Recent Episodes
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Ep 112: Peter Thiel on DOGE, Tariffs, Building Generational Companies & the Future of Civilization
Apr 17, 2025 – 46:57 -
Episode 111: Sen. Tom Cotton on DOGE, TikTok, and "Seven Things You Can't Say About China"
Apr 3, 2025 – 43:07 -
Ep 110: Dr. Mike Israetel on Miracle Drugs, the Aesthetic Revolution, Living to 200 & New Frontiers in AI-Powered Medicine
Mar 14, 2025 – 42:06 -
Ep 109: Anson Frericks on the Rise & Fall of Budweiser; Milton Friedman vs Klaus Schwab; and How to Save Corporate America
Feb 21, 2025 – 43:14 -
Ep 108: Tim Urban on Superintelligence, Mars, Fermi Paradox & How to Conquer a Society
Feb 14, 2025 – 56:15 -
Ep 107: Off-Road Autonomy & Saving Soldiers' Lives with Overland AI CEO Byron Boots
Jan 30, 2025 – 34:10 -
Ep 106: Zac Bookman on Advice for DOGE & Building OpenGov into a $1.8 Billion GovTech Leader
Jan 23, 2025 – 49:36 -
Ep 105: What Can Aristotle Teach Us About AI? Training "Philosopher Builders" with Brendan McCord of the Cosmos Institute
Dec 14, 2024 – 49:31 -
Ep 104: Will AI Replace Coders? Terminal Co-Founder & CEO Dylan Serota
Dec 6, 2024 – 27:33 -
Ep 103: Raj Bhakta Created WhistlePig; Now He's Reinventing the Whiskey Industry (Again)
Nov 29, 2024 – 55:27 -
Ep 102: "If You're Not Blowing Stuff Up, You're Not Innovating!" — Stanford Professor Steve Blank
Nov 22, 2024 – 50:13 -
Ep 101: Gov. Kevin Stitt — the Businessman Governor Standing Up to Special Interests
Nov 15, 2024 – 24:38 -
Ep 100: Why AI Is Underhyped with Elad Gil
Nov 2, 2024 – 50:23 -
Ep 99: The Myth of American Inequality with Senator Phil Gramm
Oct 26, 2024 – 41:58 -
Ep 98: How Wokeness Foments Antisemitism; a Conversation with ADL's Jonathan Greenblatt
Oct 18, 2024 – 36:19 -
Ep 97: Jimmy John Built a Restaurant Empire; Government Almost Destroyed It
Oct 3, 2024 – 30:16 -
Ep 96: Harvard Economist Roland Fryer on the Truth Behind Police Shootings & Using Data to Supercharge Meritocracy
Sep 20, 2024 – 39:06 -
Ep 95: Navy SEAL & Saronic CEO Dino Mavrookas on the Race for Autonomous Ships and Naval Dominance
Sep 12, 2024 – 29:11 -
Ep 94: A Conversation with Turnaround King & U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross
Aug 30, 2024 – 43:38 -
Ep 93: Cold War II & the Race for Technological Supremacy with CrowdStrike Co-Founder Dmitri Alperovitch
Aug 22, 2024 – 54:44 -
Ep 92: High-Power Microwave & the Rise of Electronic Shields with Epirus CEO Andy Lowery
Aug 16, 2024 – 43:56 -
Ep 91: "I whooped his ass!" Legendary Investor & Home Depot Founder Ken Langone on Leadership, Courage & Defeating the Bad Guys
Jul 3, 2024 – 43:11 -
Ep 90: Ethan Penner on Choosing Greatness & Pioneering New Markets on Wall Street
May 23, 2024 – 37:06 -
Ep 89: Coleman Hughes on "The End of Race Politics" & the Worst Ideas Done in the Name of Diversity
May 16, 2024 – 40:20 -
Ep 88: A Conversation with MLK's Attorney & Speechwriter: Dr. Clarence Jones
May 10, 2024 – 46:21 -
Ep 87: Dr. Cliff Winston — Deregulate Lawyers, Deregulate Airlines, and Let Markets Correct Themselves
May 2, 2024 – 34:32 -
Ep 86: How to Design a STEM Curriculum for the 21st Century with Dr. David Ruth
Apr 25, 2024 – 32:39 -
Ep 85: The Path to Regime Change in Iran with Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi
Apr 18, 2024 – 38:34 -
Ep 84: Sri Ganesan on Freshworks' Big Win, Building Rocketlane & India's Tech Boom
Apr 11, 2024 – 30:02 -
Ep 83: A New Cancer Breakthrough with Ivan Dimov of Orca Bio
Apr 5, 2024 – 32:16 -
Ep 82: Whitney Baker's Masterclass on Macro Investing & the State of the Economy
Mar 21, 2024 – 40:33 -
Ep 81: How Palantir Star Tyler Scriven Is Helping Small Businesses Compete Against Amazon
Mar 14, 2024 – 33:34 -
Ep 80: Leonard Leo's Winning Strategy to Rebuild Institutions, Accelerate Innovation, and Save Our Country
Mar 8, 2024 – 35:57 -
Ep 79: Bjorn Lomborg and the 12 Best Policies to Help the World
Feb 29, 2024 – 45:15 -
Ep 78: Emil Michael — the Master Dealmaker Behind Uber's Global Dominance
Feb 14, 2024 – 40:27 -
Ep 77: Mike Solana on Exposing Government Corruption, Saving San Francisco, and Building a New Media Empire
Feb 8, 2024 – 36:02 -
Ep 76: Accelerate or Die! Guillaume Verdon and the e/acc Movement
Jan 31, 2024 – 36:19 -
Ep 75: Leadership Lessons with Intuit Founder & Silicon Valley Legend Scott Cook
Dec 20, 2023 – 20:10 -
Ep 74: A Turning Point in Higher Education with Pano Kanelos & Niall Ferguson
Dec 13, 2023 – 22:56 -
Ep 73: How Candid Health Is Fixing the $280B Healthcare Billing Fiasco, With Lessons from Palantir
Dec 7, 2023 – 29:38 -
Ep 72: Illegal Chinese Bio Labs & Secret Police in the U.S.; Investigating the CCP with Congressman Mike Gallagher
Nov 30, 2023 – 42:27 -
Ep 71: Reinventing Community College with Tade Oyerinde, Chancellor of Campus
Nov 23, 2023 – 34:35 -
Ep 70: "The Geek Way" — Andrew McAfee's New Book on the Radical Mindset that Transformed the World
Nov 15, 2023 – 34:55 -
Ep 69: How a Builder Mindset Is Solving the World's Ocean Trash Problem; Boyan Slat & The Ocean Cleanup
Nov 8, 2023 – 35:14 -
Ep 68: How to Generate Alpha in Volatile Markets with Jacob Miller of Opto Investments
Nov 2, 2023 – 30:15 -
Ep 67: Brad Gerstner on the AI Supercycle & Restoring Faith in Capitalism with Invest America
Oct 25, 2023 – 40:54 -
A Missing Israeli Soldier & the Truth About Hamas
Oct 13, 2023 – 20:14 -
Ep 66: Bob McGrew — the Superstar Palantir Alum Leading OpenAI's Transformative Research Projects
Aug 18, 2023 – 43:06 -
Ep 65: Marc Andreessen and the Case for AI Optimism
Jul 18, 2023 – 56:57 -
Ep 64: The Palantir Interview with Dr. Alex Karp
Jul 14, 2023 – 49:48
Recent Reviews
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TransmogrificationPretentious AmateurHost and guest love the sound of their own voices and annoyingly agreeable mostly anecdotal less analytical name dropping narcissist and reductive
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Vance GinnInnovativeIf you want innovative ideas, this is the show for you!
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Alden GuyI never miss an episodeAmerican Optimist is an incredibly well-suited name for this podcast. In a time of incredible cynicism, Joe Lonsdale brings a stark clarity of thinking and objectivity to his interviews and his analysis of different markets and opportunities. I think what sets this podcast apart is a. the quality of the interviewees that Joe is able to get on the show, and b. the objective, insightful manner in which he interviews these individuals. Given his track record as founder of Palantir and as also as an excellent VC, he brings a unique perspective and energy to his interviews that I don’t find anywhere else. Not to be missed.
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valueinvest84Excellent guests and well moderated by JoeI’ve worked in tech for nearly two decades and admittedly didn’t really know Joe’s background. He’s an inspiring, ultra successful, young leader that I find very interesting to listen to. Thanks for doing this Joe and keep up the great work!
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whilingstagesGood topics but the host interrupts constantlyI like the guests and topics but the host is insufferable. He interrupts *constantly* and barely lets the guest finish their thought. So rude! If he wants to hear himself talk that much, then the podcast shouldn’t have an interview format.
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aspenbackRemarkable guests. Remarkable insightsI listen to dozens of podcasts and this has become my favorite business podcast. It expands your viewpoints and in a world of negativity, American Optimist introduces you to bold, successful ideas and people.
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ASoberingA Interviews 🙌This is one of the most insightful podcasts that I have ever come across! Joe does such a great job of sharing his own personal wisdom and I love how he leads meaningful conversations with inspiring guests who bring so much experience to the table. Highly recommend checking this show out - you won’t be disappointed!
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Jordan MoorheadGreat show!I’m an American optimist and love that Joe is able to bring so many people taking America to the next level on this podcast!
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Sophie26773389:Not free college if they don’t guarantee a decent wageI’ve heard a lot of scam colleges promise to find jobs for graduates or money back. But the jobs they guarantee is at or near minimum wage, they don’t pay enough for the students to pay back the tuition.
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Trlarsen5 star ContentMy only request would be that Joe let the experts speak. He is constantly stepping on their toes mid sentence to repeat what they were going to say anyway.
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Krzysztof MazurOpen minded, great guests pickGood conversation with guests. Joe is putting a positive spin on things that we as society could do better !
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KTEBoylePoor manners/interviewing skillsI have listened to thousands of interviews and have never heard an interviewer interrupt their guest so quickly and frequently to try to sound smart. I came here to specifically listen to Balaji speak, and got some ‘interviewer’ not let the guest finish any sentences before talking over them to them them what he thinks they’re saying. Will never listen to this podcast again after that experience. One and done.
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WinscottPatarkusBest podcast I have listened toThis is the best podcast I have listened to in a long time. At its heart, it is the testimonies of people who in their journey to accomplish incredible and inspiring things, have discovered and embraced liberalism (small L), and an acknowledgment of the fact that we live in the best time in human history. It is also an honest reckoning of the greatest threats to our continued progress, and they are not what most people expect. The success of this podcast stems from Joe having access to truly world class people and asking profound and meaningful questions. Thanks for doing this, one of the many ways you are giving back.
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Rolling ConservativeExciting conversationOther than the person tapping the microphone/desk, this was fantastic!
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Troyasaurus RexSo smart20 years ago, the knowledge in of these podcasts would have been a university class and cost several thousand dollars. This dude is giving it away for free, and I couldn’t be happier.
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bugmangoSo refreshingWith so much negativity and pessimism becoming the norm in this country, it’s so refreshing to listen to these men and woman talk about what makes America a unique and wonderful place. A podcast like this was seriously overdue. Can’t wait for subsequent episodes.
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SWEAR2DOGYou were raised in povertyWW Bro sent me here
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LizzymichiganSelf serving echo chamberSo dumb - let’s only have people on that agree with our point of view lol! Way to solve the worlds problems.
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FreedombuilderRefreshing, insightful and positiveLife is so much better then it has ever been. This is a fact that we so rarely hear about. Life is better and it continues to get better, Joe’s podcast illuminates this fact and brings common sense optimism and a wide range of cutting edge strategies, unique individuals and modern breakthroughs to the conversation…. You will love it.
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Viking XRefreshing bounceJoe’s podcast is a fantastic change from the doom and gloom you typically hear in the media. He offers thoughts and ideas meant to inspire the next generation of leaders
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Neutered NetRefreshing take on policy and techThis show is for those who want to hear from those building a better future. Rather than only complaining about current events, Joe Lonsdale and his guests discuss policy and tech solutions to the biggest challenges facing America and the world.
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AR0608A Needed PerspectiveLove this idea. The guests are engaging and the topics are well researched and insightful. Can’t wait for more!
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NJ11955It’s About TimeFinally a show that focuses on the inspiring and hopeful stories that aren’t being told in the mainstream media. I’m only a few episodes in and I’ve already learned so much about some amazing tech breakthroughs I had never heard of before.
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