making & the Future of Investing with John Melas-Kyriazi
Ep 149: Will Fry on the Small Business Succession Crisis & New Opportunities in the AI Age
Ep 148: JoeBen Bevirt, Founder & CEO of Joby Aviation — Flying Cars Have Arrived
Ep 147: Scott Wu & Russell Kaplan on the New Era of Software Abundance
Ep 146: Jake Paul & Geoff Woo on Building Anti Fund, the Future of the Creator Economy & How to Change the Culture
Ep 145: SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler on Exposing Billions in Fraud & What AI Means for Small Business
Ep 144: Jared Isaacman's Bold Vision for Moon Bases, Nuclear Power in Space, and Returning NASA to Greatness
Ep 143: JD Ross on the New Invention Era & Building with AI in 2026
Ep 142: Understanding the AI Wave with 8VC's Alex Kolicich & Jack Moshkovich
Ep 141: AI Hackers Are Here; Cybersecurity Legend Kevin Mandia Is Building the Answer
Ep 140: SEC Chairman Paul Atkins on Making IPOs Great Again, Crypto's Comeback & New Rules for Retail Investors
Ep 139: Make Government Beautiful & Functional Again with America's Chief Design Officer Joe Gebbia
Ep 138: AI, Space-Based Interceptors & the Bleeding Edge of Warfare with Pentagon R&D Chief Emil Michael
Ep 137: Gov. Chris Sununu on AI vs Harvard, DOGE 2.0, and a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution
Ep 136: OPM Director Scott Kupor on Launching the U.S. Tech Force & Bringing Merit Back to Government
Ep 135: Philip Howard on Saving the American Spirit
Ep 134: Inside the White House and the AI Race with OSTP Director Michael Kratsios
Ep 133: Matt Ridley on the Fight to Save the UK & How Extraordinary Ideas Evolve
Ep 132: Sen. Bill Hagerty on Saving Memphis & Designing Regulatory Frameworks for AI and Crypto
Ep 131: How AI + Incentives Can 10X Learning & Save American Education with Tech Legend Joe Liemandt
Ep 130: "Free speech is not enough" — UATX President Carlos Carvalho on Charlie Kirk, Fighting Communists & the Duty of a University
Ep 129: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt Steps Up to Save Tulsa — and Prove What's Possible
Ep 128: Hollywood Star Zachary Levi on Speaking Out for Trump, AI vs the Arts, and His $100M Texas Studio Project
Ep 127: Max Meyer, Arena Magazine, and the Battle for Truth, Beauty & Progress
Ep 126: Will AI Spark A New Logistics Revolution? Harish Abbott Helped Pioneer Next-Day Shipping — And He’s Betting Yes.
Ep 125: Sen. Eric Schmitt on Exposing Mass Censorship & Outsmarting the Far-Left
Ep 124: The Fearless Adversary of Venezuela's Dictators - A Special Interview with Maria Corina Machado
Ep 123: The New Space Age with Palantir Alum & Apex Space CEO Ian Cinnamon
Ep 122: The AI Services Revolution with Shreyas Parab & Anton Lin of DayDream
Ep 121: Reid Hoffman on AI Optimism & How the Democratic Party Alienated Silicon Valley
Ep 120: OMB Director Russ Vought on the Big Beautiful Bill, Making DOGE Permanent & the Looming Battle over Impoundment
Ep 119: Former Waymo Leader Boris Sofman on Autonomous Construction & Bringing AI into the Physical World
Ep 118: Marc Andreessen on AI, Robotics & America's Industrial Renaissance
Ep 117: Dave Rubin on the Woke Right, Free Speech vs Conspiracy Theories & His New Tequila Company
Ep 116: California — the Next Revolution? A Conversation with Steve Hilton
Ep 115: Scott Wu, Devin, and a Trillion-Dollar Opportunity
Ep 114: Flying Cars Are About to Change the World — Joby CEO JoeBen Bevirt
Ep 113: Why Sam Lessin Believes AI Isn't Disruptive & Venture Capital Is Fundamentally Changing
Ep 112: Peter Thiel on DOGE, Tariffs, Building Generational Companies & the Future of Civilization
Episode 111: Sen. Tom Cotton on DOGE, TikTok, and "Seven Things You Can't Say About China"
Ep 110: Dr. Mike Israetel on Miracle Drugs, the Aesthetic Revolution, Living to 200 & New Frontiers in AI-Powered Medicine
Ep 109: Anson Frericks on the Rise & Fall of Budweiser; Milton Friedman vs Klaus Schwab; and How to Save Corporate America
Ep 108: Tim Urban on Superintelligence, Mars, Fermi Paradox & How to Conquer a Society
Ep 107: Off-Road Autonomy & Saving Soldiers' Lives with Overland AI CEO Byron Boots
Ep 106: Zac Bookman on Advice for DOGE & Building OpenGov into a $1.8 Billion GovTech Leader
Ep 105: What Can Aristotle Teach Us About AI? Training "Philosopher Builders" with Brendan McCord of the Cosmos Institute
Ep 104: Will AI Replace Coders? Terminal Co-Founder & CEO Dylan Serota
Ep 103: Raj Bhakta Created WhistlePig; Now He's Reinventing the Whiskey Industry (Again)
Ep 102: "If You're Not Blowing Stuff Up, You're Not Innovating!" — Stanford Professor Steve Blank
Ep 101: Gov. Kevin Stitt — the Businessman Governor Standing Up to Special Interests
Ep 100: Why AI Is Underhyped with Elad Gil
Ep 99: The Myth of American Inequality with Senator Phil Gramm
Ep 98: How Wokeness Foments Antisemitism; a Conversation with ADL's Jonathan Greenblatt
Ep 97: Jimmy John Built a Restaurant Empire; Government Almost Destroyed It
Ep 96: Harvard Economist Roland Fryer on the Truth Behind Police Shootings & Using Data to Supercharge Meritocracy
Ep 95: Navy SEAL & Saronic CEO Dino Mavrookas on the Race for Autonomous Ships and Naval Dominance
Ep 94: A Conversation with Turnaround King & U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross
Ep 93: Cold War II & the Race for Technological Supremacy with CrowdStrike Co-Founder Dmitri Alperovitch
Ep 92: High-Power Microwave & the Rise of Electronic Shields with Epirus CEO Andy Lowery
Ep 91: "I whooped his ass!" Legendary Investor & Home Depot Founder Ken Langone on Leadership, Courage & Defeating the Bad Guys
Ep 90: Ethan Penner on Choosing Greatness & Pioneering New Markets on Wall Street
Ep 89: Coleman Hughes on "The End of Race Politics" & the Worst Ideas Done in the Name of Diversity
Ep 88: A Conversation with MLK's Attorney & Speechwriter: Dr. Clarence Jones
Ep 87: Dr. Cliff Winston — Deregulate Lawyers, Deregulate Airlines, and Let Markets Correct Themselves
Ep 86: How to Design a STEM Curriculum for the 21st Century with Dr. David Ruth
Ep 85: The Path to Regime Change in Iran with Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi
Ep 84: Sri Ganesan on Freshworks' Big Win, Building Rocketlane & India's Tech Boom
Ep 83: A New Cancer Breakthrough with Ivan Dimov of Orca Bio
Ep 82: Whitney Baker's Masterclass on Macro Investing & the State of the Economy
Ep 81: How Palantir Star Tyler Scriven Is Helping Small Businesses Compete Against Amazon
Ep 80: Leonard Leo's Winning Strategy to Rebuild Institutions, Accelerate Innovation, and Save Our Country
Ep 79: Bjorn Lomborg and the 12 Best Policies to Help the World
Ep 78: Emil Michael — the Master Dealmaker Behind Uber's Global Dominance
Ep 77: Mike Solana on Exposing Government Corruption, Saving San Francisco, and Building a New Media Empire
Ep 76: Accelerate or Die! Guillaume Verdon and the e/acc Movement
Ep 75: Leadership Lessons with Intuit Founder & Silicon Valley Legend Scott Cook
Ep 74: A Turning Point in Higher Education with Pano Kanelos & Niall Ferguson
Ep 73: How Candid Health Is Fixing the $280B Healthcare Billing Fiasco, With Lessons from Palantir
Ep 72: Illegal Chinese Bio Labs & Secret Police in the U.S.; Investigating the CCP with Congressman Mike Gallagher
Ep 71: Reinventing Community College with Tade Oyerinde, Chancellor of Campus
Ep 70: "The Geek Way" — Andrew McAfee's New Book on the Radical Mindset that Transformed the World
Ep 69: How a Builder Mindset Is Solving the World's Ocean Trash Problem; Boyan Slat & The Ocean Cleanup
Ep 68: How to Generate Alpha in Volatile Markets with Jacob Miller of Opto Investments
Ep 67: Brad Gerstner on the AI Supercycle & Restoring Faith in Capitalism with Invest America
A Missing Israeli Soldier & the Truth About Hamas
Ep 66: Bob McGrew — the Superstar Palantir Alum Leading OpenAI's Transformative Research Projects
Ep 65: Marc Andreessen and the Case for AI Optimism
Ep 64: The Palantir Interview with Dr. Alex Karp
Ep 63: Eddie Margain on Fleeing Mexico, Preserving Rule of Law & Building Austin FC
Ep 62: Ben Rubenstein on How to Hire Great Salespeople & Why Resumes Are Largely Useless
Ep 61: High School Dropout to Billion-Dollar Startup; How Guillermo Rauch Built Vercel
Ep 60: Dr. Rebekah Gee Is Reinventing In-Home Care With Nest Health
Ep 59: Adi Berlia on India's Remarkable Rise Out of Socialism & How to Strengthen U.S.-India Ties
Ep 58: Eliot Hodges on Democratizing Access to Private Markets & Expanding the Innovation Economy
Ep 57: Balaji Srinivasan on the Origins & Severity of the Bank Crisis, the Future of Bitcoin, and "Make America States Again"
Ep 56: A Philosopher in Construction? How Maria Davidson Is Reinventing the $250B Construction Materials Industry
Ep 55: Nathan Mintz on Directed Energy, a Driverless Future, and How He Attracts the Top Engineering Talent
Ep 54: Peter Attia on the Science of Longevity, Willpower vs Environment, and Why Americans Are Increasingly Unhealthy
Ep 53: Airbnb Co-Founder Joe Gebbia Transformed the Hospitality Industry; Learn What He's Building Next with Samara
Ep 52: An Orthodox Jew Building in Saudi Arabia! The Middle East's Modern Renaissance with Yitz Applbaum
Ep 51: Adm. Bill McRaven on Lessons from the bin Laden Raid, Why "Make Your Bed" Went Viral, and Addressing Russia & China
Ep 50: Legendary Music Manager Troy Carter on Making Lady Gaga a Superstar & Why He's Speaking Out for School Choice
Ep 49: Eboo Patel's Inspiring Journey from Social Activist to Social Entrepreneur
Ep 48: Rahul Gandhi on Disrupting the $38 Billion Storage Industry
Ep 47: John Chambers & Pankaj Patel Changed the World with Cisco. Now They're Doing It Again with Nile.
Ep 46: Mike Pompeo on Negotiating with Tyrants, Spy Balloons (or UFOs?) & Why Trump Didn't Ban TikTok
Ep 45: John Mack — Wall Street Legend & Former Morgan Stanley CEO
Ep 44: Dr. Clay Johnston Transformed Dell Medical School. Now He's Redesigning Primary Care.
Ep 43: Ryan Holiday on Stoicism, Virtue & Ancient Wisdom for Modern Life
Ep 42: Kimmy Scotti on How to Spot — and Build — the Next Big Thing
Ep 41: Iyinoluwa "E" Aboyeji — Africa's Great Tech Entrepreneur
Ep 40: Andrew Yang on Building a New Political Party & Using Incentives to Fix Dysfunction
Psychedelic Medicine, Value-Based Care & Why Medical School Is Broken with Sebastian Caliri
The Secrets to Building Great Products with Tony Fadell, Creator of the iPod, iPhone, & Nest Thermostat
Zach Latta: Building Hack Club & Inspiring the Next Generation of Coders
Gene Berdichevsky and Sila’s Game-Changing Battery Technology
Reprogramming Cells, Decentralizing Pharma, and Understanding the Biotech Revolution.
The New Age of Nuclear: Oklo’s Amazing Small Reactor That Reuses Nuclear Waste
Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper: Why Russia’s Invasion Is Failing & How to Bring More Innovation to the Pentagon
Free Housing Won’t Solve Homelessness. Judge Glock Explains What Will.
How the Renaissance Sparked an Entrepreneurial Explosion with Jeannette zu Fürstenberg
How to Take on Big Healthcare & Other Entrenched Interests and Win with Jared Meyer
Unlearning Race and Restoring Liberalism with Thomas Chatterton Williams
Hayes Barnard Is Revolutionizing Solar Tech & Green Housing
Fast Grants, Faster Science, and Reviving a Culture of Innovation with Tyler Cowen
Building a New World-Class University with University of Austin President Pano Kanelos
Former UN Ambassador Kelly Craft: How to Deter Russian Threats to Ukraine & Hold China Accountable
Charles Koch Explains How His Love of Philosophy Built One of America’s Most Successful Companies
How to Defeat Special Interests & Cronyism with Florida’s Speaker of the House Chris Sprowls
Are Billionaires Bad? A Friendly Debate Over Income Inequality and Big Tech with Rep. Ro Khanna
The Power of Adversity with NFL Star Dhani Jones
Forget Free College —This Texas College Is the Future of Higher Ed
How to Fix Dysfunctional Government with Esper CEO Maleka Momand | Season 2 | Episode 19
Directed Energy, Force Fields, and the Future of Defense Tech with Epirus Co-Founder Bo Marr | Season 2 | Ep 18
How to Fix America’s Division with KIND Bar Founder Daniel Lubetzky
Maureen Hillenmeyer: Discovering New Life-Saving Drugs from the Natural World | Season 1| Ep 16
Ep 15: Whole Foods Founder & CEO John Mackey: Conscious Capitalism and Repairing America's Division
Jake Kloberdanz: Cause-Centric Commerce and the Art of Award-Winning Winemaking | Season 1 | Ep 14
Sal Churi, Keri Findley, and Wesley Chan: Innovators Changing Our World Right Now | Season 1 | Ep 13
Former D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty: Courage, Accountability, Better Schools, and Safer Cities | Season 1 | Ep 12
Niall Ferguson: Why Civilizations Rise & Fall | Season 1 | Ep 11
Balaji Srinivasan: Bitcoin, China, the "Woke" Mob, and the Future of the Internet | Season 1 | Episode 10
NFL Legend Ronnie Lott: Grit, Leadership, and What America Means to Him | Season 1 | Episode 9
Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper: Rejecting Wokeness, Addressing China, and Defending Western Values | Season 1 | Ep 8
Sujay Jaswa: Billion Dollar Wins -- and Losses -- and Solving Silicon Valley's #1 Problem | Season 1 | Ep 7
Arthur Brooks on Finding Authentic Happiness and Making Poverty Escapable | Season 1 | Ep 6
Palmer Luckey on Creating Oculus Rift, Anduril, and Game-Changing Defense Tech | Season 1 Ep 5
Bari Weiss on Defending Western Civ and the New School Movement | Season 1 Ep 4
Kimbal Musk on Building Great Companies and Community | Season 1 Ep 3
Ashton Kutcher: China, TikTok, and Influencing American Minds | Season 1 Ep 2
Dr. Rick Klausner on the Biotech Revolution | Season 1 Ep 1