Hidden Forces

In Episode 184 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Noreena Hertz, a renowned thought leader, academic, and broadcaster, named by The Observer as “one of the world’s leading thinkers” and by Vogue as “one of the world’s most inspiring women.”  Over the course of her career, Hertz has grappled with issues of political-economy, markets, business, culture, and technology. In her latest book, “The Lonely Century,” she draws from this well-spring of knowledge, as well as from her research in the fields of psychology, philosophy, and evolutionary biology in order to help us understand how our growing sense of loneliness and isolation—from ourselves and from each other—is contributing to much of the social instability, political dysfunction, and existential angst that many of us experience in our daily lives. The purpose of this episode is not only to help you understand the scale of the loneliness epidemic and its drivers but also to draw the connections between its more visible effects like mental and emo

In Episode 183 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Karen Petrou, co-founder and Managing Partner of Federal Financial Analytics and author of “Engine of Inequality: The Fed and the Future of Wealth in America.” The objective of this episode is to help you better understand how monetary policy and financial regulations have changed in the years since the great financial crisis and how those changes have destabilized financial markets by transferring risk from the more tightly regulated banking sector to other parts of the system. In the subscriber overtime, Karen and Demetri discuss solutions to this predicament and what policy actions the Fed and regulators can take to rectify the problem. The two also discuss some of the limitations of the current policy and how much more room policymakers have to stimulate the economy before inflation finally begins to pick up or before we start seeing yields in the treasury market rise precipitously. We may already be there. You can access the subscriber overtime

In Episode 182 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Nicole Perlroth, award-winning cybersecurity journalist for The New York Times and author of a recently published book on the cyber-weapons arms race titled “This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends.”   This is the latest episode in a series that we’ve devoted to the subject of information security and the threat posed to our infrastructure and to our lives by the cyber-weapons industry.   Cyberattacks against individuals, companies, and infrastructure have increased steadily year after year. Attacks like the recent one targeting a water treatment facility in Florida or the Solarwinds hack, discovered last December and which compromised thousands of private and government users — including Homeland Security, the Pentagon, and the NSA — are only the tip of the iceberg. These types of attacks are happening 24hrs a day, 7 days a week, and the costs that they impose on individuals and organizations are measured in the trillions of dollars every single ye

In Episode 181 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Balaji Srinivasan, an angel investor, entrepreneur, and prominent futurist who’s views on crypto, the future of education, and the network state put him at the forefront of innovation and disruption in money, business, and politics.  The two discuss Balaji’s thesis for the rise of the network state, what it means for existing institutions of money & power, and what life will look like for human beings in this not-too-distant future. Demetri’s thesis is that Silicon Valley culture and the ongoing disruptive dynamics associated with social networks, mobile devices, automation, and now cryptocurrencies, are not only restructuring and remaking the commercial world but increasingly encroaching upon the traditional assignments and obligations of government and the state. We see this perhaps most notably in the case of privately issued cryptocurrencies, but one can argue that this culture of disruption runs much deeper and its consequences for society

In Episode 180 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas provides listeners with a sneak peak into the next 5 weeks of content, including episodes on the networked state, financial warfare, cybersecurity, the loneliness epidemic, and how to rebuild the mission-driven state. You can access the episode overtimes, as well as the transcripts and rundowns to each week’s episode through the Hidden Forces Patreon Page. All subscribers gain access to our overtime feed, which can be easily added to your favorite podcast application. If you enjoyed listening to today’s episode of Hidden Forces you can help support the show by doing the following: Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | CastBox | RSS Feed Write us a review on Apple Podcasts Subscribe to our mailing list through the Hidden Forces Website Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou of Subscribe & Support the Podcast at https://patreon.com/hiddenforces Join the conversation on Facebook,

In Episode 179 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas shares the overtime to his 4-hour-long conversation with Radigan Carter, an investor who has spent the last two decades of his life working across five continents as a member of the US military, as a private contractor, and as a special agent for the United States government. In this second-half of their conversation, Radigan shares not only his remarkable insights on geopolitics and foreign affairs, including a long discussion about the security and politics of the Middle East, Europe, and Asia, but also his perspective on what’s happening within the United States: the radicalization of the citizenry and the potential for an escalation in political violence over the next few years. The two also discuss the pro’s and con’s of decentralization and what a more decentralized world would look like in practice. A transcript to this episode is available to our premium subscribers through the Hidden Forces Patreon Page. All subscribers gain access to our overtime feed

In Episode 178 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Lily Francus, a 25-year-old PhD student in bioinformatics who spends her time modeling complex, dynamic systems, trading meme stocks, and writing about options, derivatives, and how stories and ideas spread on the Internet. Unless you’ve been living under a rock or don’t have an Internet connection you will already know that some really crazy shit happened in the last couple of weeks involving the video game retailer GameStop, a number of large, Wall Street institutions, and the online community subreddit r/Wall Street Bets, which has now grown to over 8 million users. There have been so many competing explanations put forward for what happened here that it would be impossible to try and summarize them all. Instead, this episode attempts to explain the mechanics of how it all happened. In other words, how an online community consisting primarily of retail investors managed to pump the price of GameStop’s stock to such a level that institutional inve

In Episode 177 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Radigan Carter, an investor who has spent the last two decades of his life working across five continents as a member of the US military, as a private contractor, and as a special agent for the United States government. He has extensive experience leading large multinational teams -- including a 350-person security force -- in the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa. Ratigan’s love of history, knowledge of foreign affairs, and first-hand experience overseas give him a unique perspective from which to comment on the political, national security, and economic issues facing Western society today. We spent the first two hours of this four-hour long conversation discussing Radigan’s experience overseas, including his participation in Operation Iraqi Freedom, his work as a private contractor in Qatar, and his time spent as a special agent for the United States government in Afghanistan and North Africa. The stories that he shares are inspirational and a

In Episode 176 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas shares his thoughts on a series of interconnected topics including Tether, Bitcoin, domestic terrorism, generational conflict, and foreign interference. The medium posted cited in this episode is “The Bit Short: Inside Crypto’s Doomsday Machine.” The two Blockchain Debate Podcast episodes cited are (1) "Tether has always been acting in bad faith (Bennett Tomlin vs. Larry Cermak, co-host: Patrick McKenzie)” and (2) "Tether will likely get crushed by authorities in the next two years, thanks to its shady practices and defiance against regulators (CasPiancey vs. Matthew Graham)” The episode of the “What Bitcoin Did Podcast” mentioned in this episode is “Questions for Tether with Paolo Ardoino & Stuart Hoegner.” You can access the transcript to this week’s episode through the Hidden Forces Patreon Page. All subscribers gain access to our overtime feed, which can be easily added to your favorite podcast application. If you enjoyed listening to today’s episod

In Episode 175 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Kevin Vallier, an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Bowling Green State University, whose interests lie primarily in political philosophy, ethics, philosophy of religion, and economics.    In his latest book, “Trust in a Polarized Age,” Kevin draws on empirical data and liberal political philosophy to demonstrate that rising levels of political polarization can be largely attributed to a multi-decade decline in trust. If we want to reduce political polarization, argues Kevin, “we have to start by rebuilding social and political trust.” While this may seem like a tall order during a time in which Americans are less trusting than at any point since at least the 1960’s when measurements began, the situation is not hopeless.  In this conversation we discuss the causes and consequences of declining social and political trust, the two-way relationship between trust and polarization, and what sorts of practical steps can be taken at both an individual a

In Episode 174 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Michael Ippolito and Jason Yanowitz, the founders of Blockworks, a financial media brand that delivers breaking news and premium insights about digital assets to millions of investors. In this conversation, Jason and Michael share news about the recent launch of their editorial site, including anecdotes from their experience creating a crypto-focused, financial media company from scratch in an industry that has seen explosive growth in investor interest over the last 12 months. If you are interested in blockchain technology, decentralized finance, cryptocurrencies, or just generally fascinated by the culture in crypto and blockchain, you will love this conversation. Michael and Jason explain how they bootstrapped the company without any outside funding, creating a stable of talented podcast hosts like Ted Seides, Peter McCormack, Preston Pysh, and most famously, Anthony Pompliano, whose podcast they started together and which has since become the mo

In Episode 173 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Matt Stoller, Director of Research at the American Economic Liberties Project and author of Goliath: The Hundred Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy. The two discuss the reaction of Big Tech to the storming of the Capitol building in Washington D.C. this past week, what it reveals about the power that these data monopolies have over their competitors and the government, and how we can use the law and regulation to restore equilibrium between corporate power and governance in American life. Topics include: Section 230, common carriage laws, the de-platforming of Trump by Facebook & Twitter, the banning of Parler from the Apple iOS & Android app stores and Amazon’s servers, and more. You can access the episode overtime, as well as the transcript and rundown to this week’s episode through the Hidden Forces Patreon Page. All subscribers gain access to our overtime feed, which can be easily added to your favorite podcast application. I

In Episode 172 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Grant Williams and Ben Hunt. Ben is the founder of the widely read Epsilon Theory, a newsletter and website that is known for its insights and analysis on markets and society with a particular focus on how narrative drives our perception of the world and our place in it. Grant is the long-time publisher of a popular financial newsletter and the host of the very popular Grant Williams Podcast, which you can find on any major podcast platform. The three of them discuss the urgent social, political, and economic issues facing the United States and what Americans can do to help themselves and their country in this moment of heightened uncertainty. Topics include equity markets, cryptocurrencies, politics, national security, social media, & more. You can access the episode overtime, as well as the transcript to this week’s episode through the Hidden Forces Patreon Page. All subscribers gain access to our overtime feed, which can be easily added to y

In Episode 171 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Katharina Pistor, a leading scholar of corporate governance, money & finance, property rights, and comparative law & legal institutions. She’s also a prominent commentator on cryptocurrencies, has testified before Congress about them, and has written papers dealing with the issues of digital statehood and monetary sovereignty. Her latest book, “The Code of Capital,” is a tour de force that explains in captivating detail how the law is used to code and construct capital, protecting some assets over others, how this creates wealth for society, and how its use and abuse can make the difference between societal cohesion and political revolution. In today’s conversation, you will learn how the law—a powerful tool for social ordering and wealth creation—has been put to work in the service of private consolidation and political control. This leads us to focus on three, interrelated topics: The first deals with the nature of property and how the leg

In Episode 170 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas shares an interview he recently did on the Bankless podcast, where he gives his views on the future of freedom and governance. Topics include cryptocurrencies, global macro, monetary policy, geopolitics, and more.  Since our episode with Rohan Grey aired, we have seen new regulatory proposals including the FinCen KYC regulations on self-hosted wallets and the recent securities fraud lawsuit filed by the SEC against Ripple. As part of our effort to educate listeners about the ongoing transition towards a pro-regulatory environment, we have put together a couple of episodes in the new year dealing with these issues head-on.  Today’s conversation deals with some of these topics, specifically this notion of a networked state or a digital state. David and Ryan seem to feel that code can supplant legal structures as an operating framework for society. While Demetri may agree that smart contracts can automate agreements, he doesn’t believe that self-executing software

In Episode 169 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Michael Sandel, professor of Government Theory at Harvard University Law School, host of the BBC series “The Public Philosopher,” and author of numerous, bestselling books including his latest, “The Tyranny of Merit.”   When people complain about meritocracy, the complaint is usually not about the ideal but about our failure to live up to it. According to this complaint, meritocracy is a myth, a distant promise yet to be redeemed. This complaint is certainly valid. But what if the problem runs deeper? What if the real problem with meritocracy is not that we have failed to achieve it but that the ideal is flawed? What if the rhetoric of rising no longer inspires, not simply because social mobility has stalled but, more fundamentally, because helping people scramble up the ladder of success in a competitive meritocracy is a hollow political project that reflects an impoverished conception of citizenship and freedom?  Perhaps nowhere has this mindset a

In Episode 168 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Rohan Grey, an expert on the legal design and regulation of digital fiat currency and one of the prime authors of the recently proposed STABLE Act put forward by congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and congressmen Jesús García and Stephen Lynch of Illinois and Massachusetts respectively.    The stated justification for the bill is to “protect consumers from the risks posed by emerging digital payment instruments, such as Facebook’s Libra and other Stablecoins,” which the authors define as “digital currencies, whose value is permanently pegged to or stabilized against a conventional currency like the dollar and which pose new regulatory challenges while also representing a growing source of market, liquidity, and credit risk.”   The goal of this conversation was to get absolutely clear on the language and intent of the regulation, not just as a standalone document but as part of a much larger regulatory agenda that is being put forward by the mor

In Episode 167 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with political data scientist David Shor. David was recently described in New York Magazine as Obama’s “In-House Nate Silver” for his work on the president’s re-election campaign where he was responsible for building and maintaining the campaign's election forecasting system, which accurately predicted the outcome to within a point in every state and was the primary input to the campaign's resource allocation decisions in the 2012 election. In this conversation, David shares his theory about why Democrats have struggled to win elections in recent years, why the polls have been so off in both of the last two presidential elections, and what the implications of his findings are for the viability of the party and its ideological platform and rhetoric.  We also look at how Republicans gained support from African American men and Hispanics in an election year that we were told was supposed to be a referendum on white privilege. Does this mean that identity po

In Episode 166 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Thomas Ricks about his book “First Principles: What America's Founders Learned from the Greeks & Romans.” The two discuss the influence of Greco-Roman thought and culture on America’s founding generation, while drawing lessons that can be applied to our democracy today. First Principles is a timely book, in that we find ourselves grappling today with many of the same questions, concerns, and anxieties that animated and vexed the drafters of the American constitution. It is also a deeply profound one, because it reminds us that America was, is, and always will be an experiment. The constitution was constructed after all, in the midst of the Enlightenment. “What was most important and really new about the Age of Reason,” writes the scholar William Goetzmann, “was the sublime confidence of the intellectuals and societal leaders in the power of man’s reason...Human nature, like all other nature, was a constant that y

In Episode 165 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Paul McNamara, an Investment Director at global asset manager GAM who serves as the company’s lead manager on hedge fund, emerging market bond and currency long-only strategies. The first half of this conversation focuses on the macro forces driving EM overall, including how the latest vaccines could affect the global recovery and the service and export sectors in emerging markets, the global debt picture and its impact on economic recovery, the resumption of trade, etc. The second half of our conversation focuses exclusively on one emerging market country in particular: Turkey. Turkey is a uniquely important country, not least because of its geostrategic positioning as a gateway between east and west, straddling multiple important theatres of conflict, diplomacy, and trade that matter greatly to all the major powers, including the United States. What happens to Turkey’s economy, the country’s ability to service its debts, and the value of its curre