Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist

Welcome to American Optimist hosted by Joe Lonsdale, entrepreneur, investor, and founder of four multi-billion dollar companies and other mission-driven organizations. American Optimist is an alternative to the fear, cynicism, and zero-sum thinking in mainstream media. Learn from the innovators and leaders who are solving our nation’s most pressing challenges -- and doing it in a way that will lift everyone up. Hope should dominate our discourse, and American Optimist will show you why.

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Episodes

NFL Legend Ronnie Lott: Grit, Leadership, and What America Means to Him | Season 1 | Episode 9

Ronnie Lott is an NFL Hall of Famer, four-time Super Bowl champion, and one of the greatest defensive players of all time. But his impact and legacy off the field are equally impressive: He's a successful businessman, philanthropist, and community leader who has mentored and shaped the lives of underserved youth across three decades. In this episode, Lott explains the importance of grit, generosity, leadership, and the other virtues instilled in him by his father, a former U.S. military service ...

Aug 03, 2021•19 min•Season 1Ep. 9

Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper: Rejecting Wokeness, Addressing China, and Defending Western Values | Season 1 | Ep 8

From 2006 to 2015, the Right Honorable Stephen Harper served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada. His premiership confronted challenges ranging from a global recession to the war against ISIS, but his smart and courageous leadership increased Canadian prosperity and bolstered security. Small businesses surged, while tech hubs from Waterloo to Toronto to Ottawa cemented their place as global centers of talent and investment. In this episode, Harper offers lessons from his tenure as Prime Ministe...

Jul 27, 2021•39 min•Season 1Ep. 8

Sujay Jaswa: Billion Dollar Wins -- and Losses -- and Solving Silicon Valley's #1 Problem | Season 1 | Ep 7

How do you transform a startup into a household name? Ask Sujay Jaswa. When he joined Dropbox in 2010, the company had 16 million users. By the time he left in 2015, hundreds of millions of people relied on Dropbox for their daily web storage needs. As head of the business side of Dropbox and later CFO, Jaswa had a leading role in this transformation, building the business team from scratch and raising over a billion dollars. Today, Jaswa serves as Founder and Managing Partner at the investment ...

Jul 22, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 7

Arthur Brooks on Finding Authentic Happiness and Making Poverty Escapable | Season 1 | Ep 6

The United States is the most prosperous and advanced nation in the history of humanity—but it's currently facing a crisis of happiness. What went wrong? Arthur Brooks, Harvard professor, best-selling author, and renowned social scientist, has dedicated himself to tackling America's satisfaction deficit, and in this episode, he reveals his four keys to authentic happiness. (Not on the list: riches, power, or fame). Tempted to make a bucket list to get as much as possible out of life? Brooks show...

Jul 13, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 6

Palmer Luckey on Creating Oculus Rift, Anduril, and Game-Changing Defense Tech | Season 1 Ep 5

Palmer Luckey is as close as it gets to a real-life Iron Man. As a teenager, he worked on virtual reality headsets until he eventually created the Oculus Rift, the most groundbreaking VR headset ever assembled. After single-handedly shaping the field of virtual reality, and selling Oculus to Facebook, he founded Anduril, one of the fastest-growing defense companies in America today. While some American tech companies refuse to work with the U.S. military, Anduril is unabashed in its efforts to d...

Jul 06, 2021•47 min•Season 1Ep. 5

Bari Weiss on Defending Western Civ and the New School Movement | Season 1 Ep 4

This moment in our culture was made for a writer and thinker like Bari Weiss. What can Americans do to beat back the wave of illiberalism currently sweeping through our institutions? Bari Weiss took her stand last summer, resigning from the New York Times to launch her own Substack newsletter. Her courage has since inspired others to defend free speech, diversity of thought, and other core American values. In this episode, she explains what's at stake today. Left unchecked, "woke" intolerance an...

Jun 29, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 4

Kimbal Musk on Building Great Companies and Community | Season 1 Ep 3

When Kimbal and Elon Musk immigrated to the U.S. from South Africa to start their first company, they couldn't afford both an apartment and an office—so, unbeknownst to their employees, they slept in the office. The brothers have come a long way from their humble origins. Today, Kimbal is a highly successful entrepreneur and investor who serves on the boards of Tesla and SpaceX — and in this episode he provides exciting updates for each company. But along the way, the terrorist attacks of Septem...

Jun 29, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 3

Ashton Kutcher: China, TikTok, and Influencing American Minds | Season 1 Ep 2

More than 70 percent of child sex trafficking happens online. When Hollywood superstar Ashton Kutcher first heard this statistic, he knew he had to do something to stop it. His efforts took him to Silicon Valley—where, hoping to enlist leading tech entrepreneurs in the fight against online trafficking, he first met Joe. Through their work together, Kutcher's organization, Thorn, has built software and processes that have enabled governments to rescue thousands of children from sexual abuse. [Joe...

Jun 29, 2021•33 min•Season 1Ep. 2

Dr. Rick Klausner on the Biotech Revolution | Season 1 Ep 1

Curing cancer, eliminating diseases, reprogramming cells to help 80-year-olds feel like they're 30 -- could it all be possible in our generation? America is in the midst of a biotech revolution that is transforming modern medicine and will save countless lives. At the forefront is Dr. Rick Klausner, former director of the U.S. National Cancer Institute, co-founder of Juno Therapeutics, GRAIL, and MindStrong Health, renowned scientist, and billionaire innovator. Dr. Klausner has played a pivotal ...

Jun 29, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 1

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