# Leslie Lamport on the Science of Distributed Systems

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/a16z-crypto-show-5434524/leslie-lamport-on-the-science-of-distributed-systems
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/a16z-crypto-show-5434524/leslie-lamport-on-the-science-of-distributed-systems.md
Podcast: [a16z crypto show](https://stenobird.com/podcast/a16z-crypto-show-5434524)
Published: 2026-06-25T18:27:05+00:00
Episode link: https://web3-with-a16z.simplecast.com/episodes/first-principles-leslie-lamport-lp5Umvee
Audio file: https://mgln.ai/e/1344/afp-848985-injected.calisto.simplecastaudio.com/bf52be5a-9faf-45fb-9bc3-bb4270ec53d9/episodes/b3e69785-58e8-4a70-925d-aa46bef62447/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=bf52be5a-9faf-45fb-9bc3-bb4270ec53d9&awEpisodeId=b3e69785-58e8-4a70-925d-aa46bef62447&feed=XPOpH7r4
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/a16z-crypto-show-5434524/episodes/leslie-lamport-on-the-science-of-distributed-systems
Duration seconds: 2182

## Resource

Before blockchains could reach consensus, Leslie Lamport had to define what agreement even meant when computers fail, lie, or disappear. In this episode of First Principles: The Scientific Roots of Blockchain Technology, Turing Award-winning computer scientist Leslie Lamport joins Tim Roughgarden Head of Research at a16z crypto and Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University, and a16z crypto Research Partner Ittai Abraham to trace the ideas that helped define modern distributed computing.

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## Transcript

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