Episodes
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This episode is an interview I did with the new podcast Information Theory. The host of Information Theory is an anonymous technologist trained in physics and machine learning.
(00:00) - Introduction to Information Theory podcast(01:19) - The education of a physicist(10:53) - Computational genomics(19:40) - Thinking styles and collaboration in theoretical physics(26:08) - Scientific progress and the Great Stagnation(40:39) - University research administration(45:05) - Reproducibility crisis(57:58) - Impact of basic research (01:03:16) - Critique of NIH and biomedical research (01:06:48) - Personal reflections on Trump's re-election and an inside view of the 47 transition (01:12:37) - Silicon Valley and US politics(01:15:30) - Concerns and hope for America's future
Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.--
Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on X @hsu_steve.
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Pascal Lottaz is Associate Professor at Kyoto University’s Faculty of Law & Hakubi
Center. His research area is Neutrality Studies - the study of neutrality as a concept in international relations, sociology, international law, diplomacy, political science, security, and history.
Follow Pascal on X @PlottazPascal's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@neutralitystudies(00:00) - Professor Pascal Lattaz's background, early life, and experiences in Japan(14:17) - Neutrality in international relations(20:07) - Ukraine's struggle for neutrality(28:44) - Debating the Ukraine conflict(37:50) - Physics, social sciences, and observer-independent reality(46:13) - The importance of dissent in open societies(47:01) - Russian resilience, NATO, escalation strategies, and potential outcomes(51:43) - European realism and U.S. influence(56:16) - Incentive structures and NATO dynamics(01:04:11) - Japan's strategic position and U.S. alliance(01:13:49) - Potential conflicts and proxy wars in East Asia(01:30:35) - Philippines' strategic dilemma(01:36:26) - Concluding thoughts
Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.--
Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on X @hsu_steve.
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Episodes manquant?
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(00:00) - Overview: 3 weeks in China(02:33) - The China knowledge problem: Grappling with Reality(06:54) - Physics seminars in Shanghai and Beijing(15:54) - Chinese academia, challenges in scientific culture(22:43) - Yu Min: Two Bombs, One Satellite(27:02) - He Jiankui and gene editing, plus the future of biotech in China(33:32) - China's AI and chip war strategy. Impact of U.S. policies on semiconductor industry(35:46) - Quiet confidence in China's technological advancements(37:17) - Discovering my father's history in Yunnan, etched in stone(41:04) - Climbing Jade Mountain on election night: Trump Triumph(48:31) - Shanghai modern infrastructure and technology(51:16) - High-speed rail in China(53:12) - Visit China - or at least watch some travel videos on YouTube!
Links to X posts made during my trip - check out the whole timeline
during this period.
PPP and US vs PRC Real GDP
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1851653168158949492
PhD student asks me whether Jews control US politics:
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1852179736035778768
Note to retards, on "Chicoms":
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1852195575434715645
Yu Min and the Chinese H-bomb:
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1852497112635671016
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1852497765353558371
Me and He Jiankui:
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1852693355601199262
Dali:
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1853239642075648356
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1853247317840629820
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1853301562480718195
Lijiang:
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1854395254105047484
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1854503079669838057
MAGA on the Mountain:
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1854015799901495674
Business-class lie flat seats on HSR:
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1855042439280791977
Kumming:
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1855050351755641106
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1855409317937098864
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1855748351855071433
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1856215080637215222
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1856239700362834006
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1856533059509653578
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1856634646160683273
Shanghai:
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1857282310099386857
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1857391783770276314
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1857574060122845381
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1857653348557603255
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1858033981276467535
Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.
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Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on X @hsu_steve.
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Han Feizi is the pseudonym of a columnist for Asia Times, who covers the Chinese economy, technology, and US-China competition. The author lives in Beijing, and has an extensive background in finance and investment banking.
Han Feizi's articles for Asia Times: https://asiatimes.com/author/han-feizi/
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to the guest: Han Feizi
01:39 What it's like in Beijing right now06:38 Modern Conveniences in Beijing
12:11 What the economy feels like for ordinary people
19:09 China's economic structure: consumption, infrastructure investment, Michael Pettis
30:32 Currency Valuation and PPP: real PRC is significantly larger than US economy
31:45 US high living standards and manufacturing competitiveness
34:13 Globalization and its discontents
40:15 Reversing globalization and the myth of American exceptionalism
45:58 China's increasingly high quality standards and quality of life
58:09 Whither China? Xi Jinping
Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.--
Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on X @hsu_steve.
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This is a crossover episode with the Seeking Truth From Facts podcast.
(00:00) - Iranian missile attack vs Israel and missile defense(13:10) - Is there potential for a 1973-style oil crisis? (21:41) - Is NATO getting tired of the proxy war in Ukraine?(25:43) - Why has Europe declined relatively since 2008 and what are the consequences of said decline?(30:13) - Is procyclical European fiscal policy to blame?(34:51) - Has China's infrastructure boom been a white elephant?(41:37) - China's energy grid and solar energy transision(46:57) - Will India catch up to or overtake China?(57:06) - Is liberal democracy really necessary for long-term economic prosperity?(01:00:14) - How did Lee Kuan Yew transform Singapore?Links:
Iran ballistic missiles and missile defense
https://stevehsu.substack.com/p/iran-vs-israel-implications-for-missile
Pershing 2 Missile
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1843450614552113316
Russia-Ukraine war and Iran blowback
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1844551899103863154
India development
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1814994391502667953
https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1815047688829706279
Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.
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Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on X @hsu_steve.
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Samo Burja founded Bismarck Analysis, a consulting firm that investigates the political and institutional landscape of society. He is a Senior Research Fellow in Political Science at the Foresight Institute where he advises on how institutions can shape the future of technology. Since 2024, he has chaired the editorial board of Palladium Magazine, a non-partisan publication that explores the future of governance and society through international journalism, long-form analysis, and social philosophy. From 2020 to 2023, he was a Research Fellow at the Long Now Foundation where he studied how institutions can endure for centuries and millennia.
Samo writes and speaks on history, institutions, and strategy with a focus on exceptional leaders that create new social and political forms. Image has systematized this approach as “Great Founder Theory.”
Steve and Samo discuss:
(00:00) - Introduction(01:38) - Meet Samo Burja: Founder of Bismarck Analysis(03:17) - Palladium Magazine: A West Coast Publication(06:37) - The Unique Culture of Silicon Valley(12:53) - Inside Bismarck Analysis: Services and Clients(21:35) - The Role of Technology in Global Innovation(32:13) - The Influence of Rationalists and Effective Altruists(48:07) - European Tech Policies and Global Competition(49:28) - The Role of Taiwan and China in Tech Manufacturing(51:12) - Geopolitical Dynamics and Strategic Alliances(52:49) - China's Provincial Power and Industrial Strategy(56:02) - Urbanization and Demography, Ancient Society(59:41) - Intellectual Pursuits and Cultural Dynamics(01:04:09) - Intellectuals, SF, and Global Influence(01:13:45) - Fertility Rates, Urbanization, and Forgotten Migration(01:22:24) - Interest in Cultural Dynamics and Population Rates(01:26:03) - Daily Life as an IntellectualMusic used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.
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Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU.
Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on X @hsu_steve.
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This is a crossover episode in which https://x.com/loubohan interviews me for his podcast Deus Ex Machina.
I was obviously in an exuberant mood for this interview - it's one of my favorites!
Deus Ex Machina podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7mXUfNJdNnOjGfu6VGactr?si=Y3j1OZG4QsGdPhXd8dKsrw…
Timestamps:
(00:00) - Growing up in Iowa. Athletics, Chinese culture. KMT and military family background.(11:48) - Hearing about the Cultural Revolution from my dad: his family experienced it firsthand in Zhejiang. Meanwhile, US experts and academics were entirely deluded about reality in PRC(20:55) - "Experts" are often miscalibrated(35:03) - Physicists and finance. Was Charlie Munger right to say it's a waste of talent to channel top brains into finance?(45:15) - Hedgehogs, Foxes, and Eagles. Polymathy.(48:41) - Development of modern China as the greatest story of the last 50 years. My first visit to China: the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in 1992. US-China competition and the future of Asian Americans.(56:52) - Genomic Prediction. Genomics of cognitive ability. Leftists holding back genetic science. PING = NIH-funded Pediatric Imagining, Neurocognition, and Genetics study. Stephen J. Gould was a fraud. Asian culture (pragmatic realism) and resistance to woken...(01:05:20) - Physics and Free Will. Meat machines programmed by evolution to have an illusion of self?(01:10:04) - Copenhagen Interpretation of QM: Is there true randomness in Physics? Many Worlds, Foundations of QM, and groupthink in modern physics.(01:19:09) - Christianity, raised as a Methodist by my mother, whose family has been Christian since the 19th century. Religious Experience vs Physics viewpoint. Meat machines programmed by evolution to have mystical religious feelings?(01:21:28) - Raising children, family, happiness, the meaning of life in view of my father's life(01:24:34) - The meaning of life, "All is Vanity" (Ecclesiastes), ReligionMusic used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.
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Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on X @hsu_steve.
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This is a crossover episode in which Alf of the Seeking Truth from Facts podcast interviews Steve Hsu about the Chinese economy and political system, and US-China competition.
Seeking Truth From Facts podcast: https://substack.com/@seekingtruthfromfacts/p-148705853
Steve and Alf discuss:
(00:00) - Introduction to the Podcast Collaboration(00:48) - Steve Hsu's Background and Expertise(02:22) - US-China Geopolitical Dynamics(28:44) - China's Political System: Meritocracy vs. Autocracy(32:23) - China's Path to Liberalization: Past, Present, and Future(45:57) - Geopolitical Dynamics: China, Russia, and the West
Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.–
Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on X @hsu_steve.
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This is a short episode recorded at the end of a trip to Caltech (LA), Frankfurt, and Reykjavik.
Black hole information and replica wormholes at Caltech (talk slides):
https://stevehsu.substack.com/p/black-hole-information-and-replica00:00 Intro: summer in Iceland
02:04 deCODE genetics
05:52 Chess: Bobby Fischer in Reykjavik
11:56 Hyperscaling genAI
23:11 Synthetic data and Hyperscaling
24:26 Is the Transformer architecture enough for AGI?
29:45 Quantum black holes
Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.--
Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on X @hsu_steve.
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Robin Hanson is a professor of economics at George Mason University. He has worked in a variety of fields, including Physics, AI, Economics, and Futurism.
Follow him at https://x.com/robinhanson
"When the typical economist tells me about his latest research, my standard reaction is 'Eh, maybe.' Then I forget about it. When Robin Hanson tells me about his latest research, my standard reaction is 'No way! Impossible!' Then I think about it for years." -- Prof. Bryan Caplan, GMU
0:00 Introduction
00:34 Welcome and Manifest conference introduction
03:12 Robin Hanson: Education and Early Influences
08:38 Transition from Physics+AI to Social Science and Economics
22:02 Prediction Markets: Potential and Challenges
28:37 Cultural Drift and Challenges to Modern Society
40:49 Fertility and Demography
48:37 Life as a Polymath
59:27 Future of Artificial Intelligence and the Simulation Question
01:09:29 Audience Q&A
Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.
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Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on X @hsu_steve.
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Steve discusses China myths and realities with Victor, a tech founder who ran a company in Beijing for 7 years. Among the topics covered: economic growth, real estate bubble, technology innovation, human capital, freedom of expression, Confucianism and Culture.
00:00 Introduction
02:02 Post-COVID economy and bursting of the real estate bubble
08:25 Semiconductor Industry and US-China Tech War
16:57 STEM Education and Workforce: China vs US
20:36 Slides on PRC human capital deepening, STEM and total workforce
39:58 Economic indicators and potential war economy
41:03 Singapore as model for PRC development, leadership exchanges
45:45 Travel plans, changes since pre-COVID era, YouTube travel content
53:00 Freedom of expression
1:02:20 Confucianism, leadership styles
1:17:57 Backyard Addendum: Further thoughts, travel to China
Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.
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Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on X @hsu_steve.
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Earlier episode, Harvard Veritas:
https://www.manifold1.com/episodes/harvard-veritas-interview-with-a-recent-graduate-anonymous-18
Chapter markers:
(00:00) - Introduction and Guest Welcome(02:12) - Campus Protests and Media Perception(06:29) - Student Political Views and Academic Freedom(21:44) - Intellectual History of Wokeism(35:46) - STEM vs. Humanities: A Cultural Divide(54:30) - Future of Academia and Closing Thoughts
Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.--
Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on Twitter @hsu_steve.
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Steve talks about AI in light of his recent travels to SF, Singapore, Manila, Berkeley, and Silicon Valley.
Chapters:
(00:00) - Overview: SF, Singapore, Manila, Berkeley(01:48) - The AI Bubble in Silicon Valley(04:00) - Scaling Laws and AGI(23:36) - Global AI: Singapore, Philippines, real Enterprise applications(34:59) - AGI: Manhattan Project? Manifest and P(doomers), Situational Awareness(51:00) - China LLMs, Huawei vs Nvidia GPUs, US vs China AI raceLinks:
Scaling Laws for Neural Language Models: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2001.08361AI rollout in Philippines Call Centers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kps3M1wMHUMLLM rankings and Qwen2: https://huggingface.co/spaces/open-llm-leaderboard/blogThe Economist on China LLMs: https://archive.ph/nW7chSituational Awareness summary: https://x.com/hsu_steve/status/1803414701159714825Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.
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Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on Twitter @hsu_steve.
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Philippe Lemoine is a PhD candidate at Cornell University in philosophy and a widely-read public intellectual. We discuss philosophy, the scientific research used to justify COVID lockdowns, and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Philippe’s writing: philippelemoine.comPhilippe on X: https://twitter.com/phl43(00:00) - Introduction and Guest Background(00:54) - Philippe's Academic Journey(08:29) - Philosophical Insights and Career Shift: Public Intellectual(46:17) - Russian Energy and European Economy(48:27) - Covid Epidemic Modeling: Bad Science(56:22) - Critique of Scientific and Policy Incentives(01:31:54) - The Messy Reality of Ukraine Maidan Uprising(01:32:59) - Could Security Guarantees Have Prevented the Ukraine War?(02:07:21) - Ukraine War: Long-Term PredictionsMusic used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.
--Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on X @hsu_steve.
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Dr John Seo is co-founder and a managing director at Fermat Capital Management, LLC. He has over 30 years’ experience in fixed income bond and derivatives trading and has been active in the Insurance-Linked Securities (“ILS”) market for over 25 years. Prior to forming Fermat with his brother Nelson in 2001, Dr Seo was senior trader in the Insurance Products Group at Lehman Brothers, an officer of Lehman Re, and a state-appointed advisor to the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. Dr. Seo’s work in catastrophe funds was featured in a cover article for the New York Times Magazine (‘In Nature’s Casino’ by Michael Lewis, 26 August 2007), and he has also testified before US Congress as an expert on the catastrophe bond market (‘Hearings from the 110th Congress’, 6 September 2007). Dr Seo holds a PhD in Biophysics from Harvard University and a BS in Physics from MIT. He is based in Connecticut.
Steve and John discuss:00:00 Introduction
00:36 Early Career and Influences
02:10 The Investor Choice Problem
07:21 Academic Background and Family Challenges
12:43 First Steps in Finance
30:39 Lehman Brothers
37:29 Introduction to Cat Bonds
44:53 Parallels Between Derivatives and Insurance Markets
01:03:22 Building Fermat Capital
01:09:51 Future of Catastrophe Bonds
Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.
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Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU.
Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on Twitter @hsu_steve.
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Molson Hart is the CEO of Viahart, an educational toy company. He has deep experience selling products manufactured in China, using Amazon and other platforms. He produced a documentary about the challenges Amazon's market dominance creates for sellers and buyers worldwide. His recent video about a recent trip to visit factories in China went viral, generating millions of views on X.
Molson Hart on X: https://x.com/Molson_HartAmazon Documentary: https://youtu.be/8L6MaNVNBuQ?si=YMRb4z5F12CoJJI3
Steve and Molson discuss:1:22 Molson Hart's background, experience in China
5:26 The IQ Question
13:19 Entrepreneurship and China
38:40 Selling on Amazon
48:32 Alternatives and Competitors to Amazon
50:40 The Future of Amazon
55:30 Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
57:27 Understanding China
1:07:43 China's Rising Global Influence
1:16:12 Personal and National Identities
1:18:45 Demographics: China's Future
Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.--
Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU.
Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on X @hsu_steve.
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Jaan Tallinn is a billionaire computer programmer and investor. He was a co-founder of Skype, and has invested in companies like DeepMind and Anthropic.
Tallinn is a leading figure in the field of existential risk, having co-founded both the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER) at the University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom and the Future of Life Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States.
Steve and Jaan discuss:
00:00 Introduction
00:33 Jaan Tallinn: AI Investor
02:03 Acceleration Toward AGI: Excitement and Anxiety
04:29 AI Capabilities and Future Evolution
05:53 AI Safety, Ethics, and the Call for a Moratorium
07:12 Foundation models: Scaling, Synthetic Data, and Integration
13:08 AI and Cybersecurity: Threats and Precautions
26:52 Policy goals and desired outcomes
36:27 Cultural narratives on AI and how they differ globally
39:19 Closing Thoughts and Future Directions
References:
Jaan’s top priorities for reducing AI extinction risk: https://jaan.info/priorities/Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.
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Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on Twitter @hsu_steve.
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Glenn Luk has worked as an investment banker, private equity investor, and startup founder. He has closely analyzed aspects of the Chinese economy, including its GDP and high speed rail system.
Steve and Glenn discuss:
(00:00) - Introduction(01:21) - Glenn Luk's Background: HK, Taiwan, China(07:59) - Evolution of Chinese Companies and Economy(14:58) - From Banking to Private Equity and Venture Capital(23:08) - Founding a Healthcare Startup and Entrepreneurial Ventures(26:35) - China's Development and Economic Policies(41:17) - Comparing US and China's Economies and Cultures(47:12) - Demographics and Consumer Behavior in China(49:09) - China's Economy: Beyond GDP(56:34) - High Speed Rail: huge success, or white elephant?(01:17:26) - Future of China's EconomyReferences:
Glenn Luk on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GlennLukGlenn on High Speed Rail: https://www.readwriteinvest.com/p/is-high-speed-rail-in-china-a-grayMunger and Ricardo: https://infoproc.blogspot.com/2008/03/charlie-munger-ricardo-and-finance.html
Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.--
Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on Twitter @hsu_steve.
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Casey Handmer (PhD, Caltech, general relativity) is the founder of Terraform Industries. He is one of the most capable and ambitious geo-engineers on planet Earth!
Terraform Industries is scaling technology to produce cheap natural gas with sunlight and air. Using solar energy, they extract carbon from the air and synthesize natural gas, all at the same site.
March 2024: "Terraform completes the end to end demo, successfully producing fossil carbon free pipeline grade natural gas from sunlight and air. We also achieved green hydrogen at <$2.50/kg-H2 and DAC CO2 at <$250/T-CO2, two incredible milestones."
Links:
Casey Handmer’s website: https://www.caseyhandmer.com/Terraform Industries: https://terraformindustries.com/Nerds on Patrol [Episode 3] - Terraform Industries: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9k3dHFJPEU
Steve and Casey discuss:0:00 Introduction
00:31 Casey's early life and background, from Australia to Caltech
07:55 The academic path and transition to tech entrepreneurship
10:40 Terraform Industries
15:21 Solar costs, efficiency, and global Impact
24:25 A world powered by Terraform methane
31:27 The entrepreneurial journey: challenges and insights
35:01 Investor dynamics and strategic decisions for Terraform
41:28 The hard Reality of manufacturing and innovation
44:11 Navigating intellectual property and strategic partnerships
45:49 The moral and technical challenges of carbon neutrality
55:48 Looking ahead: Terraform's next milestones and the solar revolution
Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.
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Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on X @hsu_steve.
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Russell Clark is a hedge fund investor who has lived and worked in both Japan and China. He writes the widely followed Substack Capital Flows and Asset Markets: https://www.russell-clark.com/
Steve and Russell discuss:
0:00 Introduction
0:52 Russell's background and experiences in Japan
13:25 Hong Kong and finance
31:53 China property bubble
48:54 Dollar status as global reserve currency
56:09 Japan and China economies from a long run perspective
1:05:07 Inflation, US economy, and macro observations
Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.--
Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to [email protected] or Steve on X @hsu_steve.
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