The Puck: Venture Capital and Beyond

Is healthcare the real driver of the national debt crisis? Avik Roy joins The Puck to discuss one of the most important questions in American public policy. Roy, president of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, argues that the United States has built the worst of both worlds — neither a true free-market healthcare system nor a fiscally disciplined universal system. Instead, employer-...

Everyone says AI is going to transform healthcare. Annie Lamont explains why this time may actually be different — but also why Epic, Medicaid, misaligned incentives, and China’s rise in drug development could determine whether American healthcare gets fixed or keeps breaking.

Yuval Levin joins  The Puck  to explain why Americans have stopped trusting their institutions — and what it would take to rebuild that trust. Levin argues that institutions are supposed to shape people into responsible citizens, leaders, professionals, and neighbors. But today, too many people use institutions as platforms for attention, status, branding, and political combat. Jim Baer and Yuval...

In Episode 122 of  The Puck: Venture Capital & Beyond , Jim Baer sits down with Katherine Baicker, one of America’s leading health economists, for a clear-eyed conversation about what is broken—and what still works—in the U.S. healthcare system. Baicker explains why America spends enormous sums on healthcare without always getting better outcomes, and why the real problem is not simply “too mu...

In this week's episode, Jim sits down with Dr. Ashish Jha — physician, health policy expert, and former White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator — for a candid look at what the pandemic revealed about how America actually works under pressure. This conversation moves well beyond COVID. Dr. Jha explains what happens inside government during a crisis, why emergency powers quietly reshape policy...

China looks unstoppable from the outside — record exports, dominant EVs, and a relentless push into AI, robotics, and advanced manufacturing. But beneath the surface, a very different story is unfolding. In Episode 120 of  The Puck , Jim Baer sits down with Dinny McMahon — former Wall Street Journal Beijing journalist and author of  China’s Great Wall of Debt  — to unpack what’s really happening i...

What happens when Iran gets the bomb—and the missiles to deliver it? In this episode of  The Puck Venture Capital & Beyond , Jim Baer sits down with Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, for a clear-eyed look at one of the most consequential geopolitical risks of our time. As tensions escalate in the Middle East—with the Strait of Hormuz under threat, oil markets on...

Jim sits down with Rabbi David Wolpe in a wide-ranging conversation on wisdom, religion, and the moral challenges of modern life. In a world saturated with information but lacking deeper meaning, Rabbi Wolpe offers a grounded perspective shaped by decades of studying ancient texts while guiding people through life’s most profound moments. He challenges the common divide between “spiritual” and “re...

America’s fiscal problem isn’t political—it’s mathematical. Jessica Riedl joins Jim Baer to explain why U.S. deficits are accelerating, why both parties misunderstand the drivers, and why Social Security and Medicare are at the center of the crisis. They explore the looming role of the bond market, rising interest rates, inflation, and why policymakers continue to delay action despite understandin...

America’s healthcare debate has been stuck for decades — framed as a political fight between left and right. But what if that’s the wrong lens entirely? In this episode of  The Puck , Jim Baer sits down with economist Joe Antos of the American Enterprise Institute to unpack the real issue: tradeoffs. Who pays? Who gets access? How much innovation do we support — and what are we actually willing to...

Why do societies collapse—and what does that tell us about the future of the global economy? In this episode of  The Puck , Jim Baer speaks with anthropologist and historian  Joseph Tainter , author of the influential book  The Collapse of Complex Societies . Tainter’s work explores a powerful idea: the very complexity that allows civilizations to solve problems can eventually become their greates...

Is the largest financial bubble in history hiding in plain sight? In this episode of  The Puck , Jim Baer sits down with veteran market analyst  Doug Noland , a longtime chronicler of credit cycles and financial bubbles. Noland argues that today’s risks aren’t just about stocks, crypto, or housing—they’re embedded in the very structure of the global financial system. Drawing on more than three dec...

What happens when record stock prices meet record government debt — and nobody really knows what’s under the hood? This week on The Puck, Jim Baer sits down with Mark Zandi, Chief Economist at Moody's Analytics, for a wide-ranging conversation on bubbles, private credit, shadow banking, AI exuberance, and the growing tension inside the Treasury market. Zandi explains: - Why today’s equity valuatio...

What do most people regret at the end of their careers? According to legendary venture capitalist Bill Gurley, it’s not the failures — it’s the risks they never took. In this wide-ranging episode of The Puck, Jim Baer sits down with Gurley — longtime Benchmark partner, early Uber board member, and author of Running Down a Dream — for a candid conversation on boldness, bubbles, AI speculation, vent...

What does it take to build trust on the internet—at global scale? In Episode 111 of The Puck: Venture Capital & Beyond, Jim Baer sits down with Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, to explore why trust—not technology—is the true foundation of open systems. Wales reflects on Wikipedia’s evolution from a scrappy experiment into one of the most trusted information sources in the world, and why neutr...

In this episode of The Puck, Jim Baer sits down with Jack Goldstone—the Hazel Chair Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University and one of the world’s foremost scholars on revolutions and social change. Goldstone has advised the National Intelligence Council, the World Bank, and the U.S. State and Defense Departments. His latest book, Revolutions: A Very Short Introduction, distills deca...

Global macro strategist Vincent Deluard joins Jim Baer for a direct, data-driven conversation about the new economic regime taking shape in the U.S. and around the world. Deluard explains why fiscal dominance now outweighs monetary policy, why inflation is proving sticky, and how generational inequality, asset bubbles, and rising deficits are reshaping politics and markets. A concise, unfiltered l...

On this week's episode, Jim talks with Matthew Continetti about the real story of the American Right—how conservatism evolved, why populism exploded, and what’s coming next. Sharp history, clear analysis, and a roadmap for understanding today’s politics.

Jim Baer talks with Francis Fukuyama — author of The End of History and the Last Man — about the fragility of liberal democracy in an age of rising authoritarianism and deepening polarization. They discuss political decay in the U.S., geopolitical threats from Russia and China, and the outsized influence of social media. Fukuyama also shares a practical vision for rebuilding effective governance t...

In this episode of The Puck, Jim Baer sits down with acclaimed author and journalist Oliver Burkeman, whose books Four Thousand Weeks and The Antidote have reshaped how we think about time, productivity, and perfectionism. Oliver introduces ideas from his forthcoming book Meditations for Mortals, exploring how embracing our human limitations—rather than denying them—opens the path to deeper meanin...

Musician turned therapist Dan Koch joins The Puck: Venture Capital & Beyond to share his remarkable journey from touring in a rock band to pioneering research on spiritual abuse. We explore how faith and psychology intersect, why polarization is so hard to overcome, and why Dan believes ‘reality itself can be the medicine.’ A conversation about healing, curiosity, and hope in a divided world.

As violence flares in Gaza and the Middle East teeters on the edge of a wider crisis, The Puck turns to Aaron David Miller — a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; a former State department analyst and negotiator in Republican and Democratic Administrations — for an unflinching look at the road ahead. In this urgent conversation, we explore the hard lessons of history,...

Stanford professor and financial reform advocate Anat Admati joins Jim to unpack the growing fragility in our financial system and the dangerous myths still shaping public policy. From shadow banking and corporate debt subsidies to crypto hype and post-crisis denial, Admati pulls no punches in exposing the deep structural flaws threatening American capitalism. They discuss why financial regulation...

Journalist and author John B. Judis joins Jim to unpack the political chaos of our time—from Trump and Sanders to shifting class loyalties, cultural divides, and the fragile state of democracy. Is a new political order emerging—or are we just stuck in a dangerous loop?

David French returns to The Puck for a wide-ranging, deeply thoughtful conversation about the state of American democracy, the risks of authoritarianism, and the spiritual costs of political polarization. A New York Times columnist and former National Review editor, French unpacks the dangerous allure of strongman politics, reflects on Israel’s evolving strategy in the Middle East, and explores ho...