Viewing Podcast: Podcast
AI
Arts
Business
Crypto
Finance
Health
History
Interviews
Investing
Macro
Misc
News
Politics
Product
Programming
Science
Social
Startups
Technology
VC
#228 David Rutherford - Navy SEAL & CIA Contractor
Duration: 07:20:23
August 18, 2025
- David Rutherford shares a deeply personal account, detailing his upbringing and the challenges faced due to his brother's coming out as gay during the AIDS epidemic, and the subsequent struggles with their relationship.
- Rutherford discusses his turbulent journey after a promising athletic career collapsed, leading to a spiral into alcohol and drugs during college and a subsequent attempt to take his own life, highlighting the importance of faith and supportive friendships.
- The interview reveals Rutherford's Navy SEAL career and its impact on him, as well as his struggle to reconcile with a combat incident where friendly fire injured his teammates, exposing his vulnerabilities and the complexities of guilt, shame, and forgiveness.
#227 Henry Dick Thompson - MACV-SOG Operator, Codename "Dynamite"
Duration: 04:23:46
August 14, 2025
- Dynamite Dick Thompson faced intense hostility upon returning from Vietnam, highlighting the lack of support and understanding for veterans at the time.
- Thompson emphasized the transferable skills veterans possess, encouraging them to recognize and apply their planning, decision-making, and organizational abilities in civilian life.
- A harrowing account of a SOG mission revealed the extreme dangers faced, including a premonition of a downed helicopter and the difficult decision to call in air support on their own position.
#226 Matt Gialich - Debunking Aliens in the Ocean, Mining Asteroids and Black Holes
Duration: 01:49:48
August 11, 2025
- Astroforge is focused on mining metal asteroids for platinum group metals, offering a potentially more cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional Earth-based mining with margins upwards of 80%.
- The primary challenge Astroforge faces involves infrastructure and accessing deep space, due to the antiquated infrastructure available to the company and the need for extremely sensitive equipment to counteract power loss from immense distances, however these steps are required to navigate a spacecraft past the moon.
- Matt Gallich emphasizes that innovation requires a willingness to take significant risks and to learn quickly from failures. Prioritizing speed and iteration, along with strong commercial viability, helps his company outcompete other players in the field, even those with greater resources.
#225 Blake Scholl - Founder & CEO of Boom Supersonic
Duration: 02:23:49
August 7, 2025
- Blake Schul, the founder of Boom Supersonic, emphasized the value of having no prior aerospace experience, which allowed him to challenge conventional wisdom and focus on first principles in design and economics.
- Schul highlighted the necessity of vertical integration and strategic control over manufacturing processes to accelerate production, reduce costs, and enable greater innovation in aircraft development.
- The conversation shifted to the regulatory environment with the overturning of the supersonic flight ban by leveraging the concept of "boomless cruise," achieved through innovative engineering and engine design.
#223 Baiju Bhatt - Co-Founder of Robinhood & CEO of Aetherflux
Duration: 03:13:02
July 31, 2025
- The discussion explored the generational shift away from alcohol, with one perspective highlighting its historical importance as a social lubricant that may be misplaced by less beneficial substitutes such as social media.
- The guest discussed his motivation for pivoting from the financial tech space into the commercial space industry, particularly to increase the capitalist envelope.
- The guest detailed his ambitious venture, EtherFlux, which aims to revolutionize energy delivery by harnessing solar energy from space and beaming it to Earth, employing existing technology to power remote locations and eventually compete with terrestrial resources.
#221 Joe Pyfer - UFC 17-Sec KO Secrets, Meeting Mike Tyson and Terrifying Childhood Stories
Duration: 03:43:46
July 24, 2025
- Joe Piper's traumatic childhood, marked by abuse and neglect, fueled his early fighting career but later required him to develop healthier coping mechanisms, such as relying on positive male role models.
- Despite the ruthlessness of the sport and fan base, Piper stresses the importance of genuine connections and how treating people with respect helps maintain a sound mind.
- Piper advocates for "being in the present moment" as a tool to combat self-doubt and past trauma, emphasizing effort, confidence, and solid preparation as the key elements to living a purposeful life.
#220 Simone Ledeen - Fmr. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East Policy
Duration: 04:07:48
July 21, 2025
- The US intelligence community faces a challenge with indoctrinated analysts who lack critical thinking skills, hindering their ability to provide nuanced and comprehensive assessments.
- The Abraham Accords were monumental in establishing formal relations between Israel and several Middle Eastern countries, but the October 7th attacks and recent events, potentially orchestrated by Iran, threaten the progress toward broader peace in the region.
- Despite the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, the US must remain engaged in the world while avoiding large-scale military interventions, but it needs to ensure that future engagements prioritize national interests and address the threat of the Taliban being funded by Iran.
#219 Isaiah Taylor - CEO of Valar Atomics
Duration: 02:29:16
July 17, 2025
- The podcast highlights the critical need to overhaul the aging power grid to meet the projected energy demands of AI and advanced manufacturing, which could strain existing infrastructure.
- Isaiah Taylor's company, Valor Atomics, is pioneering small modular reactors (SMRs) as a solution, emphasizing their potential for decentralized power generation and faster deployment compared to traditional nuclear facilities.
- The conversation also addresses policy and geopolitical factors, noting how foreign influence and regulatory hurdles have historically hampered the nuclear industry's growth in the United States.
#218 Gavin Newsom - Governor of California
Duration: 04:11:11
July 14, 2025
- Gavin Newsom addressed criticisms about California's population decline, emphasizing it has reversed in recent years with significant population growth and a strong economy.
- The discussion delved into gun control, with Newsom advocating for "common sense" gun safety laws and presenting data showing that states with stricter regulations have lower gun death rates.
- Newsom admitted to mistakes made during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighted the deep mental health impact of restrictions, and announced an objective review to properly inform future public health responses.
#217 Augustus Doricko - Did Cloud Seeding Cause the Texas Floods?
Duration: 00:50:54
July 11, 2025
- The CEO of Rain Maker, Augustus Dorico, clarified that his company’s cloud seeding operation on July 2nd dispersed a negligible amount of silver iodide that could not have contributed to the unprecedented flooding in Texas days later.
- Dorico emphasized the critical distinction between local weather modification and global geoengineering, stressing that his company is state-regulated and proactively suspends operations based on strict weather criteria, which they adhered to prior to the floods.
- Dorico expressed frustration that those who are "knowingly posting false information" about his company's actions are receiving significantly more attention than clear evidence of its actions, which is contributing to feelings of mistrust and even death threats.
...