The Great Man Historiography

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In the past aristocratic privileges or royal privilege even is passed through bloodlines, right? Or a kid who comes to embody your power through your name. But with the rise of Palo Alto concurrently, you have the rise of this impersonal global system that's able to transition power within classes,. And so you have someone like Herbert Hoover, an orphan, right? His parents die. He comes to Palo Alto in the place of Leeland Stanford, Jr., right? Who's the child who dies? You've got parents without a child and a child without parents. It's pretty crazy how close some of these families can trace their line back to a personal friendship with Herbert Hoover.

Paris Marx is joined by Malcolm Harris to discuss the sordid history of Silicon Valley, including the long influence of eugenics at Stanford, how Silicon Valley profited from the United States’ wars throughout the 20th century, and why the libertarian narrative of tech hide a much darker reality.

Malcolm Harris is the author of Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World. You can follow Malcolm on Twitter at @BigMeanInternet.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.

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