Hacking State
Exploring how technology changes our relationship to power, each other, and ourselves. Making sense of the techno-acceleration, Alex Murshak conducts in-depth interviews on the philosophy of technology. Hacking State is about doing more with less, pushing limitations, and finding gainful exploits at every level of the human operating system; from minds, to bodies, to tools, organizations, governments, and higher order social systems. Heidegger describes the nature of technology as a kind of revealing. It remains to be seen where and whether technology gives us Nietzschean will-to-power-like mastery over nature and ourselves or, as Plato warns, we are liable to be lead astray by novel ideas. Our capacity to harness nature has never been greater. Science and technology have unlocked immense power. Yet the human animal remains remarkably similar across millennia. In such a situation, discernment is our greatest asset. It is our relationship to ourselves, our systems, and one another, that will determine our future.
Episodes
I sit down with Rambo Van Halen to discuss his new book, Hollywood Samizdat, released through Passage Press, which serves as a personal account of his experiences in the film industry.
What was initially intended as a farewell letter to the film industry turned into a more profound reflection—a kind of obituary for a once-thriving sector that he believes is no longer what it used to be. Rambo candidly shares his thoughts on the dec...
Matt Parlmer is the founder and CEO of General Fabrication Company, a self-reproducing factory company.
We cover the origins of Gen Fab in the realization that we now have the tools to build machines that build themselves (see: The Von Neumann Constructor), the possibilities created by small modular manufacturing in electronics, robotic wet labs, and more; building a vertically integrated industrial company, light industrial parts...
Aneil Mallavarapu is a biochemist, award winning computer scientist, and Managing Partner at Humain Ventures; investing in early stage life science and health tech startups.
We talk about his pioneering work in systems biology at Harvard that led to the creation of Little b, a programming language for modeling biological systems with modularity and abstraction, the phenomenology of consciousness, the “hard problem” of consciousness...
Kyle Housley is a writer and co-host of a new podcast, Horizons Review, with longtime friend of the show, Cody Moser, exploring neglected intellectual texts and thinkers. We discuss the pathologization of normal relationship dynamics through misused psychological terminology, and extensively examine Second Amendment jurisprudence, particularly Kyle's disagreement with the Heller case on original meaning grounds.
Kyle critiques how ...
In this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Charles Herman, a philosopher and senior research fellow at the American Institute for Philosophical and Cultural Thought. We explore into a distinction that Charles has been developing, which revolves around the concepts of honor versus dignity cultures.
Drawing insights from his Substack post titled “A Short Survey of Honor and Dignity,” we explore how this theoretical framewo...
In this episode, I sit down with Uberboyo, a prominent YouTuber and Nietzschean thinker, to explore the complex relationship between Christianity and Nietzscheanism.
Our conversation begins by examining what it means to be "Nietzschean" - not as an ideology, but as a methodology for approaching morality and understanding psychological patterns in society. We discuss how moral systems evolve with changing demographics, comparing the...
I sit down with Patrick Casey — political commentator, writer, and creator of Restoring Order — for a deep-dive interview on the state of right-wing politics in America.
We explore the rise of the dissident right, Trump’s 2024 comeback, paleoconservatism, the influence of online political movements, and the challenges of building lasting alliances on the right.
Topics include: the impact of tech elites on immigration policy, genera...
In this episode of Hacking State I discuss "Techno-Nationalism for Building Western Civilization 4.0" with Arcadius Strauss. We examine the un-sustainability of our current societal structures influenced by technology, globalization, and cultural shifts. Strauss presents 3 competing visions for the future—"Matrix West," "Space West," and "Neo-Traditional West"—each reflecting potential paths for civilization.
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Alex Petkas is host of Cost of Glory podcast. He holds a PhD in Classics from Princeton, and teaches on persuasion, heroes, and Plutarch’s "Parallel Lives."
We talk about the value of Plutarch’s “Parallel Lives”, the contemporary thirst for heroes and grand narratives, Platonism vs. Stoicism, Archeofuturist aesthetics, why futurism is ripe for our cultural moment, his Rostra group and training men in the art of rhetoric, and why ou...
I am joined by Raw Egg Nationalist, creator and publisher of Man’s World Magazine, co-founder of Kindred Harvest, and author of "The Eggs Benedict Option."
We discuss the relationship between individual health and the political system, his upcoming book with Passage Press, “The Last Men,” the consequences of declining testosterone levels and sperm counts, the harmful effects of environmental xenoestrogens, MAHA (Make America Health...
Alex Priou is Associate Professor of Political Philosophy and Interim Dean of the Center for Intellectual Foundations at University of Austin, as well as co-host of The New Thinkery podcast.
We discuss the place of the Great Books in education, a justification of political philosophy in terms of the good life, his review of Palantir's Alex Karp's and Nicholas Zamiska's book, “The Technolo...
ARX-Han is a novelist and publisher of the Decentralized Fiction Substack. He joins me to discuss cultural accelerationism, shame and masculinity, nihilism and the crisis of agency, and AI & fears of human obsolescence.
ARX-Han
On X: https://x.com/ARX_Han
On Substack: https://www.decentralizedfiction.com/
His novel, INCEL: https://www.amazon.com/INCEL-Novel-ARX-Han/dp/B0CJLCZVCG/
If you enjoyed this interv...
Edward Luttwak is a legendary military historian and grand strategist, known for his books “Coup d’Etat: A Practical Handbook,” “Strategy: The Logic of War and Peace,” and “The Rise of China vs. The Logic of Strategy.”
We discuss:
- How Russia and Ukraine is an 18th century war
- Why Israel-Hezbollah war is the real modern war
- E...
Daniel Hess is the writer behind More Births, ideas for reversing the collapse in global fertility. MoreBirths is a data-driven resource dedicated to helping humanity to understand and ultimately solve the low birthrate crisis that has taken hold across the world.
We discuss:
- Factors contributing to the fertility crisis
- Why Israel is an exception among developed nations in fertility
- The power of strong pro-natal belief - Comp...
Jonathan Scharf is a PhD energy consultant specializing in renewable energy. They discuss Jonathan's eclectic background, his transition from academia to industry, and the importance of interdisciplinary approaches in tackling energy challenges. The conversation delves into the current state of nuclear energy adoption, the regulatory hurdles it faces, and the hype surrounding new technologies in the energy sector. Jonathan emphasiz...
In this conversation, Alex Murshak speaks with Schwarzhoff Jr., co-founder of the See meditation app, about the importance of emotional regulation in today's political climate. They discuss the unique approach of the app, which focuses on non-contemplative meditation, and how it aims to help individuals build resilience against stress. The conversation delves into the nature of stress, the role of resentment in emotio...
The enlightening Thom Ivy joins me to discuss pheromones, bioenergetics and Peating, state management, hypnosis, and propaganda.
Thom Ivy on X: https://x.com/thom_ivy_1
If you enjoyed this interview, please leave a review on Spotify/iTunes.
Support Hacking State: https://hackingstate.substack.com/subscribe
Listen on:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@alexmurshak
Cody Moser is a PhD candidate in Cognitive Science at the University of California, Merced studying collective intelligence, system collapse, complex systems, and networks.
We cover the challenge of integrating humanity into science, the collapse of public spaces, consequences of social institutions moving online, how network structures optimize innovation, how AI reveals the anti-human incentives of many of our systems, living thi...
Nathan Worcester covers national politics and energy for The Epoch Times.
We talk about
- Views from the 2024 Presidential Campaign trail
- Prospects for American Re-Industrialization
- Nuclear deregulation and the future of American energy
- DOGE
Nathan on X: https://x.com/nnworcester
My AI For Government Affairs Startup https://lawgiver.ai
If you enjoyed this interview, please leave a review on Spotify/iTunes. Support Hac...
Logan Allen is the CEO of Zorp, an applied research company building NockChain and the Nockstack.
We discuss how NockChain combines proof-of-work with zero-knowledge proofs, creating incentives for proof generation at scale. The conversation covers how zero-knowledge proofs enable state compression for large computations and Zorp's approach to building secure infrastructure for network tribes. We explore...
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