S9 Ep. 8: Jacob Silverman on the Tech Bros’ Gilded Rage

Journalist Jacob Silverman joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to talk about his new book, Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley. He discusses the rightward shift in ideology among leading tech giants and their companies, partially attributing the change to an interest in doing business with governments, including the U.S. and Israel. He speaks about the influence of Saudi Arabian wealth on the U.S. tech industry and how Saudi Arabia uses access to cutting-edge technology to remain in power and conduct mass surveillance on its people. Silverman addresses the calculated way today’s tech leaders have taken control of the idea economy as they increasingly interfere with what information the public sees, such as Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter (now X). He gives examples of imagined and attempted tech-utopias, discussing communities such as California Forever and Próspera and their impacts. Silverman also discusses the alliance between the tech right and discontented moderate Democrats in San Francisco, explaining their involvement in recall politics and the transactional nature of tech politics. He reads an excerpt from Gilded Rage.

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/

This podcast is produced by V.V. Ganeshananthan, Whitney Terrell, Emma Baxley, Elleanora Meman, Hope Wampler, and Brianna Wilson. 

Jacob Silverman

• Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley

• “How Shaun Maguire Became Silicon Valley's Most MAGA Firebrand,” Business Insider

• Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud

• Terms of Service: Social Media and the Price of Constant Connection

Others:

• California Forever

• The Diversity Myth by Peter Thiel & David Sacks

• ‘Go home’: Honduran islanders fight against crypto colonialists| The Guardian 

• Elon Musk

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