E118: AI FOMO frenzy, macro update, Fox vs Dominion, US vs China & more with Brad Gerstner

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (0:00)
Do you want to run a marathon at 57 years old?

**Jason Calacanis** (0:02)
52 51, 52

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (0:06)
I'll be honest, I miss you. Can you come back to the United States, please? I miss you. I will. I will.

**Jason Calacanis** (0:11)
I miss you too. I mean, the poker game can't by definition be as much fun if I'm not there.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (0:15)
It plays at bigger states and it's more challenging, but it's not as much fun.

**Jason Calacanis** (0:19)
There's not as much laughing. What's on the menu tonight for austerity 2023?

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (0:23)
The Amuse-Bouche is a Madeleine with like a terrine of foie gras.

**Jason Calacanis** (0:27)
Fantastic. In honor of Friedberg.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (0:30)
And then rutabaga salad and then some duck thing, duck breast.

**Jason Calacanis** (0:34)
You know I love duck.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (0:35)
And then butterscotch panna cotta.

**Jason Calacanis** (0:37)
Wow, that is great lineup. And you know what? I like the idea. We're doing some poultry.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (0:43)
Chef Sean is firing on all cylinders these days.

**Jason Calacanis** (0:45)
He feels very like engaged. He was very engaged. Yeah, he's kind of going for it.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (0:50)
He's been on.

**Jason Calacanis** (0:51)
Yeah, that was quite nice the other day, Brad, because it's austerity measures.
We had this incredible dish and we're eating it. And then he said, the caviar is on the bottom. And I was like, oh. So we just, we don't put the caviar on top. We just put it on the bottom. Shh.
The market's down. Put the caviar on the bottom.

**Brad Gerstner** (1:10)
That's Chamath-style austerity.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (1:14)
I'm not lying.

**Jason Calacanis** (1:14)
Am I lying?

**Brad Gerstner** (1:15)
Oh, my God.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (1:16)
No, he did say, guys the caviar is on the bottom, not the top this week.

**Jason Calacanis** (1:35)
All right, Sacks is here, everybody. So that means we have a quorum.
Hopefully, the Sultan of Science, who is on Wall Street today, is taking a company public, so congrats to our bestie, Friedberg.

**Brad Gerstner** (1:49)
Ding ding.

**Jason Calacanis** (1:50)
He couldn't make it, he's at a dinner. So with us, the fifth Beatle, as it were, Brad Gerstner is here to talk all things macro. Welcome back to the pod.
How's life been?

**Brad Gerstner** (2:00)
Good to be back. A little doma arigato to you, Jason, as you eat your way through Japan.

**Jason Calacanis** (2:06)
Yes, I am on my culinary tour. I'll be back Sunday, but I am having the time of my life here.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (2:13)
Are you running AdWords on your food blog?

**Jason Calacanis** (2:16)
That's what it's come back to. I'm back to the WebLog Zinc days. I'm just trying to make $2,600 a day.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (2:21)
I noticed your TikTok got 22 likes.

**Jason Calacanis** (2:23)
Yeah, you know, I'm trying to figure out TikTok. I'm going to, but right as they shut it down, that's when I'll figure it out.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (2:29)
Will that rapture buy you another Japanese pancake or no?

**Jason Calacanis** (2:32)
Those pancakes, man, are next level. The fluffy pancakes here.
Everything actually with the exchange rate coming to Japan is so affordable. It's nuts. And this is a crazy week because it's the Tokyo Marathon, but everything is so affordable. The people are amazing.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (2:48)
It's the best country to visit in the world, I think.

**Jason Calacanis** (2:50)
For me, it's Italy, Spain, and Japan.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (2:52)
I mean, Italy is right up there too. But I would say Japan is like, it's definitely top two or three.

**Jason Calacanis** (2:57)
What do you love about it?

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (2:58)
Best food. You know, I went there, I took the kids like five years ago, the older three at the time, but they were younger.
And, you know, there's a negative birth rate in Japan. And so number one, when you have any kid, but frankly, multiple kids, the Japanese embrace you with so much love, because they love seeing these big families.

**Jason Calacanis** (3:19)
Yeah.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (3:20)
They are unbelievably kind. We went to Kyoto, did the Professor's Walk, saw the Cherry Blossom Festival, basically ate our way through Japan. That was my only vacation trip. I've done like 10 or 12 trips for work.
Once we, I went with Reid Hoffman, and Reid set up this thing where we went through all these different parts of Tokyo and ate at this incredible sushi place. You have to go with somebody who can dial it in.

**Jason Calacanis** (3:47)
Yes.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (3:47)
And have all the hookups.