Show Notes
A sneak peek from The Builders with Walter Isaacson, the new podcast series from Kaleidoscope debuting on October 20. In this exclusive preview clip from Isaacson’s interview with Peter Thiel, Thiel calls Anthropic a “cult,” warns about the competitive threat from China, and argues that American AI companies need to hit the accelerator, not the brakes. Kaleidoscope co-founders Oz and Mangesh introduce the clip and preview what’s ahead on The Builders. Peter Thiel is a technology entrepreneur and investor. He co-founded PayPal and Palantir and made the first outside investments in Meta, SpaceX, Anduril, and Stripe. Peter also started the Thiel Foundation, which works to advance technological progress and long-term thinking. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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You’ve probably seen a few episodes of The Builders with Walter Isaacson in the TechStuff feed… today, we’re going to talk about them.
Not too long ago we gave TechStuff listeners a sneak peek at a new podcast called The Builders, and today we're excited to share the second episode. In this series, bestselling biographer Walter Isaacson sits down with the most consequential names in AI and tech to understand the futures they're racing to build. TechStuff listeners will want to tune in because on Friday, we'll discuss the first two episodes of The Builders and hear from some journalists who've covered these personalities for years. Peter Thiel has become one of the most mysterious and controversial figures in tech. He’s a visionary investor who recognizes transformative ideas before everyone else. But he’s also seen as a shadowy figure whose network has accumulated extraordinary influence across Silicon Valley, national security and politics– proven by his bets on people like Elon Musk, Alex Karp, Sam Altman, and even Vice-President JD Vance. Walter invites the “builder of builders” and co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, to explain his warnings about the Antichrist, discuss the current moment of AI co-founders speaking out about safety, and to ask Thiel his philosophy on preferring evil founders to incompetent ones. An illuminating conversation with the man whose bets are reimagining tomorrow’s tech and politics. Interview taped September 16, 2026. And be sure to pick up Walter Isaacson’s The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution, wherever fine books are sold. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Not too long ago we gave TechStuff listeners a sneak peek at a new podcast called The Builders, and today we can finally share the first episode! In this series, bestselling biographer Walter Isaacson sits down with the most consequential names in AI and tech to understand the futures they're racing to build. TechStuff listeners will want to tune in because on Friday, we'll discuss the first two episodes of The Builders and hear from some journalists who've covered these personalities for years. First up is Elon Musk. Elon Musk has spent his career turning improbable ideas into companies that reshape the world. To some, the entrepreneur behind Tesla and SpaceX is an engineering genius whose ambitions have transformed electric cars and space travel. To others, his politics and extraordinary influence raise serious questions about the future he is building. Either way, the world’s first trillionaire is betting on AI, humanoid robots and life beyond Earth. In this season’s debut episode, Walter asks Musk about DOGE regrets, why he believes robots will solve America’s national debt, and the dark politics that have consumed his own platform, X. Along the way, Musk shares why living in a simulation demands that we all be less boring. A candid conversation about the imagination, drive and contradictions of a man determined to turn his vision into our future. Interview taped August 6, 2026. And be sure to pick up Walter Isaacson’s The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution, wherever fine books are sold. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
TechStuff listeners! If you love the 'Week in Tech,' and want to hear more from Semafor's Reed Albergotti, look no further than Future Proof.
Is Silicon Valley worthy of the big screen? Reed Albergotti (Semafor and Future Proof), Kyle Chayka (The New Yorker), and Julia Black (Vanity Fair) debate two new films about tech world drama… and why the OpenAI boardroom saga makes for good cinema. Then, Kyle unpacks the bankruptcy of Character.AI and whether it’s fair to see it’s the first domino to fall in the AI bubble. Finally, Reed brings us into the world of gaming. And how Xbox is responding to the video game mashups consumers are building thanks to AI. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.