Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist

American Optimist, hosted by Joe Lonsdale: entrepreneur, investor, and founder of four multi-billion dollar companies and other mission-driven organizations. American Optimist is an alternative to the fear, cynicism, and zero-sum thinking in mainstream media. Learn from the innovators and leaders who are solving our nation’s most pressing challenges, and doing it in a way that will lift everyone up. Hope should dominate our discourse, and American Optimist will show you why. blog.joelonsdale.com

Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist is a technology podcast hosted by Joe Lonsdale, with 161 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Joe Lonsdale hosts Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist, a technology show with 161 episodes published.

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  Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist

  Ep 156: Coleman Hughes Takes on America's Most Contentious Debate: the Legacy of Slavery

  May 29, 202650 minS0

  <p>Is America’s national wealth built on slavery? Are disparities between races today attributable to past injustices? Will we ever overcome race politics? These difficult questions are at the heart of Coleman Hughes’ new course at the University of Austin titled “The Legacy of Slavery.”</p><p>Coleman is one of the clearest voices confronting race-essentialism in America today. He’s the author of The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America, host of the Conversations with Coleman podcast, and a visiting professor at the University of Austin.</p><p>In this episode, Coleman takes us behind the scenes...

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  Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist

  Ep 155: Eric Scott on the Biggest Missed Opportunity in Venture Investing

  May 22, 202630 minS0

  <p>As a former Principal at Founders Fund, Founding Partner at SciFi VC, and 8VC advisor, Eric Scott has invested in and helped build numerous technology leaders. He’s launching his new fund, Overlook Capital, where he sees missed opportunities in the market. How has venture investing evolved in recent years? Where does he see the dislocations? And how will AI change the game going forward?</p><p>After graduating from Claremont McKenna College, Eric emailed his way into Max Levchin’s network, becoming an early employee at HVF Labs where he learned to invest and build companies. He later spun...

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  Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist

  Ep 154: Jacob Helberg on Pax Silica & the New Global Order in the AI Age

  May 19, 202634 minS0

  <p>Jacob Helberg is leading the State Department's efforts to secure critical supply chains and win the global AI race. How is the U.S. shifting from dependency on China to building new partnerships around energy, minerals, and infrastructure? Which economies will grow fastest in the AI era? Who will be left behind? And how will this impact geopolitics? We discuss these timely topics with Jacob, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment. A tech policy veteran who worked at Google and Palantir before serving on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, Jacob...

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  Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist

  Ep 153: Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar on Heretics, AI Weapons, and Rebuilding the Arsenal of Democracy

  May 8, 202644 minS0

  <p>Shyam Sankar is one of my favorite American innovators. As CTO of Palantir, he's been a key leader for over 20 years and built much of what the company stands for. He's also a patriot, and recently commissioned as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. His new best-selling book "Mobilize" lays out the crisis of the American industrial base, how to revive what made us a global superpower, and what it will take to prevent the next great power conflict. </p><p>Shyam's father was raised in a mud hut in India. He and his family relocated...

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  Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist

  Ep 152: Ben Black Runs America's $200B Foreign Investment Fund; Here's His Plan to Counter China & Rebuild American Influence

  Apr 30, 202639 minS0

  <p>Ben Black is the CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). Backed by a $205 billion budget, his mandate is to invest in U.S. strategic interests, build new markets, and deliver real returns for taxpayers. What projects is the DFC prioritizing? How is he countering China's trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative? And how is the Trump administration shifting from a paternalistic view of foreign aid toward investing with accountability and an expectation of returns? </p><p>A history major at the University of Pennsylvania, Ben began his career in finance at Goldman Sachs before earning a...

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