Today on Upstream, Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg dive into the wide-ranging effects of technological change on media and society. They cover the AI debate, blogging's social impact, AI's influence on search and data, the changing news industry, foreign aid cuts, and the rise of new tech elites.
This episode originally aired on The Riff (March 11, 2025).
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LINKS:
Byrne’s writing: https://thediff.co
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE:
- AI's impact on written content is overstated despite its technical achievements.
- The social adjustment to blogging was more disruptive than our current adjustment to AI-generated content.
- Traditional media eventually incorporated blogging and adapted to different publishing cadences.
- "Real news" remains the least lucrative part of the news business.
- Media outlets drive partisan narratives through topic selection, not just content framing.
- Readers generally don't want nuanced views that might challenge their existing beliefs.
- Bezos positioned the Washington Post to serve growth-oriented progressives and non-Trumpist conservatives.
- Elon Musk's "Doge" review of USAID may use a strategy of cutting drastically then restoring essential services.
- Programs like PEPFAR (AIDS relief) have extremely high returns on investment that shouldn't be overlooked.
- US military spending could be viewed as a form of foreign aid by preventing global conflicts.
- Karp critiques tech for excelling at "delivering delightful trivialities" but neglecting serious national challenges.
- Silicon Valley has shifted from "atheist libertarianism" to more nationalist viewpoints.
- Companies like Palantir represent a public-private synthesis of government capability.
- Tech companies had anti-establishment cultures when small but now are the establishment themselves.
- Education polarization has strongly influenced political alignments in the tech industry.
- When outsiders become insiders, they need to adopt more pragmatic governance approaches.
