On the Media

Silicon Valley's Rightwing Roots. Plus, the CEO of Bluesky Reimagines Social Media

16 snips
Aug 15, 2025
Jay Graber, CEO of Bluesky, explores the need for a decentralized social media platform that aims to safeguard user privacy and empowerment. Amanda Hess, author of 'Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age,' discusses how technology reshapes modern parenthood, revealing the emotional complexities that come with digital tools. Together, they highlight the rightward shift in Silicon Valley and the implications of technology on democracy and parenting, raising important questions about trust and control in a tech-dominated world.
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INSIGHT

Gilder Shaped The Valley's Founder Myth

  • George Gilder helped craft Silicon Valley's entrepreneur cult and tied it to reactionary views on gender and family.
  • Those ideas shaped the Valley's valorization of charismatic male founders over experts.
INSIGHT

Tech Progress Can Enable Reactionary Politics

  • Futurist thinkers celebrated technology while embracing reactionary politics and even fascist regimes.
  • That shows technological progress can be used to restore older social orders, not automatically liberalize society.
INSIGHT

Broke Social Compact Fuels Tech Resentment

  • Andreessen and others feel the 'deal' between tech elites and liberal politicians broke, prompting resentment and political realignment.
  • That resentment mixes disdain for regulation with cultural pushback against feminism and DEI.
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