Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
Patrick Blumenthal (@PatrickJBlum) interviews some of the world's leading economists, political scientists, and philosophers to discuss their ideas and what they mean for society, technology, and the economy.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Economics and growth policy • Technology, AI, crypto, and innovation • Defense, modern warfare, and geopolitics (China, Ukraine) • Markets, banking, and monetary policy • Culture war, religion, philosophy • History and social science institutionsThis podcast features long-form interviews with economists, political scientists, philosophers, and other public intellectuals about how ideas shape society, technology, and the economy. Conversations frequently connect abstract frameworks—such as political philosophy, metaphysics, and moral psychology—to practical questions about governance, institutions, and public policy.
A significant thread centers on geopolitics and national security, including modern warfare, military command-and-control, deterrence, and the role of emerging technologies such as drones, AI, and electronic warfare. Related discussions examine how defense innovation is financed and built, touching on founder incentives, the relationship between Silicon Valley and government, and how policy and regulation interact with fast-moving technologies.
The show also spends substantial time on economic growth and macroeconomic policy. Topics include monetary policy and the Federal Reserve, financial crises and bank failures, investment dynamics, trade and protectionism, immigration politics, welfare policy, and comparative political economy (including analysis of China). These policy conversations are often paired with broader debates about abundance versus scarcity, energy and industrial capacity (including nuclear and climate-related constraints), and the cultural narratives that drive optimism or pessimism about progress.
Other episodes broaden into history and the humanities, using case studies from ancient and late antiquity through modern American history to explore state capacity, institutional change, and societal resilience. The podcast also engages with contemporary cultural and intellectual currents—religion and secularization, therapy culture, postmodernism, culture-war dynamics, and the structure of disagreement—alongside discussions in science and philosophy of mind, including consciousness, reality, and the limits of scientific explanation.
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Andrew Markoff of Smack on Deterring Conflict with China 2025-Aug-12 43 minutes |
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Corporal Dmytro on Serving on the Frontlines of Ukraine 2024-Oct-02 28 minutes |
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Brian Streem on Building a Startup in Ukraine 2024-Aug-27 27 minutes |
Marian Tupy on Superabundance, Innovation, and Doomerism2023-Nov-27 49 minutes |
Bilal Zuberi of Lux Capital on Bridging the Gaps Between Technology, Defense, and Policy2023-Oct-17 57 minutes |
Byrne Hobart and Tobias Huber on the Future of AI and the Existential Risk of Safetyism2023-Jun-19 93 minutes |
Bill Martin of Raging Capital Ventures on SVB's Collapse and What Happens Next2023-Apr-11 43 minutes |
Michael Gibson on The Thiel Fellowship and The Future of Education and Innovation2022-Nov-28 54 minutes |
Eli Dourado and Austin Vernon on Energy Superabundance and Creating a Prosperous 21st Century2022-Oct-18 49 minutes |
Vitalik Buterin on the Future of Crypto and Technology2022-Sep-15 65 minutes |
Wes Yang on the Culture War2022-Apr-24 198 minutes |
Eric Cline on 1177 B.C. & The Late Bronze Age2021-Jan-22 59 minutes |
Ole Jacob Madsen on The Therapeutic Turn2021-Jan-22 81 minutes |
Stephen Hicks on Postmodernism2021-Jan-22 78 minutes |
Adrian Goldsworthy on Ancient Rome2021-Jan-22 55 minutes |
Deirdre McCloskey on Innovism vs. Capitalism2021-Jan-22 73 minutes |
Michael Millerman on The Relationship Between Politics and Metaphysics2021-Jan-22 77 minutes |
Patrick Wyman on Communication & Mobility Throughout History2021-Jan-22 57 minutes |
Bryan Ward-Perkins on Late Antiquity2021-Jan-22 50 minutes |
Rod Dreher on the Culture War2021-Jan-22 64 minutes |
Collin Hansen on the Decline of Christianity in Western Culture2021-Jan-22 36 minutes |
Kyle Sammin on American Conservatism2021-Jan-22 52 minutes |
Alexis Coe on George Washington & American History2021-Jan-22 57 minutes |
James K.A. Smith on How (Not) to Be Secular2021-Jan-22 64 minutes |
Rudyard Lynch on Alternate History2021-Jan-22 47 minutes |
Carl Trueman on The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self2021-Jan-22 60 minutes |
Matt Ridley on the Evolution of Everything2020-Feb-12 52 minutes |
Sean Carroll on the Questions of the Universe2020-Feb-12 57 minutes |
Geoffrey West on Scale & Exponential Growth2020-Feb-12 61 minutes |
Raghuram Rajan on Growth and Sustainable Development2020-Feb-12 56 minutes |
Donald Hoffman on The Illusion of Reality2020-Feb-12 57 minutes |
Jonathan Pageau on Religion & Society2020-Feb-12 65 minutes |
Gary Basin on How Trading Works2020-Feb-12 63 minutes |
John Horgan on Consciousness and the Upper Limits of Science2020-Feb-12 62 minutes |
Soumaya Keynes on the State of Trade2020-Feb-11 69 minutes |
Samuel Hammond on Welfare Policy2020-Feb-11 74 minutes |
Doug Irwin on Trade Policy2020-Feb-11 34 minutes |
Sevilla King on Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance2020-Feb-11 67 minutes |
Buster Benson on the Art of Productive Disagreement2020-Feb-09 46 minutes |
Margaret Peters on the Politics of Immigration2020-Feb-09 45 minutes |
Agnes Callard on Reconciling Egalitarianism & Meritocracy2020-Feb-09 68 minutes |
Matt Prewitt on Radical Markets2020-Feb-09 56 minutes |
Daron Acemoglu on Government and Economy2020-Feb-09 56 minutes |
Brian Nosek on Open Science & The Replication Crisis2020-Feb-09 57 minutes |
Yuval Levin on the Past, Present and Future of Conservatism2020-Feb-09 57 minutes |
Scott Sumner on the History of Monetary Policy2020-Feb-09 50 minutes |
Dinny McMahon on the Chinese Economy2020-Feb-09 50 minutes |
Frederick Crews on the Legacy of Freud2020-Feb-09 67 minutes |
Bryan Cutsinger on Monetary Policy & the Gold Standard2020-Feb-09 55 minutes |
Jared Bernstein on the Fed & the Financial Crisis2020-Feb-09 62 minutes |
Daniel Kaufman on the Problems in Philosophy2020-Feb-09 70 minutes |
Carola Binder on the Policy of the Fed2020-Feb-09 47 minutes |
Donald Kohn on the History of the Fed2020-Feb-09 42 minutes |
Binyamin Appelbaum on How Economists Have Shaped the World2020-Feb-09 44 minutes |
Ioana Marinescu on the Future of Economic Policy2020-Feb-09 51 minutes |
John Mearsheimer on American Foreign Policy2020-Feb-09 76 minutes |
Crispin Sartwell on Aesthetics & Philosophy2020-Feb-09 56 minutes |
Massimo Pigliucci on Stoicism2020-Feb-09 55 minutes |