The Generalist

David Krakauer is a leading complex systems researcher and the president of the Santa Fe Institute, a unique institution dedicated to studying complex systems across disciplines. In this episode, David challenges conventional wisdom about AI, arguing that large language models pose a more immediate threat to humanity than commonly discussed existential risks—not by destroying us directly, but by e...

Salar al Khafaji is the CEO and founder of Monumental, a company building autonomous robots that assemble buildings, starting with its bricklaying system. After selling his previous software company to Palantir, Salar took time to explore big industries ripe for disruption before landing on construction—a sector that represents a significant portion of GDP yet has seen decades of productivity stag...

Sara Walker is a theoretical physicist who studies the origins of life and the author of Life as No One Knows It . As AI prompts us to rethink what consciousness, intelligence, and life really mean, Sara’s work offers a provocative framework for understanding these questions. In this conversation, Sara shares how she developed assembly theory—a revolutionary approach suggesting that complex object...

Eli Dourado is Head of Strategic Investments at Astera Institute, a foundation funding transformative science and technology across energy, aerospace, AI, and other frontier sectors. Before joining Astera, he worked as a "regulatory hacker" at Boom Supersonic, where he helped navigate complex aviation regulations to make supersonic flight viable again. In our conversation, we explore: • How Eli's...

Hemant Taneja is the CEO and Managing Partner of General Catalyst, a venture capital firm that has evolved into what he describes as a "strategic conglomerate with venture capital at its core." Under his leadership, GC has expanded beyond traditional investing to become an organization focused on transforming entire industries from healthcare to call centers to insurance. In this conversation, Hem...

Jesse Walden is the founder and managing partner of Variant Fund, an early-stage crypto fund backing projects like Uniswap, Phantom, World, Morpho, Flashbots, Farcaster, Blockaid, Blackbird, and many more. Before launching Variant in 2020, he was an investor at a16z crypto, where he supported early-stage builders shaping the future of Web3. In this episode, Jesse offers a wide-ranging view of wher...

What’s next for AI agents, and how will they change the way we work? In this conversation, Stanislas Polu (CEO of Dust, formerly research at OpenAI) and Harrison Chase (CEO of LangChain, one of the most influential open-source AI frameworks) unpack the current state and future of AI agents. They reflect on their early conversations in the pre-ChatGPT days, how the landscape has evolved, and where...

Tomasz Tunguz has spent almost two decades turning data into investment insights. After an impressive run at Redpoint Ventures, where he backed Looker, Expensify, Monte Carlo, and more, Tomasz launched Theory Ventures in 2022. His debut fund, which closed at $238 million, was followed 19  months later by a $450 million second fund. Theory’s goal is simple but striking: to build an “investing corpo...

I'm thrilled to share this very special episode of The Generalist—one I've been looking forward to for a long time. Today, we tackle one of the most urgent questions of our time: What should computing look like in the age of AI? I'm joined by two extraordinary guests: Alan Kay, a pioneer of modern computing whose vision helped shape the personal computer revolution, and Anjan Katta, founder of Day...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.generalist.com Today’s podcast is a little different. Instead of a new interview, you’ll hear Part I of “No Rivals,” The Generalist’s definitive four-part deep dive into Founders Fund — Silicon Valley’s most controversial (and consistently top-performing) venture firm. — What’s inside Part I • How Peter Thiel and team set out to rew...

A quick note before today's podcast: Last Thursday, we launched Part 2 of our four-part series on Founders Fund. If you haven’t read it yet, you can catch up on Part 1 here and Part 2 here . For everyone following along, Part 3 drops this Thursday, June 26th. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy today's podcast episode below . — How close are we to the end of humanity? Toby Ord, Senior Researcher at...

Why search for life beyond Earth? For MIT astrophysicist and MacArthur Genius Fellow Sara Seager, it’s not just a scientific question—it’s a deeply human one. Like creating art or studying philosophy, the search taps into our primal curiosity about who we are and whether we’re alone. Sara is a pioneer in the field of exoplanets: planets that orbit stars other than our Sun. Her early work was met w...

Some ideas spread like wildfire. Others vanish before they take root—too strange, too threatening, too forgettable. In this episode of The Generalist, I sit down with Nadia Asparouhova, author of Antimemetics: Why Some Ideas Resist Spreading , to explore the category of “antimemes”: ideas that actively resist being remembered or shared. Drawing from science fiction, epidemiology, and her own unusu...

While the world fights over chips, one company is building the power supply to run them all. In this episode of The Generalist, I'm joined by Bob Mumgaard, CEO and co-founder of Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), and Vinod Khosla, legendary venture capitalist and founder of Khosla Ventures. With over 800 employees and $2 billion in funding, CFS has accelerated the timeline for commercial fusion fr...

What really determines success in the age of AI? Is it better models or broader reach? Chris Miller, author of the bestselling book Chip War , explains how semiconductors have become the strategic center of gravity for global power, economics, and innovation. As a professor at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, Chris has spent nearly a decade studying how chips are reshaping geopolitics and...

Thank you to the partners who make this possible Vanta : Automate compliance and simplify security. WorkOS : The modern identity platform for B2B SaaS. Brex : The banking solution for startups. Explore the episode What happens when you apply Silicon Valley’s speed and innovation to reinvent defense technology? Trae Stephens, co-founder of Anduril, is running that experiment in real-time. His compa...

In a world where attention is fragmented and algorithms rule the content landscape, Chris Best and Hamish McKenzie are taking a radically different approach with Substack. Rather than chasing clicks, Substack focuses on a simple yet powerful idea: creators should own their work and make money directly from their audience through paid subscriptions. With over 5 million paid subscriptions and tens o...

Sequoia Capital is synonymous with outstanding performance, backing companies like Apple, Google, Airbnb, and Stripe. In today’s episode, I chat with Roelof Botha, Sequoia’s Managing Partner, about what it takes to see the future first, capitalize on it intelligently once it arrives, and help founders build enduring companies. Roelof is especially well-placed to discuss such matters. Not only has...

Friends, What if you could record the smell of your grandmother’s kitchen or detect diseases with a breath? Josh Wolfe, co-founder of Lux Capital, is funding the breakthroughs that are turning these concepts into reality. In this episode of The Generalist, Josh discusses how Lux Capital is backing companies like eGenesis, which is transplanting gene-edited pig organs into humans; Osmo, pioneering...

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