The Unprecedented Fusion of Silicon Valley and Governance

Derek welcomes to the program Becca Lewis, postdoctoral scholar at the Stanford Department of Communication, and Eoin Higgins, journalist and author of Owned: How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices on the Left, for a discussion about Elon Musk, his role in the new Trump administration, and how Silicon Valley has interacted with the government since the 1990s. They talk about what exactly Musk seems to be doing, how he is leveraging his new access for business interests, the precedent of unelected positions in the executive branch, the reactionary tech industry showing its true colors, the self-delusion of Silicon Valley oligarchs, the atomization of media allowing for opportunities to shape narratives around tech, and more. 

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Be sure to read Becca’s piece for The Guardian, “‘Headed for technofascism’: the rightwing roots of Silicon Valley”.

Also subscribe to listen to our series with Margaret O’Mara “The Making of Silicon Valley”.

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