The 1870s Thesis: Why America's Next Boom is Nuclear

About this episode

Michael Thompson discusses the future of nuclear energy and its role in reindustrializing America.

Michael Thompson, co-founder and managing partner of Reinvent Capital, a director at Joby Aviation, and a board member at Oklo, joins the show to talk about what it will actually take to reindustrialize America. We dig into why Oklo's small modular reactors (SMRs) are the missing piece for abundant, reliable power and how overregulation has slowed nuclear’s ability to scale when the country needs it most. Then we pivot to the mobility side of the rebuild: why Joby’s approach is different, including its hydrogen-electric work aimed at unlocking true regional-range flight powered by hydrogen fuel cells. If you care about energy dominance, manufacturing capacity, and the next era of American infrastructure, this one’s a blueprint. Learn more here: Oklo: https://oklo.com/overview/default.aspx Joby Aviation: https://www.jobyaviation.com/ VISIT OUR MERCH STORE https://www.redpillthreads.com/icamewithfire Chapters: 00:00 Introduction and Background 02:58 The 1870s Thesis and Infrastructure Investment 05:43 Challenges in American Manufacturing 08:47 The Nuclear Industry's Decline and Regulation 11:34 Oklo's Vision and Partnerships 14:32 The Future of Nuclear Energy and SMRs 17:42 Uranium…

People in this episode

Host: Brandon Gresham

Guest: Michael Thompson

Topics covered

• nuclear energy
• reindustrialization
• American infrastructure
• small modular reactors
• energy dominance

Keywords

• nuclear
• energy
• infrastructure
• manufacturing
• small modular reactors
• hydrogen fuel cells
• Oklo
• Joby Aviation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Reinvent Capital, Joby Aviation, Oklo

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