The last time Andrew Yang was on the podcast, he was just beginning his long shot campaign for the presidency. Now, he’s fresh off a speaking slot at the Democratic convention, and, as he reveals here, talking to Joe Biden about a very specific role in a Biden administration.

Which is all to say: A lot has changed for Andrew Yang in the past few years. And even more has changed in the world. So I asked Yang back on the show to talk through this new world, and his possible role in it. Among our topics:

- Could a universal basic income be the way we rebuild a fairer economy post-coronavirus?

- What’s changed in AI, and its likely effect on the economy, over the past five years?

- What’s the one mistake Yang wishes the Democratic Party would stop making?

- What did he learn from the surprising success of his own campaign?

- What job is he talking to Joe Biden about taking if Democrats win in November?

- Democrats think of themselves as the party of government. So why don’t they care more about making government work?

- How can Democrats get away with endlessly claiming to support ideas they have no actual intention of passing?

- Do progressives have an overly dystopic view of technology?

- Is there a way to pull presidential campaigns out of value statements, and into real plans for governing?

- The unusual power Joe Biden holds in American politics

And much more.

References:

Vox's Kelsey Piper's piece on GPT-3

My previous podcast with Andrew Yang

Ezra's piece on "Why we can't build"

Book recommendations:

Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe by Roger McNamee

They Don't Represent Us by Lawrence Lessig

Humankind by Rutger Bregman

This podcast is part of a larger Vox project called The Great Rebuild, which is made possible thanks to support from Omidyar Network, a social impact venture that works to reimagine critical systems and the ideas that govern them, and to build more inclusive and equitable societies. You can find out more at vox.com/the-great-rebuild

We are conducting an audience survey to better serve you. It takes no more than five minutes, and it really helps out the show. Please take our survey here: voxmedia.com/podsurvey.

Please consider making a contribution to Vox to support this show: bit.ly/givepodcasts Your support will help us keep having ambitious conversations about big ideas.

New to the show? Want to check out Ezra’s favorite episodes? Check out the Ezra Klein Show beginner’s guide (http://bit.ly/EKSbeginhere)

Credits:

Producer/Editor/Audio Wizard - Jeff Geld

Researcher - Roge Karma

Want to contact the show? Reach out at ezrakleinshow@vox.com

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