Faster, Please! — The Podcast - Podcasts

29:01

An update on AI’s economic impact: My interview with...

Faster, Please! — The Podcast ·

2026/10/01

My guest this episode is Scott Strand. Scott is Head of Strategy, Operations, and Special Projects at Google, where he founded the Google AI Economy program as well as Google ATLAS. Recently, Scott co-authored two papers, “Mapping Gemini’s Usage in the Economy” and “AI in Science: Early Insights.” Today’s conversation will discuss these two papers, diving into the role AI could play in benefiting society through everyday life, scientific progress, and long-term economic growth.In this episode:* Is

en

31:58

📈 How economic growth can defeat authoritarianism: My...

Faster, Please! — The Podcast ·

2026/09/24

On this episode of Faster Please!—The Podcast, I am joined by Dalibor Rohac. Dalibor is the director of global research at GLOBSEC and a longtime senior research fellow in international relations at the University of Buckingham. Recently, he wrote the book Unshackled, which focuses on how economic power is inseparable from geopolitical strength.In our conversation, Dalibor and I discuss his new book and what growing strains within the Western alliance could mean for its economic and geopolitical

en

34:35

✨ Why verification is AI's real bottleneck: My...

Faster, Please! — The Podcast ·

2026/09/17

On this episode of Faster Please!—The Podcast, I am joined by Christian Catalini. Christian is a research scientist and the founder of the MIT Cryptoeconomics Lab. Recently, Christian co-authored “Some Simple Economics of AGI” In our conversation, we focus on the AI bottleneck of verification, rising safety concerns, and how to address and solve these problems while maintaining growth and the US advantage over China.In this episode:* Red light or green light? (0:37)* AI risk and safety (8:07)* The

en

32:36

✨ My interview with economist Tyler Cowen on the Age...

Faster, Please! — The Podcast ·

2026/09/09

On this episode of Faster Please!—The Podcast, I am joined (again) by Tyler Cowen. Tyler is an economics professor at George Mason University and co-founder of the economics blog Marginal Revolution. He is an opinion writer for The Free Press and the author of several books, including The Great Stagnation, Average Is Over, and Stubborn Attachments.During our conversation, Tyler and I discuss AI risk, the extent to which public pushback could slow AI progress and economic growth, different forecasts

en

34:37

🚀 The New Space Age meets the Age of AI: My interview...

Faster, Please! — The Podcast ·

2026/08/26

Thanks in large part to the massive drop in the cost of getting a pound or kilogram of stuff into orbit and beyond, many of the boldest Space Age dreams are now possible. The business of space makes economic sense like never before. And here comes the AI Revolution to really give the sector a boost.Today, on Faster Please!—The Podcast, I am joined by Phil Metzger. Phil is a professor of planetary science at the University of Central Florida and director of its Stephen W. Hawking Center for

en

30:20

🏁 The Great AI Race as a clash over compute: my...

Faster, Please! — The Podcast ·

2026/08/18

My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world:The AI race between America and China isn’t just about whose AI models are at the frontier or get adopted most widely. Today on Faster, Please! — The Podcast, I am joined by Ryan Fedasiuk, a fellow at AEI and the author of the Substack Choosing Victory, where he focuses on US-China relations, technology, and national power. He’s also an adjunct assistant professor at Georgetown University. Recently, Fedasiuk has

en

35:41

💧⚡🖥️ A deep-dive on data centers: My interview with...

Faster, Please! — The Podcast ·

2026/08/06

My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world:With the massive buildout of data centers has come an equally massive backlash. They’ve been blamed for higher electricity bills, taking up too much water, and pushing out farmland. All this has led to a public outcry and efforts against their construction. But how much of the criticism is warranted? Has one of America’s fastest-growing industries become a political scapegoat?Today on Faster, Please!—The Podcast, I am

en

34:00

📈 The business of AI: My interview with technology...

Faster, Please! — The Podcast ·

2026/07/30

My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world:Artificial intelligence is expected to transform the economy, but what about the AI industry itself? Companies across the AI supply chain are now valued in the trillions of dollars. But do the data and current demand justify such lofty expectations, or are investors getting ahead of reality? And when will the AI economy finally begin to live up to the hype?Today on Faster, Please!—The Podcast, I am joined by Azeem

en

31:32

✨ Data center distortions: My interview with energy...

Faster, Please! — The Podcast ·

2026/07/21

My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world:What problem does a data-center moratorium solve, exactly? As these warehouse-sized supercomputers face growing public backlash, they’re blamed for higher electricity bills and strains on the power grid—all while failing to provide enough jobs or tax revenue. But are they actually the problem, or are they exposing problems that have existed for years in America’s electrical grid?Today on Faster, Please!—The Podcast, I

en

34:43

✨ My interview with Sebastian Mallaby, author of 'The...

Faster, Please! — The Podcast ·

2026/07/14

My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world:If my podcast guest today is correct, the emergence of generative artificial intelligence "heralds a transformation more profound than anything since Homo sapiens acquired the capacity for abstract thought." That's about as pure a distillation of the San Francisco Consensus view on the importance of this technology as it gets.Today on Faster, Please!—The Podcast, I am joined by Sebastian Mallaby, the Paul A. Volcker

en

37:35

✨💪 AI, jobs, and productivity: My chat with economist...

Faster, Please! — The Podcast ·

2026/06/25

My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world:Will artificial intelligence displace workers or make them more valuable? Probably plenty of both. But how much in either direction, and how fast will all this change happen?Today on Faster, Please!—The Podcast, I am joined by Erik Brynjolfsson, one of the world’s top economists studying how AI is reshaping productivity, jobs, and the American economy.Brynjolfsson is the Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Professor and

en

28:27

✨💪 The future of work in an age of AI: My chat with...

Faster, Please! — The Podcast ·

2026/04/28

My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world:Artificial intelligence is undoubtedly poised to change the workplace—the question is, by how much? Key voices in Silicon Valley warn that white-collar jobs will soon be a thing of the past, while others predict more modest economic gains as firms struggle to reorganize workflows. When it comes to the future of work and American business, contradictory forecasts can be difficult to interpret and reconcile.Today on

en

19:46

🏗️ A hub for hard-tech startups: My chat with...

Faster, Please! — The Podcast ·

2026/04/10

My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world:As a college sophomore, Josh Farahzad assembled a group of students from around the country in an attempt to launch a homemade rocket into space. From there, he ditched the traditional route and scoured the country for the perfect place to build a uniquely American mega-project.Disillusioned with the entrepreneurial atmosphere of the Bay Area, he has since broken ground in central Texas. Caldwell County is now home to

en

42:55

✨ The Age of AI, an update: My chat with policy...

Faster, Please! — The Podcast ·

2026/03/24

My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world:Anxiety is running rampant about the future of artificial intelligence and its place in society. When technology CEOs warn of an impending white-collar jobpocalypse (or jobageddon, if you prefer), it’s no wonder public pessimism is so widespread. Today on Faster, Please!—The Podcast, I chat with tech policy analyst Dean Ball to help us sift through some of the uncertainty.We talk about recursive self-improvement, the

en

34:44

🌎 Storm watch: My chat with climate policy expert...

Faster, Please! — The Podcast ·

2026/02/19

My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world:Headlines portend rising seas, raging storms, and a planet in crisis. It’s easy to feel like the future is something to fear; however, the key to cooling things down isn’t scaling civilization back. If the world wants to cut back on carbon emissions without sacrificing growth, the answer lies in bold innovation. A sustainable tomorrow requires smart energy investment and long-term thinking today.On this episode of

en

26:41

☄️Awaiting apocalypse: My chat with journalist and...

Faster, Please! — The Podcast ·

2026/02/04

My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world:Since humanity’s beginning, we’ve been pondering about our end. From war, to disease, to divine reckoning, the means of our destruction seem endless. The advent of the atomic bomb, concerns around climate change, and now AI have prompted many to wonder whether our demise will be random, or if it will come as the result of our own actions.Today on Faster, Please! — The Podcast, I chat with Dorian Lynskey about the way

en

31:32

⤴️ Beyond Abundance: My chat with Brink Lindsey about...

Faster, Please! — The Podcast ·

2026/01/30

My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world:The human pursuit of progress stems from our desire for security and a higher quality of life. Yet, even as today’s advanced economies are the richest and most comfortable they’ve ever been, something is amiss. What explains the decline in R&D growth, mental health, and birth rates, just to name a few challenges?In his new book, The Permanent Problem: The Uncertain Transition from Mass Plenty to Mass Flourishing,

en

26:52

⚛️ A final (and lasting?) nuclear revival: My chat...

Faster, Please! — The Podcast ·

2026/01/20

My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world:Headlines abound with news of the coming nuclear renaissance — a long-awaited era of clean, abundant energy to power our future. But this is hardly the first time the media has heralded the dawn of the atomic age. Still, this round of nuclear optimism is seeing unprecedented corporate investment, more cost-effective modular reactors, and a greater sense of political consensus.Today on Faster, Please! — The Podcast, I

en

28:53

🪐 NASA and beyond: My chat with space policy analyst...

Faster, Please! — The Podcast ·

2025/12/04

My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world:NASA is attempting the difficult task of juggling highly ambitious goals, but also possibly intense budget cuts. Despite personnel losses and unclear leadership, the administration is racing to put humans on the Moon — ideally ahead of China — and then Mars.Today on Faster, Please! — The Podcast, I’m chatting with Casey Dreier about this complicated new era in NASA’s history. We’ll discuss whether or not we’re really

en

25:15

✨🔬 Acceleration though AI-automated R&D: My chat...

Faster, Please! — The Podcast ·

2025/11/20

My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world:What really gets AI optimists excited isn’t the prospect of automating customer service departments or human resources. Imagine, rather, what might happen to the pace of scientific progress if AI becomes a super research assistant. Tom Davidson’s new paper, How Quick and Big Would a Software Intelligence Explosion Be?, explores that very scenario.Today on Faster, Please! — The Podcast, I talk with Davidson about what

en

Faster, Please! — The Podcast

All Episodes

Similar Podcasts

Lead With AI

Tamara Nall

The Automated Daily

TrendTeller

My Weird Prompts

Daniel Rosehill

LessWrong (Curated & Popular)

LessWrong

脈報

思思主播