Ezra Klein, journalist, political analyst, and podcaster, sits with Erik Torenberg to go deeper into the intellectual movement of supply-side progressivism and what Silicon Valley misses about politics. This conversation was recorded in early February 2023, but is even more relevant today.

TIMESTAMPS:
(0:00) Preview of Ezra discussing Elon Musk
(2:16) Unpacking supply side liberalism and the abundance agenda
(7:55) Contrasting Ezra’s Buildism with Marc Andreessen and Tyler Cowen
(12:20) Why we can't build
(16:36) Sponsors: Secureframe | Mercury | MarketerHire
(18:47) Unions
(21:06) Ezra on what Silicon Valley misunderstands about politics
(24:15) Abundance agenda is bipartisan, but will polarize
(27:05) Ezra on immigration and free trade
(31:08) Reinterpreting Ezra’s book Why We’re Polarized in 2023
(34:30) Institutional distrust
(39:10) Davos elite v. Tech Elite v. Crypto Elite
(47:10) What makes Elon right wing?
(51:50) Chris Caldwell’s theory of polarization
(53:50) Has the left gone too far left?
(1:00:15) What the president can actually do
(1:04:40) The deep state
(1:07:00) Where he differs from Patrick Collison
(1:10:15) Equality of opportunity vs a sufficient floor
(1:12:00) Why inequality matters
(1:14:27) Billionaires buying media platforms
(1:16:55) Elon and the era of the trickster god
(1:20:30) Ezra’s book recommendation

SOCIAL LINKS:
Erik’s Twitter: @eriktorenberg
Ezra’s Twitter: @ezraklein
Podcast Twitter: @Upstream__Pod
Erik’s Substack: eriktorenberg.substack.com

Please support our sponsors: Secureframe | Mercury | MarketerHire
- Secureframe: https://secureframe.com/
Secureframe is the leading all-in-one platform for security and privacy compliance. Get SOC-2 audit ready in weeks, not months. I believe in Secureframe so much that I invested in it, and I recommend it to all my portfolio companies. Sign up for a free demo and mention UPSTREAM during your demo to get 20% off your first year.

- Mercury: https://mercury.com/
Now more than ever, startup founders need a safe place to put their cash. Mercury protects your money and also provides the streamlined user experience that great founders expect through partner banks and their sweep networks.Mercury offers up to $5 million in FDIC insurance, which is 20 times the per-bank limit. They also make it easy to invest any cash above the FDIC-insured amount in a money market fund, a hundred thousand startups trust Mercury with their finances. I've been a happy Mercury customer and have found their team incredibly helpful and responsive. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by Choice Financial Group and involve bank and trust members FDIC.

- MarketerHire: https://marketerhire.com/upstream
MarketerHire is one of my favorite resources for growing startups looking to hire marketers. With 1000s of pre-vetted marketers across a dozen roles, whether you need help with growth, marketing, SEO, lifecycle, content, or any other aspect of growth marketing strategy. Over 5,000 companies already use MarketerHire to hire expert marketers on demand, ranging from top venture-backed startups to the most well-known Fortune 500s.

Go to marketerhire.com/UPSTREAM and use code UPSTREAM to get your $1,000 credit for your first hire.