In this episode Erik Torenberg and Samo Burja discuss the current state and future state of America, China, Russia, Ukraine, energy, the US dollar, AI, Peter Zeihan, Balaji Srinivasan, and more. This episode was recorded in 2023 for the Upstream podcast - before the two started Live Players. Head to https://brave.com/brave-ads/ and mention “MoZ” when signing up for a 25% discount on your first campaign.

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Recommended Podcast: Company Breakdowns

Each episode of Company Breakdowns dives into S-1s and series B-and-beyond companies, interviewing founders and investors to break down the companies. First episode is on Rubrik - which just IPO'd. Coming up this season: Databricks, Reddit + more,

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This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching new shows every week, and we’re looking for industry-leading sponsors — if you think that might be you and your company, email us at erik@turpentine.co.

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SPONSOR: HARMONIC | BRAVE

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Get first-party targeting with Brave's private ad platform: cookieless and future proof ad formats for all your business needs. Performance meets privacy. Head to  https://brave.com/brave-ads/ and mention “MoZ” when signing up for a 25% discount on your first campaign.

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LINKS:

Samo’s Bismarck Brief: https://brief.bismarckanalysis.com/

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Episode preview

(00:58) Who’s right: Balaji, Zeihan, or Olson?

(05:00) Why China’s prospects aren’t as bad as Zeihan thinks

(07:28) What have we learned one year out after Ukraine?

(11:15) Future of The U.S. dollar

(13:11) Sponsor: Turpentine | Brave

(13:10) Balaji’s Bet

(14:57) Future of America

(19:20) Why Brazil hasn’t panned out

(21:00) Is AI communist and crypto libertarian

(26:53) Evolution of elites

(31:04) Comparing Elon and SBF

(33:29) Economics of automation and AI

(37:23) How intellectual culture has changed

(45:07) America and China converging

(47:27) Startup cities vs incumbents

(50:14) Bismarck Analysis

(52:56) Samo’s upcoming research interests

(55:04) Wrap