On this episode of Fault Lines, hosts Jamarl Thomas and Shane Stranahan talked with guests about why America likes dysfunctional government, the value of travel, America's agitation against Venezuela, and how human's early arrival in the universe may be evidence that we're not ultimately alone.

Guests:

Mark Frost - Entrepreneur, economist, professor, consultant, etc. | Coverage of the Biden/Putin Meeting, and the Value of Travel

Joe Emersberger - Pro-Palestinian activist, producer, consultant | New Book on Venezuela

Robin Hanson - Associate professor of economics at George Mason University, Futurist, Author | Grabby Aliens and Biased Brains

In our first hour we had an open and wide conversation about the filibuster and the status and role of modern governance, how well Biden handled his messaging heading into his presidency, and why the American government seems to be built around keeping things from getting done.

In our second hour we were joined by Mark to talk about Jamarl's coverage of Geneva, what traveling can do for the outlook of the average person by showing humanity at its most hospitable, before moving to a conversation with Joe Emersberger, talking about the propaganda and war- and fearmongering over Venezuela.

In our third hour we were joined by Robin Hanson to talk about a model he and some colleagues developed for determining where aliens are in space, before moving to a conversation about human bias, the lies we tell ourselves systematically, and how a mind that deals with large numbers and long timescales can go wrong when it makes plans.