The Network State Podcast

Latest Episodes:

#17 - Claire Lehmann Jul 16, 2025

Show notes

Claire is the founder of Quillette.com, a digital magazine covering tech, culture, and centrist politics. We cover the rise of China, why Australia may indeed be this century's lucky country, and the realist take on American Empire. If you're interested in these topics, you'll be interested in Network School. Apply online at https://ns.com.

#16 - Benedict Evans Jul 16, 2025

Show notes

Benedict Evans is a former partner at Andreessen Horowitz and runs a newsletter with ~200k subscribers. We discuss smart glasses, amplified intelligence, robot dogs, the decentralization of media, and how AI is disrupting the very concept of user interfaces. If these ideas interest you, we're working on this kind of technology at Network School. You can apply online at https://ns.com.

#15 - Jeremy Howard Jul 16, 2025

Show notes

Jeremy Howard is the creator of fast.ai, perhaps the best way to get a running start in modern deep learning. We talk about AI research, decentralizing education, and funding the world's dark talent. If you're interested in these ideas, especially regarding AI-first education, come to Network School. You can apply online at https://ns.com.

#14 - Vitalik on Ethereum Jul 16, 2025

Show notes

Vitalik Buterin is the co-founder of Ethereum and Zuzalu. We had a fireside chat on the state of Ethereum, defi, prediction markets, AI, biotech, stablecoins, the Abundance Agenda, San Francisco, Zuzalu, and startup societies. If these ideas interest you, this discussion was held live at Network School. You can apply online at ns.com.

#13 - Jason Calacanis Jul 16, 2025

Show notes

Jason Calacanis is the co-host of All-In and one of Silicon Valley's most successful angels. We discuss Network School, startup societies, voting with your feet, and strengthening democratic rights in a digital age. If these ideas interest you, we're building startup societies at Network School. You can apply online at https://ns.com.

#12 - Michael Saylor Jul 16, 2025

Show notes

Michael Saylor is the creator of the first Bitcoin treasury company, Strategy. He joins Balaji to discuss his new Digital Assets Framework, where he unveils a plan for how the US becomes dominant in digital assets. If these ideas interest you, we're advancing digital assets at Network School. You can apply online at ns.com.

#11 - Applied History with WhatIfAltHist Mar 19, 2025

Show notes

Rudyard Lynch runs the popular YouTube channel WhatIfAltHist. We're both into applied history — namely, studying the past to forecast the future — and everything we spoke about fell under that rubric. We cover alchemy vs technology, left vs right, nature vs nurture, China vs America, communism vs wokeness, and (of course) networks vs states.Our overarching goal with the pod is to learn about the world to build new startup societies. If these ideas interest you, we're putting theory into practice at Network School, so do apply at https://ns.com.

OUTLINE

00:00 - Intro to WhatifAltHist and counterfactual history

03:52 - The idea in alchemy: everyone is competing on vibes

07:12 - Nature/nurture = hardware/software

09:37 - Why the left often wins: equality builds scalable militaries

11:30 - The idea from Balaji that most influenced Rudyard: God, State, or Network?

13:25 - What is the most powerful force in the world: God, State, or Network

20:28 - Only 4% of Democrats marry Republicans

22:24 - The purpose of alchemy: how early alchemy lead to modern tech

33:25 - We have entered the age of the phrase

42:33 - The reading list: genetics books you should read

43:07 - Communism was based on economics denial, wokeness is genetics denial

50:49 - The Vitruvian Man: our moral responsibility to accelerate technology

57:42 - We are on the verge of global instability

1:20:43 - Internet community becomes physical community: The Network School (ns.com)

1:23:08 - Both Soviet and American empires were built on false premises

1:28:16 - Bitcoin is the strongest new identity

1:32:55 - The total military dominance of the Chinese drone armada

LINKS

https://youtube.com/@ns

https://ns.com

#10 - The Crypto Islands Jan 28, 2024

Show notes

Where do you legally set up your DAO or web3 organization? You might check out the Marshall Islands. They recently passed a new bill that's a model for global crypto regulation. The Decentralized Autonomous Organizations Act of 2023 has several major features: it allows DAOs to be set up in 30 days, limits DAO liability for open-source, and makes clear that governance tokens are not securities. Joining Balaji today are the architects of the DAO law as well as the founder of MIDAO (https://midao.org), an organization which allows anyone to set up a DAO in the Marshall Islands. OUTLINE 00:00 - The Marshall Islands DAO Law 02:00 - About the Marshall Islands 04:05 - Decentralized Autonomous Organization Act of 2022 09:17 - Visiting the Marshall Islands 10:48 - Overview of the DAO Law 20:56 - Legal Bridge Between Web2 and Web3 23:41 - Banking with Marshall Islands DAOs 27:09 - Updating the DAO Act 31:50 - Marshall Islands fully supports DAOs 34:23 - DAO Law is like the new Ship Registry 37:01 - Private Islands as Special Economic Zones 40:08 - Recap and overview of the DAO law

VIDEO

YouTube: https://youtu.be/ojbWm9HqVj0 SOCIAL https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/10/30/marshall-islands-further-strengthens-law-that-made-daos-legal-entities/ https://midao.org https://thenetworkstate.com/podcast https://twitter.com/adamjgmiller https://twitter.com/balajis

#9 - Joe Lonsdale on Everything Jan 28, 2024

Show notes

Joe Lonsdale is one of the most prominent investors in technology. He's the co-founder of Palantir, 8VC, Addepar, and the Cicero Institute — and one of Balaji's longtime friends. We have fun talking about education, longevity, space, and the little matter of completely reforming all governments with the internet. OUTLINE: 00:00 - How Silicon Valley got expensive 09:18 - Tech founders as philosophers 17:39 - 100% Democracy and .01% Democracy 28:51 - Internet Values vs Western Values 36:05 - How Academics Become Capitalists 46:40 - Red States, Purple States, Foreign States for AI 58:11 - Thoughts on Space, Robotics, Longevity

VIDEO

YouTube: https://youtu.be/Ny93ZjlR93g SOCIAL https://ciceroinstitute.org https://www.8vc.com https://thenetworkstate.com/podcast https://twitter.com/JTLonsdale https://twitter.com/balajis

#8 - The Solana Phone Jan 28, 2024

Show notes

Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana, joins Balaji to talk about the new Solana Phone (https://solanamobile.com). The idea of the crypto phone is one where balances, encryption, privacy, and property rights are built into the very fabric of the operating system. Anatoly talks about how they did it. OUTLINE 0:06 - The Solana Phone 2:08 - Anatoly's Origin Story 6:03 - Solana Proof-of-History Algorithm 12:10 - Hardware Scales Global Consensus 16:13 - Different Chains Do Different Things 19:55 - A Self-Custody Phone 30:38 - Instant Bank Accounts 38:20 - Any OEM Can Make a Solana Phone 43:26 - Solana Phone Takes on Google and Apple 54:22 - 1% Share Changes the World 57:39 - Protocols Give Initial Userbase 1:01:18 - Starting Small Counterintuitive For Phone Companies 1:07:27 - PKI Interactions Become Routine 1:19:04 - What Anatoly's New Country Would Look Like

VIDEO

YouTube: https://youtu.be/QIoXKWl4c4s SOCIAL https://solanamobile.com https://thenetworkstate.com/podcast https://twitter.com/solana https://twitter.com/balajis

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