Ep 80: Leonard Leo's Winning Strategy to Rebuild Institutions, Accelerate Innovation, and Save Our Country

Leonard Leo is one of the most effective agents of legal and cultural change in America today. What's his playbook? How can we apply it to other broken areas of society? And why should the technology world be especially interested in his work? In the mid-20th century, the U.S. judicial system took a sharp left turn, resulting in hyper-politicized courts, runaway bureaucracies, and many other distortions of our Constitutional system. Through his leadership of the Federalist Society, Leonard has led the charge to repair these broken institutions and, in the process, built arguably the most powerful legal network in the nation. He's been instrumental in the most important judicial elections and nominations of the past few decades. Leonard's wisdom is especially relevant for my friends in the effective accelerationism (e/acc) movement — or anyone who values technological progress. Standing athwart innovation is the ever-expanding administrative state, and Leonard has spent decades fighting to rightsize government and restore the separation of powers. He explains why property rights, limited government, and decentralized power are the bulwark of innovation, and why technologists must also join the effort to rein in the regulatory state and defend these sacred Constitutional principles. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.joelonsdale.com