First Encounter

The Techno-Optimist Manifesto — Marc Andreessen ↗

Andreessen's October 2023 manifesto declaring that technology and growth drive human progress, naming 'existential risk', ESG and the Precautionary Principle among its 'enemies' and listing Marinetti among its 'Patron Saints'.

The Little Tech Agenda — Marc Andreessen & Ben Horowitz ↗

a16z's July 2024 policy statement: regulators are using 'brute force' against blockchain and are being 'green lit' to do the same to AI, and the proposed tax on unrealized capital gains 'would absolutely kill' startups.

Opinion | What Really Happened at the White House Lunch That Marc Andreessen Says Sent Him to Trump ↗

Former Biden deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed and AI adviser Ben Buchanan (Opinion, 09/10/2026 04:59 AM EDT) dispute Andreessen's account of the May 2024 West Wing lunch: they say they conveyed no plan to ban AI startups, and that most of the meeting was grievances about Biden's billionaire minimum tax and SEC crypto oversight.

Why Is Tech Billionaire Marc Andreessen So Mad? (How AI, Crypto and DEI Drove Marc Andreessen to MAGA) ↗

Bloomberg Businessweek feature, 15 Oct 2026: the May 22, 2024 lunch was in Jeff Zients's West Wing office; sources say Andreessen's grievances "don't always match reality".

Marc Andreessen Rises as a MAGA Power Player for 2026 Midterms ↗

Bloomberg's own syndication of the Austin Carr story; the public lede places the May 22, 2024 lunch in Jeff Zients's West Wing office.

Free trade and immigration are dividing Trump's GOP ↗

Quotes Andreessen on the Ross Douthat podcast: after the meeting they walked out and said "Yep, we're for Trump."

The Bitter Grievances Of Marc Andreessen ↗

Summary of the Bloomberg Businessweek profile, including the ~$116 million the a16z team has spent on federal politics since Trump's re-election.

Andreessen Horowitz founders explain in video why they chose Trump over Biden ↗

July 2024: on The Ben & Marc Show, Andreessen recounted backing Obama in 2008 and Hillary Clinton in 2016 before switching to Trump over taxes and crypto regulation.

Andreessen Horowitz founders endorse Trump: 'The future of our business…is literally at stake' ↗

Fortune on the July 2024 podcast in which Horowitz and Andreessen endorsed Trump; Horowitz: "sorry Mom".

Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz each donated $2.5 million to a pro-Donald Trump super PAC ↗

FEC filings (Oct 2024): Andreessen and Horowitz each gave $2.5 million to the pro-Trump super PAC Right for America.

Marc Andreessen: It's Morning Again In America (Uncommon Knowledge) ↗

January 2025 interview: host notes Andreessen has spent half his time at Mar-a-Lago since the election; Andreessen calls himself an "unpaid intern" at DOGE.

Statement by President-elect Donald J. Trump Announcing Science and Technology Team ↗

Dec 22, 2024 statement naming Sriram Krishnan Senior Policy Advisor for AI at OSTP, working with David Sacks.

David Horowitz, 1939–2025 ↗

Obituary of Ben Horowitz's father, the 1960s New Left editor turned conservative activist, who mentored Stephen Miller.

Tomorrow's Advance Man (The Mind of Marc Andreessen) ↗

2015 profile: Horowitz's "grouchy Marc" wedding toast, Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen and John Arrillaga as a "replacement family", the "cut you out of his life like a cancer" quote, Horowitz staying at Netscape when 40% left, and the pawnshop outburst.

My Dinner With Andreessen ↗

Perlstein recalls a 2017 book-club dinner at Andreessen's Atherton home where Andreessen disparaged small-town Wisconsin and said something like "I'm glad there's OxyContin and video games to keep those people quiet."

SpaceX & the Sentient Sun ↗

June 15, 2026 a16z essay framing SpaceX's February 2026 merger with xAI as a bet on orbital AI compute.

The DOGE Boys Get VC Funding to Support Their Latest Enterprise ↗

a16z led funding for Special, a holding company founded by ex-DOGE staffers Nate Cavanaugh and Justin Fox; Steve Davis is among the DOGE-linked backers.

Introducing Special ↗

Founders' launch post on a16z's Substack: they spent most of 2025 at DOGE leading the Small Agencies team.

Schedule A receipts: Marc Andreessen to Right for America (C00867036) ↗

FEC itemized receipts for the Right for America super PAC from contributor Marc Andreessen.

Elon Musk on X: "We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper." (3 Feb 2025) ↗

Musk's 3 Feb 2025 post: "We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper. Could gone to some great parties. Did that instead."

Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) — Quarterly Audits & Diversion Reports ↗

Homepage of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.

Does as little as 10% of USAID go to help people in need? What that claim gets wrong ↗

USAID's January 2025 localization report: 12.1% of FY2024 funding went directly to local organizations; the rest still funded aid through other partners. Walter Kerr (Unlock Aid) quote traced.

Thinking Through Waste, Fraud and Corruption in US Foreign Assistance ↗

CGD, 21 Mar 2025 (updated with SIGAR data): SIGAR's 284 financial audits covered $10bn; $31.33m disallowed, about 0.3%; indirect costs sometimes 30% of direct costs.

Foreign Assistance: Agencies Made Broad Changes, but State Lacked Guidance for Decisions (GAO-26-108607) ↗

GAO report published 30 Sep 2026 on foreign assistance changes and staffing at nine agencies, including USAID.

Rubio says 83% of USAid programs terminated after six-week purge ↗

10 Mar 2025: Rubio posts that ~5,200 of USAID's 6,200 programs have been terminated; survivors move to State.

Evaluating the impact of two decades of USAID interventions and projecting the effects of defunding on mortality up to 2030 ↗

Lancet modelling study: steep USAID funding cuts could cause more than 14.05 million additional all-age deaths, including 4.54 million under-5 deaths, by 2030.

Elon Musk’s Fight With Representative Ro Khanna Gets Messy ↗

June 2026: after Khanna cited the Lancet projections, Musk called him an "evil liar", threatened to sue him and said he should be in prison.

Musk says work to stop Ebola was accidentally cut but restored. Experts raise doubts ↗

At the 26 Feb 2025 cabinet meeting Musk said DOGE "accidentally canceled very briefly" Ebola prevention and restored it with "no interruption"; experts say support was not fully restored.

Federal judge says Elon Musk exceeded his authority and that dismantling USAID was ‘likely’ unconstitutional ↗

18 Mar 2025: Judge Theodore Chuang (D. Md.) finds the USAID shutdown likely unconstitutional and blocks DOGE from further cuts.

USAID Official and Three Corporate Executives Plead Guilty to Decade-Long Bribery Scheme Involving Over $550 Million in Contracts ↗

DOJ: USAID contracting officer Roderick Watson and three executives pleaded guilty in a bribery scheme involving at least 14 prime contracts worth over $550m.

Tracking Anticipated Deaths from USAID Funding Cuts ↗

BU SPH on Brooke Nichols's Impact Counter, which models excess deaths from the aid cuts.

The ‘Zero’ People Who Died After USAID Was Dismantled ↗

Reportage from northeastern Nigeria testing Musk's claim, made to the Economist's Zanny Minton Beddoes, that "zero" people in Africa died from the USAID shutdown.

Elon Musk: "Humans Won't Be in Control" When AI Becomes Smarter Than Us (The Builders) ↗

Official episode page with transcript, published 20 Oct 2026.

Trump presents Elon Musk with National Medal of Science, calls him “modern-day Thomas Edison” ↗

8 Oct 2026: Trump awarded Musk the National Medal of Science at the White House "Science: A New Golden Age" summit and called him a "national treasure".

Elon Musk emerges as the top booster for Republicans with $276 million in donations ↗

12 Oct 2026: America PAC confirms Musk has given at least $276m toward the midterms since the summer.

Trump threatens to cut Musk contracts as feud quickly escalates ↗

5 Jun 2025: Musk calls the GOP megabill a "disgusting abomination"; Trump threatens his contracts; Musk claims Trump is in the Epstein files.

Independent Review Panel on the July 13, 2024 Assassination Attempt — Final Report ↗

Independent Review Panel report (Oct 2024): a twenty-year-old fired eight rounds from the AGR building roof less than 150 yards from the stage; Corey Comperatore was killed; James Copenhaver and David Dutch were injured.

Later update: James Copenhaver died in September 2026 from complications of his wounds (Pennsylvania Attorney General, 2026-09-24). David Dutch survived.

Elon Musk ‘Fully Endorses’ Donald Trump After Deadly Rally Shooting ↗

13 Jul 2024: Musk posts "I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery" shortly after the Butler shooting.

Giggling Elon Musk revisits ‘joke’ about Kamala Harris assassination ↗

Oct 2024 Tucker Carlson interview: Musk says "If he loses, I'm fucked" and asks how long his prison sentence would be.

Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on X — profile ↗

Musk's X profile, showing 241.5M followers on 26 Oct 2026.

Office of Science and Technology Policy ↗

OSTP landing page; says the OSTP Director co-chairs PCAST. It does not mention Sacks.

Newsroom ↗

Anthropic newsroom index (lists the 15 Oct 2026 "An update on independent evaluators" post about METR).

President Trump Announces Appointments to President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology ↗

25 Mar 2026 release naming Sacks and Michael Kratsios as PCAST co-chairs.

David Sacks says his time as Trump's crypto and AI czar has ended ↗

26 Mar 2026: Sacks says he has used up his 130 days as a special government employee and moves to PCAST.

David Sacks is done as AI czar -- here's what he's doing instead ↗

26 Mar 2026: Sacks's 130-day SGE stint ends; TechCrunch says PCAST puts him further from power.

Trump unveils AI task force ↗

Semafor report of 4 Oct 2026 on the White House "Super Intelligence Force".

White House AI Task Force Plans Breach Reporting for AI Labs ↗

19 Oct 2026: first task force meeting; Emil Michael is vice chair; PCAST runs the risk study.

David Sacks on X: "Are Small Models Really a Threat? The Anthropic Fear Factory..." ↗

Sacks mocks Anthropic's self-replication report as "your toaster might kill you".

Sacks Slams Anthropic AI Safety Bill Over Stale FLOPs Threshold ↗

17 Oct 2026: Sacks says the 10^25 FLOPs line in Anthropic's draft bill is a 2023 EU number that would sweep in enterprise AI.

Anthropic’s AI safety bill draws fire over its frontier compute line ↗

17 Oct 2026: details of the 10^25 FLOPs "covered developer" test in Anthropic's draft federal bill.

David Sacks on X: reply to Jack Clark on Anthropic equity ↗

Sacks's 18 Oct 2026 reply to Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark.

Investing in the public benefit ↗

18 Oct 2026: Anthropic commits 5% of shares to a new Public Benefit Fund.

When AI models refuse to fight hackers ↗

20 Oct 2026: OpenCode and Hugging Face defenders were blocked by frontier-model guardrails mid-investigation.

Silicon Valley spooks the AI safety advocates ↗

Oct 2025: Sacks's "regulatory capture strategy based on fear-mongering" post replying to Jack Clark.

Anthropic tries to keep pace with OpenAI, faces off with David Sacks ↗

Oct 2025: background on the Sacks–Anthropic feud.

Silicon Valley’s Man in the White House Is Benefiting Himself and His Friends ↗

30 Nov 2025 NYT investigation into Sacks's investments and policy role.

New report examines how David Sacks might profit from Trump administration role ↗

30 Nov 2025 summary of the NYT investigation into Sacks's investments and policy role.

White House Accord on Super Intelligence ↗

Text of the 29 Sep 2026 voluntary accord signed by Trump and six company leaders.

The Quiet Political Rise of David Sacks, Silicon Valley’s Prophet of Urban Doom ↗

2022 profile: The Diversity Myth, Hillary 2016 donation, DeSantis giving, $1M to the pro-Vance PAC, the Boudin recall.

The Venture-Capital Populist ↗

George Packer's June 2026 profile of Sacks.

Money and motives: Who is paying for the school board recall, and why? ↗

Feb 2022: Sacks gave $74,500 to the SF school board recall.

Trump hits tech fundraiser in San Francisco, some guests pay $300,000 ↗

6 Jun 2024: the Sacks/Palihapitiya fundraiser, expected to raise $12M; Sacks's "break the ice" line.

Trump lands endorsement of top investor who hosted $12 million San Francisco fundraiser for former president ↗

Ticket tiers ($50,000 to $500,000 per couple) and the same-day endorsement.

Ex-Trump adviser backs self-imposed AI slowdown, rejects ‘cartel’ framework ↗

13 Sep 2026: quotes Sacks's post on Anthropic and OpenAI ("duopoly", "cartel", METR).

Trump’s former AI czar tells Anthropic and OpenAI to slow down, and to stop asking for anything in return ↗

13 Sep 2026: same post, with the "form a cartel" quote.

Anthropic gives outside AI watchdog “employee-like” access ↗

Oct 2026: METR team embedded at Anthropic. Anthropic isn't paying METR, and METR takes no AI-company donations.

US government warned Anthropic that Fable 5 had been jailbroken, but firm 'refused' to fix before US implemented export controls ↗

14 Jun 2026: Sacks's account of the Fable 5 jailbreak and the export control.

Trump administration reignites its feud with Anthropic over latest AI models ↗

14 Jun 2026: a person briefed on Amodei disputes Sacks's "Dario refused" account.

Statement on the directive to suspend Fable 5 access ↗

Anthropic's statement complying with, and disagreeing with, the suspension directive.

Limited waiver pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 208(b)(1) regarding A.I. assets (Warrington memo to Sacks) ↗

White House counsel waiver listing Sacks's divestments: Meta, Amazon and TSMC directly; xAI via Craft Ventures.

David Sacks sold $200 million in crypto holdings before taking WH job ↗

Mar 2025: Sacks and Craft sold over $200M of digital-asset investments; Craft still holds some funds.

EDGAR Company Search ↗

Generic EDGAR company-search landing page (original stub).

All-In Podcast — Home ↗

Official All-In site: hosts Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, David Sacks, David Friedberg.

Chamath Palihapitiya ↗

Biography: born 1976 in Galle; Ottawa posting; asylum 1986; Burger King at 14; Waterloo; BMO; Winamp, AOL, Mayfield, Facebook; Beacon; donations.

I turn 50 today... ↗

3 Sep 2026 letter to his kids: welfare childhood, Burger King at 14, the "dust" line and "forgive your parents".

Chamath Palihapitiya on X: "I turn 50 today..." ↗

The same letter, posted on X.

Chamath Palihapitiya: I was “Totally Wrong” About Trump. ↗

15 Jul 2026: transcribes Chamath's CNBC remarks on Charlottesville, Trump's call, and "We were lied to".

All-In: GPT-6 Hits AGI? Tech Euphoria 2.0... (transcript) ↗

Transcript of the All-In episode taped on Chamath's 50th birthday: the Trump letter, his son Braden's internship, and Sacks's "impressive" remark.

Trump hits tech fundraiser in San Francisco, some guests pay $300,000 ↗

6 Jun 2024: Sacks/Palihapitiya fundraiser; $50,000 tickets, $300,000 tier; expected $12M. Notes Chamath gave over $250,000 to Biden in 2020.

Trump lands endorsement of top investor who hosted $12 million San Francisco fundraiser for former president ↗

Ticket tiers up to $500,000 per couple.

The Venture-Capital Populist ↗

June 2026 profile of Sacks: January 6 remarks by Sacks and Palihapitiya; the fundraiser; Vance.

Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. Announces Closing of Initial Public Offering and Exercise in Full of Over-Allotment Option ↗

Sep 2017: IPOA closes 69,000,000 units at $10 (including 9,000,000 over-allotment units), i.e. $690M.

Can't stop, won't stop: Social Capital Hedosophia just filed for its fourth SPAC, says new report ↗

Sep 2020: Palihapitiya said on All-In he had reserved NYSE symbols IPOA to IPOZ; the first SPAC was raised in 2017.

Chamath warns retail investors to avoid his new SPAC ↗

1 Oct 2025: American Exceptionalism SPAC raises $345M; 98.7% to institutions.

One-time 'SPAC King' Palihapitiya launches new blank-check vehicle with plan to 'temper' retail fervor ↗

30 Sep 2025: launch of the new SPAC.

Chamath Palihapitiya shares SPAC regret on "The Axios Show" ↗

Axios (Dan Primack), 24 Jun 2026, previewing The Axios Show interview.

Bookending the blitz, Chamath Palihapitiya begins unwinding two SPACs ↗

Sep 2022: Chamath winds down IPOD and IPOF.

Chamath Palihapitiya raises $135M Series A for his AI coding startup, takes CEO role ↗

29 Jun 2026: 8090 Labs raises $135M; Chamath becomes CEO.

Trump names national intelligence chief Jay Clayton as new AI czar ↗

4 Oct 2026: Jay Clayton named AI czar, leading the Super Intelligence Force.

#338 – Chamath Palihapitiya: Money, Success, Startups, Energy, Poker & Happiness ↗

Official episode page, posted 15 Nov 2022, with chapter timestamps.

End Times Fascism ↗

Book page for Klein and Taylor's End Times Fascism (2026).

End Times Fascism by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor review – the fightback starts here ↗

14 Sep 2026 review: tech barons dreaming of sitting out breakdown in fortified enclaves.

Jason Calacanis ↗

Biography: born in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn; half-Greek, half-Irish; Fordham; Silicon Alley Reporter; Mahalo; Uber; TWiST; Launch fund; Twitter transition.

Jason Calacanis: The Silicon Valley Vibes Are Still Pro-Trump ↗

9 Jun 2026 Bulwark podcast with Calacanis.

Jason Calacanis Says He Supports Raising the Minimum Wage Now ↗

Aug 2026: Calacanis backs raising the minimum wage from $12 to $15, then $20 and $25.

René Girard and Mimetic Theory — A Very Brief Introduction ↗

Imitatio's introduction to Girard's mimetic desire and scapegoat theory.

The Education of a Libertarian ↗

Thiel's 13 Apr 2009 essay: "I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible."

Peter Thiel ↗

Biography: born Frankfurt 1967; Cleveland; Swakopmund school; San Mateo High valedictorian; PayPal; Palantir; Facebook stake; Founders Fund; 2016 donation; Gawker.

The Stanford Review ↗

The Stanford Review was founded in 1987 by Peter Thiel and Norman Book; Sacks graduated in 1994 and was a later editor-in-chief.

Peter Thiel plans to wind down his involvement in 2022 after Vance’s victory in Ohio ↗

May 2022: Thiel gave nearly $15M to Protect Ohio Values, the pro-Vance super PAC.

Peter Thiel slams ‘not very smart’ White House officials, warns of dem socialist specter ↗

Sep 2026: Thiel tells Mathias Döpfner the second administration overcorrected with loyalty tests.

Thiel’s big break with Trump ↗

POLITICO Decoded, 22 Oct 2026, on private recordings of Thiel's Nashville lectures.

Peter Thiel says Obama and Pope Leo are exploiting AI fears in his latest Antichrist lectures ↗

15 Oct 2026: the Nashville Antichrist talks; the tour went San Francisco → Paris (January) → Rome (March) → Nashville.

Thiel’s 'Antichrist' Never Turns Up ↗

Final of four Monday-evening lectures at the Grand Lodge of Tennessee; the "very bad president" line.

The venture fund that spent $4.6 billion in a year just raised $6 billion more ↗

May 2026: Founders Fund Growth IV ($6B; $1.5B from partners); the prior $4.6B fund backed seven companies.

Founders Fund closes $6 billion for Founders Fund Growth IV ↗

Deal note: $4.5B from LPs plus $1.5B from employees and senior management including Thiel.

Palantir Q2 2026 Business Update ↗

Q2 2026 results: revenue +93% to $1.94B; US commercial +149%; FY2026 guidance $8.150–8.158B.

Peter Thiel revealed as secret buyer of Bel Air mansion that sold for $130m ↗

2 Oct 2026: Thiel-linked LLC bought Casa Encantada for $130M at a July foreclosure auction.

Peter Thiel buys troubled Bel-Air mega-mansion for $130 million ↗

30 Sep 2026: the same purchase.

The Venture-Capital Populist ↗

June 2026 profile of Sacks: Thiel founded The Stanford Review, which Sacks later joined; Thiel and Sacks co-wrote The Diversity Myth.

Department of Elections ↗

San Francisco Department of Elections landing page (original stub).

The Free Press ↗

The Free Press homepage (original stub).

Official Website of New York City Government ↗

NYC.gov homepage (original stub).

Mayor Mamdani Releases “Block by Block: The Housing Plan for A New Era” ↗

May 2026: 200,000 new + 200,000 preserved affordable homes over a decade; $22B over five years; $5.6B for NYCHA; Open Door doubled; "Our Home" co-ops.

Nancy Pelosi ↗

Born 26 Mar 1940; announced on 6 Nov 2025 that she would not seek reelection.

Nancy Pelosi isn't sitting out the fight to replace her ↗

21 Oct 2026 (Mark Z. Barabak): Pelosi's role backing Chan against Wiener: ads, comms director, endorsements; grudge, Christine, or sisterhood?

USC California Elections and Policy Poll, 2026 CA-11 ↗

Oct 2026 CA-11 poll: Wiener 47%, Chan 41%, 9% undecided.

Poll: Chan trailing Wiener despite Pelosi support ↗

22 Oct 2026: the USC poll, shared with the Standard.

The inside story behind the mysterious rift between Pelosi and Wiener ↗

13 Oct 2026: timeline of the Pelosi–Wiener rift, including the 2023 call, the March 2023 exploratory committee, the Oct 2025 call, and coffee with Christine.

Christine Pelosi steps out of her mom’s shadow and jumps into race for state Senate ↗

10 Nov 2025: Christine Pelosi launches her state Senate campaign.

Bari Weiss ↗

Born 25 Mar 1984, Pittsburgh; eldest of four sisters; Columbia 2007; Haaretz and Forward; WSJ 2013–17; NYT 2017–20; The Free Press; Paramount deal and CBS News.

Zohran Mamdani ↗

Born 18 Oct 1991, Kampala; Assembly 2020; announced Oct 2024; elected 4 Nov 2025; youngest since 1892; sworn in on the Quran at the City Hall subway station.

askevepodcast/ask-eve ↗

The Making of Eve ↗

ExistentialAudio/BlackHole ↗

BlackHole: a macOS audio loopback driver.

Voicemeeter ↗

Voicemeeter virtual audio mixer (Windows).

Cloudflare R2 ↗

R2 object storage without egress fees; lists "Storage for podcast episodes" as a use case.

Cloudflare D1 ↗

D1: a managed serverless database with SQLite's SQL semantics.

D1 SQL statements ↗

D1 supports a subset of SQLite extensions, including FTS5 and JSON; sqlite-vec isn't listed.

asg017/sqlite-vec ↗

sqlite-vec: a vector search SQLite extension.

SQLite FTS5 Extension ↗

FTS5: an SQLite virtual-table module for full-text search.