My conversation with Samo Burja, founder of Bismarck Analysis. He chairs the editorial board of Palladium Magazine.Topics we discuss are well captured by the timestamps below.Watch on YouTube or X. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Follow me on X for updates on future episodes.Click here to support my work.Timestamps0:00 - Intro1:18 - Live players5:41 - Great Founder Theory11:20 - Our material technology rests on our social interactions14:23 - Optimism, pessimism, and human agency23:21 - Operationalized knowledge25:22 - Lost and dead traditions of knowledge27:34 - Tradition of criticism29:36 - The most important piece of knowledge to preserve32:27 - Common features of declining societies39:18 - Are the Spartan warriors overrated and just had very good PR?42:07 - DOGE and bureaucracy in America45:28 - The machinery of freedom47:43 - Tech Samo is most excited about over the next 5 years50:10 - Curtis Yarvin and the orbital authority55:01 - Samo’s advice for young peopleFollow me on X.Follow Samo on X. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.arjunkhemani.com
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Zooko Wilcox and Josh Swihart: Unstoppable Private Money
My conversation with Zooko Wilcox and Josh Swihart on unstoppable private money.Zooko Wilcox is a legendary cypherpunk and one of the founders of Zcash—private, digital money.Josh Swihart is the CEO of Electric Coin Company, the team behind the Zcash protocol and the Zashi wallet app.Topics we discuss are well captured by the timestamps below.Watch on YouTube or X. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Follow me on X for updates on future episodes.Timestamps0:00 - Maya Protocol integrates with Zcash3:52 - Coinbase social engineering attack7:43 - Private money negates capital controls14:13 - Privacy comes from money at rest18:24 - The Zashi effect and future roadmap25:11 - Project Tachyon39:10 - Zcash’s anonymity set doesn’t depend on the number of its users45:37 - Turnstiles in Zcash and the 2018 inflation bug57:28 - “ZK” has become a marketing stunt among crypto projects59:48 - On Binance delisting ZEC1:01:35 - A transition toward using crypto as it was originally intended1:04:52 - Should exchanges use transparent addresses?1:17:38 - Coin holder voting in Zcash1:23:38 - Sci-fi influence1:28:37 - Gary Gensler1:29:40 - Why I like ZcashFollow Zooko on X.Follow Josh on X. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.arjunkhemani.com
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1:34:11
Ethan Thornton: The Future of Warfare
My conversation with Ethan Thornton, founder of Mach Industries.Topics we discuss are well captured by the timestamps below.Watch on YouTube or X. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Follow me on X for updates on future episodes.Click here to support my work.Timestamps0:00 - Intro1:07 - Why Mach needs to exist3:16 - Early experiments5:07 - Dropping out of MIT8:36 - Raising $85 million at 19 years old11:20 - Decentralized vertical supply chains13:54 - The most important domain of the next century15:55 - Betting on hydrogen18:11 - Overview of Viper and Glide21:06 - Building feedback loops across teams25:29 - Facing regulatory hurdles28:19 - Knowing when to be risk tolerant29:54 - Time until China invades Taiwan31:45 - The future of warfare42:29 - Takeaways from the (unmanned) war in Ukraine48:23 - Biggest influences on Ethan’s life49:37 - Mach’s long-term planFollow me on X.Follow Ethan on X. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.arjunkhemani.com
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Peter Boghossian: Moral Relativism and The Future of The West
My conversation with philosopher and author Peter Boghossian.Topics we discuss are well captured by the timestamps below.Watch on YouTube or X. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Follow me on X for updates on future episodes.Click here to support my work.Timestamps0:00 - The enlightenment5:51 - The dangers of moral relativism21:28 - Modern education is failing us31:14 - What’s worth preserving in the West37:00 - Is wokeism filling the void left by atheism?38:04 - The spread of Islamism45:49 - Speech is not violence49:11 - Derangements of science52:48 - The myth of the framework56:34 - Why you should learn epistemology58:05 - The instinct to belong trumps what’s true1:02:44 - Chasing likes versus pursuing truth1:05:08 - What is Peter most optimistic and most pessimistic aboutFollow me on X.Follow Peter on X. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.arjunkhemani.com
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1:15:57
Zooko, Nate Wilcox, and Sean Bowe: Zcash
My conversation with Zooko, Nate Wilcox, and Sean Bowe about the Zcash protocol.Zooko is a cypherpunk who co-founded Zcash along with his brother, Nate Wilcox, and others. Sean Bowe is a cryptographer and engineer who has played a crucial role in the development of Zcash and has made significant contributions to advancements in zero-knowledge proofs, particularly zk-SNARKs, which underpin Zcash’s privacy features.Topics we discuss are well captured by the timestamps below.Watch on YouTube or X. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Follow me on X for updates on future episodes.Click here to support my work.Timestamps0:00 - Zooko Wilcox-O’Hearn0:04 - Writing the first blog post on Bitcoin ever6:21 - Bitcoin’s fundamental privacy flaw9:40 - Unstoppable private money12:19 - Will Zcash compete with Bitcoin as a store of value?14:24 - How many people are using Zcash?16:18 - Good security is good usability20:10 - Social credit systems and ubiquitous surveillance23:43 - Why Monero’s privacy tech can’t work35:21 - Integrating ZKPs into other blockchains39:51 - Privacy comes from money at rest, not from money in flight47:42 - Why did the price of ZEC fall so drastically in the beginning?51:49 - Zcash stablecoins? 55:50 - Quantum threats to Zcash1:02:50 - Encrypted love notes in the blockchain'1:07:07 - Privacy enabled cultural trends1:12:43 - Nate Wilcox1:14:38 - Why do you need privacy if you have nothing to hide? 1:16:16 - A brief history of Zcash1:22:42 - Why does Zcash have opt-in privacy?1:26:55 - Does Zcash still rely on a trusted setup?1:30:49 - Upgrading the Zcash protocol to Hybrid PoW/PoS1:40:50 - A bug that almost killed Zcash1:52:40 - Zcash’s funding model2:09:09 - Why can’t privacy be added as an L2?2:14:35 - Scaling Zcash and making it more interoperable2:23:16 - Shielded Labs2:24:39 - Nate’s vision for Zcash2:27:53 - Sean Bowe2:32:53 - Censorship resistance is a spectrum2:35:26 - Will privacy coins be banned?2:37:49 - Privacy and scalability2:41:47 - Programmable money2:43:31 - Summary of Sean’s contributions to the field of cryptography2:55:17 - Zcash might get privacy against quantum adversaries for free3:00:14 - Halo3:05:34 - What Sean’s working on right now3:11:54 - What has influenced Sean’s thinking in cryptography the most?3:13:36 - Being a high school dropout working in crypto3:15:08 - Zcash is just getting startedFollow me on X.Follow Zooko on X.Follow Nate on X.Follow Sean on X. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.arjunkhemani.com
South Africa