Episodes
Five years of tape. Every episode is checked claim by claim and playable.
26 episodes in 2026
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
36m Ex-DeepMind Scientist Just Solved Robotic's Toughest Challenge
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale and partner Vivek Gopalan interview Generalist AI co-founder Pete Florence about the breakthrough arrival of foundation models in phys…
18 statements 5 featured 3 assessments 1 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
43m Why AI Creators Keep Panicking (They're Wrong)
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale and Box CEO Aaron Levie dismantle apocalyptic AI doomerism and explore how generative intelligence will revolutionize enterprise workf…
18 statements 6 featured 2 assessments 1 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
41m America’s $700 Billion Defense Tech Rebuild
Hosted by Joe Lonsdale, this episode examines the critical modernization of American national security through in-depth discussions with defense leaders Shyam Sankar, Emil Michael, and Kevin…
31 statements 11 featured 9 assessments 1 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
43m Why AI is Bigger Than the Industrial Revolution
Hosted by venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale, this episode of American Optimist investigates how artificial intelligence is driving a new industrial revolution through candid conversations with…
32 statements 8 featured 6 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
39m How AI Agents Are Transforming This $140 Billion Industry · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale speaks with Outset founder Aaron Cannon and 8VC partner Jack Moskovich about how AI-moderated interviews are transforming the market r…
16 statements 7 featured
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
38m How AI Agents Are Creating an Infinitely Scalable Workforce · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews Blend co-founder and CEO Nima Ghamsari about his journey from Palantir to building a leading fintech platform. Ghamsari dis…
13 statements 5 featured 1 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
39m SpaceX’s Secret, Nuclear's Rebirth, and the AI Power Crisis · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews General Matter CEO Scott Nolan on rebuilding America's nuclear fuel enrichment capacity to solve the AI-driven energy crisi…
20 statements 5 featured 11 assessments 2 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
49m How the Left Weaponized Slavery · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale speaks with intellectual Coleman Hughes to examine the contrast between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision of colorblind individualis…
27 statements 6 featured 12 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
30m AI Investing Strategy for 2026 · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews Eric Scott, Managing Partner at Overlook Capital, to explore the structural dislocation in modern venture capital created b…
17 statements 5 featured 2 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
34m Trump’s Plan for AI Dominance · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews Under Secretary of State Jacob Helberg to explore "Pax Silica," a major US diplomatic and economic initiative designed to s…
19 statements 6 featured 9 assessments 1 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
44m Palantir CTO: We Need More Heretics · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale speaks with Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar about Palantir's early high-agency engineering culture, the urgent need to rebuild the U.S. defe…
16 statements 6 featured 4 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
38m Running DC Like Wall Street: CEO of America's Investment Fund · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews Ben Black, CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), about reforming foreign aid through market-…
16 statements 6 featured 7 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
41m From Wall Street King to Federal Prison: Michael Milken's Story · Joe Lonsdale
On the 'American Optimist' show hosted by Joe Lonsdale, attorney and author Richard Sandler discusses his book 'Witness to a Prosecution', detailing Michael Milken's revolutionization of Ame…
12 statements 4 featured 6 assessments 2 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
34m How AI Agents are Changing Investing · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews John Milles-Kiriazzi, CEO of Standard Metrics, on how artificial intelligence and autonomous agents are reshaping venture c…
16 statements 4 featured 2 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
34m How to Turn $15K Into $1M in 2026 · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale and guest Will Fry explore how young entrepreneurs can leverage modern technology and the 'Operate-to-Own' model to acquire cash-flowi…
20 statements 6 featured 8 assessments 1 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
39m How 200mph Flying Taxis Will End Traffic Jams
Host Joe Lonsdale sits down with Joby Aviation founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt to discuss the imminent commercial launch of 200 mph electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The …
19 statements 7 featured 8 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
53m How AI Agents Are Creating 12X Productivity Gains · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale speaks with Cognition co-founders Scott Wu and Russell Kaplan about Devin, the world's first autonomous AI software engineer. They dis…
28 statements 10 featured 6 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
36m Jake Paul on Endorsing Trump & the AI Economy · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews creator, athlete, and venture capitalist Jake Paul alongside Anti Fund co-founder Jeff Wu to discuss cultural leadership, p…
17 statements 8 featured 4 assessments 1 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
31m Exposing a Billion Dollar Fraud Scandal (Using Palantir) · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler on her initiatives to revitalize American manufacturing and eliminate billions in pandemic…
20 statements 8 featured 14 assessments 2 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
32m Why this Billionaire Just Took Over NASA · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews newly appointed NASA Administrator and billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman about his career with Shift4 Payments and Dr…
17 statements 4 featured 6 assessments 1 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
36m How to Use AI in 2026: Opendoor Founder's Advice · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews entrepreneur and Opendoor co-founder JD Ross to discuss how artificial intelligence is transforming software engineering, e…
17 statements 6 featured 2 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
1h 1m Top Tech Investors: This AI Wave Is 10X Bigger Than SaaS · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale and 8VC venture partners Alex Kolicich and Jack Moshkovich analyze the macroeconomic potential and investment landscape of the AI revo…
27 statements 10 featured 8 assessments 3 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
38m AI Expert: Agents Will Take Over Everything · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews cybersecurity pioneer Kevin Mandia to explore the history of state-sponsored cyber espionage and the urgent security threat…
13 statements 5 featured 4 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
46m Investing in 2026: What You Need to Know (SEC Chairman) · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of American Optimist, host Joe Lonsdale interviews SEC Chairman Paul Atkins to discuss a major shift in financial regulation aimed at reviving public markets, embracing crypt…
19 statements 6 featured 7 assessments
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
39m The Secret Team Fixing America's Broken Systems · Joe Lonsdale
Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb and Chief Design Officer of the United States, joins host Joe Lonsdale to discuss his political evolution, his work with DOGE, and the "America by Design" in…
23 statements 9 featured 10 assessments 1 contradicted
🎙AMERICAN OPTIMIST
29m Pentagon Chief: 6 Weapons That Will Prevent WW3 · Joe Lonsdale
In this episode of 'American Optimist,' host Joe Lonsdale interviews Emil Michael, Undersecretary of War for Research and Engineering, about transforming Pentagon procurement and technology …
15 statements 5 featured 7 assessments