"Moment of Zen"

By Erik Torenberg, Dan Romero, Antonio Garcia Martinez

Technology Business Investing Business News

What's "Moment of Zen" about?

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

Download our free app to listen on your phone

"Moment of Zen" episodes:

04.27.2024
E76: Should We Accelerate or Decelerate Tech Progress?
Today’s episode is a debate from Bankless on the opposing viewpoints of Effective Accelerationism (E/ACC) and Effective Altruism (EA). Hosted by Ryan Sean Adams and David Hoffman and featuring Haseeb Qureshi and our own Erik Torenberg, the podcast discusses whether...
04.18.2024
E75: The Future of Crypto, Social Platforms, and Descending the Tech Ladder with Mike Rainbow
In this episode, Mike Rainbow (co-founder of Rainbow wallet) joins Erik, Dan, and Antonio as they dive into crypto's future. The conversation was prompted by the thesis that innovative social protocols like Farcaster are co-evolving with crypto wallets as onramps...
04.13.2024
E74: Bryan Johnson on AI, Religion, and God
Bryan Johnson joins Antonio Garcia Martinez and Erik Torenberg on Moment of Zen to discuss the deeper spiritual beliefs behind the "Don't Die" movement in the face of AI and the inadequacy of human clock speed. They cover religions as...
04.07.2024
E73: Crypto, Memes, and Politics with Li Jin
Li Jin joins Erik Torenberg, Dan Romero, and Antonio Garcia Martinez. Li is the co-founder of Variant Fund and a prolific writer. This episode dives deep into crypto, web3, memecoins, and the attention economy thesis. They cover the direction of...
03.31.2024
E72: Curtis Yarvin on How to Build the Next NYT and Advice for Elon
Curtis Yarvin returns to Moment of Zen to talk media, regime change, censorship, and the future role of platforms like X and Reddit in reputation capital structures. If you're looking for an ERP platform, check out NetSuite: https://netsuite.com/zen — now...
03.23.2024
E71: Dune/Napoleon, Apple/Microsoft, TikTok, Polyamory, and Aella’s Legacy
In this episode, Dan, Erik and Antonio discuss Don Lemon’s interview with Elon Musk, the Dune 2 and Napoleon releases, polyamory, the Apple antitrust case, and fatherly advice. Happy birthday Antonio! If you're looking for an ERP platform, check out...
03.18.2024
E70: Antonio on Social Media, Journalism, and New Religions with Parker Thompson
In this conversation, Erik Torenberg sits down with Antonio Garcia Martinez, founder of Spindl and author of ‘Chaos Monkeys’, and Parker Thompson, partner at SAX Capital, TNT Ventures, and AngelList, to explore the influence of social media on society. They...
03.09.2024
E69: Will the US Have a Civil War with @WhatifAltHist's Rudyard Lynch
In this conversation, Erik Torenberg and Dan Romero sit with Rudyard Lynch of @WhatifAltHist to discuss his analysis of potential future global events, such as an American civil war and a revolution in China, considering economic conditions, demographics, and societal...
03.04.2024
E68: Dan's Intellectual Journey
This discussion is from Erik's first interview with Dan from the Venture Stories podcast. Dan shares his views on scaling Coinbase, the evolution of crypto, as well as the books and influences that shaped his intellectual journey. If you're looking...
02.26.2024
E67: A Deep Dive on Farcaster: Past, Present, and Future
Erik Torenberg and Dan Romero talk about Dan’s company Farcaster, a decentralized social media protocol. Following the launch of Frames earlier this year, Farcaster experienced significant growth placing the team at a critical junction ripe with lessons for any startup....
02.16.2024
E66: Chris Dixon on the Future of the Internet, Crypto, and Web3
This week Erik Torenberg, Dan Romero, and Antonio Garcia Martinez sit down with Chris Dixon, a16z General Partner and author of the new book Read Write Own. They discuss the evolution of crypto, the potential impact of blockchain on existing...
02.10.2024
E65: How to Build a Startup Now, Finding PMF, and Navigating the Idea Maze
Dan Romero and Erik Torenberg chat about building a company in 2024, selecting ideas to work on, and finding product-market fit (Dan quotes Marc Andreessen's definition of the term). They also cover Dan's experience at Coinbase and building Farcaster. They...
02.02.2024
E64: The U.S. vs Europe, Bryan Johnson and Human Longevity
This week Erik Torenberg, Dan Romero, and Antonio Garcia Martinez sit down to discuss the popular Europe vs United States debate, the concept of human longevity, the current state of democracy in the age of social media, and more. Moment...
01.29.2024
E63: What does E/acc stand for?
This week Erik sits down with Nadia Asparouhova and Bayeslord to discuss the meaning and philosophy of effective accelerationism (e/acc), the polarization and nuance in the tech industry, and much more. Moment of Zen is sponsored by Shopify: https://shopify.com/momentofzen for...
01.21.2024
E62: 2023 Recap, 2024 Predictions, Farcaster/Turpentine updates
Dan and Erik discuss the potential impact of a Trump win in 2024, the appeal of populism, the impact of AI on the next generation of startups, and an update from Farcaster and Turpentine. Moment of Zen is sponsored by...
01.14.2024
E61: Curtis Yarvin on Rufo, Harvard, FDR, and The Cathedral
Curtis joins Dan and Erik to discuss his upcoming debate with Richard Hanania, FDR's leadership style, radical changes to institutions like Harvard, and more. Moment of Zen is sponsored by Shopify: https://shopify.com/momentofzen for a $1/month trial period. - RECOMMENDED PODCAST: History 102...
01.09.2024
E60: Bill Ackman, Harvard, and What Happens Next?
Dan Romero and Erik Torenberg talk about what's happening between Bill Ackman and Harvard: they touch on the 10-7 movement and the focus on DEI in universities, the future of education and the challenges of disrupting elite schools, the value...
01.03.2024
Sam Harris on Populism, Inequality, and Polarization
For the holiday stretch, we're publishing a few of our favorite episodes from this year. Today, we’re airing Erik's solo interview with Sam Harris over on his Upstream podcast. This discussion covers Sam’s concerns about populism, polarization, and inequality. We...
12.30.2023
Revisited: Moment of Zen's Origins with Marc Andreessen
For the holiday stretch, we're publishing a few of our favorite episodes from this year of Moment of Zen. Today, we’re airing our first ever episodes with Marc Andreessen (released exactly one year ago). Marc discussed SBF, Twitter and censorship,...
12.28.2023
Katherine Boyle and Mike Solana on Liberal Arts Debate and Saving San Francisco
Katherine Boyle, GP at a16z and Mike Solana, Editor in Chief of Pirate Wires joined Erik, Dan, and Antonio to discuss whether a liberal arts degree is worth it and how to save San Francisco. They cover the drawbacks of...
12.24.2023
E57: Trump/Biden, Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Palestine, and US/China
This week Noah Smith joins Dan Romero and Erik Torenberg to discuss the overuse of the term “fascism,” what has led to the capabilities of China and the U.S., and much more. Moment of Zen is sponsored by Shopify: https://shopify.com/momentofzen...
12.20.2023
E56: Balaji Srinivasan and Nathan Labenz on How AI Will Shape the Future & AI Gods
Balaji Srinivasan joins Nathan Labenz to discuss polytheistic AI and AI gods, human-AI symbiosis, and how AI will be controlled. Moment of Zen is sponsored by Shopify: https://shopify.com/momentofzen for a $1/month trial period. This episode is a feed drop of one...
12.11.2023
E55: How Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Peter Thiel, and George Soros Reshape Society
Samo Burja and Erik Torenberg dive deep into the concept of a 'live player', and compare and contrast three prominent live players: Peter Thiel, Sam Altman, and Elon Musk—discussing their impacts, motivations, and differing views on societal change. This episode is...
12.04.2023
E54: Who Is Beff Jezos? Beff on Being Doxxed, the e/acc movement, and Crypto & AI Crossover
Beff Jezos, the anonymous co-founder of the e/acc movement (effective accelerationism) had his identity revealed on Friday night by Forbes reporters. He gives the inside story to Antonio Garcia Martinez, Erik Torenberg, Dan Romero, his e/acc cofounder bayeslord, and The...
12.02.2023
E53: Dominic Cummings on Elon, Techies in Politics, and New Elitism
Erik Torenberg and Antonio Garcia Martinez sit down with political strategist + former chief adviser to Boris Johnson's right hand Dominic Cummings who is known for architecting Brexit. They discuss whether Brexit actually saved Britain from the far right, the...
11.24.2023
E52: OpenAI Debrief, Why Liberals Become Conservatives, and Diversity in Tech
Dan Romero and Erik Torenberg discuss their takes on why liberals become conservatives, diversity in tech, and debrief the OpenAI debacle that happened this past week. – SPONSORS: BEEHIIV | SHOPIFY | MASTERCLASS | NETSUITE Head to Beehiiv, the newsletter platform built for...
11.19.2023
E51: The Sam Altman Episode: OpenAI, Sam's Legacy
Dan Romero, Antonio Garcia Martinez and Erik Torenberg discuss their takes on Sam Altman's ouster from OpenAI, his legacy, and his comparative significance vis-à-vis figures like Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk. This is a developing story. This podcast was recorded on...
11.13.2023
E50: Balaji’s Gray Tribe, Fixing SF, and whether to start or buy a city?
Dan Romero and Erik Torenberg discuss whether San Francisco can be exited or reformed, how to impact local politics, and what it would take to get talented, innovative people to live in the same city. Wherever and whatever you’re selling,...
11.06.2023
E49: Biden vs Trump in Israel, Why Younger People Support Palestine, and Why There is No International Community
Dan Romero, Antonio Garcia Martinez and Erik Torenberg discuss the US reaction to the Israel-Hamas War. If you’re looking for SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR or HIPAA compliance, head to Vanta for $1000 off: https://www.vanta.com/zen We're hiring across the board at...
10.30.2023
E48: MoZ gets Nuke Pilled with Packy and Julia
Dan Romero and Erik Torenberg are joined by Packy McCormick of Not Boring and Julia DeWahl (founder of Antares, ex-SpaceX) to talk about the past, present, and future of nuclear energy. Packy and Julia co-host a new narrative series called...
10.23.2023
E47: Antonio's Dispatch From Israel
Antonio Garcia Martinez, reporting live from Israel, joins Dan Romero and Erik Torenberg to share his firsthand perspective on the ground, discussing the unfolding events, and potential outcomes for Israel and Gaza. If you’re looking for SOC 2, ISO 27001,...
10.16.2023
E46: Why this is BLM for Jews, unpacking the conflict, and predictions for Israel, Gaza, and Iran
Dan Romero and Erik Torenberg discuss the history of Israel, Gaza, and Iran and what happens next in this war on the ground. They also discuss the schism in the public discourse and the downstream political implications in the US....
10.07.2023
E45: The Hoax of the Century, Hybrid Warfare, Iran, and Israel with Jacob Siegel
Dan Romero, Erik Torenberg and Antonio Garcia Martinez are joined by journalist Jacob Siegel to discuss disinformation, the evolving narrative between tech and political power, and geopolitics. This episode was recorded on October 1st, before Hamas' attack on Israel. If...
10.02.2023
E44: Elon and the Border Crisis, the Case for Immigration, and the American Dream
Dan Romero and Erik Torenberg talk about the ongoing border crisis, the history of immigration to the US, and the case for and against immigration. If you’re looking for SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR or HIPAA compliance, head to Vanta...
09.25.2023
E43: Ideas from Balaji and Curtis That Changed Our Minds
Dan Romero and Erik Torenberg talk about their intellectual evolution, why San Francisco is back, and the ideas finding new momentum because of the thorny politics in tech the last few years. If you’re looking for SOC 2, ISO 27001,...
09.16.2023
E42: Wonks vs Proles, Post Liberalism, and Politics as Religious War with Walter Russell Mead
Dan Romero, Antonio Garcia Martinez, and Erik Torenberg sit down with Professor Walter Russel Mead, an American academic, author, WSJ- and Tablet-contributor, and podcast host to discuss the shape of the next era after our information age. Moment of Zen is...
09.10.2023
E41: Balaji on How the Tech Tribe Can Save Our Cities - Part 2
Balaji Srinivasan returns to go deeper into his theory of the Social Lens. Balaji, Erik, and Dan discuss the tactics the Gray tribe can use to create, identify, grow, and scale their power, how the tribal lens maps to geopolitics,...
09.08.2023
E40: Balaji Srinivasan on the Tribal Lens, America’s Blunder, and His Plan to Save San Francisco
Balaji Srinivasan joins Erik Torenberg and Dan Romero on the Moment of Zen podcast to share his new theory of the Tribal Lens, why cognitive territories will gain increasingly more power than land-defined territories, why the US is no longer...
09.02.2023
E39: Bull/Bear Case for Vivek and Erik’s interview with Vivek Ramaswamy
On this episode, Erik Torenberg and Dan Romero analyze what Vivek Ramaswamy’s rise in the polls really means, where he goes from here, and we air Erik’s full interview with Vivek from this spring. Vivek discusses his transformation from founder to...
08.26.2023
E38: Crypto Hour and IQ, the Next Great Culture War Issue
Dan Romero and Erik Torenberg discuss what is exciting in Crypto right now, covering friend.tech, Farcaster’s updates, PWAs, superchain 2a, and infrastructure improvements for more use cases. If you’re building a business and need compliance for SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR...
08.21.2023
E37: Mike Solana on Peter Thiel, the Ideal Presidential Candidate, and Culture War Losers
Mike Solana joins Erik Torenberg, Dan Romero, and Antonio Garcia Martinez to track the rise and ‘vibe shift’ away from the woke industrial complex, from social media algorithms and anon accounts, to media disruptions like Substack and Gawker. They discuss...
08.14.2023
E36: Religion, Canceled Thinkers, LARPing Liberalism, and The End of History
Antonio Garcia Martinez is back from his travels, and joins Dan Romero and Erik Torenberg to dive into his current theory of ‘The End of History’. They also discuss the cancellation of intellectual figures like Richard Hanania, contrast the political...
08.06.2023
E35: Alex Kaplan on the LK-99 Superconductor: the Drama, Democratization of Science, and Future Implications
Alex Kaplan shot to fame on Twitter last week for his thread on the LK-99 superconductor, and why it has the potential to be the most important physics discovery of our lifetime. Today he joins Dan Romero and Erik Torenberg...
07.29.2023
E34: Noah Smith on YIMBYism, California Land Use, and the Best-Run City
Economist and writer Noah Smith returns to the podcast to talk to Dan Romero and Erik Torenberg about housing, politics, land use, and policing in California and beyond. Moment of Zen is part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more...
07.23.2023
E33: News News Yum Yum with Marc Andreessen
Marc Andreessen of Andreessen Horowitz returns to discuss his recent essays on AI, violence, and much more including: San Francisco, mandatory military service, Voegelin, and life extension. We're proudly sponsored by Vanta. Get $1000 off Vanta with https://www.vanta.com/zen Check out our...
07.18.2023
E32: Twitter, Threads, and Remote Work with Eugene Wei
Writer and technologist Eugene Wei joins Dan, Erik and Antonio to talk about Twitter, Threads, and his views on remote work. We reference Eugene's writing a lot on the podcast and mentioned his recent piece, How to Blow Up a Timeline...
07.10.2023
E31: Threads vs Twitter, Zuck vs Elon, and Silicon Valley’s Civil War with Mike Solana
Fan favorite Mike Solana, Editor in Chief of Pirate Wires, joins Erik, Dan, and Antonio this week to discuss Meta’s Threads, status, and the future of social media. We're proudly sponsored by Vanta. Get $1000 off Vanta with https://www.vanta.com/zen Moment of...
07.02.2023
E30: Affirmative Action, the Administrative State, and The Right's Victory in the Courts
In this episode, Dan Romero and Erik Torenberg discuss the Supreme Court's affirmative action decision, legacies and college athletes, the administrative state, and the right's victory in the courts. If you’re looking for an ERP platform, check out our sponsor, NetSuite: http://netsuite.com/zen We're...
06.24.2023
E29: Brokenism, The Borg, and Bravery with Alana Newhouse
Alana Newhouse, the Editor in Chief of Tablet Magazine, joins Erik and Antonio on this week's episode. Avid listeners will recall that Alana's essays about Brokenism have influenced many heated discussions on Moment of Zen. Here Alana goes deeper into...
06.17.2023
E28: Katherine Boyle and Mike Solana on Liberal Arts Debate, Tech Culture, and Saving San Francisco
Katherine Boyle and Mike Solana join Erik, Dan, and Antonio to discuss whether a liberal arts degree is worth it and how to save San Francisco. Moment of Zen is part of the Turpentine podcast network. To learn more: turpentine.co We're hiring...

What's "Moment of Zen" about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

"Moment of Zen" episodes:

E76: Should We Accelerate or Decelerate Tech Progress?

E75: The Future of Crypto, Social Platforms, and Descending the Tech Ladder with Mike Rainbow

E74: Bryan Johnson on AI, Religion, and God

E73: Crypto, Memes, and Politics with Li Jin

E72: Curtis Yarvin on How to Build the Next NYT and Advice for Elon

E71: Dune/Napoleon, Apple/Microsoft, TikTok, Polyamory, and Aella’s Legacy

E70: Antonio on Social Media, Journalism, and New Religions with Parker Thompson

E69: Will the US Have a Civil War with @WhatifAltHist's Rudyard Lynch

E68: Dan's Intellectual Journey

E67: A Deep Dive on Farcaster: Past, Present, and Future

E66: Chris Dixon on the Future of the Internet, Crypto, and Web3

E65: How to Build a Startup Now, Finding PMF, and Navigating the Idea Maze

E64: The U.S. vs Europe, Bryan Johnson and Human Longevity

E63: What does E/acc stand for?

E62: 2023 Recap, 2024 Predictions, Farcaster/Turpentine updates

E61: Curtis Yarvin on Rufo, Harvard, FDR, and The Cathedral

E60: Bill Ackman, Harvard, and What Happens Next?

Sam Harris on Populism, Inequality, and Polarization

Revisited: Moment of Zen's Origins with Marc Andreessen

Katherine Boyle and Mike Solana on Liberal Arts Debate and Saving San Francisco

E57: Trump/Biden, Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Palestine, and US/China

E56: Balaji Srinivasan and Nathan Labenz on How AI Will Shape the Future & AI Gods

E55: How Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Peter Thiel, and George Soros Reshape Society

E54: Who Is Beff Jezos? Beff on Being Doxxed, the e/acc movement, and Crypto & AI Crossover

E53: Dominic Cummings on Elon, Techies in Politics, and New Elitism

E52: OpenAI Debrief, Why Liberals Become Conservatives, and Diversity in Tech

E51: The Sam Altman Episode: OpenAI, Sam's Legacy

E50: Balaji’s Gray Tribe, Fixing SF, and whether to start or buy a city?

E49: Biden vs Trump in Israel, Why Younger People Support Palestine, and Why There is No International Community

E48: MoZ gets Nuke Pilled with Packy and Julia

E47: Antonio's Dispatch From Israel

E46: Why this is BLM for Jews, unpacking the conflict, and predictions for Israel, Gaza, and Iran

E45: The Hoax of the Century, Hybrid Warfare, Iran, and Israel with Jacob Siegel

E44: Elon and the Border Crisis, the Case for Immigration, and the American Dream

E43: Ideas from Balaji and Curtis That Changed Our Minds

E42: Wonks vs Proles, Post Liberalism, and Politics as Religious War with Walter Russell Mead

E41: Balaji on How the Tech Tribe Can Save Our Cities - Part 2

E40: Balaji Srinivasan on the Tribal Lens, America’s Blunder, and His Plan to Save San Francisco

E39: Bull/Bear Case for Vivek and Erik’s interview with Vivek Ramaswamy

E38: Crypto Hour and IQ, the Next Great Culture War Issue

E37: Mike Solana on Peter Thiel, the Ideal Presidential Candidate, and Culture War Losers

E36: Religion, Canceled Thinkers, LARPing Liberalism, and The End of History

E35: Alex Kaplan on the LK-99 Superconductor: the Drama, Democratization of Science, and Future Implications

E34: Noah Smith on YIMBYism, California Land Use, and the Best-Run City

E33: News News Yum Yum with Marc Andreessen

E32: Twitter, Threads, and Remote Work with Eugene Wei

E31: Threads vs Twitter, Zuck vs Elon, and Silicon Valley’s Civil War with Mike Solana

E30: Affirmative Action, the Administrative State, and The Right's Victory in the Courts

E29: Brokenism, The Borg, and Bravery with Alana Newhouse

E28: Katherine Boyle and Mike Solana on Liberal Arts Debate, Tech Culture, and Saving San Francisco