
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.
| Publishes | Weekly | Episodes | 82 | Founded | 2 years ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Listeners | Categories | InvestingBusiness | |||

Patrick McKenzie (patio11) and Philip Kiely, early employee at Baseten, discuss the inference stack: the critical layer of software and hardware that sits between a model’s weights and a user’s prompt. They cover inference engineering, how intermedia... more
Patrick McKenzie (patio11) deconstructs the "original sin" of payments: building a global financial substrate on shared secrets that were distributed promiscuously to function. He examines the multi-decade game of Whack-a-Mole played by the industry ... more
Patrick McKenzie (patio11) and Luke Farrell examine the structural "technical imagination" gap that prevents the US government from delivering high-fidelity digital services. They discuss why states routinely pay full price 29 times for the same bugg... more
Patrick McKenzie (patio11) reads an essay about "industrial-scale" fraud and why it should be treated as a professional business process rather than a series of isolated accidents. He explains how fraudsters leverage specialized supply chains—shared ... more
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Super conversation, v insightful
Top tier. Patrick is an eloquent nerd and the podcast sings for that reason alone. But you will also learn many interesting and useful nuances of how the world works, and having that understanding , you will better appreciate the wonders of civilization that surround you.
Patrick consistently puts out episodes on things that I don’t think I would be interested in but I end up being interested in it
Same as title with the addition that transcripts I’ve viewed are great!
Smart people discussing interesting things.
Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.
How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.
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Apple Podcasts | #91 |
Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.
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The show explores how large, intricate systems operate and fail, from government service delivery and regulatory frameworks to financial infrastructure and AI-assisted engineering. Episodes often center on how institutions shape incentives, the friction between policy and practice, and practical methodologies for diagnosing and improving complex systems, with a preference for data-driven thinking and rigorous analysis. The host leans into technical guests and real-world case studies, delivering thoughtful, deeply analytical conversations that appeal to listeners who want to understand not just what happens, but why it happens in complex environments. A notable edge is the willingness to tackle controversial topics (fraud, regulation, public... more
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Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie launched 2 years ago and published 82 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.
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Recent guests on Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie include:
1. Philip Kiely
2. Ruxandra Teslo
3. Ben Reinhardt
4. Billy Gallagher
5. Chris Best
6. Emmett Shear
7. Will Wilson
8. Joel Becker
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