Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)

Patrick McKenzie 107 - Why banks pay you to use their credit cards

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.

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Episodios

01 oct. 2026

25 sep. 2026

17 sep. 2026

03 sep. 2026

27 ago. 2026

20 ago. 2026

13 ago. 2026

06 ago. 2026

30 jul. 2026

23 jul. 2026

16 jul. 2026

09 jul. 2026

01 jul. 2026

25 jun. 2026

18 jun. 2026

04 jun. 2026

14 mayo 2026

08 mayo 2026

01 mayo 2026

23 abr. 2026

16 abr. 2026

09 abr. 2026

02 abr. 2026

26 mar. 2026

19 mar. 2026

12 mar. 2026

05 mar. 2026

26 feb. 2026

12 feb. 2026

05 feb. 2026

29 ene. 2026

22 ene. 2026

15 ene. 2026

08 ene. 2026

03 ene. 2026

26 dic. 2025

11 dic. 2025

04 dic. 2025

20 nov. 2025

12 nov. 2025

05 nov. 2025

30 oct. 2025

23 oct. 2025

16 oct. 2025

09 oct. 2025

02 oct. 2025

25 sep. 2025

19 sep. 2025

11 sep. 2025

04 sep. 2025

Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)

Episodios

Why banks pay you to use their credit cards

Stranded? Who pays when air travel breaks

Forced vacations are a fraud control

Everyone wants to be your wallet

How AI detection actually works, with Pangram’s Max Spero

Two banks can't agree on fourth-grade math | Alex Elliott

LLMs and the economics of Evil, Inc., with Manish Goregaokar

The economics of putting germicidal light in every room, with Misha Gurevich and Vivian Belenky of Aerolamp

Cheap cognition, supercharged surveillance, and AI risks, with Garrison Lovely

What you're actually getting paid in, with Leila Clark

What LLMs can and can't do for writers, with Clara Collier of Asterisk Magazine

YouTube economics now, with Justin Kuiper

The structural footprint of a bank run

Forty ways to pay for coffee in Japan

The factory behind your home loan

How brokerage transfers actually work

Wrong numbers and why they survive, with Aaron Brown

Defendant, Censor, Politico, Spy

How the SPLC became financial infrastructure

The honey badger of payments

Cash received is not revenue earned

Your bank balance isn’t in the bank, and other alchemy

Payroll, pins, and punch cards

Delve into compliance theatre

Understanding consumer debt collections: the underbelly of finance

Inference engineering and the real-world deployment of LLMs, with Philip Kiely

Secrets designed to be divulged and other payment oddities

Understanding government procurement, with Luke Farrell

APIs of evil: studying fraud as infrastructure

Why check cashing businesses exist

Claude Code makes several thousand dollars in 30 minutes, with Patrick McKenzie

We should stop burning pharma trials’ lab notes, with Ruxandra Teslo

Your support rep is also trapped in this call, with Des Traynor of Intercom

The magic spell that makes banks give you your money back

2025 in review, with Sammy Cottrell

Gift cards and the fraud supply chain

Understanding perpetual futures

The economics of discovery, with Ben Reinhardt

Understanding equity at tech companies, with Billy Gallagher of Prospect

The $4,000 insurance policy designed to never pay out

How deposit insurance actually works

Home improvement lending with fewer bankers and more computers

Talking to the Bank of England about systemic risk and systems engineering

Narrative, mastery, and character bleed in games, with Ricki Heicklen

Bits and bricks: Oliver Habryka on LessWrong, LightHaven, and community infrastructure

Building institutions that bend towards truth, with Clara Collier of Asterisk Magazine

How blogging went legit, with Substack CEO Chris Best

Prestige media, new media, and the US government, with Kelsey Piper

AI alignment, with Emmett Shear

Building software that survives contact with reality, with Will Wilson