"Upstream" with Erik Torenberg

Latest Episodes:

E2: Balaji Srinivasan on His Past and Future predictions, the Future of the Left and Right, and Why Tech Can’t Escape Politics Mar 31, 2023

Show notes

Balaji Srinivasan, author of The Network State and co-founder of Counsyl, talks to Erik Torenberg about his past and future predictions, the future of the left and right, and why tech will never be able to escape politics.

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Preview of episode

(02:30) Why are the scariest words in the English language “Balaji was right”

(07:06) When to reform vs start a new institution

(09:50) Are ideas weapons?

(15:30) You don’t start with a tech company anymore, you start with a tech community

(18:58) Internet nationalism

(22:06) What "political" means

(26:20 ) Activist movements are like “pump and dumps”

(29:40) What the sovereign individual misses

(41:03) Bitcoin is still the flag of technology

(45:38) Democrats will move to the right on immigration

(57:20) Tech America vs Woke America

(58:00) Why are tech people so woke?

(1:03:39) The left will flip on diversity

(1:05:00) The left is shifting from wokeism to statism

(1:15:17) Bitcoiners will take over the right wing party

(1:21:28) Elon

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E1: Marc Andreessen on His Intellectual Journey the Past Ten Years Mar 24, 2023

Show notes

Marc Andreessen of a16z sits with Erik Torenberg to go deeper into his intellectual and political journey, and his quest to find out how the world works. Upstream with Erik Torenberg is part of the Turpentine podcast network. To learn more: turpentine.co. Check out Shopify: https://shopify.com/torenberg for a $1/month trial period

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Intro

(04:25) How much has Marc changed vs the world changed?

(07:55) How much do ideas matter? Who drives society — the elite or the masses?

(10:56) People respond to interests more than ideas

(13:08) Mental models for the left and the right

(17:53) The road to hell is paved with good intentions

(19:40) Master morality and slave morality

(24:20) Unpacking Elon’s quote “Wokeness is the mind-virus”

(27:00) Is classical liberalism sustainable and how it leads to wokeness

(36:00) James Burnham’s worldview

(43:50) How the left captured the institutions

(46:20) Elon as the return to entrepreneurial capitalism

(49:03) The experiments Elon is running

(55:50) The billionaire mindset toward politics

(58:30) We live in an oligarchy, not a democracy

(01:07:00) Larry Page is the contrarian billionaire

(01:08:30) Effective Altruism’s blind spots

(01:11:36) Effective altruists think they can play god

(01:12:16) SBF’s roll-the-dice philosophy

(01:14:23) Aristocratic vs Meritocratic elite

(01:22:48) Elites are insulated from the consequences of their policies

(01:24:53) Why global governance is a nerd trap

(01:28:16) Global governance is anti-diversity

(01:31:42) Tech people are politically homeless

(01:32:37) Elites can’t be removed, they can only be replaced

(01:36:02) Advice for counter-elites

(01:49:21) Reasons to be optimistic

SOCIAL LINKS:

Erik’s Twitter: @eriktorenberg

Marc’s Twitter: @pmarca

Podcast Twitter: @Upstream__Pod

Erik’s Substack: Erik Torenberg

Marc’s Substack: Marc Andreessen

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Trailer: This is Upstream with Erik Torenberg Mar 24, 2023

Show notes

Upstream is where Erik Torenberg interviews the world's most foundational thinkers to map the constellation of ideas that matter across tech, culture, and politics. You'll hear topics here first, and in the mainstream months later.

Ask yourself, what’s upstream of what you believe?

Interviewed for this season of Upstream: Marc Andreessen, David Sacks, Ezra Klein, Balaji Srinivasan, Katherine Boyle, Joe Lonsdale, and more luminary thinkers who are changing the world. Follow the podcast wherever you listen so you never miss an episode. Email feedback to the show to info@turpentine.co

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We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com.

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