What's Uptin?

Uptin

Inside the minds driving tech, money and power.

  1. 4d ago

    China spent decades Stopping Births. Now It Can’t Start Them Again. The Future of Babies and Immigration.

    China spent decades limiting births with its one-child policy. Now it’s offering incentives to have more children, and birth rates keep falling. But did China ever really have control in the first place? In this episode of What’s Uptin, I sit down with Dr. Jennifer Sciubba, political demographer and co-author of Toxic Demography, to unpack the global panic over falling birth rates. From abandoned schools in Japan to baby bonuses that don’t work, Elon Musk’s extinction fears, and why even countries with affordable childcare aren’t having more kids, Jen explains what’s really driving the shift and why the way we talk about it matters. We also get into immigration backlash from Canada to Mexico City, why Silicon Valley wildly overestimates how many people migrate, whether robots can care for our aging parents, how AI could reshape the labor picture, and the one thing that keeps her up at night: that demographic panic could cost us our freedom. Chapters 00:00 Intro 00:15 Is the population crisis real? 01:32 Immigration vs. having more babies 02:32 Japan’s shrinking towns and abandoned schools 03:19 Do baby bonuses actually work? 04:30 Why young people in Japan and Korea are opting out 05:59 The Depopulation Panic 07:43 Can robots care for the elderly? 10:30 Elon Musk and the extinction argument 12:21 The danger of politicizing reproduction 13:38 China: from one child to “have as many as you want” 15:16 What makes demography “toxic” 17:19 Silicon Valley’s migration blind spot 19:45 Trump, immigration, and nativist backlash 21:20 Digital nomads: Bali vs. Mexico City 24:51 The most underrated demographic trend 26:13 AI, jobs, and migration 28:33 What keeps her up at night

  2. Oct 22

    The Jobs AI Can't Take (and Why We'll Still Watch Tennis)

    Avi Goldfarb breaks down the real-world consequences of AI tools and the challenges of managing them. He's testified before government bodies regarding the urgent need to address the damage caused by current technology. He joins the show to examine the dual nature of these systems, weighing the immense potential for progress against the tangible dangers that policymakers are currently racing to understand. This is a look at the trade-offs we face as we integrate these systems into our daily infrastructure. The conversation moves beyond the hype to explore significant artificial intelligence risks and the necessity of thoughtful government regulation. Avi describes a scenario where we effectively have a country of geniuses on demand, fundamentally changing how we approach work and problem-solving. We discuss why finding the right balance is the defining challenge for the future of AI. Subscribe for more conversations on business, culture, and what’s next. Follow ⁨@Whats_Uptin⁩ to get inside the minds driving tech, money, and power.

  3. Oct 15

    How South Korea Stole America’s Greatest Export (and Why Washington Messed Up). Hollywood is Changing.

    Hollywood is shrinking, but entertainment has never been bigger. Producer Patrick has spent 20 years in television, on shows like The Amazing Race and Naked and Afraid. He joins Uptin for an inside look at an industry being rebuilt in real time. They start with Obsession, a $750,000 film on track to earn half a billion dollars, and what its success says about Gen Z, original stories, and the future of movie theaters. Patrick explains why the old studio lots now feel like ghost towns and what the Paramount–Warner Bros merger could mean for jobs in LA. He also covers why productions are leaving for Ireland, Bulgaria, and the Gulf, and how South Korea turned K-dramas, K-pop, and Squid Game into soft power. That’s a playbook America invented and then forgot. They also get into streaming fatigue, YouTube’s growing power, Washington’s push for a federal film tax credit, and why the best predictor of a hit still isn’t an algorithm. Chapters 1:44 Welcome, Producer Patrick 1:49 The $750K movie chasing half a billion 3:04 “It’s the story, stupid” 3:49 Are movie tickets really too expensive? 5:35 Is Gen Z saving movie theaters? 6:25 The Paramount–Warner Bros merger explained 7:19 Layoffs and what the merger means for Hollywood 9:33 Tumbleweeds on the studio lots 10:47 Hollywood is shrinking, entertainment is growing 12:40 Ireland, Bulgaria, and the new global production hubs 13:51 South Korea and the power of soft power 16:07 France’s 20% rule and protecting culture 17:14 Nollywood and the new storytelling markets 19:31 Why the Gulf is investing in film 20:38 China, India, and Hollywood 24:30 Can a 20% federal tax credit bring productions back? 26:57 Streaming fatigue: who’s doing it right? 29:21 Is reality TV making a comeback? 30:20 What keeps Producer Patrick up at night? Subscribe for more conversations on business, culture, and what’s next.

  4. Oct 8

    Your Phone Isn't Stealing Your Focus. You're Giving It Away.

    He wrote the book Silicon Valley used to make apps impossible to put down. Then he spent a decade teaching people how to break free. Nir Eyal is the bestselling author of Hooked, Indistractable, and his newest book, Beyond Belief, co-written with his wife Julie Li and a New York Times bestseller. His books have sold over a million copies in more than 30 languages, and he's a former Stanford GSB lecturer and serial entrepreneur who has built and sold multiple companies. In this episode of WHATS UPTIN?, we get into: How he responds to critics who say he helped build the attention economyThe line between a healthy habit and manipulative designWhether distraction is still "on us" now that AI is making apps even better at grabbing attentionThe hidden beliefs that quietly cap your ambition, income, and resultsWhat it was like writing a book with his wifeWhat a social media app built to be "indistractable" would actually look likeThe habit he still struggles with, despite literally writing the book on habits If you care about tech, money, or getting more out of your own brain, this one's for you.

  5. Jul 23

    Sweden’s secret to creating global companies, from a Billion dollar company founder

    Oscar Höglund has started six companies. This is the one that turned into a nine-figure business, and along the way, he learned some of the sharpest lessons on hiring, leadership, and building through inflection points that I've heard on this show. In this episode, Oscar (co-founder of Epidemic Sound) and I get into what it actually takes to build and scale a company: why he believes you should only hire people smarter than yourself, the day he realized he was no longer the smartest person in his own company, how Sweden's economy shapes its founders, and why "done is better than perfect" only gets you so far. We also dig into AI's role in business today, where it supercharges talent and where it exposes weak links, and why speed without discipline can wreck a company's trust with its users. In this episode: Going from a "mediocre" management consultant to a serial founderWhy great leadership means feeling like the dumbest person in the roomHow Sweden's safety net changes the risk calculus for entrepreneursPaying for top talent in the AI era, and why the gap between good and great just got biggerBalancing speed and quality when you have a loyal, high-volume user basePredictions for where the creator economy is headedWhat's really keeping a founder up at nightTimestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:34 What Oscar's company actually does 4:32 Uptin's own founder-story tangent 6:06 Short-form vs. long-form content trends 7:26 Starting from scratch in a legacy industry 10:24 Building a business model people actually want to work with 16:47 Why Sweden keeps producing great startups 20:13 "Hire people smarter than you," and the day that got real 22:18 Paying for talent in the AI era 23:42 Predictions for the next few years 28:18 Is an IPO coming? 29:01 What's keeping him up at night 🎧 Subscribe for more conversations with founders and operators building category-defining companies.

  6. Jul 16

    Why Klarna's CMO thinks Amex is just a Transfer of Wealth

    David Sandstrom, CMO of Klarna, sits down with Uptin at Cannes Lions to explain why he thinks the credit card industry is broken, and why Klarna is coming for it. In this episode: Why Sandstrom says Amex lounge perks are secretly funded by people drowning in credit card debtThe real story behind Klarna's viral Snoop Dogg ("Smooth Dogg") campaign, and the 50/50 boardroom vote that almost killed itHow Klarna handled going viral for the wrong reasons (yes, the $18 DoorDash memes)Why Gen Z trusts influencers over banks, and what that means for the future of financial adviceHow AI is changing marketing, LinkedIn, and social media as we know itWhat it's really like to build a $46 billion company, survive a brutal market correction, and IPO, and the mental toll no one talks aboutSandstrom's blunt take: "Your self-worth and your net worth are not the same thing"Whether you love Klarna, distrust it, or just want to understand how a "boring" fintech company became one of the most talked-about brands in the world, this conversation pulls back the curtain. 🎧 New episodes of What's Uptin every week.

  7. Jul 9

    This might be the most unusual CEO in Silicon Valley: Twitch's CEO gets brutally honest

    Twitch CEO Dan Clancy has no PR team filtering his live streams, argues with his own mom about playing football, and thinks failure is the entire point of success. On this episode of What's Uptin, we sit down with one of the strangest, most disarming CEOs in tech. Dan Clancy went from NASA researcher to running Twitch, and along the way built a leadership style that looks nothing like Silicon Valley's usual playbook. He explains why Twitch creators keep coming back even after leaving for YouTube, why "community" doesn't mean what most platforms think it means, and how a random Kevin Durant story reveals exactly what makes Twitch different. We also get into: - Why he's not worried about YouTube or Instagram going all-in on live streaming - The real difference between a "commodity creator" and a platform star- His honest take on AI streamers (including "AI Jesus") - Why Amazon owns Twitch, and why almost nobody notices- His NASA to Google to Twitch career path, and why he was a theater major in college - The 3 pieces of advice he gives every new grad- Why he forces himself to fail on purpose, literally counting rejections as a weekly goal - What actually keeps the CEO of Twitch up at night This is a rare, unfiltered look at how one of the internet's biggest platforms is really run, by someone who insists he's just a regular guy who happens to run it. 🎥 Full interview above. 👍 If you enjoyed this episode of What's Uptin, leave a like and subscribe for more conversations with the people building the platforms we use every day. 💬 Drop a comment: what surprised you most about Dan Clancy?

  8. Jul 2

    How YouTube became a $30 Billion business nobody saw coming, and is now becoming TV's biggest threat

    Alison Lomax, Managing Director of YouTube, joins What's Uptin? to unpack how a platform once dismissed as "amateur bedroom vlogging" has become one of the most dominant forces in media and why most people are still underestimating it. In this conversation, we cover: Why YouTube viewing on television sets has overtaken every other format in some marketsHow podcasts went from irrelevant to essential on YouTube in under 4 yearsThe real math behind creator monetization — and why one YouTube subscriber is worth far more than a follower on other platformsHow YouTube's multi-format strategy (Shorts, live, podcasts, long-form) is built to defend against competitors, not cannibalize itselfWhat 21 years of platform evolution reveals about where attention, and advertising dollars, are headed nextAlison's take on AI's role in content, productivity, and the future of workWhether you're building a media business, investing in the space, or just trying to understand where audiences are actually spending their time, this is a rare look inside the strategy of one of the most influential platforms in the world.

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About

Inside the minds driving tech, money and power.

Information

  • Creator
    Uptin
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    21
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Uptin
  • Show Website
    What's Uptin?

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