1920s
By the end of the 1920s, more than 40,000 different candy bars were made in America, mostly by regional entrepreneurs.
“by the end of the 1920s, there are more than 40,000 different candy bars being made in America.”
Topic
100 facts from 60 episodes, in date order. These are what speakers said on the shows, each linked to the moment it was said. They aren't independently verified.
1920s
By the end of the 1920s, more than 40,000 different candy bars were made in America, mostly by regional entrepreneurs.
“by the end of the 1920s, there are more than 40,000 different candy bars being made in America.”
1930s
The hosts say that by the 1930s only about 2% of Germans owned a car, versus about 30% of Americans.
“Apparently, only 2% of Germans owned a car versus 30% of Americans by the 1930s.”
1946
The share of Americans with health insurance rose from 10% to 30% by 1946, and reached 80% by 1964.
“So, at the end of the war in 1946, the percentage of Americans who had medical insurance was already up to 30% from that 10% number just six years before.”
1950s
Pentland says American society tied healthcare and retirement to employment in the 1950s, when lifetime employment was common.
“we've tied things like healthcare and retirement to employment. And we did that back in the 1950s, when lifetime employment was not a joke.”
1954
In 1954 Porsche sold 588 cars in the United States, about 40% of its total production that year.
“Porsche sells 588 cars in the U S, which was 40% of their entire production for the year.”
1960
US healthcare spending was about 17.3% of GDP, up from about 5% in 1960.
“The 17.3% of GDP that healthcare costs us, you should just know as a baseline that in 1960, that was 5% of GDP.”
1973
In 1973 OPEC began an oil embargo on the United States and other Western nations, and energy prices roughly tripled.
“First, in 1973, when OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, starts an oil embargo on the U.S. and other Western nations, and the price of energy triples.”
1974
Bray says the US Privacy Act of 1974 arose because mainframe computers, then called advanced data processing systems, let the government know more about individuals.
“Remember the Privacy Act of 1974? That came out because these things called advanced data processing systems, mainframes, required the federal government of the United States to think about”
1982
The U.S. home video game market dropped about 97% within two years, from $3.2 billion in 1982 toward $100 million by 1985.
“To put that differently, a 97% drop in market size within two years.”
1986
Peter McCullough said vaccine liability protection in the United States was memorialized in 1986.
“In 1986, uh, that's when it was memorialized as the the liability protection.”
1990s
Tyler Cowen says youth crime has been falling since the 1990s.
“youth crime has been falling since the nineties, so the very bottom of the distribution also is getting better.”
1990
Pentland estimates that a share-contribution scheme started in 1990 would have produced a US sovereign wealth fund worth about $10 trillion today.
“Now, if we had that in place, say in 1990, we'd have a sovereign wealth fund worth something like 10 trillion today in the United States.”
2004
Peter McCullough said U.S. federal spending was 2.2 trillion dollars in 2004 and 4.4 trillion in 2019, rising to 6.6 trillion during COVID.
“Our US. spend on our budget in 2004 was 2.2 trillion with a T.”
2020
One of the hosts cites statistics that about 1.6 million people in the United States started or filed to start a business in the third quarter of 2020.
“1.6 million people created a business or filed to start a business in like q3 2020”
2021
At the peak of the surge, about 10,000 immigrants a day were crossing the southern U.S. border.
“At one point, 10,000 immigrants a day were crossing into the United States along the southern border.”
2022
Josh Tyrangiel says a federal job retraining program that had retrained about 5 million people, largely in auto manufacturing in the Midwest, ended in 2022.
“We had about 5 million people who had been retrained, largely in the Midwest, around auto parts and auto manufacturing. That died in 2022.”
2023
Pichai says the most important regulation the US could pass to help AI is a stronger privacy foundation, such as a national privacy bill.
“at least speaking from a US standpoint, you know, I think the most important regulation which we can pass, which will also help AI, is is a stronger privacy foundation.”
2023
Brad Smith said the United States leads in developing large language models such as GPT-4.
“the US. is leading when it comes to the development of large scale, say, large language models, like GPT four.”
2023
Brad Smith said Microsoft encouraged a US executive order requiring federal AI purchases only from companies self-certifying compliance with the NIST framework.
“the federal government would say procure AI for certain uses only from companies who are self-certifying that they're implementing the NIST AI risk management framework.”
2024
Dario Amodei said that, with chip export restrictions, Russia and China could be kept roughly two to three years behind in AI.
“I think if the US government plays its plays its cards right, then, uh, you know, those countries could be kept behind, I don't know, maybe 2 or 3 years.”
2024
Donald Trump said the US southern border situation in 2024 was twenty-five times worse than in 2016.
“Our border is twenty five times worse right now than it was in 2016.”
2024
Kahn says voice clones and deepfakes have influenced elections around the world and begun to play a small role in the US.
“There have been a number of cases of voice clones and deep fakes that have had influence on elections around the world.”
2025
Jeetu Patel says the United States leads in AI but only by a small margin.
“America has, um, enjoyed the lead, but, um, that lead is a small lead”
2025
Jeetu Patel argues that US technology should be adopted by allied countries so they do not rely on technology from adversaries.
“you want to make sure that the U.S. technology is being utilized by any company in the world that wants to use U.S. technology that are allies of ours”
2025
Daniel Whitenack says the report shows an 80 percent decline in a year in AI researchers and developers moving to the US.
“apparently there's been an eighty decline just in the last year in terms of the number of AI researchers and developers moving to the US.”
2025
An industry study cited by Brett Anderson found restaurant wages were up 41 percent compared with pre-pandemic levels.
“a recent study that came out last year, industry study said that wages are up 41 compared to pre pandemic levels in the restaurant industry.”
2026
Todd McKinnon said digital ID efforts follow EU-wide standards in Europe but are largely handled state by state in the United States.
“in Europe, it's certain standards across the EU, it's in the United States, it's very much f- at a state level.”
2026-2030
Tanguy Catlin said US capital expenditure on data centers, hardware and energy would be about $7 trillion between 2026 and the end of 2030.
“about 7 trillion dollar of capital in expenditure across data center infrastructure, hardware, uh, energy between 2026 and the end of twenty thirty.”
2026
Jamie Dimon says the United States has had inflation above 2% for five years.
“we've had over 2% inflation in the United States for five years now.”
2026
Nicolai Tangen says that twenty-five years ago European and American GDP were equal, and that Europe is now at about 70% of US levels.
“twenty five years ago, uh, the GDP of Europe and America was the same. Now, Europe is 70% of the US levels”
2026
Jamie Dimon says the United States has sixty military allies and partners, and even more economic allies and partners.
“America has sixty military allies and partners, and more than that economic allies and partners.”
2026
Chris Benson says the report finds the AI model performance gap between the United States and China has effectively closed.
“AI model performance. Between the United States and China has closed, it's effectively closed”
2026
The report says the United States hosts the most AI data centers, while most of their chips are fabricated by a single Taiwanese foundry.
“the U- United States hosts the most AI data centers. But the majority of their chips are fab fabricated by a single Taiwanese foundry.”
2026
The report says the United States leads in AI investment while its ability to attract global talent is declining.
“The United States leads in AI investment, but its ability to attract global talent is declining.”
2026
Chris Benson says the report ranks the US 24th in generative AI adoption, at roughly 28 percent.
“We are still, um, in the US. ranked twenty fourth at only a twenty eight, three adoption.”
2026
Chris Benson says American-based closed models accessed through APIs still lead their category, while Chinese models are the strongest for self-hosting.
“if you're willing to do APis for closed models, uh, the the the American-based ones, uh, are still leading in that space.”
2026
Bob Safian said the most recent monthly US jobs report showed 23,000 jobs lost while the unemployment rate fell.
“the most recent monthly jobs report showed 23,000 jobs lost, but at the same time, unemployment numbers went down.”
2026
Sarah Friar said AI is probably adding about one percentage point to US GDP growth.
“in totality, AI is probably adding about a point to GDP, depending on how you cut it.”
2026
DJ said he saw reports that thousands of observers from both the right and left would monitor polling places on election day.
“there's gonna be thousands of observers from the right and the left, um, gonna be at the polling places to monitor the vote on election day.”
2026
US gross domestic product grew at an annual pace of 2.2% in the spring.
“In the spring, GDP grew at an annual pace of 2.2%, which was already pretty solid.”
2026
NPR reported that the US and Israel could be preparing a possible attack on Iran as early as the week after the US midterm elections.
“Our reporting last week tells us that the U. S. and Israel could be preparing for a possible attack as early as next week after U. S. midterm elections.”
2026
The U.S. oil industry has earned over $130 billion since the U.S. and Israel started a war in Iran, according to the hosts.
“The U.S. oil industry has earned over $130 billion since the U.S. and Israel started a war in Iran.”
2030
Lari Hämäläinen said US data centers are projected to consume about 10 to 13% of US energy by 2030, up from about 2% the prior year.
“When we go to twenty thirty, the projection to currently is about ten to 13%, depending on the level we end up.”
Undated
The hosts say 90% of US trucking companies have six or fewer trucks and 97% have fewer than 20.
“90% of trucking companies have six or fewer trucks and 97% have fewer than 20 trucks.”
Undated
The hosts say the United States has over a million independent trucking companies, called carriers.
“There are over a million independent trucking companies or carriers, as we'll call them tonight, in the United States alone.”
Undated
Dan Lewis says the US has roughly 15,000 to 18,000 freight brokers.
“There's 15,000, 18,000 brokers in the US.”
Undated
Dan Lewis says the US truckload market is about $600 billion a year, and the largest truckload broker handles about $10 billion.
“The truckload market is, you know, about $600 billion a year in the US.”
Undated
Clemente says 90 million people in the United States have prediabetes and 70% of them will develop type 2 diabetes.
“we have 90 million people in the United States with prediabetes, 70% of whom will convert to type 2 diabetes within their lifetime.”
Undated
Clemente says 84% of Americans with prediabetes do not know they have it.
“And 84% of them don't know that they have this situation.”
Undated
Katherine Boyle says roughly 50 percent of unicorn founders in the United States are foreign born.
“something like 50 percent of unicorn founders in this country are foreign born”
Undated
Around 20% of voters take part in primaries, according to a figure given in the conversation.
“The numbers are around 20%. Around 20% of voters vote in primaries.”
Undated
Matthew Walker cites the RAND Corporation as finding that insufficient sleep costs most nations about 2% of GDP, which was $411 billion in the United States.
“insufficient sleep costs most nations about 2% of their GDP. So here in America, that number was $411 billion of lost profit caused by insufficient sleep.”
Undated
The US launch on warning policy means it would launch nuclear weapons in response to a detected attack before the enemy warheads actually land.
“It means the United States will not wait to absorb a nuclear attack, it will launch nuclear weapons in response before the bomb actually hits.”
Undated
Jacobsen says the United States has 1,770 deployed nuclear weapons that can launch within about a minute to a couple of minutes.
“So the United States has 1,770 nuclear weapons deployed, meaning those weapons could launch in as little as sixty seconds and up to a couple minutes.”
Undated
Jacobsen says intercontinental ballistic missiles cannot be recalled or redirected once they are launched.
“The ICBMs cannot be recalled or redirected once launched.”
Undated
The United States has 400 underground missile silos housing Minuteman missiles.
“America has 400 silos, right? We've had more, um, but we have 400, and they're underground, and they're called Minutemen, right after the Revolutionary War heroes.”
Undated
The 44 US ground-based interceptor missiles are based 40 in Alaska and 4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
“There are forty of them in Alaska, and there are four of them at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara.”
Undated
Santos says the United States ranks low on the World Happiness Report relative to its wealth and recently fell out of the top 10.
“the US, for a very wealthy country, is, like, not very happy. We're pretty low on the scale.”
Undated
Tyler Cowen estimates that US government consumption is about 18% of the economy, health care almost 20%, and education six to seven percent.
“government consumption is what 18%, healthcare is almost 20%, I'm guessing education is six to 7%, the nonprofit sector”
Undated
Walmsley said GSK announced another 800 million in US medicine and vaccine manufacturing investment in the prior year.
“Um, last year we announced another 800 million that we're spending in in both medicine and vaccine, um, manufacturing in the U. S.”
Undated
Andy Jassy states that the US ranks thirty out of thirty-five developed countries in educational efficacy and links this to the AI transition.
“we are thirty out of thirty five developed countries now in efficacy of education.”
Undated
Aaron Levie proposes giving a green card with the diploma to anyone who studies AI or computer science in the US, and says neither the Trump nor the Biden administration did this.
“What you would do is you would just do the whole green card stamped on the diploma, uh, after college, and you would get anybody studying AI in the US.”
Undated
Aaron Levie proposes giving graduates studying AI or computer science in the U.S. a green card with their diploma, and says neither the Trump nor Biden administration did this.
“What you would do is you would just do the whole green card stamped on the diploma, uh, after college”
Undated
Michael Krigsman cited BCG's report as showing 92% AI adoption in India versus 64% in the United States.
“India and folks, listen to this has India has 92 adoption compared to 64 in the US.”
Undated
Daugherty says utilities on the US West Coast use AI to detect wildfires faster through satellite imagery analysis.
“they're using AI in a couple ways. One is to detect fires more quickly using AI analysis of satellite imagery”
Undated
Bray says US states have led on AI regulation, with more than one thousand existing or pending pieces of AI legislation.
“the states have actually led the way when it comes to thinking about AI. There's more than one thousand pieces of either existing or pending AI legislation.”
Undated
Nadella said the United States has 4% of the world's population, 25% of global GDP and 50% of global market capitalization.
“It's 4% of the world's population, 25% of the GDP, and 50% of the market cap.”
Undated
Andrew Ng characterized the previous US administration's AI safety thinking as safety theater driven by lobbyists seeking regulatory capture.
“There was really safety theater driven by lobbyists, um, fear-mongering to try to create regulatory capture, anti-open source types of regulations, right?”
Undated
Andrew Ng said he worries American competitiveness will suffer if high-skill immigration is made harder.
“I really worry about American competitiveness if we make it harder for high skill immigration.”
Undated
Andrew Ng said China has pulled ahead of the US in releasing open-weight models, which anyone can download and use for free.
“China has really pulled ahead of the US. in releasing open weight models. These are models anyone in the world can download and use for free.”
Undated
Andrew Ng said he saw a statistic suggesting cumulative adoption of Chinese open-weight models may have surpassed that of US open-weight models.
“I think I saw a stat showing that cumulative adoption of Chinese open weight models, I think, is about to surpass or may already have surpassed cumulative adoption of US. open weight models.”
Undated
Stankey says the United States delivers better competitive returns in telecommunications than other countries because of its policy approach.
“In telecommunications, the United States stands above every place else. They've gotten policy and approach to telecom right”
Undated
Stankey says the Trump administration did more work in about nine months on bringing licensed spectrum to market than was done in the previous four years.
“There's been probably more work done in, you know, a nine-month period of time than what was done in the previous four years.”
Undated
Stankey says available electrical power in the US will limit how many announced AI data center projects can be built.
“I think there's going to be a limiting factor, at least in the US, around how much power is available to turn it all up.”
Undated
Thomas Holmes describes Akur8 as a French company with an Italian head of product that is growing in the United States.
“Akur8 is a French company with an Italian head of product that's growing in the United States.”
Undated
David Sacks says the US should judge its success in the AI race by market share, and that roughly 80% share for American technology in five years would mean it succeeded.
“if we look around the world in five years and we see that American companies, American technology has, say, 80% market share, it means we did a good job.”
Undated
Eric Brynjolfsson and co-authors found a 16% employment reduction among US workers aged 20 to 25 in AI-exposed occupations.
“Eric Brynjolfsson and co-authors again look at US workers aged twenty to twenty-five, and they find 16% reduction in employment amongst for AI-exposed occupations.”
Undated
Peter Koerte says the United States is already missing at least 2 million workers for shop floors.
“we're missing at least 2 million people in the workforce in the United States already today, uh, to get them on the shop floor.”
Undated
Lari Hämäläinen said US electricity generation capacity has not really increased in the last thirty years.
“in an economy where actually the generation capacity has not increased really in the last thirty years.”
Undated
Jahmy Hindman says about 4 trillion corn seeds are planted in the United States each year.
“there's 4 trillion corn seeds that are planted in the United States every year, give or take.”
Undated
Hindman says roughly fifty years ago 30 to 40 percent of the US population worked directly in agriculture, versus about 1.5 percent today.
“thirty to 40% of the US. population would have been involved in agriculture, uh, directly, right? And today that number is like one and a half percent.”
Undated
Chris Benson says the defense industry probably has more guardrails and responsible AI efforts than most commercial industries, because of federal regulations.
“there's probably more guardrails and responsible AI efforts around our industry than most commercial industries.”
Undated
Bussmann says the US takes the opposite approach to the EU, assuming companies will handle safety audits themselves, which lowers administrative overhead.
“we see the opposite trend in the US, for example, that, uh, uh, assume that, you know, uh, companies will take care about the safety audit”
Undated
The host cited a statistic that the top 10% of US households hold almost 90% of stock.
“The top 10% of households hold almost 90% of the stock.”
Undated
Pollan argues that U.S. corn subsidies make high-fructose corn syrup cheap, which he links to type 2 diabetes.
“we subsidize corn, which gives us high fructose corn syrup, which gives us diabetes.”
Undated
Tim Cadogan says the share of American households that give to charity has fallen from about two thirds to the forties in percent.
“Philanthropic participation in America has been declining. So the percent of households used to be about two thirds, and it's now in the forties.”
Undated
Brett Anderson says food costs for restaurants are up 35 percent compared with pre-pandemic levels.
“food costs are up 35 for restaurants compared to pre pandemic levels”
Undated
Restaurateurs told Brett Anderson that credit card swipe fees of 2 to 4 percent are severely hurting them.
“how these two to 4% swipe fees are just killing them.”
Undated
Most restaurateurs Brett Anderson talks to say they lose money on delivery-app orders and treat them as a marketing cost.
“most of the restaurateurs I talk to say that when you order using a delivery app from them, they lose money, that they basically consider it a marketing cost.”
Undated
Brett Anderson says make-ahead desserts like soft serve and sliced cakes let restaurants avoid hiring an expensive pastry chef.
“they also do not require you to hire a pastry chef, which is an expensive position that has traditionally been part of high end restaurants.”
Undated
Brett Anderson says caviar add-ons have become so common at restaurants that he no longer mentions them in his writing.
“it has become so customary to find caviar markups and add ons at restaurants that I have stopped mentioning them in my writing.”
Undated
Brett Anderson says Italian restaurants, steakhouses and French bistros tend to be higher priced and attract affluent diners, making them a safe business model.
“These are also types of restaurants that tend to be higher priced to begin with and attract affluent diners.”
Undated
The host said former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard confirmed evidence that the U.S. government funded over 120 biolabs in more than thirty countries.
“longstanding evidence that the United States government has funded over 120 bio labs in over thirty countries”
Undated
Charlie Lewis said the United States government and the EU are developing more standards, with broader regulatory movement toward post-quantum cryptography.
“We are seeing increased standards development within the United States government, within, uh, the EU and broader regulatory movement here.”
Undated
Schmidt says he helped write the US AI strategy while Brussels wrote its own about five years before the interview.
“five years ago, Brussels wrote the um AI they their AI strategy. I helped write the one for the US.”
Undated
Schmidt estimates Chinese AI models are about six months behind American ones.
“It looks like they are six months, uh, six months behind.”
Undated
Schmidt says European acquaintances were upset about a US decision restricting access to the Methos model.
“My European friends were particularly upset about the banning of Methos.”
Undated
A speaker in a clip played on the show said his program had taken federal judges to Israel, and that 10 percent of active US federal judges had gone in three years.
“So I started a program right when the war started to take federal judges to Israel. We've taken one trip after another. 10% of all the active federal judges in America have gone just in the last three years.”
Undated
DJ said more than 20 countries, including the United States, had issued national emergency stockpile orders.
“as of today, there's over 20 plus countries that have just issued these national stockpile orders, the US. being one of those guys”
Undated
Rogan read out that Europe had an estimated 61,672 heat-related deaths in one summer, compared with more than 48,000 firearm deaths in the United States in a full year according to the CDC.
“Europe had an estimated 61,672 heat related deaths during the summer. That's fucking crazy. United States recorded more than 48,000 firearm deaths over the entire year, according to CDC.”
Episodes