Sid Sijbrandij is the co-founder of GitLab, one of the world’s largest open-source software companies. But in 2022, his life took a radical turn — he was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer.

Instead of relying solely on the medical system, Sid took a different approach. He ran every diagnostic imaginable, developed experimental treatments, combined therapies, and ultimately built his own path to survival — even when doctors ran out of options.

In this episode, we explore how Sid applied first-principles thinking to medicine, why healthcare systems are fundamentally misaligned with patient incentives, and what the future of personalized treatments could look like.

Yaron Brook, chairman of the Ayn Rand Institute and host of the Yaron Brook Show, joins Niklas to discuss the moral and philosophical foundations of capitalism.

They explore Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism, the ethical case for individual freedom, and why capitalism is often misunderstood in modern political discourse. The conversation also touches on libertarian governance, free private cities, and what a truly free society could look like in practice.

A deep dive into capitalism, philosophy, and the future of human freedom.

In this episode, he and Niklas explore how genome sequencing, DNA synthesis, and CRISPR are turning life into an engineering platform. From coding proteins and viruses to writing entire genomes, Andrew explains how biotech is moving from reading DNA to actively programming it.

They discuss N-of-1 personalized therapies, biosecurity in an age of cheap DNA synthesis, and why open science could accelerate biotech innovation. The conversation also touches on cloning, embryo editing, and the long-term future of human enhancement.

Topics include:

· DNA as digital code · Genome writing and synthetic cells · CRISPR and programmable biology · Personalized genetic medicine · Biosecurity and engineered viruses · Open biotech vs. proprietary models · Cloning and human genome design

A conversation for builders, founders, and technologists thinking about biology as the next software layer.

In this episode, she and Niklas explore why drug development takes over a decade, why only ~10% of drugs reach approval, and how clinical trials have become one of the biggest bottlenecks to biomedical progress.

They unpack how incentives distort which diseases get treated, why surrogate endpoints matter, and how off-label use, real-world data, and even “bro science” reveal gaps in the current system.

They also cover: • Clinical evolution and iterative human testing • Regulatory opacity and open-sourcing FDA filings • Australia’s faster Phase 1 model • Human challenge trials and medical freedom • Surrogate endpoints and distorted incentives • Real-world data and off-label discovery • Biotech innovation shifting to China • How better trials unlock biomedical abundance

A conversation for anyone interested in biotech, policy, and the future of drug development.

Ian Huyett is an attorney at Cornerstone in New Hampshire, where he leads litigation and policy work for a network of over one hundred churches. He helped design New Hampshire’s new Right to Try framework, which provides some of the strongest protections in the U.S. for patients seeking access to experimental treatments.

Read the Essay: The Christian War on DeathHow Christianity reframed mortality and unleashed biotech acceleration.

In this episode, Ian and Niklas explore the alignment between serious Christian theology and biotech acceleration. Ian makes the case for combating sickness, aging, and death, challenges ideas like “death gives life meaning” or “playing God,” and explains why Christians have long driven medical innovation. The discussion then shifts to law and strategy, including the New Hampshire Right to Try bill, the role of civil liability, and how states like New Hampshire, Montana, and Florida are opening real paths for experimental treatments.

More about Ian’s work:

* Corner Stone Action

* Ian’s X

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Arjun Khemani is one of the sharpest young thinkers in the progress movement.He dropped out of high school at 16, built apps with Naval’s team, ran a podcast with guests like David Deutsch and Balaji, and found himself inside the Bitcoin–Zcash privacy debate before turning 20.

Niklas sits down with Arjun to explore how COVID shifted his worldview, how The Beginning of Infinity pushed him toward a deeper model of progress, and why privacy became central to his thinking about innovation.

They unpack Zcash as an encrypted monetary system, how zero-knowledge proofs work in practice, how privacy shapes creativity and risk-taking, and what a modern Renaissance of talent could look like in a world built on cryptography.

They also cover:

* The path from Bitcoin to Zcash and the tech behind shielded transactions

* Privacy as a foundation for authenticity, safety, and experimentation

* AI-driven surveillance and its implications for money

* Funding talented people and the lessons from the Medici era

* The philosophical lineage: Deutsch, Popper, Schmer, optimism, error correction

* How Zcash fits into the broader landscape of crypto protocols

A conversation for anyone thinking about cryptography, progress, startup societies, and how the next wave of talent emerges and gets supported.

More about Arjun’s work:

* Arjun’s X

* Substack/Podcast

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* Explore the Archive: The Infinita City Times

* Visit Infinita City

* Join the Builders’ Hub on Telegram

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Ep. 101: Bryan Caplan: Pro Market & Pro Business, the Real Ethics of Entrepreneurship

Bryan Caplan is a professor of economics at George Mason University and the author of several books, including Open Borders - The Science and Ethics of Immigration, The Case Against Education and the Myth of the Rational Voter.

Niklas sits down with Bryan to talk about his new books and why markets often work better than we give them credit for. They dig into how governments block progress in the name of safety, why antitrust usually backfires, and how “free” public services wipe out space for affordable alternatives. Bryan makes a compelling new case for free markets - even free market advocates have often been overly critical of business, and he comes up with a novel concept: there are things that sound good and bad, and things that are good and bad. Politics is promoting things that sound good but are bad - markets are promoting things that sound bad but are good.

They also cover:

* the Microsoft antitrust case and its real cost

* why poor countries suffer from too little big business

* entrepreneurship as real-world experimentation

A conversation for anyone building around regulation or trying to understand how progress really happens.

More about GUEST’S work:

* Bryan’s Wiki

* Bryan’s X

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Niklas sits down with biomedical researcher and libertarian author Mary Ruwart (Death by Regulation) to dissect how decades of FDA rules derailed innovation, extended timelines from 4 to 14 years, and quietly reshaped the entire pharma industry, from discovery to delivery.

Together, they unpack:

* The pivotal moments: 1962’s Kefeuver-Harris amendments and 1992’s PDUFA and how they changed the game

* Why the system now favors chronic medication over simpler or even one-shot cures

* How off-label use and underground networks (like HIV buyers clubs) filled the gaps left by regulation

* What the rollback of “Chevron Deference” means and why this may be the biggest opening in decades

* How “statistical significance” became a misleading gold standard

* Why founders still building in the U.S. need to understand the incentives behind drug lag, suppression of short-term treatments, and the quiet cartelization of Big Pharma

* What it means to build around, beyond or outside the FDA: from Montana to Próspera

More about Mary’s work:

* Mary’s X

* Wiki

* Amazon Books

Explore Infinita City:

* Explore the Archive: The Infinita City Times

* Visit Infinita City

* Join the Builders’ Hub on Telegram

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