The Influence of Private Chats on American Politics

John is joined by Semafor editor-in-chief Ben Smith to discuss the role of private group chats in pushing Silicon Valley's politics to the right—and many of its most powerful figures into the arms of Donald Trump. Ben lays out how dozens of hush-hush Signal and WhatsApp groups emerged during Covid among the tech elite in reaction to what its members saw as the stifling woke conformity of social media; the seminal role of venture capitalist Marc Andreessen in seeding these forums; and how their influence now flows through X, Substack, and podcasts, making them the "dark matter of American politics and media." Ben also contends that, 100 days into his second term, Trump is starting to feel the pull of political gravity; that Semafor, which he cofounded three years ago, still retains the vaulting ambitions the company famously trumpeted at launch; and that the recent tumult in financial markets has elevated "Margin Call" from a cult classic to the greatest Wall Street movie of all time.

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