Best Casey Handmer Podcasts (2024)

1
Energy economics and rocket science with Casey Handmer 1:25:18

1h ago1:25:18

1:25:18

Patrick McKenzie (patio11) is joined by Casey Handmer, rocket scientist turned CEO of Terraform Industries. Casey discusses the rapid advancements in solar power, the bureaucratic challenges of NASA, the incomprehensible success of SpaceX, and the evolving energy landscape. Casey touches on his experiences at JPL revealing how the organization’s fe…

1
WTF is ELCC with the man who predicted the PJM capacity price spikes, Nic Freschi 2:05:48

2h ago2:05:48

2:05:48

We’re back! This time with Nic Freschi, Senior Associate at Gable Associates and all around PJM wizard. Nic is a friend and OG member of the DERTF. Almost a year ago, Nic’s models began predicting the ~10x increase in PJM capacity prices we saw in the recent auction. How did he know? In this ep, we go deep on every acronym you could ever imagine: E…

1
Robin Hanson: Prediction Markets, the Future of Civilization, and Polymathy — #66 1:20:47

1h ago1:20:47

1:20:47

Robin Hanson is a professor of economics at George Mason University. He has worked in a variety of fields, including Physics, AI, Economics, and Futurism. Follow him at https://x.com/robinhanson "When the typical economist tells me about his latest research, my standard reaction is 'Eh, maybe.' Then I forget about it. When Robin Hanson tells me abo…

1
Bet on it: Zvi Mowshowitz on professional gambling, trading, and AI futures 1:26:22

5d ago1:26:22

1:26:22

In this episode, Patrick McKenzie (patio11) is joined by Zvi Mowshowitz (TheZvi) to discuss his wide-ranging career as a professional Magic: The Gathering player, sports gambler, equities trader, public intellectual on the covid-19 epidemic, and AI-focused journalist. They go into depth on how trading happens in less formal markets with lessons tha…

1
China Today: Myths and Realities — #65 1:21:47

12d ago1:21:47

1:21:47

Steve discusses China myths and realities with Victor, a tech founder who ran a company in Beijing for 7 years. Among the topics covered: economic growth, real estate bubble, technology innovation, human capital, freedom of expression, Confucianism and Culture. 00:00 Introduction 02:02 Post-COVID economy and bursting of the real estate bubble 08:25…

1
Betting on the future via prediction markets, with Stephen Grugett of Manifold 51:57

12d ago51:57

51:57

In this episode, Patrick McKenzie (patio11) is joined by Stephen Grugett, a co-founder of Manifold, to discuss prediction markets. They cover how prediction markets work, their efficiency in aggregating information, and why they serve as a minority report against prevailing narratives. They cover past controversies, potential risks, and the philoso…

1
Reporting on tech with Kelsey Piper 1:06:40

21d ago1:06:40

1:06:40

Patrick McKenzie (patio11) is joined by Kelsey Piper, a journalist for Vox’s Future Perfect. Kelsey recently reported on equity irregularities at OpenAI in May of 2024, leading to an improvement of their policies in this area. We discuss the social function of equity in the technology industry, why the tech industry and reporters have had a frosty …

1
Ivy League Anonymous: Great Awokening and Campus Radicals — #64 1:11:52

26d ago1:11:52

1:11:52

Earlier episode, Harvard Veritas: https://www.manifold1.com/episodes/harvard-veritas-interview-with-a-recent-graduate-anonymous-18 Chapter markers: (00:00) - Introduction and Guest Welcome (02:12) - Campus Protests and Media Perception (06:29) - Student Political Views and Academic Freedom (21:44) - Intellectual History of Wokeism (35:46) - STEM vs…

1
Writing the first draft of financial history with Byrne Hobart 50:45

26d ago50:45

50:45

Patrick McKenzie (patio11) is joined by Byrne Hobart to discuss Byrne’s vantage point as writer of The Diff, a tech and finance newsletter. Byrne explains the toxicity of the 30-year mortgage, the dynamics of the finance newsletter ecosystem, how rationalist epistemics can be applied to hedge funds, and the joy of learning about an industry from sc…

1
The real story of Texas VPP policy with Arushi Frank, Founder of Luminary Strategies 2:17:43

1M ago2:17:43

2:17:43

Last week we were lucky enough to sit down with Arushi Sharma Frank, the policy wizard who while at Tesla Energy helped turn Texas into one of the DER capitals of the world. She gives us the in depth history of of how ERCOT’s VPP program was forged — a story our co-host James was also a part of. We also talk about the rest of her time at Tesla, cas…

1
How the Smart Money teaches trading with Ricki Heicklen 1:40:15

1M ago1:40:15

1:40:15

Patrick McKenzie (patio11) and Ricki Heicklen discuss Ricki’s innovative approaches to teaching trading. Trading is traditionally taught only by practitioners, to practitioners. The curricula that trading firms use are not published externally, to avoid empowering competitors. Ricki explains how she teaches trade mechanics, how markets and traders …

1
AI Global Odyssey: REAL Situational Awareness — #63 59:18

1M ago59:18

59:18

Steve talks about AI in light of his recent travels to SF, Singapore, Manila, Berkeley, and Silicon Valley. Chapters: (00:00) - Overview: SF, Singapore, Manila, Berkeley (01:48) - The AI Bubble in Silicon Valley (04:00) - Scaling Laws and AGI (23:36) - Global AI: Singapore, Philippines, real Enterprise applications (34:59) - AGI: Manhattan Project?…

1
Transforming century old grid tech with Charlotta Holmquist, President and Co-Founder of Blixt 1:23:07

1M ago1:23:07

1:23:07

We’re back! This time with Charlotta Holmquist, President and Co-Founder of Blixt. Blixt is based in Sweden and just closed a fundraise led by Union Square Ventures. Their solid state circuit breaker and x-verter technology have the potential to fundamentally change how we approach building the grid. We’ve never left a conversation so excited about…

1
Less hype, more DERs 1:22:10

2M ago1:22:10

1:22:10

We’re back for our first solo pod in months! We talk about what everyone is talking about these days… VPPs and load growth from AI. Is all this hype and talk about our space a good thing? Tune in to hear the Task Force unpack and set the narrative straight. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access…

1
Philippe Lemoine: Bad Covid Science, Ukraine Analysis, and Philosophy — #62 2:17:25

2M ago2:17:25

2:17:25

Philippe Lemoine is a PhD candidate at Cornell University in philosophy and a widely-read public intellectual. We discuss philosophy, the scientific research used to justify COVID lockdowns, and the Russia-Ukraine war. Philippe’s writing: philippelemoine.com Philippe on X: https://twitter.com/phl43 (00:00) - Introduction and Guest Background (00:54…

1
John Seo: Catastrophe Bonds and the Investor Choice Problem — Manifold #61 1:14:00

2M ago1:14:00

1:14:00

Dr John Seo is co-founder and a managing director at Fermat Capital Management, LLC. He has over 30 years’ experience in fixed income bond and derivatives trading and has been active in the Insurance-Linked Securities (“ILS”) market for over 25 years. Prior to forming Fermat with his brother Nelson in 2001, Dr Seo was senior trader in the Insurance…

1
Accelerating DER Policy with Allison Bates Wannop 1:21:11

2M ago1:21:11

1:21:11

We’re back, this time with Allison Bates Wannop, DERTF’s policy lead! We cover an absolute ton of stuff in this one: * Allison's background and introduction, Mother's Day acknowledgments * Mary Powell's influence, DER advocacy, the significance of FERC v. EPSA in shaping energy policy * Favorite DER categories, Vermont initiatives, impact of extrem…

1
Molson Hart: China and Amazon, Up Close — #60 1:25:44

3M ago1:25:44

1:25:44

Molson Hart is the CEO of Viahart, an educational toy company. He has deep experience selling products manufactured in China, using Amazon and other platforms. He produced a documentary about the challenges Amazon's market dominance creates for sellers and buyers worldwide. His recent video about a recent trip to visit factories in China went viral…

1
Scaling commercial solar with Dave Riess, CEO and Co-Founder of Wunder 2:15:59

3M ago2:15:59

2:15:59

Last week we sat down with Dave Riess, the CEO and co-founder of Wunder. They’re working hard to scale mid-sized commercial solar projects, where they believe the real TAM is in this market. Dave is an awesome guy who’s been grinding in the space for years now, so we naturally had a ton to talk about. * (00:02:55) Introduction and Guest Overview: I…

1
Paving the world with solar with Casey Handmer, Founder of Terraform Industries 1:33:38

3M ago1:33:38

1:33:38

We’re back! This time with Casey Handmer, founder and CEO of Terraform Industries. Terraform is building a system to turn cheap solar electricity into methane. To pull this off they’ll need to commercialize the most performant and lowest-cost electrolysis, carbon capture, and Sabatier reactors ever seen. Casey had a ton of interesting thoughts abou…

1
Jaan Tallinn: AI Risks, Investments, and AGI — #59 43:04

4M ago43:04

43:04

Jaan Tallinn is a billionaire computer programmer and investor. He was a co-founder of Skype, and has invested in companies like DeepMind and Anthropic. Tallinn is a leading figure in the field of existential risk, having co-founded both the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER) at the University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom and th…

1
Glenn Luk: China’s economic evolution, GDP, and high speed rail — #58 1:29:21

4M ago1:29:21

1:29:21

Glenn Luk has worked as an investment banker, private equity investor, and startup founder. He has closely analyzed aspects of the Chinese economy, including its GDP and high speed rail system. Steve and Glenn discuss: (00:00) - Introduction (01:21) - Glenn Luk's Background: HK, Taiwan, China (07:59) - Evolution of Chinese Companies and Economy (14…

1
#52 Edging the grid with Quincy Lee, CEO of Electric Era 1:44:57

4M ago1:44:57

1:44:57

We’re back! This time we sat down with Quincy Lee, CEO and co-founder of Electric Era, an electric vehicle refueling company. Quincy has a super cool background - starting with designing skyscrapers, then moving on to space technology, and now he’s der-pilled. We talk about all kinds of stuff in this one: * what SpaceX and Starlink were like * why …

1
Casey Handmer: Terraform Industries and a carbon-neutral future — #57 1:02:02

4M ago1:02:02

1:02:02

Casey Handmer (PhD, Caltech, general relativity) is the founder of Terraform Industries. He is one of the most capable and ambitious geo-engineers on planet Earth! Terraform Industries is scaling technology to produce cheap natural gas with sunlight and air. Using solar energy, they extract carbon from the air and synthesize natural gas, all at the…

1
#51 We're moving to Gundo! 2:45

5M ago2:45

2:45

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.dertaskforce.com We’re back! This time with a VIDEO POD. We recorded this live at DTECH a few weeks ago and haven’t had time to upload it. But this is a fun one that you don’t want to miss. Not only did we finally find out what a DERMS is, but we also became fully converted distribut…

1
Russell Clark: Japan, China, and USD reserve status — #56 1:13:35

5M ago1:13:35

1:13:35

Russell Clark is a hedge fund investor who has lived and worked in both Japan and China. He writes the widely followed Substack Capital Flows and Asset Markets: https://www.russell-clark.com/ Steve and Russell discuss: 0:00 Introduction 0:52 Russell's background and experiences in Japan 13:25 Hong Kong and finance 31:53 China property bubble 48:54 …

1
#50 Jesse "IRA" Jenkins is on the pod 1:11:04

5M ago1:11:04

1:11:04

We’re back, this time joined by Jesse Jenkins - professor at Princeton and lead of the Zero Lab. We cover a ton of ground in this one, including: * Jesse’s DERs journey, including skepticism at times and optimism at others. * A ton of discussion on rate design. * Jesse’s recent pod on rooftop solar. * How the hell is rooftop solar so expensive here…

1
Stephen Grugett: Predicting the Future with Manifold Markets — #55 50:19

5M ago50:19

50:19

Stephen Grugett is the co-founder of Manifold Markets, the world's largest prediction market platform where people bet on politics, tech, sports, and more. Steve and Stephen discuss: 0:00 Introduction 0:52 Stephen Grugett’s background 5:20 The genesis and mission of Manifold Markets 11:25 The play money advantage: Legalities and user engagement 20:…

1
#49 The Queen of Power Markets, Lynne Kiesling 1:23:07

6M ago1:23:07

1:23:07

We’re back! This time with Lynne Kiesling, Director of the Institute for Regulatory Law & Economics (IRLE) at Northwestern University. Lynne is an Economist who has been working on power systems issues since the early 2000s, with a focus on power markets, transactive energy, and “quarantining the monopoly” as she says. Lynne was a panelist at DERVO…

1
Ray McGovern: CIA, JFK, Deep State, and Ukraine Crisis — #54 1:07:36

6M ago1:07:36

1:07:36

Raymond McGovern is a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst, serving from 1963 to 1990. His CIA career began under President John F. Kennedy and lasted through the presidency of George H. W. Bush. McGovern advised Henry Kissinger during the Richard Nixon administration, and during the Ronald Reagan administration he chaired National Inte…

1
DERVOS: The Evolving Grid 5:55

6M ago5:55

5:55

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.dertaskforce.com Back in November we threw DERVOS, our annual distributed energy summit. It turned out awesome. We really couldn’t be happier or more grateful for how it went. The panels and speakers were great, the crowd that turned up was amazing, and the vehicle to rave afterparty…

1
Lecture: Fermi Paradox, AI, Simulation Question — #53 53:07

6M ago53:07

53:07

Steve discusses DNA and the origin of life on Earth, the Fermi Paradox (is there alien life?), AI and its implications for the Simulation Question: could our universe be a simulation? Are we machines, but don't know it? Slides: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CrWLiKYhLbDLG8yTOBySrsKrzAUbV-FES1toeJL-UWE/edit?usp=sharing Further discussion of the…

1
#48 Utility-led DERvolution w/ Pier Lafarge 1:31:17

7M ago1:31:17

1:31:17

We’re back! This time we sat down with Pier LaFarge, co-founder and CEO of Sparkfund. Those who listened to the DERVOS recording released last week may remember Pier pitching a utility-led DER deployment model. It was a pretty interesting idea that we felt deserved its own deep dive on a pod, so we invited Pier on to make the case for what is likel…

1
Utah AG Sean Reyes: “Sound of Freedom” and Human Trafficking — #52 1:10:55

7M ago1:10:55

1:10:55

Sean Reyes is Utah’s Attorney General and a producer for the movie “Sound of Freedom.” Steve and Sean discuss his personal story, human trafficking, and the role of technology in law enforcement. More on Reyes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Reyes NOTE: Reyes has announced that he will not seek re-election as Utah AG: https://www.youtube.com/wa…

1
Military Technology and U.S.-China War in the Pacific — #51 1:24:14

7M ago1:24:14

1:24:14

TP Huang returns for the third time to discuss the US-China strategic competition in terms of military technology. Previous episodes with TP include: China's EV Market Dominance and the Challenges Facing Tesla — #48: https://www.manifold1.com/episodes/chinas-ev-market-dominance-and-the-challenges-facing-tesla-48 Huawei and the US-China Chip War — #…

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