Not long ago, America led the world in building and innovation—but over the past 50 years, bureaucracy and red tape have made it nearly impossible to get big things done. In this episode of The Main Function, Garry sits down with Atlantic staff writer and Plain English podcast host Derek Thompson to discuss his new book Abundance (co-authored with Ezra Klein). In the conversation they discuss how we got here, what needs fixing, and what the year 2050 could look like if we reclaim a vision of abundance and technological innovation. Apply to Y Combinator: https://ycombinator.com/apply Work at a startup: https:/workatastartup.com Chapters (Powered by https://bit.ly/chapterme-yc) - 00:00 - Intro 01:32 - The 2050 Vision 04:07 - What Went Wrong 06:39 - The High Speed Rail Debacle 08:01 - Different Eras of Building in America 12:06 - How Tech Has Improved Our Lives 17:00 - NIH As a Case Study For Why Things Are Broken 23:08 - How To Make Real Progress 26:05 - The Role of Hard Tech 29:07 - The Abundance Agenda 32:43 - Advice For Founders Abundance, by Derek Thompson and Ezra Klein https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Abundance/Ezra-Klein/9781668023488
Ezra Klein is one of the internet’s most influential journalists. He co-founded Vox in 2014, and it was there he really pioneered this new era of online journalism. Remember those Vox explainer videos that were so popular? As I’ve recorded this, he’s got the #1 book on the New York Times bestseller list. We talked about the state of media, why pieces need to be longer not shorter, how he reads to understand the world, and why he’s skeptical that AI will ever change the craft of deep and meaningful journalism. 00:00:00 Intro 00:00:33 Pick Up The Damn Phone 00:03:54 How Editors Can Shape Your Voice? 00:05:50 What's the Real Challenge of Writing a Book? 00:10:23 Does Volume Actually Improve Taste? 00:12:49 Why Ezra Didn't Trust His Voice at Vox 00:15:55 Writing vs Managing: Which Is Better? 00:21:19 Does Your "Hit Rate" Need to Be Higher at Big Institutions? 00:24:38 Is Journalism Dying? 00:33:28 What's Most Important in Writing? 00:39:37 The Secret to Great Podcast Conversations 00:42:20 Why AI Research Is a Terrible Idea 00:49:07 How Writing Changes How You Think Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible. Follow me Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv X: https://x.com/david_perell