Episode Details

Samo Burja founded Bismarck Analysis, a consulting firm that investigates the political and institutional landscape of society. He is a Senior Research Fellow in Political Science at the Foresight Institute where he advises on how institutions can shape the future of technology. Since 2024, he has chaired the editorial board of Palladium Magazine, a non-partisan publication that explores the future of governance and society through international journalism, long-form analysis, and social philosophy. From 2020 to 2023, he was a Research Fellow at the Long Now Foundation where he studied how institutions can endure for centuries and millennia.

Samo writes and speaks on history, institutions, and strategy with a focus on exceptional leaders that create new social and political forms. Image has systematized this approach as “Great Founder Theory.”

Steve and Samo discuss:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (01:38) - Meet Samo Burja: Founder of Bismarck Analysis
• (03:17) - Palladium Magazine: A West Coast Publication
• (06:37) - The Unique Culture of Silicon Valley
• (12:53) - Inside Bismarck Analysis: Services and Clients
• (21:35) - The Role of Technology in Global Innovation
• (32:13) - The Influence of Rationalists and Effective Altruists
• (48:07) - European Tech Policies and Global Competition
• (49:28) - The Role of Taiwan and China in Tech Manufacturing
• (51:12) - Geopolitical Dynamics and Strategic Alliances
• (52:49) - China's Provincial Power and Industrial Strategy
• (56:02) - Urbanization and Demography, Ancient Society
• (59:41) - Intellectual Pursuits and Cultural Dynamics
• (01:04:09) - Intellectuals, SF, and Global Influence
• (01:13:45) - Fertility Rates, Urbanization, and Forgotten Migration
• (01:22:24) - Interest in Cultural Dynamics and Population Rates
• (01:26:03) - Daily Life as an Intellectual

Music used with permission from Blade Runner Blues Livestream improvisation by State Azure.

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Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU.

Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

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