Episódios

  • 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 now

    06:38 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.

  • 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.

    --

    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 Intellectual

    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.

  • 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), Religion

    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.

  • 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.

  • 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-replica

    00:00 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.

  • 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.

    --

    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.

  • 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.

    --

    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.

  • 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.

  • 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 race

    Links:

    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/1803414701159714825

    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.

  • 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 Predictions

    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.

  • 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.

    --

    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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

    --

    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.

  • 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 Economy

    References:

    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.

  • 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.

    --

    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.

  • 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.

  • Stephen Grugett is the co-founder of Manifold Markets, the world's largest prediction market platform where people bet on politics, tech, sports, and more.

    Steve and Stephen discuss:

    0:00 Introduction

    0:52 Stephen Grugett’s background

    5:20 The genesis and mission of Manifold Markets

    11:25 The play money advantage: Legalities and user engagement

    20:47 Manifold’s user base and the power of calibration

    23:35 Simplifying prediction markets for broader engagement

    27:31 Revenue streams and future business directions

    30:46 Legal challenges in prediction markets

    31:47 Dating markets

    32:53 The Art of PR

    38:32 Global reach and community engagement

    39:27 The future of Manifold Markets and user predictions

    43:38 Life in the Bay Area; Tech, culture, and crazy stuff

    Manifold Markets: https://manifold.markets/


    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.

  • Raymond McGovern is a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst, serving from 1963 to 1990. His CIA career began under President John F. Kennedy and lasted through the presidency of George H. W. Bush. McGovern advised Henry Kissinger during the Richard Nixon administration, and during the Ronald Reagan administration he chaired National Intelligence Estimates and prepared the President's Daily Brief.

    He received the Intelligence Commendation Medal at his retirement but returned it in 2006 to protest the CIA's involvement in torture.

    Steve and Ray discuss:

    0:00 Introduction

    01:25 Ray McGovern's assessment of the JFK assassination

    26:10 Hunter Biden's laptop

    30:50 Ukraine and the U.S. intelligence services' role in the deep state

    55:20 Strategic implications of the Ukraine war for the U.S.

    01:03:38 Are things worse today, versus 1963?

    Books referenced in this episode:

    JFK and the Unspeakable

    https://www.amazon.com/JFK-Unspeakable-Why-Died-Matters/dp/1439193886

    Mary's Mosaic: The CIA Conspiracy to Murder John F. Kennedy

    https://www.amazon.com/Marys-Mosaic-Conspiracy-Kennedy-Pinchot/dp/1510708928/

    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.

  • Steve discusses DNA and the origin of life on Earth, the Fermi Paradox (is there alien life?), AI and its implications for the Simulation Question: could our universe be a simulation? Are we machines, but don't know it?

    Slides: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CrWLiKYhLbDLG8yTOBySrsKrzAUbV-FES1toeJL-UWE/edit?usp=sharing

    Further discussion of the Simulation Question in light of AGI, and a refinement from quantum mechanics: The Quantum Simulation Question: https://infoproc.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-quantum-simulation-hypothesis-do-we.html

    CORRECTION: 31:25 The size of our galaxy is not 100 million light years. I should have said ~100 THOUSAND = 100k light years instead!!!

    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 Twitter @hsu_steve.