Episodes
Five years of tape. Every episode is checked claim by claim and playable.
30 episodes in 2024
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
49m The Terrifying Truth AI Researchers Don’t Understand · Joe Lonsdale
Host Joe Lonsdale interviews tech entrepreneur and Cosmos Institute founder Brendan McCord about the urgent need to ground artificial intelligence development in Western philosophical princi…
25 statements 10 featured 6 assessments 1 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
27m AI Vs Engineers: Will They Be Replaced? · Joe Lonsdale
Host Joe Lonsdale interviews Terminal co-founder Dylan Sirota on American Optimist to discuss the transformation of global software engineering, the real-world impact of AI coding tools, and…
16 statements 8 featured 3 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
55m Turning Whiskey Into Millions — The Hustler Behind WhistlePig · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews entrepreneur Raj Bhakta about founding WhistlePig Whiskey, cornering the global market on rare vintage Armagnacs, and his v…
19 statements 6 featured 5 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
50m How Elon Musk’s SpaceX Is Embarrassing The U.S. Government · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews Silicon Valley pioneer and Stanford professor Steve Blank about the history of technological innovation, defense acquisitio…
16 statements 5 featured 6 assessments 2 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
24m From Entrepreneur To Governor: How He's Changing America · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt about applying private-sector entrepreneurial discipline to state government. Governor Stitt …
16 statements 6 featured 13 assessments 2 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
50m Secrets Of Investing Early – Lessons From A Billion-Dollar Investor · Joe Lonsdale
In this 100th episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews prolific Silicon Valley investor and entrepreneur Elad Gil about his career journey, early-stage investment strategie…
26 statements 11 featured 5 assessments 2 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
42m Economist Vs. Billionaire: How The Myth Of Income Inequality Is Dividing America · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews former Senator and economist Phil Gramm to challenge popular myths surrounding income inequality, taxation, and economic mo…
23 statements 9 featured 16 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
36m Jonathan Greenblatt on Ta-Nehisi Coates, CRT, and woke politics · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt about the historic spike in antisemitism following October 7th, radicalization on college campu…
22 statements 6 featured 7 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
30m Turning $25K Into $3 Billion: The Hard Truths Of Jimmy John's Success · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews Jimmy John Liautaud, founder of Jimmy John's, who shares his journey from opening a single sub shop with $25,000 to buildin…
16 statements 6 featured 4 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
39m Harvard Economist: The Truth About Police Brutality · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews Harvard economist Roland Fryer about his empirical research on education reform, police use of force, and economic mobility…
12 statements 4 featured 7 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
29m This AI Sea Drone Could Destroy A Submarine? · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews Dino Mavrucas, former Navy SEAL and co-founder/CEO of Saronic Technologies, to discuss how autonomous surface vessels are r…
12 statements 3 featured 6 assessments 1 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
44m A Conversation with Wall Street Legend & U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews former U.S. Commerce Secretary and Wall Street turnaround legend Wilbur Ross about his decades in high finance, internation…
22 statements 9 featured 8 assessments 4 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
55m He Predicted Putin's Invasion. Now He Predicts When China Will Invade Taiwan. · Joe Lonsdale
Host Joe Lonsdale interviews cybersecurity expert and geopolitical strategist Dmitri Alperovitch on the 'American Optimist' podcast to analyze the intensifying Cold War II between the United…
18 statements 5 featured 7 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
44m Electronic Warfare and Real-Life Force Fields! Epirus CEO Andy Lowery · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews Epirus CEO Andy Lowery about how software-defined high-powered microwave (HPM) technology creates real-world electronic for…
23 statements 8 featured 9 assessments 2 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
43m How Founder Ken Langone Turned Home Depot Into A $400 Billion Empire · Joe Lonsdale
On Joe Lonsdale's podcast, billionaire entrepreneur and Home Depot co-founder Ken Langone discusses long-term investing, broad-based employee wealth creation, educational philanthropy, and s…
18 statements 5 featured 5 assessments 1 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
37m Ep 90: A Conversation with Wall Street Pioneer Ethan Penner · Joe Lonsdale
Host Joe Lonsdale interviews Wall Street pioneer Ethan Penner about his groundbreaking career in commercial real estate securitization, his philosophy on personal resilience and daily greatn…
12 statements 5 featured 2 assessments 2 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
41m Why Reparations Won't Work & Why Standardized Tests Help Minorities -- Coleman Hughes · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews author and commentator Coleman Hughes about his book 'The End of Race Politics.' Together, they critique modern identity po…
23 statements 6 featured 9 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
52m A Conversation with MLK's Lawyer & Speechwriter: Dr. Clarence Jones · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews 93-year-old civil rights icon Dr. Clarence Jones about his work as advisor and speechwriter to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., …
15 statements 3 featured 4 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
35m Ep 87: Dr. Cliff Winston — Deregulate Lawyers, Deregulate Airlines & Let Markets Correct Themselves · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews economist Dr. Cliff Winston to explore how free-market innovation and self-correction solve economic challenges far better …
20 statements 6 featured 4 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
33m Ep 86: How to Teach STEM for the 21st Century with Dr. David Ruth · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews Dr. David Ruth, Dean of STEM at the University of Austin (UATX), about modernizing technical education. Drawing on his 31-y…
14 statements 5 featured
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
39m Ep 85: The Path to Regime Change in Iran with Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi of Iran to discuss the path toward organic regime change, the empowerment of the Iranian people, …
17 statements 4 featured 3 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
31m Ep 84: Sri Ganesan on Freshworks' Big Win, Building Rocketlane & India's Tech Boom · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews Sri Ganesan, co-founder and CEO of Rocketlane, about India's evolution into a global product engineering power, key growth …
10 statements 3 featured 4 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
32m Ep 83: A New Leukemia Cure with Ivan Dimov of Orca Bio · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews Orca Bio CEO Ivan Dimov about how high-precision cell therapy and custom biomanufacturing are revolutionizing bone marrow t…
13 statements 4 featured 8 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
41m Ep 82: Rising Inflation? Looming Recession? The State of the Economy with Whitney Baker · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews macro investor Whitney Baker to analyze global economic history, central bank monetary policy, inflation cycles, and action…
15 statements 6 featured 3 assessments 1 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
37m Ep 81: How Palantir Star Tyler Scriven Is Helping Small Business Compete With Amazon · Joe Lonsdale
Host Joe Lonsdale interviews Palantir alumnus Tyler Scriven about his transition from Silicon Valley to founding Saltbox, exploring how lessons in high-stakes operations and mission-driven c…
12 statements 4 featured
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
38m Ep 80: Leonard Leo Knows How to Win and How to Save Our Country · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews legal strategist Leonard Leo to discuss strategies for dismantling the administrative state, promoting constitutional Origi…
14 statements 5 featured
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
45m Ep 79: Bjorn Lomborg and the 12 Best Ideas to Help the World · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale speaks with intellectual and author Bjorn Lomborg about data-driven priorities for global development and climate policy. Lomborg pres…
22 statements 9 featured 12 assessments 2 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
41m Ep 78: Emil Michael — the Master Dealmaker Behind Uber's Global Dominance · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews tech executive Emil Michael about his pivotal leadership at Uber, his work in the Pentagon, and his perspective on high-sta…
22 statements 6 featured 5 assessments 1 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
37m Ep 77: Mike Solana on Exposing Corruption, Saving San Francisco, and Building a New Media Empire · Joe Lonsdale
Host Joe Lonsdale interviews Founder Fund Chief Marketing Officer and Pirate Wires Editor-in-Chief Mike Solana to analyze the failure of legacy digital media, exposing municipal corruption a…
19 statements 6 featured 4 assessments 1 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
39m Ep 76: Accelerate or Die! Guillaume Verdon and the e/acc Movement · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews theoretical physicist and effective accelerationism (e/acc) founder Guillaume Verdon to explore how thermodynamic physics, …
23 statements 7 featured 5 assessments 2 contradicted