28: Maxwell Meyer - Starships & Road Trips
Maxwell Meyer (X, Newsletter) is the founder and editor of Arena Magazine, an "American Propaganda" print and digital publication focused on technology, capitalism, and civilizational progress. Max also works with Joe Lonsdale at 8VC and is the proprietor of his Iowan farm, Henry Hills. He was previously the editor of the Stanford Review.Our conversation is about ideas Max is most interested in across storytelling and media, American values, technology and progress, capitalism, writing and craft, and deep love for his country.We start with critique, the media's tendency toward cliché, and defending the new while building trust with readers. Then we talk about American ideology: its radical founding myth, collective enterprise, and a nation of movers. Max makes a case that national character ought to be lived and formed bottom-up, and repeatedly argues that cultural pendulum swings are as old as time and we need not overreact to the swings of the day. He describes tech's brief abandonment of the rest of America and talks through how we might export Silicon Valley's outcome-oriented culture to government and other industries. Max argues that the foundation of capitalism is simple: "you can't kill your counterparty." We of course discuss Arena, magazines, writing, editing, and his ambitions there too.Above all else, Max makes the case for America, big and small: the beautiful, always-changing, rarely-agreeing, perpetually striving amalgamation of souls that stretch from sea to shining sea.You can subscribe to Arena here: https://arenamag.com/subscribeFull transcript and all links: https://dialectic.fm/maxwell-meyerTimestamps:00:00: Intro01:14: Elon, The Media, Cliché, American Collectivism, and Cultural Pendulum Swings09:07: Media, Criticism, and Defending the New17:49: American Ideology: The Declaration, Communal Enterprise, Americans as Movers28:20: Patriotism33:36: Learning from the Rest of the World40:27: A Case for Progress49:38: Tech's Separation from American Culture in the 2010s58:44: Tech Accountability and Engaging Normal People on their Premises1:15:23: Silicon Valley's Tiny Nations and Alex Karp's "The Technological Republic"1:21:19: The Frontier and the Core: Exporting SV Engineering Culture to Government1:28:46: Principled and Unpredictable Thinkers1:34:06: The Case for Capitalism1:43:07: Defending Critiques of Capitalism and Concerns of Concentration of Power1:49:37: Arena, Good Writing and Editing, Magazines as a Medium, Durability, Influences2:02:19: Big and Small America2:06:16: Joe Lonsdale2:06:50: Upholding Abundance2:11:39: Cooking and Bringing People Together2:12:38: The Back Half of the Brain2:14:02: The Places Between PlacesKey Links:The Man-Made Miracle of SpaceX - Max MeyerMax Meyer Launched a Print Magazine in 2024. Here’s Why. - Infinite Loops PodcastMan in the Arena SpeechDemocracy in America - Alexis de TocquevilleAmerica against America - Wang HuningHow United Became an Airline - Wall Street JournalThe Gentle Singularity - Sam AltmanPlaying With Guns (and Phones) - Nadia AsparouhovaThe Emerging Democratic Majority - John B. JudisA Techno-Republic, If You Can Keep It - Maxwell MeyerThe Tinkerings of Robert Noyce - Tom Wolfe | EsquireBrian Schimpf: Engineer at War - Maxwell MeyerTo Save America, Restore Our Frontier - Joe LonsdalePalantir’s Alex Karp Talks About War, AI and America’s Future - NYTThe Earthly Miracle of the Grocery Store - Maxwell MeyerA More Perfect Mediocracy - Leo LeibovitzMeditations On Moloch - Scott AlexanderThis is Water - David Foster WallaceCalifornia SublimeThe Magic Water of Hot SpringsWelcome to the MAGA Hamptons! - Max Meyer | The Free PressThe Green Counter-Revolution - Max MeyerHow To Kill A Country - Samantha PowerI Bought an Iowa Farm at Age 22 After my Brother DiedPlaces Between PlacesDialectic with Jackson Dahl is available on all podcast platforms.Follow Dialectic on TwitterFollow Dialectic on Instagram
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