Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
We live in a world where our civilization and daily lives depend upon institutions, infrastructure, and technological substrates that are _complicated_ but not _unknowable_. Join Patrick McKenzie (patio11) as he discusses how decisions, technology, culture, and incentives shape our finance, technology, government, and more, with the people who built (and build) those Complex Systems.
Episodes (101)
Everyone wants to be your wallet
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
How AI detection actually works, with Pangram’s Max Spero
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Two banks can't agree on fourth-grade math | Alex Elliott
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
LLMs and the economics of Evil, Inc., with Manish Goregaokar
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
The economics of putting germicidal light in every room, with Misha Gurevich and...
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Cheap cognition, supercharged surveillance, and AI risks, with Garrison Lovely
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
What you're actually getting paid in, with Leila Clark
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
What LLMs can and can't do for writers, with Clara Collier of Asterisk Magazine
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
YouTube economics now, with Justin Kuiper
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
The structural footprint of a bank run
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Forty ways to pay for coffee in Japan
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
The factory behind your home loan
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
How brokerage transfers actually work
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Wrong numbers and why they survive, with Aaron Brown
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Defendant, Censor, Politico, Spy
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
How the SPLC became financial infrastructure
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
The honey badger of payments
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Cash received is not revenue earned
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Your bank balance isn’t in the bank, and other alchemy
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Payroll, pins, and punch cards
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Delve into compliance theatre
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Understanding consumer debt collections: the underbelly of finance
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Inference engineering and the real-world deployment of LLMs, with Philip Kiely
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Secrets designed to be divulged and other payment oddities
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Understanding government procurement, with Luke Farrell
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
APIs of evil: studying fraud as infrastructure
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Why check cashing businesses exist
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Claude Code makes several thousand dollars in 30 minutes, with Patrick McKenzie
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
We should stop burning pharma trials’ lab notes, with Ruxandra Teslo
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Your support rep is also trapped in this call, with Des Traynor of Intercom
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
The magic spell that makes banks give you your money back
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
2025 in review, with Sammy Cottrell
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Gift cards and the fraud supply chain
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Understanding perpetual futures
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
The economics of discovery, with Ben Reinhardt
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Understanding equity at tech companies, with Billy Gallagher of Prospect
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
The $4,000 insurance policy designed to never pay out
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
How deposit insurance actually works
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Home improvement lending with fewer bankers and more computers
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Talking to the Bank of England about systemic risk and systems engineering
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Narrative, mastery, and character bleed in games, with Ricki Heicklen
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Bits and bricks: Oliver Habryka on LessWrong, LightHaven, and community infrastr...
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Building institutions that bend towards truth, with Clara Collier of Asterisk Ma...
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
How blogging went legit, with Substack CEO Chris Best
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Prestige media, new media, and the US government, with Kelsey Piper
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
AI alignment, with Emmett Shear
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Building software that survives contact with reality, with Will Wilson
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
Defense, drones, and military procurement, with Bean of Naval Gazing
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
AI and the great developer speed-up, with Joel Becker of METR
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
How banks actually work (and don't work)
Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)