In this wide-ranging episode, Casey and Christine dive deep into leadership transitions, complex systems, and the art of managing large-scale projects. Christine discusses her new role as Head of Engineering at a Series D startup, managing 60+ people and Casey discusses the counterintuitive challenges of scaling teams. Christine shares her synthetic biology progress, building an orbital shaker from scratch and exploring the intersection of hardware and biotech. The conversation spans from ancient Roman infrastructure projects to modern space exploration, touching on hiring challenges, the value of going to primary sources, and why some historical civilizations came tantalizingly close to industrial revolution but never quite made the leap.

Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger

Now It Can Be Told about the Manhattan Project

What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith

Accelerate by Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble, and Gene Kim

Radical Candor by Kim Scott

Playground - Contemporary science fiction novel about seasteading and AI

Climbing Gold - Alex Honnold's podcast (featuring Vitaliy Musiyenko’s Sierra traverse story)

Conversations with Tyler - Tyler Cowen's interview show

Lex Fridman Podcast - Episodes with Jeff Wasserstrom (China scholar) and Tim Sweeney (Epic Games)

The Complete History & Strategy of Standard Oil (Part I) (Acquired)

Founders Podcast - Episodes on Jeff Bezos shareholder letters, Jim Simons, John D. Rockefeller, and Estée Lauder

How Andreessen Horowitz Disrupted VC & What’s Coming Next (Ben and Marc Discussions)

The DER Task Force - Distributed energy resources podcast (Jesse Peltan episode)

Main Engine Cut Off - Space industry podcast T+303: The Trump 2024 Transition (with Mark Albrecht)

The Almost-Industrial Revolutions of Rome and China 

Cost of Glory - Ancient history podcast (Julius Caesar series)

Circuit Playground Express - Adafruit electronics learning board

Ada Fruit Orbital Shaker Tutorial - DIY lab equipment project

Thinking by My Wits - Website featuring Scholar Alex Jones's literary works