Deus Ex Machina with Bohan Lou explores topics in history, religion, politics, and philosophy, often through a technology and China lens.
New episodes will be on Spotify/Apple Podcast and announced on Twitter where you can find me @loubohan
#7 - Zack Exley - Industrial Development, Political Technologies
Zack Exley is a pioneer of political technologies, having invented the first American political campaign website and worked on campaigns from John Kerry to Bernie, and he was even the mastermind behind AOC's rise in Congress. Zack is also a student of industrial progress and religion, and I love hearing his stories of going to China in the 1980s as a solo 17-year-old blonde kid from Connecticut.
Deus Ex Machina with Bohan Lou explores topics in history, religion, politics, and philosophy, often through a technology and China lens.
21 Aug 2025
#6 Charles Ferguson - Dot Com Boom Silicon Valley, Winning an Oscar, Government and Innovation
A modern renaissance man, Charles Ferguson was an Oscar and Sundance winning documentary filmmaker, one of the first internet entrepreneurs who founded the first mass market website builder that successfully sold to Microsoft in 1996, a governmental advisory on trade and semiconductors, and now an active angel investor. Truly one of the most interesting men alive.
Deus Ex Machina with Bohan Lou explores religion, philosophy, history, politics and when technology intersects with them all.
16 Apr 2025
#5 Peter Hessler - Human Cost of Chinese Progress, Gender in the Middle East, Unstructured Authoritarianism
Peter Hessler is the author of many bestselling books about China and also one about Egypt. He has been a staff writer at New Yorker and National Geographic Magazine. He was named a MacArthur fellow and his books have won numerous awards. Most importantly, Peter Hessler is one of the foreign authors who writes most empathetically and eloquently about the Chinese people and his incisive perspective gave me and many others a new lens onto our civilization.
Deus Ex Machina with Bohan Lou explores religion, philosophy, history, politics and when technology intersects with them all.
11 Sept 2024
#4 Samo Burja - Revolution vs Evolution, Progress, Historical Memory
Samo Burja is a political scientist and historian who founded Bismarck Analysis and is editorial board chair of Palladium Magazine. Samo researches why civilizations fail and coined Great Founder Theory. We talk about revolution vs evolution, the Russo-Ukraine war, linear vs cyclical views of time, historical memory.
Deus Ex Machina with Bohan Lou explores religion, philosophy, history, politics and when technology intersects with them all.
New episodes will be on Spotify/Apple Podcasts and announced on Twitter @loubohan where you can find me.
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17 Aug 2024
#3 Jonathan Kaufman - Jewish Dynasties in China, End of Communism, Journalism
Professor Jonathan Kaufman, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, editor, and author of multiple best sellers including one of my favorites The Last Kings of Shanghai: The Rival Jewish Dynasties That Helped Create Modern China. Professor Kaufman has been reporting on China since 1978 and served as bureau chiefs in Berlin and Beijing. His book was a must read for me because the only thing I love more than Jewish and Chinese history is when they intertwine into the same history.
Deus Ex Machina with Bohan Lou explores religion, philosophy, history, politics and when technology intersects with them all. New episodes will be on Spotify/Apple Podcasts and announced on Twitter @loubohan where you can find me.
12 Aug 2024
#2 Steve Hsu - Competent Leaders, Physicists in Finance, Free Will
Professor of theoretical physics and serial founder Steve Hsu discusses his family's martial and athletic tradition, a lack of competent technical leaders for the modern world, intellectual honesty with China watching, embryo selection, free will, and what matters for happiness in life.
Notes from Steve Hsu:
Are there any comparable leaders to Harold Brown in this era?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Brown_(Secretary_of_Defense) (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Brown_(Secretary_of_Defense))
A child prodigy (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_prodigy), Brown graduated from the Bronx High School of Science (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronx_High_School_of_Science) at age 15, and earned a Ph.D. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Philosophy) in physics from Columbia University (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_University) at age 21. As Secretary of Defense, he set the groundwork for the Camp David Accords (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_David_Accords), took part in strategic arms negotiations with the Soviet Union (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union), and supported, unsuccessfully, ratification of the SALT II (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Arms_Limitation_Talks#SALT_II_Treaty) treaty.
Deus Ex Machina with Bohan Lou speaks to people working in fields related to religion, philosophy, history and politics. New episodes will be on Spotify/Apple Podcasts and announced on Twitter @loubohan where you can find me.
6 May 2024
#1 Alice Han - Geopolitics, Sino-French Relations, Cuisine
Welcome to Episode 1 of Deux Ex Machina where we explore topics in history, religion, politics, and philosophy. In our inaugural episode we talk with Alice Han, geopolitical researcher and Masterchef about macro-political advisory, Sino-French relations, the importance of cuisine in Chinese history, and the Roman Empire meme.
New episodes will be on Spotify/Apple Podcast and announced on Twitter where you can find me @loubohan
6 May 2024
Alice Han - Geopolitics, Sino-French Relations, Cuisine
Welcome to Episode 1 of Deux Ex Machina where we explore topics in history, religion, politics, and philosophy. In our inaugural episode we talk with Alice Han, geopolitical researcher and Masterchef about macro-political advisory, Sino-French relations, the importance of cuisine in Chinese history, and the Roman Empire meme.
New episodes will be on Spotify/Apple Podcast and announced on Twitter where you can find me @loubohan
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