The Dynamist
Foundation for American Innovation
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Top 10 The Dynamist Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Dynamist episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Dynamist for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The Dynamist episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
12/18/24 • 51 min
2024 has been a whirlwind year for tech policy, filled with landmark moments that could shape the industry for years to come. From the high-profile antitrust lawsuits aimed at Big Tech to intense discussions around data privacy and online safety for kids, the spotlight on how technology impacts our daily lives has never been brighter. Across the Atlantic, Europe continued its aggressive regulatory push, rolling out new frameworks with global implications. Meanwhile, back in the U.S., all eyes are on what changes might come to tech regulation after the election.
With all this upheaval, one thing remains constant: people love posting their Spotify Wrapped playlists at the end of the year. It’s a fun way to reflect on the hits (and maybe a few misses) of the past twelve months, so we thought, why not take a similar approach to tech policy?
In this episode ofThe Dynamist, Evan is joined by Luke Hogg, FAI’s Director of Policy and Outreach, and Josh Levine, FAI’s Tech Policy Manager, for a lively conversation breaking down the year’s biggest stories. Together, they revisit the key moments that defined 2024, from courtroom dramas to legislative battles, and share their thoughts on what’s next for 2025. Will AI regulations dominate the agenda? Could new leaders at U.S. agencies take tech in a bold new direction? Tune in to hear their reflections, predictions, and maybe even a few hot takes as they wrap up 2024 in tech policy.
08/27/24 • 67 min
When the average person thinks of nuclear energy, there’s a good chance they’re thinking in terms influenced by pop culture—Homer Simpson’s union job at the Springfield plant, or the HBO miniseries Chernobyl, which dramatized the world’s biggest meltdown.
For all its promise in the mid-20th century, U.S. nuclear energy largely stalled in the 1970s and 80s. While public anxiety over its safety played a role, experts have pointed to the hefty cost of building plants and poor regulatory/policy decisions as having more impact. But in recent years, as demand for low-carbon energy surges and companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google are burning through energy to train artificial intelligence, there is a renewed interest in making nuclear work in this century.
But concerns over cost and safety remain, and even among proponents of nuclear energy, there is a robust debate about exactly how to approach future builds, whether to rely on conventional methods or hold off until new research potentially yields a smaller, more cost-effective method of unlocking atomic energy. What is the state of nuclear power in the U.S. and around the world today? What policies could shape its future? And how might AI, other market dynamics, geopolitics, and national security concerns impact the debate and its outcomes?
Evan is joined by Emmet Penney, the creator of Nuclear Barbarians, a newsletter and podcast about industrial history and energy politics, and a contributing editor at COMPACT magazine. Thomas Hochman, Policy Manager at FAI, is also joining. You can read Emmet’s recent piece on how why nuclear energy is a winning issue for the populist GOP here. You can read Thomas’s piece for The New Atlantis on “nuclear renaissance” here, and his writeup of the ADVANCE Act here.
10/03/24 • 63 min
On September 29th, Governor Newsom vetoed SB 1047, a controversial bill aimed at heading off catastrophic risks of large AI models. We previously covered the bill on The Dynamist in episode 64. In a statement, Newsom cited the bill’s “stringent standards to even the most basic functions” and said he does “not believe this is the best approach to protecting the public from real threats posed by the technology.” Senator Scott Wiener, the bill’s author, responded, “This veto leaves us with the troubling reality that companies aiming to create an extremely powerful technology face no binding restrictions from U.S. policymakers[.]”
The bill had passed the California senate back in August by a vote of 30-9, having been the subject of fierce debate between AI companies big and small and researchers and advocates who fear a catastrophic AI event. Proponents want to get ahead of AI cyberattacks, AI weapons development, or doomsday scenarios by making developers liable to implement safety protocols. Opponents argue that the bill will stifle innovation in California, calling it an “assault on open source” and a “harm to the budding AI ecosystem.”
Aside from the merits of the legislation, it is arguably the first major political fight over AI in the U.S. where competing interests fought all the way to the governor’s desk, attempting to sway the pen of Governor Newsom. The story featured a cast of characters from California Democrats like Nancy Pelosi to billionaires like Elon Musk to major companies like Google and OpenAI. What does this battle say about who holds sway in emerging AI politics? What are the factions and alignments? And what does this all mean for next year in California and beyond?
Evan is joined by Sam Hammond, Senior Economist at FAI and author of the Substack Second Best, and Dean Ball, a research fellow at the Mercatus Center, author of the Substack Hyperdimensional, and a non-resident fellow at FAI.
11/20/24 • 43 min
President-elect Trump recently announced that entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk had forecast the idea in the tail end of the presidential election, championing a commission focused on cutting government spending and regulation. In a statement posted to Truth Social, the president-elect said DOGE would “pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies.” For his part, Musk said “this will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in government waste, which is a lot people.”
Government waste has long been a focus for Republicans in Washington. The phrase “waste, fraud, and abuse” often generates a chuckle in DC circles, given how much the federal bureaucracy, government spending, and the national debt have grown despite decades of professed fiscal hawkishness. While critics of Trump and Musk are rolling their eyes at what they perceive as a toothless commission, proponents welcome the focus on government efficiency from the president-elect and the world’s richest man, and are optimistic that Musk and Ramaswamy’s expertise in the business world would bring much-needed outside perspectives on how to optimize the federal government.
The Foundation for American Innovation has operated a project on government efficiency and tech modernization since 2019. FAI fellows just published a new paper on the topic of “An Efficiency Agenda for the Executive Branch.” To discuss DOGE, the challenges of streamlining bureaucracy, how AI might play a role in the efforts, and what Congress can do to help make DOGE a success, Evan is joined by Sam Hammond, Senior Economist at FAI and Dan Lips, Head of Policy at FAI. For a quick take on FAI's recommendations, check out Dan's oped in The Hill linked here.
10/23/24 • 53 min
Over the past few years, Elon Musk’s political evolution has been arguably as rapid and disruptive as one of his tech ventures. He has transformed from a political moderate to a vocal proponent of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement and his outspokenness on issues like illegal immigration make him an outlier among tech entrepreneurs and CEOs.
Musk's increasing political involvement has added a layer of scrutiny to his businesses, particularly as SpaceX aims to secure more contracts and regulatory permissions. Labor tensions also loom, with Tesla facing unionization efforts and accusations of unfair labor practices, adding a wrinkle into an election where both presidential candidates are vying for the labor vote in the midst of several high-profile strikes this year.
Through all this, Musk’s companies—SpaceX, Tesla, and X—are pressing forward, but the stakes have arguably never been higher with regulatory bodies and the court of public opinion keeping a close watch. Many conservatives have embraced Musk as a Randian hero of sorts, a champion of free speech and innovation. Others sound a note of caution, warning that his emphasis on “efficiency” could undermine certain conservative values, and question whether his record on labor and China are worth celebrating. So, should conservatives embrace, or resist, Musk-ification?
Evan is joined by Chris Griswold, Policy Director at American Compass, a New Right think tank based in DC. Check out his recent piece, “Conservatives Must Resist Musk-ification.” Previously, he served as an advisor to U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, where he focused on innovation, small business, and entrepreneurship.
Age Gates & Free Speech: The Texas Porn Law Debate w/Adam Candeub and Robert Corn-Revere
The Dynamist
12/03/24 • 67 min
There is growing concern among parents and policymakers over the Internet’s harms to children—from online pornography to social media. Despite that, Congress hasn’t passed any legislation on children’s online safety in decades. And while psychologists continue to debate whether and to what extent certain Internet content harms children, several states have stepped into the fray, passing legislation aimed at protecting kids in the digital age. One such state is Texas where Governor Greg Abbott signed HB 1181 in June of 2023.
The bill requires adult or online pornography websites to verify the age of users to prevent users under the age of 18 from accessing those sites. A group representing online porn sites sued, and the bill was enjoined by a district court, then partially upheld by the Fifth Circuit, and will now be heard by the Supreme Court in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, with oral arguments scheduled for January 15.
The ruling in this case could have major implications for efforts to regulate the online world both at the state and federal level—not just for porn but other online content social media. On today’s show, Evan moderates a debate on the following resolution: Texas's Age Verification (AV) Law is Constitutional and AV laws are an effective means of protecting children from online harms.
Arguing for the resolution is Adam Candeub, senior fellow at Center for Renewing America, professor of law at michigan state university, and formerly acting assistant secretary of commerce for telecommunications and information under President Trump. Arguing against the resolution is Robert Corn-Revere, chief counsel at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). Before that he was a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine law firm for 20 years and served in government as chief counsel to former Federal Communications Commission Chairman James Quello. You can read FIRE’s brief in the case here.
10/09/24 • 53 min
Have tech companies become more powerful than governments? As the size and reach of firms like Google and Apple have increased, there is growing concern that these multi-trillion dollar companies are too powerful and have started replacing important government functions.
The products and services of these tech giants are ubiquitous and pillars of modern life. Governments and businesses increasingly rely on cloud services like Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services to function. Elon Musk's Starlink has provided internet access in the flood zones of North Carolina and the battlefields of Ukraine. Firms like Palantir are integrating cutting-edge AI into national defense systems.
In response to these rapid changes, and resulting concerns, regulators in Europe and the U.S. have proposed various measures—from antitrust actions to new legislation like the EU's AI Act. Critics warn that overzealous regulation could stifle the very innovation that has driven economic growth and technological advancement, potentially ceding Western tech leadership to China. Others, like our guest, argue that these actions to rein in tech don’t go nearly far enough, and that governments must do more to take back the power she says that tech companies have taken from nation states.
Evan and Luke are joined by Marietje Schaake, a former MEP and current fellow at Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center. She is the author of The Tech Coup: How to Save Democracy from Silicon Valley. You can read her op-ed in Foreign Affairs summarizing the book.
11/22/24 • 59 min
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is a once sleepy, three-letter agency in Washington that serves as the nation’s general purpose consumer protection regulator—dealing with everything from deceptive advertising to fraud. In recent years, however, the FTC has become somewhat of a household name thanks to current chair Lina Khan and high-profile cases against tech giants Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon. While some populists on right and left have praised the agency for taking on big business, others, particularly in the business community, have railed against the agency for an anti-business stance and preventing legitimate mergers and acquisitions.
Conservatives and Republicans have generally been skeptical of antitrust enforcement and government regulation, but in recent years they have been rethinking how to apply their philosophy in an era when trillion-dollar tech behemoths could be threats to online free speech. And as concerns around other tech issues like data privacy and children’s online safety continue to persist, the FTC sits at the center of it all as the nation’s de facto tech regulator. Is there a balance to be struck between Khan’s aggressive enforcement and the lax treatment preferred by the business world? And how should the agency tackle challenges like artificial intelligence?
Who better to help answer these questions than one of agency’s five commissioners. Evan is joined by Andrew Ferguson, one of two Republican commissioners at FTC. Prior to that, he was the solicitor general of Virginia and chief counsel to Republican senate leader Mitch McConnell.
The Right to Repair w/ Kyle Wiens
The Dynamist
08/15/24 • 54 min
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has made headlines for being picked as Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate. One underreported aspect of his record is signing Minnesota’s first “right to repair” law last year. The bill took effect last month.
The concept sounds simple enough: if you buy something like a phone or a car, you should have the right to fix it. But as our world becomes more digitized, doing it yourself, or having your devices repaired by third-party mechanics or cell phone shops, can be complicated. Everything from opening a car door to adjusting your refrigerator can now involve complex computer code, giving manufacturers more control over whether, and how, devices can be repaired.
Frustrations over this dynamic sparked the “right to repair” movement, which advocates for legislation to require manufacturers to provide parts, tools, and guides to consumers and third parties. While powerful companies like John Deere and Apple have cited cybersecurity and safety concerns with farmers and iPhone users tinkering with their devices, right-to-repair advocates say irreparability undermines consumer rights, leads to higher prices and worse quality, and harms small businesses that provide third-party repair services.
As more states continue to adopt and debate these laws, which industries will be impacted? And will the federal government consider imposing the policy nationwide? Evan and Luke are joined by Kyle Wiens, perhaps the most vocal proponent of the right to repair in the U.S. Wiens is the co-founder and CEO of IFixit, which sells repair parts and tools and provides free how-to-guides online. Read Kyle’s writing on repair rights and copyright in Wired and his article in The Atlantic on how his grandfather helped influence his thinking. See Luke’s piece in Reason on how the debate impacts agriculture.
Tech Election Postmortem
The Dynamist
11/14/24 • 46 min
Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, Republicans won control of the Senate, and the GOP is slated to maintain control of the House. If you turn on cable news, you will see many pundits playing monday morning quarterback in the wake of this Republican trifecta, arguing about the merits of how people voted, speculating on cabinet secretaries, and pointing fingers on who to blame, or who to give credit to, for the results.
But this is The Dynamist, not CNN. In today’s show, we focus on what the results mean for tech policy and tech politics. There are ongoing antitrust cases against Meta, Google, Apple, and Amazon. Investigations into Microsoft, Open AI, and Nvidia. How might the new president impact those cases? Congress is considering legislation to protect children from the harms of social media. Will we see action in the lame duck session or will the issue get kicked to January when the new Congress settles in? What about AI? Trump has vowed to repeal Biden’s Executive Order on artificial intelligence. What, if anything, might replace it? And for those in Silicon Valley who supported Trump, from Elon Musk to Peter Thiel, how might they wield influence in the new administration?
Evan is joined by Nathan Leamer, CEO of Fixed Gear Strategies and Executive Director of Digital First Project, and Ellen Satterwhite, Senior Director at Invariant, a government relations and strategic communications firm in DC. Both Nathan and Ellen previously served in government at the Federal Communications Commission—Nathan under President Trump and Ellen under President Obama.
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FAQ
How many episodes does The Dynamist have?
The Dynamist currently has 93 episodes available.
What topics does The Dynamist cover?
The podcast is about Open Source, Policy, Big Tech, Podcasts, Technology, Business, China, National Security, Politics and Government.
What is the most popular episode on The Dynamist?
The episode title 'J.D. Vance and the Future of the Right w/Oren Cass, Marshall Kosloff, & Jon Askonas' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on The Dynamist?
The average episode length on The Dynamist is 48 minutes.
How often are episodes of The Dynamist released?
Episodes of The Dynamist are typically released every 7 days, 1 hour.
When was the first episode of The Dynamist?
The first episode of The Dynamist was released on Dec 21, 2022.
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