The Higher Standard

In Episode 347, Chris goes solo and pulls apart one of the wildest Wall Street stories of the year: the near-collapse of Situational Awareness, the AI-focused hedge fund launched by 25-year-old prodigy Leopold Aschenbrenner. What began as a multibillion-dollar bet on the future of artificial intelligence quickly became a masterclass in concentration risk, leverage and what happens when Silicon Valley confidence runs headfirst into experienced Wall Street operators. From FTX and OpenAI to a brutal margin call, a massive portfolio sale to Ken Griffin’s Citadel and a suspiciously well-timed rebound in the very stocks that had just been crushed, Chris walks through the timeline, separates the facts from the theories and asks the question nobody wants to answer: was this simply reckless risk management—or did one of the smartest young minds in AI get completely outplayed?
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🔗 Resources:
The loss of Situational Awareness (The Verge)
Meta’s New AI strategy (Bloomberg TV via Instagram)
Don’t use leverage an ability to weather the dip (Yahoo! Finance via Instagram )
Bubble is much bigger (Bloomberg TV via Instagram)
Equity issuance problem (ProfG Markets via Instagram)
⚠️ Disclaimer: Please note that the content shared on this show is solely for entertainment purposes and should not be considered legal or investment advice or attributed to any company. The views and opinions expressed are personal and not reflective of any entity. We do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided, and listeners are urged to seek professional advice before making any legal or financial decisions. By listening to The Higher Standard podcast you agree to these terms, and the show, its hosts and employees are not liable for any consequences arising from your use of the content.

Five years, 345 episodes and one painfully empty chair later, THS enters its next era. Chris is back behind the mic with Rajeil riding shotgun, a laptop full of charts and a thesis Wall Street is not going to enjoy: the next recession may not begin with housing or the Fed—it may begin when America’s trillion-dollar AI buildout collides with cheaper, open-weight Chinese models. From market corrections and oil shocks to data-center tax breaks, Enron-style debt structures, exploding token costs, Kimi K3 and an unreleased AI agent that reportedly escaped containment, this episode asks whether the technology holding up the market could also be the thing that breaks it. Same Higher Standard, fewer people playing footsie under the table.
💥 Have you left your "honest ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️" review?
This episode is proudly brought to you by Fridays.
Because real wealth starts with your health. If you want to feel sharper, stronger, and more in control, visit joinfridays.com and use code HIGHER for an exclusive discount.
📩 NEWSLETTER: https://tr.ee/O6FWkv
👕 THS MERCH: http://www.thspod.com
🔗 Resources:
Is a Market Correction Coming? (2026 outlook, Fed hike odds context) (U.S. Bank )
How sustainable is the AI rally? Jefferies weighs in (Jefferies via Investing(dot)com)
Enron Level Scandal (Prof G Markets)
Moonshot’s Kimi K3 Model (Atlas Berry via Instagram)
⚠️ Disclaimer: Please note that the content shared on this show is solely for entertainment purposes and should not be considered legal or investment advice or attributed to any company. The views and opinions expressed are personal and not reflective of any entity. We do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided, and listeners are urged to seek professional advice before making any legal or financial decisions. By listening to The Higher Standard podcast you agree to these terms, and the show, its hosts and employees are not liable for any consequences arising from your use of the content.

After five years, 345 episodes, countless laughs, arguments, predictions, detours and unforgettable moments, this episode marks the end of an era for The Higher Standard. Saied is stepping away from the show to begin an important new chapter in his life, and while we are incredibly proud of him, there is no pretending this is not a painful and deeply emotional moment. THS was never just a podcast… it was a friendship, a partnership and a community built one conversation at a time. To every listener who welcomed Saied into their week, supported the show and grew alongside us, thank you. This is not goodbye. It is simply “I’ll see you later.” We love you brother, and The Higher Standard will always be your home.
💥 Have you left your "honest ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️" review?
This episode is proudly brought to you by Fridays.
Because real wealth starts with your health. If you want to feel sharper, stronger, and more in control, visit joinfridays.com and use code HIGHER for an exclusive discount.
📩 NEWSLETTER: https://tr.ee/O6FWkv
👕 THS MERCH: http://www.thspod.com
🔗 Resources:
CPI came in light, everyone is excited, but should they bet? (CNBC via Christopher Naghibi)
Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh says he is focused on the central bank's 2% inflation target (Bloomberg TV via X)
Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh says "America will be richer" (Yahoo! Finance via X)
Who gave you $100 million right before you were sworn in? (Bloomberg via X)
Stripe, Advent International make $53 billion offer to take over PayPal (Yahoo! Finance)
Chuck Schumer seemingly rips a loud fart on Senate floor (TMZ via X)
⚠️ Disclaimer: Please note that the content shared on this show is solely for entertainment purposes and should not be considered legal or investment advice or attributed to any company. The views and opinions expressed are personal and not reflective of any entity. We do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided, and listeners are urged to seek professional advice before making any legal or financial decisions. By listening to The Higher Standard podcast you agree to these terms, and the show, its hosts and employees are not liable for any consequences arising from your use of the content.

Kevin Warsh says AI is about to make everything cheaper, which sounds incredible until you remember corporations have never met a cost savings they could not quietly turn into margin. In Episode 344, Chris and Saied break down the Fed’s shiny new task forces, the strange cast of academics, CEOs, and venture capitalists chosen to “modernize” monetary policy, and the growing fear that Washington is not fixing the inflation data so much as shopping for a model that produces a friendlier answer. From Costco getting punished for merely being excellent, to Tinder trying to manufacture growth in a country that no longer goes out, to grocery prices outrunning wages while consumer credit keeps climbing, this episode asks the question nobody at the Fed seems eager to answer: if AI creates a productivity boom but prices never come down, who exactly is the boom for?
💥 Have you left your "honest ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️" review?
This episode is proudly brought to you by Fridays.
Because real wealth starts with your health. If you want to feel sharper, stronger, and more in control, visit joinfridays.com and use code HIGHER for an exclusive discount.
📩 NEWSLETTER: https://tr.ee/O6FWkv
👕 THS MERCH: http://www.thspod.com
🔗 Resources:
The Fed Chair just made the case for rate cuts without saying "rate cuts." (Aaron Bennett via X)
Warsh just announced the members of his 5 task forces (Heather Long via X)
Why Did Costco Stock Fall Today? Because It Had ‘Little Room for Error’ (Investopedia)
He Earns $33 an Hour as a Costco Cashier. Now He’s a Millionaire (The Wall Street Journal)
Costco sees ‘unprecedented demand’ for gas (BNN Bloomberg)
Reducing the pressure of dating, building products Gen Z actually wants (Spencer Rascoff via X)
⚠️ Disclaimer: Please note that the content shared on this show is solely for entertainment purposes and should not be considered legal or investment advice or attributed to any company. The views and opinions expressed are personal and not reflective of any entity. We do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided, and listeners are urged to seek professional advice before making any legal or financial decisions. By listening to The Higher Standard podcast you agree to these terms, and the show, its hosts and employees are not liable for any consequences arising from your use of the content.

Alex Karp went on CNBC to talk about Palantir’s new Nvidia initiative, but what came out was much bigger than a partnership announcement. In this episode, Chris and Saied break down what Palantir actually does, why Gotham, Foundry, Apollo, and AIP matter, and why Karp believes the next phase of AI is not consumer chatbots — it is controlled, sovereign, mission-critical AI inside governments, militaries, banks, hospitals, factories, and critical infrastructure. The conversation becomes a larger debate over whether AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic have oversold the dream, whether enterprises are wasting money on token economics, and whether corporate America fears its proprietary data, IP, and “alpha” are being absorbed by model providers. This is not just a Palantir episode. It is a conversation about who controls the future of AI: private labs, public governments, or the companies building the operating layer between them.
💥 Have you left your "honest ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️" review?
This episode is proudly brought to you by Fridays.
Because real wealth starts with your health. If you want to feel sharper, stronger, and more in control, visit joinfridays.com and use code HIGHER for an exclusive discount.
📩 NEWSLETTER: https://tr.ee/O6FWkv
👕 THS MERCH: http://www.thspod.com
🔗 Resources:
What does Palantir do? (Yahoo! Finance)
Alex Karp (Wikipedia)
Palantir CEO Alex Karp on CNBC (Chris Naghibi via X)
⚠️ Disclaimer: Please note that the content shared on this show is solely for entertainment purposes and should not be considered legal or investment advice or attributed to any company. The views and opinions expressed are personal and not reflective of any entity. We do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided, and listeners are urged to seek professional advice before making any legal or financial decisions. By listening to The Higher Standard podcast you agree to these terms, and the show, its hosts and employees are not liable for any consequences arising from your use of the content.