"Moment of Zen"
Every week, Erik Torenberg, Dan Romero, Antonio Garcia Martinez and frequent special guests discuss what's happening in technology, business, politics, and beyond. Moment of Zen is part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: turpentine.co
Episodes
July 12, 2025 • 60 mins
Today on Moment of Zen, Erik Torenberg and Samo Burja examine Singapore's transformation from poor post-colonial state to wealthy financial hub through Lee Kuan Yew's strategic governance, geopolitical balancing, and prioritizing economic efficiency over individual freedoms.
Make sure to subscribe to Samo Burja's Bismarck Brief and the Live Players podcast to read analyses and briefs like this one:
Bismarck Brief: https://b...
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July 5, 2025 • 57 mins
Today on Moment of Zen, Erik Torenberg talks with Samo Burja on "long history" - the thesis that human civilization is far older than believed, with complex societies predating agriculture by millennia. It examines why civilizations rise and fall, and implications for preventing our own collapse.
Make sure to subscribe to Samo Burja's Bismarck Brief and the Live Players podcast to read analyses and briefs like this one:
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June 28, 2025 • 63 mins
Today on Moment of Zen, Erik Torenberg talk with Samo Burja on nuclear weapons proliferation, energy geopolitics, and his "nuclear accelerationist" argument that widespread nuclear capability is inevitable, so countries should pursue abundant nuclear energy despite proliferation risks.
Make sure to subscribe to Samo Burja's Bismarck Brief and the Live Players podcast to read analyses and briefs like this one:
Bismarck Brief:...
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June 21, 2025 • 48 mins
Today on Moment of Zen, we're airing a conversation with economist Noah Smith and Substack CEO Chris Best discussing the evolving media landscape. They dive into whether Twitter's dominance is waning, what features a successor platform would need, and how artificial intelligence is set to transform media as we know it. This conversation originally took place live on Noah's Substack: https://www.noahpinion.blog/
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June 14, 2025 • 53 mins
Samo Burja and Erik Torenberg examine how dynastic succession can outperform meritocratic systems. The discussion analyzes successful family-controlled enterprises like the New York Times, Samsung, and Sweden's Wallenberg companies, arguing that hereditary structures can often solve succession problems more effectively than rational selection mechanisms.
Make sure to subscribe to Samo Burja's Bismarck Brief and the Live Players ...
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June 7, 2025 • 54 mins
Today on Moment of Zen, Erik Torenberg and Noah Smith debunk the myth that globalization destroyed America's middle class, showing wages actually grew during hyperglobalization. It examines the limited "China shock" impact and critiques how both political tribes' technology fears may handicap America's competitiveness against China.
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May 31, 2025 • 49 mins
Today on Moment of Zen, Erik Torenberg and Samo Burja examine "failed" industrial revolutions throughout history, particularly Rome's sophisticated water-powered manufacturing, standardized production, and steam engine prototypes. The discussion explores how civilizations like Rome and Song Dynasty China achieved industrial-scale commerce and technology before ultimately plateauing or collapsing due to demographic, military, or eco...
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May 24, 2025 • 64 mins
Today on Moment of Zen is a conversation I had with Samo Burja back in January 2024 on Japan's existential demographic crisis, analyzing how collapsing fertility rates and population aging threaten the nation's economic and geopolitical future. The discussion explores cultural barriers to family formation, automation limitations, and Japan's dilemma between preserving identity versus accepting transformative change.
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May 17, 2025 • 46 mins
Today on Moment of Zen is a conversation I had with Samo Burja about the intricate historical, military, and cultural dimensions of the India-Pakistan conflict, and how these nuclear neighbors navigate their complex relationship.
This podcast originally aired on the Village Global podcast.
Make sure to subscribe to Samo Burja's Bismarck Brief and the Live Players podcast to read analyses and briefs like this one:
Bismarck Br...
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Today on Moment of Zen, we're sharing a conversation about defense innovation bureaucracy reform recorded at this week's Hill & Valley Forum in Washington D.C.
In this session, Palantir, CTO Sha Sankar and Senator Mike Lee dissect America's defense innovation paralysis. They articulate how bureaucratic accretion stifles the necessary competition and "heretical" personalities historically driving breakthroughs. Their prescript...
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Today on Moment of Zen, we're sharing a conversation about rebuilding American manufacturing recorded at this week's Hill & Valley Forum in Washington D.C.
Senator Todd Young is joined by Shaun Maguire, a partner at Sequoia, and David Friedberg the CEO of Ohalo to discuss the massive energy gap with China, how to reform education for industrial jobs, and where strategic innovation could help the US regain its competitive edge.
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April 27, 2025 • 30 mins
Today on Moment of Zen, we're sharing a conversation from the 2024 Hill and Valley Forum with the founders of Scale AI, Anthropic, and AI Fund on the urgent race between the U.S. and China in AI innovation.
Moderated by Senator Cory Booker and featuring Alexandr Wang, Jack Clark, and Andrew Eng, the panel covers why American AI leadership is at risk, and how smarter policy and faster deployment are critical to maintaining a com...
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April 19, 2025 • 70 mins
Today's episode is a conversation I had with Samo Burja in 2019 about why civilizations collapse, how functional institutions are built, and what makes some societies flourish while others decay. We explore his Great Founder Theory, the myth of egalitarianism, and why exceptional outliers drive innovation more than democratic processes.
This podcast originally aired on the Village Global podcast.
Make sure to subscribe to Samo Bu...
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April 12, 2025 • 62 mins
In this episode of Moment of Zen, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat joins Erik Torenberg to discuss his new book "Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious," making the case that institutional religion is not just socially beneficial but intellectually defensible. They discuss the decline of New Atheism, the tension between traditional Christianity and Silicon Valley's techno-optimism within the "New Right" coalition, and wheth...
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April 5, 2025 • 66 mins
Erik Torenberg and Samo Burja examine India's trajectory as the world's most populous nation, tackling India's surprising demographic decline, delayed industrialization due to bureaucratic inefficiency, and complex relations with China and Pakistan. They explore Modi's nationalist approach, India's digital potential, and how institutional barriers might limit India's rise in a multipolar world order.
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March 29, 2025 • 56 mins
Erik Torenberg and Samo Burja dive deep into how Xi Jinping is shaping China's society today and its place in the world. They discuss Xi’s firm hold on power, his connections with different political groups, and how his decisions are affecting China's economy, military, and politics.
Make sure to subscribe to Samo Burja's Bismarck Brief and the Live Players podcast to read analyses and briefs like this one:
Bismarck Brief: https...
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March 22, 2025 • 47 mins
Erik Torenberg and Samo Burja discuss the complex relationship between Mexican drug cartels and the country's political system. Samo explains how cartels operate not as insurgencies but as business entities with deep connections to Mexican elites.
The discussion covers the economic impact of drug trafficking, how legalization affects cartel operations, and comparisons with other countries' experiences, and explore potential solut...
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March 15, 2025 • 62 mins
Erik Torenberg and economist Noah Smith dissect the Democratic Party's path forward. Smith advocates for fiscal responsibility over progressive rhetoric, refocusing democracy concerns away from voter ID laws toward election integrity, and embracing patriotic messaging instead of identity politics.
Their exchange ventures into Elon Musk's influence on Republican effectiveness, the merits of Japanese bureaucratic models, and buildi...
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March 8, 2025 • 65 mins
Erik Torenberg and Samo Burja examine the pervasive fascination with American political dynamics and their far-reaching impact worldwide, especially across Western democracies and European nations. They analyze how digital connectivity has accelerated the harmonization of political discourse and cultural values across borders, while exploring the emerging shifts in European political frameworks that increasingly reflect American id...
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February 28, 2025 • 37 mins
This week, Erik Torenberg is joined by Dr. Victor Davis Hanson, classicist, political commentator, and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford. Together they conduct a thought experiment: it's 2030, how can we expect to understand the legacy of Donald Trump, the shifting political landscape in Germany and the rest of Europe, the outcome of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, China's ambitions regarding Taiwan, Israel's strateg...
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