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Lost Debate

Pretti Killing, ICE Impunity, NVIDIA Dominance

Lost Debate

The Branch

News, Society & Culture, Politics

4.6607 Ratings

🗓️ 28 January 2026

⏱️ 80 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Ravi begins by explaining why this conversation matters to him: although he’s often skeptical of tech leaders, he sees Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang as a rare and genuinely consequential figure. He briefly reflects on the Pretti shooting in Minnesota and the broader questions it raises about accountability and transparency before turning to the interview. Ravi then speaks with author Stephen Witt about the forces that shaped Jensen’s leadership—from a punishing childhood and Nvidia’s early brush with failure to the high-risk CUDA bet that helped make modern AI possible. It’s an absorbing portrait of leadership, obsession, and the building of one of the most important tech companies of our time. Stephen Witt’s Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World's Most Coveted Microchip Ravi's Garbage Town ––––– Leave us a voicemail with your thoughts on the show! 201-305-0084⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Ravi at @RaviMGupta Notes from this episode are also available on Substack: https://thelostdebate.substack.com/ Read more from Ravi on Substack: https://realravigupta.substack.com  Follow The Branch at @thebranchmedia Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-debate/id1591300785 Listen to more episodes of Lost Debate on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xR9pch9DrQDiZfGB5oF0F Listen to Where the Schools Went: https://thebranchmedia.org/show/where-the-schools-went/

Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to The Lost Debate, a show for political eclectics. I'm Ravi Gupta. And in a bit, we're going to hear from Stephen Witt, who wrote The Thinking Machine, which is all about Nvidia and Shenzhen Huang. This is easily one of my favorite interviews in a while. You're going to learn a lot, not just about probably the most important tech company in the world. But I think one of the most fascinating leaders we've had,

0:21.7

not just in private sector, but generally. Like, I am absolutely fascinated by Jensen Huang and

0:28.2

what makes them tick. And those of you've been longtime listeners, it's like I have been fairly

0:33.7

critical of tech leaders generally, not just from a public policy perspective, but just

0:38.4

their culture, the way they carry themselves. But Jensen, to me, is an admirable figure. And you'll

0:45.0

find out more about why when I get to that interview. In the meantime, that interview, I think,

0:50.5

is so good that I don't want to crowd it out. But obviously obviously with everything going on in Minnesota, it's worth saying a few words.

0:56.5

And I'll expand on a lot of this.

0:57.9

For those of you who listen to Majority 54, you can pop over there if you want to hear

1:02.4

me talk more about it there.

1:04.7

But the recent shooting in Minnesota, I've watched that video a million times.

1:09.7

I also read the original report by

1:12.4

this sort of internal watchdog within the Department of Homeland Security. And it seems absolutely

1:18.9

clear to me that this was an unjustified shooting. And like the good shooting, the most egregious problem with it is not just the shooting itself,

1:30.1

but the way in which Trump officials have blatantly lied about what we've seen and appear to be engaged in a cover-up.

1:37.9

These are just some of the quotes from Trump officials and the aftermath of this recent shooting.

1:42.3

This looks like a situation where an individual

1:44.2

wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement. That's Bovino. This individual committed

1:49.9

an act of domestic terrorism. That's the facts. That's Noam. A domestic terrorist tried to

1:55.5

assassinate federal law enforcement. That's Miller. So that's what they're saying about this.

2:01.9

And I could play any number of commentators from across the political spectrum. And I'm deliberately playing somebody who's

2:06.7

fairly far right in Glenn Beck. To say what I think is obvious for anybody who has watched this

...

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