Latest Interviews

Leading Childhood Trauma Doctor: 10 Lies They Told You About Your Childhood Trauma! - Paul Conti

Paul Conti, Rich Roll

Dr. Paul Conti presents trauma as a biological epidemic that functions like a virus, altering gene expression through epigenetics to accelerate aging and increase mortality risk across generations. He details how unresolved trauma manifests as chronic inflammation, autoimmune disorders, and behavioral dysregulation, creating a systemic "invisible" crisis that modern medicine frequently misdiagnoses. Ultimately, the event outlines a healing framework where narrative reconstruction and curious self-inquiry replace symptom suppression, enabling individuals to reverse biological aging and break cycles of intergenerational suffering.

Bringing AI to the Masses with Adam D'Angelo, CEO of Quora

Adam D'Angelo, David George, Sarah Wang, Max Wiethe, Dan Morehead, Matt Rowe

Former Quora CEO Adam D'Angelo launched Poe as a multi-platform aggregator to navigate the shift from human-centric knowledge publishing to an instant, multi-model chat paradigm driven by generative AI. The platform differentiates itself by supporting diverse fine-tuned models and an open API that enables independent creators to deploy specialized tools while sharing revenue to offset high inference costs. D'Angelo anticipates a bifurcated market where Poe serves the downstream application layer of accessible AI, eventually evolving into a symbiotic network that complements Quora's human expertise with scalable automated agents.

Jean-Michel Lemieux: Three Product Decisions Every Team Needs to Make | E1129

Jean-Michel Lemieux, Harry Stebbings

Jean-Michel Dumais, drawing on his experiences at Shopify and Atlassian, advocates for building software movements over products by retiring traditional development processes in favor of rapid shipping and "micro-alignments." He details a strategic framework that balances "half-ship" execution, narrowed ideal customer profiles, and rigorous hiring protocols to maintain high quality while navigating the constraints of AI-driven development. Ultimately, Dumais predicts a shift toward hard-tech "country operating systems" and warns that future incumbents must leverage speed and deep industry specialization to overcome the high barriers created by data-rich competitors.

Global transit & trade: in rough waters

Admiral James Stavridis, Tobias Meyer, Alison Nathan, James Stavridis

Admiral James Stavridis warns that maritime risks have reached unprecedented levels due to great power competition, state-sponsored terrorism, and vulnerabilities in undersea internet infrastructure, while Tobias Mayer analyzes supply chain shifts driven by regulatory complexity rather than physical disruptions. Despite Houthi attacks in the Red Sea causing a 10–20% rise in logistics costs, the global shipping fleet remains resilient enough to absorb reroutes without systemic failure as companies adopt omnishoring strategies to diversify assembly locations. Ultimately, the convergence of these geopolitical tensions and evolving trade patterns suggests a future where security coalitions must balance military deterrence against China and Russia while adapting commercial networks to manage increased operational costs and regulatory fragmentation.

80K Actually After Hours: Coming to America with Joel Becker

Joel Becker, Matt Reardon, Bella Forristal, Arden Koehler

In this episode, hosts from the ADK team interview Joel Becker regarding his relocation from the UK to the US, where he cites American entrepreneurial energy and political bluntness as primary drivers for the move. The discussion explores contrasting perspectives on British versus American societal norms, critiques of the Effective Altruism community including Joel's reflections on the FTX Fellowship, and debates on professional sports structures and productivity metrics. The conversation also covers personal topics such as Joel's aphantasia, the hosts' ambivalence about career transitions, and Bella's upcoming TED talk on actionable altruism.

A Nuclear Comeback: Are New Reactors the Answer?

Steph Smith, David Ulevich, Doug Bernauer, Dr. Kathryn Huff

The U.S. government has joined 24 nations in a pledge to triple nuclear power production by 2050, a strategic shift driven by national security concerns over energy dependence and the recent activation of America's first new reactor in thirty years. Industry leaders and policymakers are championing the deployment of Small Modular and Micro Reactors to enable mass production, address grid fragility, and provide clean power for remote military and disaster relief operations. This resurgence aims to revitalize domestic supply chains, modernize regulatory frameworks to accelerate manufacturing, and re-establish global American leadership in nuclear technology ahead of competing international economies.

Sam Altman: OpenAI, GPT-5, Sora, Board Saga, Elon Musk, Ilya, Power & AGI | Lex Fridman Podcast #419

Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Ilya, Lex Fridman

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman predicts that compute will become the world's most valuable strategic commodity, necessitating a global surge in nuclear energy investment to power AI systems capable of accelerating scientific discovery by 2030. Following the 2023 governance crisis that resulted in his temporary ousting, Altman details the establishment of a more accountable board structure and his firm rejection of unilateral control over AGI development. He outlines a technical roadmap emphasizing robust safety protocols against misinformation and political manipulation while preparing for future models with trillion-token context windows and advanced reasoning capabilities.

Gili Raanan: One of the Best Seed Investor of All Time: 1 Decacon, 7 Unicorns, 4 Acquisitions| E1128

Gili Raanan, Mike Moritz, Doug Leone, Harry Stebbings

Investor Harry Stebbings outlines CyberStarts' "Sunrise" methodology, a rigorous process where founders validate problems through 60-70 customer conversations before writing code, a strategy that has transformed seven of the program's first seventeen companies into unicorns or decacorns. Stebbings prioritizes team resilience and personal hardship over market timing, asserting that deep psychological understanding of founders provides better predictive value than traditional technology assessments. This approach, coupled with a massive $500 million opportunity fund for follow-on investments, positions CyberStarts as a premium partner that demands discipline while securing dominant market positions for its cybersecurity portfolio.

The Manipulation Expert: You're Being Manipulated! Use Jealousy To Manipulate People! Robert Greene

Robert Greene, Steven

In a comprehensive discussion on *The 48 Laws of Power* and *The Laws of Human Nature*, author Robert Greene outlines the necessity of recognizing the "shadow self" and mastering non-verbal cues to navigate a world where deception is prevalent. Greene details strategies for authentic reinvention, warning against "frenemies" driven by envy and advocating for the "death ground" tactic of removing safety nets to ensure total commitment to one's purpose. Reflecting on a life-altering 2018 stroke, the author discusses his renewed focus on mortality and his forthcoming book *The Sublime*, which explores the Greek concept of the daemon and the transformative power of accepting fate.

What a GPT-7 Intelligence Explosion Looks Like | Carl Shulman

Carl Shulman

The discussion outlines mitigation strategies for early detection of hostile AI motivations alongside a defined productivity threshold where AI contributions match or exceed human researcher output. It details operational mechanisms such as voting algorithms, cost-effective scaling of smaller models, and self-generated curricula that enable intelligence explosions without relying solely on brute force capability. These approaches combine hard physical constraints with empirical verification to ensure safety while accelerating innovation through distributed compute and structured learning environments.

E170: Tech's Vibe Shift, TikTok ban debate, Vertical AI boom, Florida bans lab-grown meat & more

Jason, Friedberg, David Sacks, Chamath Palihapitiya

Chamath Palihapitiya, David Sacks, and David Freeberg discuss the evolving candor of tech leaders like Jensen Huang and Mark Zuckerberg while analyzing the rising threat of vertical AI agents to traditional employment structures. The hosts debate the national security implications of a potential TikTok ban and criticize Florida's legislation against lab-grown meat as protectionist regulatory capture. Finally, they celebrate SpaceX's successful Starship orbital launch as a testament to entrepreneurial resilience, contrasting its engineering efficiency with the massive costs of other tech ventures.

Fannie Mae’s Priscilla Almodovar on strengthening the US housing system

Priscilla Almodovar, Megan Hogan

Fannie Mae leverages its $4.3 trillion balance sheet to advance equity and sustainability while navigating a market forecasted to shift from recession fears to slow growth as mortgage rates decline toward the sixes. The organization is addressing a critical inventory shortage driven by the "lock-in effect" and demographic shifts, simultaneously deploying credit innovations like rent-reporting pilots to close the 30% homeownership gap for Black and Latino households. Under the strategic leadership of board member Priscilla Ortiz, Fannie Mae also introduces a "Mission Index" to quantify social impact for investors and promotes green bond incentives for sustainable rental housing.

The best AI founders in the world are moving here

San Francisco has re-established its status as a global hub for artificial intelligence following the ChatGPT catalyst, which reversed the remote work exodus and concentrated major entities like OpenAI and Anthropic within a specific "Cerebral Valley" cluster. Y Combinator's strategic relocation to the Dog Patch further intensifies this agglomeration by physically co-locating hundreds of founders to maximize high-frequency networking and accelerate the current "boom loop." This renewed density is projected to drive a decade-long economic recovery, filling previously vacant downtown offices while fostering a techno-optimist society that reinvests tech wealth into housing, safety, and inclusive growth.

Luca Ferrari: Scaling to 500M Downloads, $360M in Reported 2023 Sales and a $2.55BN Valuation |E1127

Luca Ferrari, Harry Stebbings

Operating as a hybrid between a technology firm and a private equity vehicle, Bending Spoons has spent over a decade acquiring and revitalizing startups through deep operational integration rather than relying on external equity until a recent $200 million raise. Founders like Luca Zaninotto drive this strategy by applying rigorous free cash flow metrics to acquisitions and enforcing a culture of intellectual humility, as demonstrated by the recent $6–7 million write-off of the PlayOn project. With a remote workforce of 400 and a focus on standardized global compensation, the company aims to accumulate resources to eventually tackle large-scale global challenges using its unique "hands-on" acquisition model.

Varda's Landing, Peter Thiel, & the Future of El Segundo, Delian Asparouhov, Founders Fund

Peter Thiel, Delian Asparouhov, Molly O'Shea

Delian, a recent father and Founders Fund partner, founded Varda Space Industries to commercialize space manufacturing by deploying a low-cost, Starlink-like re-entry capsule under new FAA regulations. By pivoting exclusively to small-molecule pharmaceuticals and utilizing novel ground-based centrifuge research, the company targets a per-mission cost of $3.5–$4 million while implementing risk-sharing agreements for flight discoveries. Complementing this venture, Delian leverages his operator experience to advocate for decentralizing investing culture and predicting Eastern Europe's economic rise over stagnating Western markets.