"Upstream" with Erik Torenberg

E101: Wokeism & Class w/ David Sacks, Trump’s AI Czar [Upstream Archive]

E100: Marc Andreessen: How 2016 Broke My Mental Model of the World

In this podcast, Mark Andreessen shares his evolving views on politics and societal changes since 2015. He reflects on his intellectual journey, having read widely from Marx to modern thinkers, to grasp the growing polarization and dysfunction within major institutions. Andreessen examines the rise of managerialism in ...

E99: This Era’s Inflection Points with Byrne Hobart | DOGE, Elon, OpenAI

E98: Solving America’s Problems with Joe Lonsdale

E97: Combining Biology and AI w/ Michael Levin and Dr. Leo Pio Lopez

E96: Rudyard Lynch and Samo Burja Talk The Left’s Future and Problems with Modernity

E95: Trump’s Potential Transportation Secretary on Growing Uber | Emil Michael

E94: Best of: AGI | Dario Amodei / Balaji Srinivasan / Marc Andreessen / Samo Burja / Michael Levin

E93: How Trump and Elon Could Rebuild the US Government

E92: Curtis Yarvin’s Pre-Election Advice to Elon Musk

E91: Why We Do Philosophy w/ Agnes Callard

E90: Elites, Institutions, and Trump with Richard Hanania

E89: Economics as a Science w/ Noah Smith

E88: The Fertility Apocalypse w/ Samo Burja

E87: Embodied Minds and Cognitive Agents with Dr. Michael Levin

In this podcast episode, Nathan Labenz and Michael Levin engage in a captivating discussion about the Cognitive Revolution. Levin shares his groundbreaking work in bioelectric control and how it shapes our understanding of both biological systems and artificial intelligence. The conversation explores the blurred lines ...

E86: Techno-capitalism with Bryan Johnson

E85: Analyzing Everything with Byrne Hobart and Patrick McKenzie

The economics of niche industries—from mobile gaming and airlines to restaurant management—are fundamentally driven by "hyper-consuming outliers" rather than median users. These high-value spenders, or "whales," sustain business models that often appear irrational to the typical consumer. Modern B2B SaaS platforms and ...

E84: Let’s Fix Social Media with Jonathan Haidt

E83: How Patty McCord Built Netflix’s Culture

This interview podcast features Patty McCord, former chief talent officer at Netflix, discussing the evolution and impact of the famous Netflix Culture Deck. The conversation begins with a discussion of the deck's creation and its iterative nature over 10 years, emphasizing its role as a living document rather than a ...

E82: America’s Future with Palmer Luckey