Upstream with Erik Torenberg

Where @eriktorenberg goes deeper with the world’s most foundational thinkers to map the constellation of ideas that matter.
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[Upstream with Erik Torenberg @Upstream__Pod]

RT @TurpentineMedia: Silicon Valley went from connecting people to censoring them. As Trump’s AI & Crypto Czar, @DavidSacks is well-positio…

[Will Summerlin @WSummerlinAI]

In addition to launching our new venture capital firm today, Autopilot (@HQAutopilot), we are also excited to announce our new podcast on @TurpentineMedia, where we discuss the past, present, and future of AI and its impact on various industries.

On our first episode, we are joined by @sergiynest , founder and CEO of @quilterai, a startup that uses artificial intelligence to automate the design of printed circuit boards. @quilterai recently raised $10mm from @benchmark and @coatuemgmt.

Apple: https://t.co/5Zq5iYrkbI

Spotify: https://t.co/6pkGH6yFuU

YouTube: https://t.co/fSl2HdJJFn

[Turpentine @TurpentineMedia]

On today's episode of Upstream: Political scientist and writer @RichardHanania returns to the show.

Richard, president of @CSPICenterOrg, joins Erik in a discussion on wokeness, the Israel-Palestine conflict, the mythos of the modern right, Richard's upcoming debate with Curtis Yarvin, and more.

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TIMESTAMPS:
(00:00) Intro
(02:11) Wokeness, DEI, and the removal of university presidents
(06:24) How the Israel-Palestine conflict is affecting DEI
(08:02) American sentiment towards Israel-Palestine (18:26) Richard's foreign policy perspective on Israel-Palestine
(22:42) Nietzschean Liberalism
(25:19) How much truth can people take?
(30:24) Technology as a spiritual North Star
(32:19) Reactionary feminism
(38:14) Male status & birth rates
(41:29) How important is IQ?
(45:09) How to discuss difficult truths
(47:40) Richard's debate with Curtis Yarvin
(54:19) Understanding Effective Altruism

[Upstream with Erik Torenberg @Upstream__Pod]

Thanks to Shopify for sponsoring Upstream. Head to https://t.co/Xhssi1OnBt for a $1/month trial period.

[Upstream with Erik Torenberg @Upstream__Pod]

This week on Upstream, @eriktorenberg is in the guest seat! We're airing an episode from @gregisenberg's Where It Happens. Erik and Greg discuss:
➕The future of media
➕B2B creators
➕How to find a profitable niche for a media business

Links to the full episode in replies

[Upstream with Erik Torenberg @Upstream__Pod]

Listen the full episode on Spotify: https://t.co/GlgSwI9N2N

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[Stephen McBride @DisruptionHedge]

Great convo between @eriktorenberg and @hsu_steve

How does this podcast only have 1k views?

Give it a listen

https://t.co/hXcCc007ap

[Upstream with Erik Torenberg @Upstream__Pod]

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[Upstream with Erik Torenberg @Upstream__Pod]

In our latest Upstream episode, @eriktorenberg sits down with theoretical physicist and startup founder @hsu_steve. They discuss:
➕Political polarization in academia
➕Which jobs will soon replaced by AI
➕How to understand the rise of China

Links to full episode in comments

[Upstream with Erik Torenberg @Upstream__Pod]

Listen to the full episode on Spotify: https://t.co/qxodgyZiMS

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YouTube: https://t.co/U343pZA5pZ

[Bret Swanson @bretswanson]

Good @Upstream__Pod @eriktorenberg with physicist @hsu_steve on A.I., fertility, higher ed, China, and the need for more curiosity and epistemic humility. https://t.co/ke2aBmX4Ok

[Upstream with Erik Torenberg @Upstream__Pod]

Thanks to our sponsors:

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GiveWell: https://t.co/SnioGqacao for $100 donation matched, pick “Podcast” and enter "Upstream with Erik Torenberg" at checkout.

[Upstream with Erik Torenberg @Upstream__Pod]

On this week's Upstream @VinikItay sits down with @eriktorenberg to unpack macro + debunk market myths. They discuss:
➕The Fed's role in money creation
➕How to adjust your investing strategy if you believe interest rates will rise or fall
➕The stock market vs the real economy

[Upstream with Erik Torenberg @Upstream__Pod]

Listen on Spotify: https://t.co/yVzQGnsGR0

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[Upstream with Erik Torenberg @Upstream__Pod]

Thanks to our sponsors:

Shopify: https://t.co/Xhssi1OnBt for a $1/month trial period

GiveWell: https://t.co/SnioGqacao for $100 donation matched, pick “Podcast” and enter "Upstream with Erik Torenberg" at checkout.

[Upstream with Erik Torenberg @Upstream__Pod]

The Upstream Holiday Special is live. @eriktorenberg @seanlinehan @jwmares @nick_dewilde break down each other's startup ideas. Please enjoy "Request for Startups."

Links to the full episode in comments.

[Upstream with Erik Torenberg @Upstream__Pod]

Watch the full episode on Spotify: https://t.co/i6oRqv6lOu

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[Ethan Perlstein 1-to-N @eperlste]

“In the future, sex will be for fun and IVF will be for babies”

Spicy but I think accurate take from @noor_siddiqui_, CEO of @OrchidInc which provides whole genome screening of embryos

🎧👇https://t.co/K2lsaklRNq

[Upstream with Erik Torenberg @Upstream__Pod]

Watch the full episode on Spotify: https://t.co/HECJkKXRhP

Apple: https://t.co/O4BQ0yXlfJ

YouTube: https://t.co/mubwl129AA

[Upstream with Erik Torenberg @Upstream__Pod]

Watch our newest episode with @noor_siddiqui_ of @OrchidInc.

Links to full episode in comments

[Turpentine @TurpentineMedia]

“Within one generation, we have the ability to slash incidence rates for so many major diseases.”

@noor_siddiqui_'s company @OrchidInc recently announced their whole genome sequencing capabilities for embryos. Noor and @ErikTorenberg discuss this technology and more on @Upstream__Pod.

Orchid’s capabilities
"We had this pretty badass accomplishment last week… which is that we built the world's first whole genome sequencing for embryos. Embryos historically have had very little information. You sequence a really, really small segment of the genome of an embryo, less than 1%, versus what Orchid is able to do is sequence 99%. So over a hundred times the amount of data on an embryo. The analogy that I like to use is a table of contents versus reading the entire book."

Eliminating rare genetic diseases
"I'm just insanely excited about it because within one generation, we have the ability to slash incidence rates for so many major diseases. Right now in the U. S. there are 30 million people with a rare disease... They're individually rare… but in aggregate, they're really common. If you add up all these people, 30 million people, 10 percent of Americans have this rare genetic disorder where there's this orphan drug problem where drug companies have no incentive to design a gene therapy or really any treatment for these people… With Orchid… you have the ability to avoid all of these thousands of catastrophic diseases at once."

On IVF
"Yeah, IVF is so cool… The first time I went to an IVF lab I thought it was the coolest thing ever. You literally come there, and this is a place where they make humans, right? Millions of people owe their existence to IVF… IVF is like traditionally used to treat infertility... Most people want to have kids later in life. I think the average age of a first time mother in San Francisco is 33 or something like that. And a geriatric pregnancy is 35, right? The condition for everyone is to become infertile over time. And as we've pushed the age where we want to have kids later and later, the set of people who have some sort of fertility issue happens earlier and earlier… My… hot take is just that sex is for fun and IVF is for babies in the future, right?"

On the bullied founder stereotype
"…Sometimes people celebrate these super pathological and traumatic childhoods of founders, right? Elon was famously bullied, and a lot of really successful founders were. They just got used to their life being really hard from birth to them that starting companies became easy because it wasn't any change… There's almost this weird cultishness and support of trauma because it makes it so that people can create these amazing empires, right? …The unhealthy view that is propagated is, if you just were well-loved and had a happy, well-adjusted childhood, you don't have enough of a chip on your shoulder, you don't have enough of an insecurity, you don't have enough of a pain tolerance to make anything truly new and exceptional, because the only people who want to do that have something to to prove, or just are are used to not being satisfied."