Faster, Please! — The Podcast

James Pethokoukis

Welcome to Faster, Please! — The Podcast. Several times a month, host Jim Pethokoukis will feature a lively conversation with a fascinating and provocative guest about how to make the world a better place by accelerating scientific discovery, technological innovation, and economic growth. fasterplease.substack.com

  1. 6 DAYS AGO

    ✨💪 The future of work in an age of AI: My chat with economist Daniel Rock

    My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world: Artificial intelligence is undoubtedly poised to change the workplace—the question is, by how much? Key voices in Silicon Valley warn that white-collar jobs will soon be a thing of the past, while others predict more modest economic gains as firms struggle to reorganize workflows. When it comes to the future of work and American business, contradictory forecasts can be difficult to interpret and reconcile. Today on Faster, Please!—The Podcast, Daniel Rock and I attempt to sift through the often-confusing current AI conversation. We cover the distinction between “AI-exposed” fields and those destined for automation, explore the bottlenecks that could slow adoption among businesses, and offer a more realistic outlook for growth. Rock is an assistant professor of operations, information, and decisions at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. There, his research dives into the economics of AI and digital technologies, as well as the future of work. His paper,The Productivity J-Curve: How Intangibles Complement General Purpose Technologies, is worth a read. In This Episode * The trouble with forecasting (1:40) * The economist’s evaluation (8:09) * The productivity J-curve (11:49) * Exposure vs. automation (18:53) * Growth projection (23:04) (A lightly edited transcript of our conversation will be appear in my Week in Review issue on Saturday. Another option is using the Substack auto transcript function.) On sale everywhere The Conservative Futurist: How To Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fasterplease.substack.com/subscribe

    28 min

  2. 10 APR

    🏗️ A hub for hard-tech startups: My chat with 'American Shenzhen' builder Joshua Farahzad

    My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world: As a college sophomore, Josh Farahzad assembled a group of students from around the country in an attempt to launch a homemade rocket into space. From there, he ditched the traditional route and scoured the country for the perfect place to build a uniquely American mega-project. Disillusioned with the entrepreneurial atmosphere of the Bay Area, he has since broken ground in central Texas. Caldwell County is now home to Proto-Town—a place Farahzad hopes businesses will have the space to engineer and build world-changing hardware. Today on Faster, Please—The Podcast, I chat with Farahzad about his quest to build America’s premier manufacturing town from scratch. In This Episode * Welcome to Proto-Town (1:20) * The Limits of California (5:18) * From the Ground Up (10:46) * The Vision (17:35) (A lightly edited transcript of our conversation will be appear in my Week in Review issue on Saturday. Another option is using the Substack auto transcript function.) On sale everywhere The Conservative Futurist: How To Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fasterplease.substack.com/subscribe

    20 min

  3. 24 MAR

    ✨ The Age of AI, an update: My chat with policy analyst Dean Ball

    My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world: Anxiety is running rampant about the future of artificial intelligence and its place in society. When technology CEOs warn of an impending white-collar jobpocalypse (or jobageddon, if you prefer), it’s no wonder public pessimism is so widespread. Today on Faster, Please!—The Podcast, I chat with tech policy analyst Dean Ball to help us sift through some of the uncertainty. We talk about recursive self-improvement, the role of AI in everything from medicine to defense, and what to think about the possible growing risk of AI company nationalization. (FYI: Our chat occurred just before the White House released new guidelines for AI federal legislation, about which Ball opined on X/Twitter: “The White House’s proposal for a nationwide AI law is a thoughtful document that will serve as an excellent foundation for the legislative work ahead. I would be happy to see these principles, if translated well into statute, become law.”) Ball is a senior fellow at FAI, the Foundation for American Innovation. He recently served as senior policy advisor for Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, as well as strategic advisor for AI at the National Science Foundation. He was previously a research fellow at the Mercatus Center and a policy fellow at Fathom. He’s also the author of the excellent Hyperdimensional Substack newsletter. In This Episode * Public pessimism (1:37) * Differing narratives (4:21) * The nationalization risk (16:15) * Accountability via audit (25:55) * Productivity projection (34:18) (A lightly edited transcript of our conversation will be appear in my Week in Review issue on Saturday. Another option is using the Substack auto transcript function.) On sale everywhere The Conservative Futurist: How To Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fasterplease.substack.com/subscribe

    43 min

  4. 19 FEB

    🌎 Storm watch: My chat with climate policy expert Roger Pielke Jr.

    My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world: Headlines portend rising seas, raging storms, and a planet in crisis. It’s easy to feel like the future is something to fear; however, the key to cooling things down isn’t scaling civilization back. If the world wants to cut back on carbon emissions without sacrificing growth, the answer lies in bold innovation. A sustainable tomorrow requires smart energy investment and long-term thinking today. On this episode of Faster, Please! — The Podcast, I chat with Roger Pielke Jr. about the ever-evolving discussion around climate change. We talk about the benefits of embracing new energy technology and identifying some easy wins. Pielke is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where his research focuses on science and technology policy. He is also a professor emeritus at University of Colorado Boulder, a distinguished fellow at Japan’s Institute of Energy Economics, a research associate with Risk Frontiers in Australia, and an honorary professor at University College London. Pielke has authored and edited several books, including The Climate Fix: What Scientists and Politicians Won’t Tell You About Global Warming. He also writes The Honest Broker Substack. In This Episode * The Shale Story (1:42) * Unknown Unknowns (7:42) * The Weather Forecast (14:19) * Alternate History (25:23) * The Path Forward (28:25) (A lightly edited transcript of our conversation will be appear in my Week in Review issue on Saturday. Another option is using the Substack auto transcript function.) On sale everywhere The Conservative Futurist: How To Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fasterplease.substack.com/subscribe

    35 min

  5. 4 FEB

    ☄️Awaiting apocalypse: My chat with journalist and author Dorian Lynskey

    My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world: Since humanity’s beginning, we’ve been pondering about our end. From war, to disease, to divine reckoning, the means of our destruction seem endless. The advent of the atomic bomb, concerns around climate change, and now AI have prompted many to wonder whether our demise will be random, or if it will come as the result of our own actions. Today on Faster, Please! — The Podcast, I chat with Dorian Lynskey about the way we talk about the end times. We discuss whether catastrophizing leads to action or paralysis and the role of hope in our narratives. Lynskey is a prolific journalist and the author of three books. His most recent: Everything Must Go: The Stories We Tell About the End of the World, which was released last month in the US. He also co-hosts two podcasts, Origin Story and Oh God, What Now?. In This Episode * Scare Tactics (1:32) * Effects of Hopefulness (10:25) * AI Doomsayers (17:01) * Countdown to Catastrophe (21:15) (A lightly edited transcript of our conversation will be appear in my Week in Review issue on Saturday. Another option is using the Substack auto transcript function.) On sale everywhere The Conservative Futurist: How To Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fasterplease.substack.com/subscribe

    27 min

  6. 30 JAN

    ⤴️ Beyond Abundance: My chat with Brink Lindsey about his new book, 'The Permanent Problem'

    My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world: The human pursuit of progress stems from our desire for security and a higher quality of life. Yet, even as today’s advanced economies are the richest and most comfortable they’ve ever been, something is amiss. What explains the decline in R&D growth, mental health, and birth rates, just to name a few challenges? In his new book, The Permanent Problem: The Uncertain Transition from Mass Plenty to Mass Flourishing, author Brink Lindsey identifies the critical gap between material abundance and abundant human flourishing. Today on Faster, Please! — The Podcast, Brink and I chat about what constitutes a truly healthy society, beyond surface-level affluence. We identify the conditions for continual progress after our basic needs have been met and far exceeded. Linsey is a senior vice president at the Niskanen Center. He previously served as vice president for research at the Cato Institute and as a senior scholar at the Kauffman Foundation. He has authored and co-authored six books on economics and culture, and is the author of his own Substack, also titled The Permanent Problem. In This Episode * More of everything . . . !? (1:54) * Falling fertility (7:31) * What we’ve lost (10:20) * Evaluating flourishing (13:13) * A culture of growth (20:24) * Future-world problems (28:04) (A lightly edited transcript of our conversation will be appear in my Week in Review issue on Saturday. Another option is using the Substack auto transcript function.) On sale everywhere The Conservative Futurist: How To Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fasterplease.substack.com/subscribe

    32 min

  7. 20 JAN

    ⚛️ A final (and lasting?) nuclear revival: My chat with nuclear energy advocate Jessica Lovering

    My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world: Headlines abound with news of the coming nuclear renaissance — a long-awaited era of clean, abundant energy to power our future. But this is hardly the first time the media has heralded the dawn of the atomic age. Still, this round of nuclear optimism is seeing unprecedented corporate investment, more cost-effective modular reactors, and a greater sense of political consensus. Today on Faster, Please! — The Podcast, I chat with Jessica Lovering about past obstacles to growth, and what we might expect from the US going forward. Lovering is an advocate for nuclear power currently based in Sweden. She is the co-founder and former executive director of the Good Energy Collective, as well as a senior fellow with the Nuclear Innovation Alliance and the Energy for Growth Hub. She also authors her own Substack, Nuclear Power to the People. In This Episode * The lost Atomic Age (1:30) * To regulate or not to regulate (8:26) * Reactor capacity past and future (10:44) * The economics of nuclear (14:51) * Power projection (18:32) * The new nuclear status quo (24:04) (A lightly edited transcript of our conversation will be appear in my Week in Review issue on Saturday. Another option is using the Substack auto transcript function.) On sale everywhere The Conservative Futurist: How To Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fasterplease.substack.com/subscribe

    27 min

  8. 04/12/2025

    🪐 NASA and beyond: My chat with space policy analyst Casey Dreier

    My fellow pro-growth/progress/abundance Up Wingers in America and around the world: NASA is attempting the difficult task of juggling highly ambitious goals, but also possibly intense budget cuts. Despite personnel losses and unclear leadership, the administration is racing to put humans on the Moon — ideally ahead of China — and then Mars. Today on Faster, Please! — The Podcast, I’m chatting with Casey Dreier about this complicated new era in NASA’s history. We’ll discuss whether or not we’re really in a space race, what to make of the differing visions of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, and the rise of planetary defense. Dreier is chief of space policy at The Planetary Society where he advocates for planetary exploration, defense, and the search for extraterrestrial life. He has been featured in major publications from The New York Times to the Washington Post, and hosts his own podcast, Planetary Radio: Space Policy Edition. In This Episode * The return of Isaacman (1:32) * Ditch the Space Race (7:42) * Visions of space (14:48) * Planetary defense (21:23) * Proceed with optimism (24:51) (A lightly edited transcript of our conversation will be appear in my Week in Review issue on Saturday. Another option is using the Substack auto transcript function.) On sale everywhere The Conservative Futurist: How To Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fasterplease.substack.com/subscribe

    29 min
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About

Welcome to Faster, Please! — The Podcast. Several times a month, host Jim Pethokoukis will feature a lively conversation with a fascinating and provocative guest about how to make the world a better place by accelerating scientific discovery, technological innovation, and economic growth. fasterplease.substack.com

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