This is part 2 of my conversation with Mark Nelson about the energy crisis and nuclear power. If you haven’t heard it already, you should start with part 1:🎧 Going Deep on the Energy Crisis and Nuclear Power with Mark Nelson (Part 1 of 2) 🔌⚡️💡Part 2 covers a lot of ground, including how decisions are really made (emotions vs rationality), lessons from history and the pyramids of ancient Egypt on civilizational capabilities, the grid as an experiment, can we maintain it, expand it, what changed 20-30 years ago that may have broken it, why Europe’s winter crisis won’t last just one year, why the UK is in the worst position (“you don’t survive in the long run by surviving on average”), what the market system for the grid doesn’t take into account, how the UK YOLO’ed its energy system, pros & cons of small modular reactors (SMRs), innovation vs proven designs, China’s construction techniques, what’s so special about Canada’s CANDU reactors, the company Clean Core Thorium Energy, fusion vs fission, active and passive safety designs for reactors, and more.📃 Full transcriptTranscript: Going Deep on the Energy Crisis and Nuclear Power with Mark Nelson (Part 2 of 2)I hope you enjoy the conversation. If you do, please consider becoming a supporter (💚 🥃), your help is essential for the newsletter and podcast to continue. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

Mark Nelson and I had so much to talk about, we had two hour+ calls on our energy crisis and nuclear power. This is the first one.Mark is a former generation fellow at the Breakthrough Institute and was a senior analyst at Environmental Progress. He holds degrees in mechanical, aerospace and nuclear engineering. He is the founder and CEO of the Radiant Energy Group.Part 1 covers Mark’s origin story, the interesting and unique psychology of nuclear power, the historical link between nuclear weapons and energy, disentangling the physical accident at Chernobyl from the memes, Amory Lovins, nuclear regulations and incentives (good & bad), what the nuclear industry has gotten wrong, the nature of the professional opposition, nuclear medicine, what to do with nuclear waste, are plants built decades ago immortal, have we lost the capability to built large projects in the West and how could we regain it, de-industrialization vs re-industrialization, energy storage, and much more. And there’s just as much in part 2, including potential solutions to the crisis, small modular reactors (SMRs), advanced reactor designs, fusion, Canada’s CANDUs, the energy crisis worldwide and in Europe and which countries are most screwed, coal and gas, etc.📃 Full transcriptTranscript: Going Deep on the Energy Crisis and Nuclear Power with Mark Nelson (Part 1 of 2)I hope you enjoy the conversation. If you do, please consider becoming a supporter (💚 🥃), your help is essential for the newsletter and podcast to continue. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

🎧 Listen on SpotifyIf you prefer to listen on Spotify, here’s the feed:* Liberty’s Highlights podcast feed on Spotify🎧 Listen on Apple PodcastsHere’s the podcast feed on Apple Podcasts:* Liberty’s Highlights podcast on Apple📺 Watch on YouTube📃 Full transcript* Full transcript of this podcast with MBI about paymentsI really enjoyed this conversation about the payments space and I hope you will too! $PYPL $SQ $AAPL $GOOG $AMZN If you want to dig deeper, here are a bunch of useful links:🔥 MBI’s payments deep dives:* Shopify (there’s a big payment component)* Square (aka Block)* Adyen* PayPal🔥 David Kim’s payments deep dives at Scuttleblurb:* Visa/Mastercard (part 1 of 3)* Payments series (covering: FISV, GPN, FIS, SQ, Stripe, Adyen, part 1 of 4)* Some thoughts on Fiserv / First Data (FISV)* Square & PayPal (part 1 of 2)* Square and PayPal: Comparing Business Models and StrategiesAlso make sure to check out the two interviews I did with David (he’s great):* Interview #1 with David Kim a.k.a. Scuttleblurb* Interview #2 with David Kim a.k.a. Scuttleblurb (2022 Edition)🎧 Jimmy Soni podcast interview on his PayPal book:* Podcast #6: Jimmy Soni on the PayPal Mafia (Musk, Thiel, Levchin, etc), startups, tech, the research process, and much more🎧 Previous podcast with MBI on Constellation Software:* Going deep on Constellation Software with Mostly Borrowed Ideas (MBI)🙌 A Word From Our Sponsor: YOU! 🫵If you enjoy the podcasts and the newsletter and aren’t already a supporter, please consider joining. It’s quick and inexpensive, and makes a big difference in making it possible for me to do this full-time and send you more goodies:Liberty’s Highlights is reader-supported. To support my work, consider becoming a paid supporter. 🎩 This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

We cover so much ground in this conversation with friend-of-the-show David Senra (🎙📚) of the excellent-like-I-mean-it-go-subscribe Founders Podcast, I won’t even attempt to summarize it.What I learned most from David is the power of focus and knowing what it takes to do great work. We talk about it in the context of what we do, but I’m sure it translates to whatever you’re trying to achieve.I’ll just say that I bet no other single podcast in the history of the world will have covered Ed Thorpe, Michael Jordan, Mark Leonard, Rick Rubin, Edwin Land, Charlie Munger, Steve Jobs, John D. Rockefeller, Claude Shannon, Warren Buffett, and Jim Simmons… in the same episode!I really really enjoyed this conversation, and I hope you’ll do too.🎧 Listen on SpotifyIf you prefer to listen on Spotify, here’s the feed:* Liberty’s Highlights podcast feed on Spotify🎧 Listen on Apple PodcastsHere’s the podcast feed on Apple Podcasts:* Liberty’s Highlights podcast on Apple📺 Watch on YouTube📃 Full transcript* Transcript for Podcast #11: David Senra of Founders PodcastWhen you’ve listened to it, please join the conversation and let us know what you think by leaving a comment:Want more David Senra?* 🎧 David Senra on Deadwood (also: founders, entrepreneurs, civilization, Henry Singleton, Walt Disney, David Ogilvy, etc) 🤠Other podcasts mentioned in this episodeWe also mention two previous podcasts (sometimes it feels like my pods are like the Marvel universe — there are references between the ‘franchises’). If you’re curious about them, here are convenient links:* 🎧Podcast #6: Jimmy Soni on the PayPal Mafia (Musk, Thiel, Levchin, etc), startups, tech, the research process, and much more* 🎧 Cedric Chin: What Operators can Teach Investors, the Study of Expertise, Knowledge Shields, and More (Podcast #10)🏃‍♂️💰 More on Ed Thorpe 🧠 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦What good timing! David and I spent a fair amount of time talking about Ed Thorpe on the podcast, and right after we were done recording, friend-of-the-show and OG supporter (💚 🥃 🎩) Nick Ellis pointed me to a podcast that Tim Ferriss has just released:* Edward O. Thorp, A Man for All Markets — Beating Blackjack and Roulette, Beating the Stock Market, Spotting Bernie Madoff Early, and Knowing When Enough Is Enough (#596)🙌 A Word From Our Sponsor: YOU! 🫵If you enjoy the podcasts and the newsletter and aren’t already a supporter, please consider joining. It’s quick and inexpensive, and makes a big difference in making it possible for me to do this full-time and send you more goodies:Liberty’s Highlights is reader-supported. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. 🥷 This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

This is an interesting one that goes in many directions! (starting with the Earth sandwich.. 🌏 🥪)Cedric (💚 🥃 🇸🇬) is an operator who specializes — obsesses? — in learning how to extract knowledge from experts and businesspeople, the people in the trenches actually doing stuff.In this conversation, we discuss how traditional Chinese businessmen without formal education structure deals, cognitive flexibility theory (it sounds fancy, but it’s quite practical), cognitive transformation theory, and why some people can reach mastery in their fields while others cannot (I really like the “knowledge shield” concept🛡 🤯).There’s a discussion on keeping an open mind on crypto (are we just too old?), how to re-encode old lessons after you got up in skill level so that you can let go of the things that you originally learned that were wrong, what is a “business biologist” (treating businesses as animals, trying to understand how the environments in which they have evolved have shaped them and why they are adapted to their ecological niches…), etc. We even talk about Morris Chang’s journey at Texas Instruments and TSMC! (make sure to check out the excellent episode of the Acquired Podcast on TSMC and Chang)Bonus special segment at the end about the very special science-fiction of author Iain M. Banks.For a lot more from Cedric, check out the excellent Commonplace (aka Commongcog blog! He discusses the dual branding challenge in the pod…):* Commonplace - The Commoncog BlogListen on SpotifyIf you prefer to listen on Spotify, here’s the feed:* Liberty’s Highlights podcast feed on SpotifyListen on Apple PodcastsHere’s the podcast feed on Apple Podcasts:* Liberty’s Highlights podcast on Apple📺 Watch on YouTubeFull TranscriptIf you prefer to read or want to save a section in your notes, here’s a convenient transcript of the whole podcast:* Transcript: Podcast #10 with Cedric ChinMore Liberty PodcastsFor more podcasts, you can see all previous episodes here:* Liberty’s Highlights Podcast archiveThank you! 👋🙌 A Word From Our Sponsor: YOU! 🫵If you enjoy the podcasts and the newsletter and aren’t already a supporter, please consider joining. It’s quick and inexpensive, and makes a big difference in making it possible for me to do this full-time and send you more goodies:Liberty’s Highlights is reader-supported. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. 🤠🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪 This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

Join Jim O’Shaughnessy, a savvy investor and supporter of the show, as he dives into the world of investment strategies and personal finance. He emphasizes the significance of self-awareness in financial decisions while balancing cash holdings and company performance. The conversation also touches on effective note-taking for newsletter success and the importance of nurturing curiosity in both children and business. Discover unique insights on organic growth in investments, as well as the value of authenticity in writing and parenting philosophies.

Rob Koyfman, the CEO and Co-Founder of Koyfin, shares his remarkable journey from Ukraine to Wall Street. He discusses the cyclical nature of market psychology and the shift from bullish to bearish sentiments. Rob highlights the evolution of data integration in financial tools and emphasizes the importance of user experience. He also dives into the emotional challenges of building a startup, likening the experience to parenting. The conversation wraps up with insights on social media dynamics, particularly the roles of Twitter and Facebook.

This is podcast #7, I hope you enjoy it! 🧡📃 Full transcript:* Podcast Transcript: Going deep on Constellation Software with Mostly Borrowed Ideas (MBI)🎧 Listen on Spotify:* Spotify: Going deep on Constellation Software with MBI🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts:* Apple: Going deep on Constellation Software with Mostly Borrowed Ideas (MBI)📺 Watch on YouTube🔥 Constellation Software deep dive by MBI:* CSI: Software Santa eating the VMS market (inexpensive sub required)🎧 See also my other podcast with MBI:* Going deep on Payments with Mostly Borrowed Ideas (MBI): Adyen, PayPal, Stripe, Square, Amazon, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Visa, Mastercard!Liberty’s Highlights is reader-supported. To support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 💙 This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe

In this engaging conversation, Jimmy Soni, an author celebrated for his work on the history of PayPal, shares insights into the influential figures behind the company, like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. They delve into how gaming has shaped tech innovators, paralleling challenges in writing and entrepreneurship. Soni reflects on the art of storytelling, the complexity of interviewing industry leaders, and the importance of first principles in startups. Their discussion navigates the emotional journey of creativity, emphasizing the balance between inspiration and persistence.

Here’s a mini-pod (14.5 minutes) about my note-taking adventure so far. I wrote about the changes I made a few editions ago, but then I wanted to spent some time just living with the system and refining it to have a better idea of what I thought of it.This is a snapshot in time, giving my current thoughts about why I think it’s worth putting some time and energy into, what the different apps are and what some of their pros and cons are, and what I’m doing myself specifically.I expect this to keep evolving, so if you’re reading/listening in the future, don’t assume that everything here is still exactly the same for me.(as usual with the podcast format, I feel like I forgot to say a ton of things and wish I could edit and add things as easily as with text, but gotta accept the pros and cons of each medium…)(And here’s the big news this morning! Koyfin paid plans & even more features! I’ll cover in more detail tomorrow… I became a small investor in Koyfin earlier this year because I love the product and the team, and have been living in the app for a few years. Really happy to see them keep evolving and building more great features!)Obsidian ScreenshotsThis shows the whole window (you can change the appearance, there’s a zillion themes with very different looks, but this is my fave one right now — it’s called ‘Obsidian gruvbox’).You can see the folder structure on the left, and on the right I have a calendar view (if I click on a day, it takes me to that day’s daily page), the page outline (you can click on a sub-title to jump to that part of the document), and a mini-graph view that shows what this page links to.The view above is the editor view, so you see the markdown code (if you’re familiar with HTML code, this is like a super-super-simplified version of that). You can switch to ‘preview’ mode, which shows the rendered page without the code. They’ll soon be adding the ability to edit from preview mode, but Markdown is pretty easy to learn. You basically do stuff like this [[link]] or *this* and it renders as links or italics or put dashes in from of stuff to have a bulleted list or whatever..If you want to give it a try, Obsidian is free and multi-platform (mobile apps in beta right now, but coming). And the devs and community are constantly cranking out new features, improvements, and new useful plug-ins. Very vibrant software.This is what my daily page template looks like. You can create your own template, and every day a new page is created using today’s date and will contain whatever you put in the template.What I call my “daily highlight” in the “to do” section is the most important thing I’d like to do that day.That’s my graph view. Every bright dot is a note, every dark gray dot is a link that is created, but the page hasn’t be created yet, and the other colors (brow and blue) are tags and files.In the app, this is an interactive view, like a Google Maps view. You can zoom in, see the names of the files on each dot, when you hover your mouse over one it shows what other notes it links too, and you can click on any to see that page. It’s very cool.Update: For those who want to give Obsidian a try, check out this 6-part series of Obsidian video tutorial by Nick Milo.It’s the best way I’ve found to take a running start at that learning curve, and it’s what helped me get started.What I Learned Recording this PodcastDon’t have much to say about this recording experience. It was fairly straightforward. This is what the project looks like in Audacity:You can’t see it on this, but I did a bunch of edits, took me about an hour to do surgery on the raw audio… And it’s far from perfect, but at a certain point you just have to call it done and move on to the next thing.Note: I’m still using my son’s toy piano for intro and outro music. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.libertyrpf.com/subscribe