Kishore Mahbubani is a distinguished Singaporean diplomat, academic, and author, renowned for his incisive commentary on global geopolitics and the rise of Asia. He served in the Singapore Foreign Service as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Singapore’s Ambassador to the UN, where he was President of the UN Security Council in 2001 and 2002. He was also the Founding Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy from 2004 to 2017 and his bestselling books include The Great Convergence and Has China Won? Currently a Distinguished Fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Asia Research Institute, Mahbubani is celebrated as a leading voice on Asia’s growing influence, earning accolades like inclusion in Foreign Policy’s Top 100 Global Thinkers.(01:24) The US-China rivalry

(13:44) The Taiwan issue

(17:10) Global hegemony vs. domestic stability

(22:42) Will China ever democratize?

(24:35) Why poverty is a lack of freedom

(25:14) China's political evolution

(26:38) Pros & cons of democracy

(29:34) The future of US-China relations

(32:07) Evaluating Xi Jinping's Leadership

(34:44) The importance of diplomacy

(41:05) Lessons from Lee Kuan Yew

(46:15) Paths to peace & cooperation

(47:36) Advice for American citizens

This is a "book club" solo episode where I summarize & comment on a nonfiction book as part of the Due Diligence Book Club (Patreon available here). This episode is on All The Shah's Men by Stephen Kinzer published in 2003 about Operation Ajax, the CIA overthrow of Mohammad Mossadegh, the prime minister of Iran.

In this episode, I delve into the fascinating history of Silicon Valley with Margaret O'Mara, a professor of American History at the University of Washington and a leading historian of Silicon Valley.

We explore the relationship between the public and private sectors that fueled the growth of Silicon Valley, debunking the myth of the lone entrepreneur and highlighting the significant role of Cold War defense spending.

Margaret shares insights from her celebrated book "The Code" which tells the behind-the-scenes story of the people who built Silicon Valley and shaped Big Tech. We also discuss the impact of elections on tech policy, the evolving influence of tech in Washington, and the rise of AI.

We also discuss the parallels between today's tech landscape and the Gilded Age, the importance of historical perspective, and the future of tech innovation amid increasing US-China tensions and energy concerns.

(00:00) Introduction

(04:18) From Politics to Tech History

(06:02) The Cold War Origins of Silicon Valley

(08:30) The Human Storytelling Behind Tech

(11:18) Is Silicon Valley A Meritocracy?

(17:38) Tech's Political Influence

(22:13) The Emergence of the Tech Right

(23:01) A New Gilded Age

(26:47) Antitrust & Regulation

(31:06) What Democrats Need

(36:10) Future of AI and Crypto

(36:38) The 2024 Elections

(39:37) China and the New Cold War

(40:23) US Government Spending and Innovation

(42:01) Defense Tech

(45:45) The Role of Universities and Big Tech

(52:27) The Rise of AI

(56:56) Energy Concerns in AI

(01:03:20) The Value of History

In this episode, I sit down with Glory Liu, author of Adam Smith's America: How a Scottish Philosopher Became an Icon of American Capitalism. We delve into her book which examines the intellectual history and evolving interpretations of Adam Smith's ideas in America. Liu, Assistant Research Professor at Johns Hopkins University, discusses how Adam Smith's works have been understood and often misunderstood throughout history. Our conversation covers how economic ideas, power, Milton Friedman and capitalism.

Links & resources:

Adam Smith's America (book)

Glory Liu'swebsite

Mark Blyth is a political economist and the William R. Rhodes Professor of International Economics at Brown University. He is the author of several books including Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea (named one of the best books of the year in 2013 by the Financial Times and Bloomberg), Angrynomics, and a new book coming out in May 2025 called Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers.

His research is in international & comparative political economy and focuses on the political power of economic ideas, how institutions change, and the political economy of rich democracies. Mark is a native of Scotland and received his PhD in political science from Columbia University in 1999 and taught at the Johns Hopkins University from 1997 to 2009 before joining the Brown faculty in 2009. (04:34) What is political economy?

(06:10) Mark's academic journey

(08:28) How economic consensus is formed

(11:01) What is inflation?

(13:23) Good vs. bad inflation

(17:55) The four main inflation "stories"

(18:51) Which story prevails currently

(20:57) How will tariffs affect inflation?

(26:23) The tariff narrative

(28:58) Capitalism 2.0 vs. 3.0

(29:43) The "hardware" & "software" of capitalism

(34:23) The "bug" in our current system

(37:13) The legacy of inflation in the 1970s

(44:41) The Federal Reserve's toolkit

(47:41) The Fed before the 1970s

(49:27) Hyperinflation in Germany and Argentina

(54:16) The structural causes of hyperinflation

(56:19) Economic indicators of political unrest

(59:01) The role of technological progress

(01:02:40) What should capitalism 4.0 be?

Pre-order Mark's book on inflation here

Listen to Mark's podcast on Apple and Spotify

Keith Rabois is a cofounder of OpenStore, a platform connecting shoppers and merchants to create the ultimate decentralized "department store" of the internet. Keith is also a General Partner at Founders Fund, one of the top venture firms in the world. He is cofounder and executive chairman of OpenDoor, served on the boards of Yelp and Reddit, was Managing Director at Khosla Ventures, and COO at Square. Keith was an early employee at PayPal and has invested in legendary Silicon Valley startups like YouTube, Airbnb, Palantir, Eventbrite, Lyft, Quora, Yammer and Wish. He was named #8 on the Midas List in 2022 globally and #4 in the U.S.

Learn about OpenStore

Sign up for Gorgias

Sophia Amoruso is a serial entrepreneur who founded fashion retailer Nasty Gal and media startup Girlboss. She is also the NYTimes bestselling author of Girlboss, a business memoir that sparked a movement, inspired a Netflix show, and became solidly part of our entrepreneurial vernacular. She is now the founder of online course Business Class and VC fund Trust Fund.

What we discuss:

• How she has evolved since publishing Girlboss
• If she would write another book
• Female founders & cancel culture
• How to deal with negative press
• What else she wants to accomplish
• Imposter syndrome
• Starting a fund
• Being an introverted VC

Resources

Female Founder World (podcast)

My first interview with Sophia in 2015

Business Class (online course)

Trust Fund

Michael Maslansky is a communication strategist and language expert who teaches companies how to effectively connect with customers. As the CEO of Maslansky + Partners, his emotionally savvy coaching has helped numerous Fortune 500s like Pfizer, Starbucks, Bank of America and Microsoft find their footing in times of crisis.

His firm’s polling methodologies and in-depth focus groups have frequently been cited in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, 60 Minutes, Nightline and PBS’s Frontline, among others.

In this episode we discuss:

• How to be authentic in your brand messaging & PR
• The biggest challenges for brands in today's political landscape
• How to effectively communicate with policymakers and regulators
• Strategies for navigating "cancel culture"
• The case study of Bud Light
• How to communicate brand values while protecting reputation
• The 4 principles of building trust through communication
• And more

Recommended resources:

The Language of Trust: Selling Ideas in a World of Skeptics by Michael Maslansky

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini

The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt