E23: Radical DAs, breaking down FB/Google vs. Australia, sustained fear post-vaccine & fan questions
Chamath Palihapitiya (host), Jason Calacanis (host), David Sacks (host), David Friedberg (host), Jason Calacanis (host), Chamath Palihapitiya (host), David Sacks (host), David Friedberg (host)
In this episode of All-In Podcast, featuring Chamath Palihapitiya and Jason Calacanis, E23: Radical DAs, breaking down FB/Google vs. Australia, sustained fear post-vaccine & fan questions explores radical DAs, Big Tech vs. Media, Vaccines, Fear, and Finance The hosts open by dissecting backlash to their prior Vlad Tenev/Robinhood episode, clarifying that they see themselves as operators and commentators, not journalists, and debating new ground rules for guests and veto power. They then pivot into a long, heated discussion of San Francisco’s progressive district attorney Chesa Boudin, arguing his decarceration policies are fueling a crime wave while acknowledging real systemic injustices in U.S. criminal justice. The conversation shifts to Facebook and Google’s fight with Australia over paying for news links, exploring fair use, platform power, and the economic collapse of legacy media. They close with COVID vaccination rollout inefficiencies, persistent post-vaccine fear, plus rapid‑fire audience Q&A on long-term investing themes, inflation risk, Bitcoin regrets, and what every 12‑year‑old should learn.
Radical DAs, Big Tech vs. Media, Vaccines, Fear, and Finance
The hosts open by dissecting backlash to their prior Vlad Tenev/Robinhood episode, clarifying that they see themselves as operators and commentators, not journalists, and debating new ground rules for guests and veto power. They then pivot into a long, heated discussion of San Francisco’s progressive district attorney Chesa Boudin, arguing his decarceration policies are fueling a crime wave while acknowledging real systemic injustices in U.S. criminal justice. The conversation shifts to Facebook and Google’s fight with Australia over paying for news links, exploring fair use, platform power, and the economic collapse of legacy media. They close with COVID vaccination rollout inefficiencies, persistent post-vaccine fear, plus rapid‑fire audience Q&A on long-term investing themes, inflation risk, Bitcoin regrets, and what every 12‑year‑old should learn.
Key Takeaways
The hosts reject a journalistic role and want veto power over PR‑style episodes.
Friedberg argues the show works best as four operators analyzing events, not as a four‑on‑one ‘gotcha’ interview platform for portfolio companies; he wants any host to be able to spike episodes they feel violate that ethos.
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Progressive ‘decarceration first’ DAs can create real public‑safety backlash.
Sacks claims DA Chesa Boudin’s refusal to fully prosecute repeat offenders is tied to high‑profile killings and a sense of ‘Gotham‑level’ lawlessness, prompting recall efforts and illustrating limits of local radical reform.
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Criminal justice reform must balance structural racism with real consequences for violent offenders.
The group concedes the system is racist, punitive, and often unreformative—especially via private prisons—yet stresses that dangerous, repeat violent offenders still need to be locked up and that treatment requires legal leverage.
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Taxing links risks breaking the open web, but platforms are also cannibalizing publishers.
Sacks warns Australia’s move to force Facebook/Google to pay for hyperlinks threatens the basic architecture of the internet, while Calacanis counters that rich snippets and ‘OneBox’ answers cross into unfair use and justify revenue‑sharing.
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Legacy media’s business model is collapsing due to redundancy and commoditized facts.
They argue thousands of outlets now publish nearly identical news, while core ‘facts’ (scores, prices, headlines) are free and ubiquitous, pushing publications into opinion and narrative and making consolidation inevitable.
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The U.S. has enough vaccines; policy complexity and risk rules are the real bottleneck.
Friedberg says the U. ...
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Macro risk: inflation and loss of dollar dominance from ever‑rising debt and deficits.
Chamath and Sacks worry that massive fiscal expansion, verticalizing supply chains, and structural deficits will eventually drive inflation, higher real rates, and skepticism about U. ...
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Notable Quotes
“We’re not journalists. We’re in the arena. This should be four friends talking about things that are important.”
— Chamath Palihapitiya
“It’s like a fire chief who doesn’t believe in using water.”
— David Sacks, on DA Chesa Boudin’s decarceration agenda
“People are really afraid. Even after getting vaccinated, they’re still not living a normal life.”
— David Friedberg
“You’re not going to make things better by dismantling the whole district attorney’s office.”
— David Sacks
“The only way you can afford debt is if you have growth, and that forces you to find growth.”
— David Friedberg
Questions Answered in This Episode
Where should the line be drawn between legitimate decarceration and endangering public safety, and who decides?
The hosts open by dissecting backlash to their prior Vlad Tenev/Robinhood episode, clarifying that they see themselves as operators and commentators, not journalists, and debating new ground rules for guests and veto power. ...
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How could the U.S. redesign its criminal justice system to be less racist and punitive without triggering local crime waves?
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Is it possible to protect the open, hyperlink‑based web while also forcing Big Tech to fairly compensate news creators?
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What specific policy changes would most quickly transform COVID vaccines from a scarce, over‑controlled resource into a simple consumer service?
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If inflation and reserve‑currency risk are real, how should average investors balance exposure to tech equities, Bitcoin, and hard assets?
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Transcript Preview
JK, are you going to do your Trump impression? We're going to do your, your Trump-
Okay.
Yeah.
Everybody, (music playing) I'm getting my Twitter hammer back next week.
Don't give him derangement syndrome right before we start the pod.
We want to warm him up.
Going to be like Ted Cruz.
This doesn't warm him up, it gets him deranged.
Get your show notes up, bitches.
I'm going all in.
Let your winners ride.
Rain Man David Sacks.
I'm going all in.
And I said- We open sourced it to the fans and they've just gone crazy with it.
Love you,
Queen of quinoa. I'm going all in.
Hey, everybody. Hey, everybody. Welcome to another All In podcast. With me today, of course, the Dictator, Chamath Palihapitiya, the Queen of Quinoa, David Friedberg, and of course, yeah, definitely the Rain Man is here, David Sacks, who's an excellent driver in the driveway. Yeah. Okay, boys, uh, I guess we made it to episode 22.
Your- your intro, your intro becomes one second longer for every episode we do. It's just so-
(laughs)
But people love it. And people- the fans love it.
It's so laborious actually. (laughs) You know, they don't. They think it's so stupid. He was-
I am... You have to understand persuasion. What I'm doing is I do the same intro and it warns people about the discussion.
Oh, okay. See, we're still, we're still talking about the intro.
(laughs)
Okay, let's just... You, and see, everybody's obsessed about it. You proved my point. All right, guys, are we going to address...
Elephant in the room.
The elephant in the room.
... the elephant in the room or do we just move on to topics?
I will say-
Elephant in the room.
... after the last show, um, I fought very hard with the three of you to not post that episode.
You wanted to can- you wanted to spike the episode.
I wanted to spike the episode and I'll tell you why. Um, I thought it was not good content. I don't think Vlad said anything new or remarkable or interesting. I don't think we had good analysis, and I think the whole thing kind of fell flat and felt like a PR stunt. And I felt that truly and honestly, and I, you know, I made the case to you guys that we should cancel. Um, obviously I lost.
Okay.
Uh, and I think going forward we should have a veto right, but, you know, we can talk about that offline.
Did you quit the show or did you threaten to quit the show?
I threatened to quit the show.
And are you quitting now?
I'm, I'm gonna... After this, I'm going to propose to you my rules, my ground rules for, for going forward.
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