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
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.
Read more
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...
A Maverick Director on Documenting Nayib Bukele's Re-Election.
Director & Producer Jessica Solce joins me to discuss Forging A Country, her latest film documenting Nayib Bukele's 2024 re-election in El Salvador.
We cover why Western liberalism's playbook is insufficient for El Salvador's problems, her approach to documentaries with ideological implications, reflections on her opus, Death Athletic, film and propaganda, streaming...
Eric Kaufmann is a professor of politics and Director of the Centre for Heterodox Social Science at the University of Buckingham. He is also Adjunct Fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
We talk about his new book "The Third Awokening" and cover: how quasi-religious left-wing liberalism bears more responsibility for Wokeness than “radical neo-Marxist” Theory, the weaponization humanistic psychotherapy and trauma, “Be kind” as an ideol...
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.
"SmartLess" with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, & Will Arnett is a podcast that connects and unites people from all walks of life to learn about shared experiences through thoughtful dialogue and organic hilarity. A nice surprise: in each episode of SmartLess, one of the hosts reveals his mystery guest to the other two. What ensues is a genuinely improvised and authentic conversation filled with laughter and newfound knowledge to feed the SmartLess mind. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of SmartLess ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!