E60: The 2021 Bestie Awards PLUS Jack Dorsey starts the Web3 Wars
Jason Calacanis (host), Chamath Palihapitiya (host), David Friedberg (host), David Sacks (host), Narrator, Chamath Palihapitiya (host), Narrator
In this episode of All-In Podcast, featuring Jason Calacanis and Chamath Palihapitiya, E60: The 2021 Bestie Awards PLUS Jack Dorsey starts the Web3 Wars explores all-In Bestie Awards: Politics, Web3 Wars, Memes, and Meltdowns This year-end “Bestie Awards” episode mixes rapid-fire awards across politics, business, science, and culture with extended riffs on Jack Dorsey, Web3, and internal drama among the hosts.
All-In Bestie Awards: Politics, Web3 Wars, Memes, and Meltdowns
This year-end “Bestie Awards” episode mixes rapid-fire awards across politics, business, science, and culture with extended riffs on Jack Dorsey, Web3, and internal drama among the hosts.
Politically, they focus on the rise of centrism and backlash against extremes, naming figures like Eric Adams, Glenn Youngkin, Joe Manchin and Kamala Harris as emblematic winners and losers.
In business and tech, Elon Musk, Tiger Global, creator economy tools, DAOs, NFTs, and fusion/CRISPR breakthroughs dominate, alongside harsh critiques of Meta, big tech, China’s billionaires, and legacy media.
The show ends with self-aware banter about their own conflicts, the difficulty of working together as four strong-willed “grinders,” and appreciation for the pod’s growth and impact.
Key Takeaways
Centrism and backlash to extremes are becoming politically powerful.
The hosts frame Eric Adams, Glenn Youngkin, Joe Manchin, and the rejection of both progressive left and alt-right agendas as signs that voters want pragmatic, centrist governance focused on safety, schools, and economic sanity.
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Elon Musk and “outsiders” were the dominant business forces of 2021.
Musk is described as operating in a “zone of mastery,” while retail investors, DAOs, NFTs, and Web3 communities showed that loosely organized individuals can challenge institutional capital across markets and fundraising.
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Web3, DAOs, and NFTs are real trends wrapped in speculative excess.
They see DAOs’ Constitution bid and NFT mania as both inspiring and chaotic—proving new models for creator monetization and capital formation, but also exposing regulatory voids, bubbles, and naive participants likely to get hurt.
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Big tech and legacy media face mounting structural and morale challenges.
Between regulatory pressure, talent flight, poor public perception (especially of Meta), and declining trust in outlets like the New York Times and Washington Post, the hosts argue the future lies with direct, independent voices and platforms.
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Major science and engineering advances are quietly reshaping the future.
From CRISPR delivered in vivo and mRNA vaccines to oral antivirals, fusion progress, and SpaceX’s Starship/Starlink achievements, they highlight how 2021 accelerated platforms that could transform health, energy, and humanity’s presence in space.
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COVID policy, messaging, and authoritarian drift eroded institutional trust.
Mixed vaccine promises, harsh restrictions on the unvaccinated, the January 6th Capitol attack, and figures like Fauci and Peter Daszak are cited as reasons many now view public health and government narratives with deep skepticism.
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The creator economy and “go direct” models are displacing gatekeepers.
Substack, podcasts, Twitter-native CEOs, and Web3 mechanisms are praised for letting creators and leaders speak authentically, monetize directly, and build their own audiences without relying on traditional media or intermediaries.
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Notable Quotes
“If the Democratic Party has a future after the rejection of woke, it is Eric Adams.”
— David Sacks
“This was the year that loose affiliations of individuals could compete on a level playing field with organized capital.”
— Chamath Palihapitiya
“I think that 2021 was the year of plasma fusion… we are seeing that big step change where this stuff is starting to move from theory.”
— David Friedberg
“We have to have a regulatory framework for crypto, for DAOs, for NFTs, for tokens, and it’s just crazy that it hasn’t happened yet.”
— Jason Calacanis
“Without J-Cal this pod never would’ve happened… you really are the reason for this pod.”
— David Sacks
Questions Answered in This Episode
How much of the Web3 and DAO movement is enduring infrastructure versus a 2021-era speculative bubble?
This year-end “Bestie Awards” episode mixes rapid-fire awards across politics, business, science, and culture with extended riffs on Jack Dorsey, Web3, and internal drama among the hosts.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Are the hosts right that centrism is ascendant, or are they underestimating the staying power of populist extremes on both sides?
Politically, they focus on the rise of centrism and backlash against extremes, naming figures like Eric Adams, Glenn Youngkin, Joe Manchin and Kamala Harris as emblematic winners and losers.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
What concrete regulatory framework for crypto, NFTs, and DAOs would balance innovation with investor protection?
In business and tech, Elon Musk, Tiger Global, creator economy tools, DAOs, NFTs, and fusion/CRISPR breakthroughs dominate, alongside harsh critiques of Meta, big tech, China’s billionaires, and legacy media.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
To what extent are big tech’s current problems (morale, regulation, PR) temporary versus signs of a long-term peak and decline?
The show ends with self-aware banter about their own conflicts, the difficulty of working together as four strong-willed “grinders,” and appreciation for the pod’s growth and impact.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
How will direct-to-audience models (Substack, podcasts, creator tokens) reshape political power and media narratives over the next decade?
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Transcript Preview
Hey, everybody. Welcome to another episode of the All-In Podcast and it is our year end episode. It is our 2021 Bestie Awards. This is where we give our awards for the best and worst of what happened in 2021. We did it last year, kinda half-heartedly, but this year hopefully we put a little bit more work into it. With me again, of course, David Friedberg, uh, the sultan of science, the rain man, David Sacks, and sweater Jesus, Chamath Palihapitiya. How's everybody doing? We're ready to go. Did anybody do their homework?
Oh my God. We are nine away from episode-
(laughs)
(laughs)
... 69.
And?
Where we will have a special guest.
A special guest, who I've given the choice of coming on episode 69 or 420.
No, no, no. He has to do 69.
Or both.
He can't do 420. He can do both.
Or he can do both.
He can do whatever he wants.
(laughs) The guy basically could do no wrong.
Is he committed?
I got Jack. Can we get Jack on?
Don't talk about that.
If you stop, if you stop grinding Jack, yeah.
Yeah, maybe if you stop dunking on Jack for no reason, you insufferable Sacks.
Seriously, you insufferable-
It's bad enough that, like-
(laughs)
... I've alienated potential guests, Chamath alienated pasts. Now you're getting in on alienating the guests?
Do you think it would be too much-
(laughs)
... to have Jack and Chris Dixon on together?
Who?
(laughs)
Who? (laughs) Sorry.
Oh my God, that is so gross. (laughs)
Delete that.
Ugh.
No, don't play it like a free-
Delete everything.
I don't care about my relationship with AC-16Z.
Jack Dorsey, we all know. Who, who's the other person?
Th- Chris Dixon.
Chris Dixon.
Yeah, who is that?
He's a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, who runs their crypto fund.
Oh, nice.
It wasn't just me. I mean, Chris-
He's been very vocal lately about Web3.
Why don't you guys invite the, uh, CFO of Greylock as well while you're at it?
(laughs)
(laughs) Oh my God.
We couldn't get the, uh, partner in charge of human capital at Excel?
Go, do you wanna be, uh-
You're getting, you're getting a little bit far afield. Chris posted something pretty innocuous on Web3 and Jack jumped down his throat, and same thing with Balaji as well, so-
No, he didn't. I saw the C. Dixon quote.
It wasn't just me.
Yeah.
Jason, now you're pretending... You retweeted a photo of Jack jumping down Chris Dixon's throat and saying, "Whoa, what's going on here?" Now you're trying to pretend-
I won't lie, I love Jack after dark.
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