Silicon Valley billionaires’ war on democracy

Podcast: Fresh Air (LS 81 · TOP 0.01% what is this?)Episode: Silicon Valley billionaires’ war on democracyPub date: 2026-08-10Get Podcast Transcript →powered by Listen411 - fast audio-to-text and summarizationJournalist Gil Durán argues that a small circle of Silicon Valley billionaires and venture capitalists have concluded that democracy is in their way — and that they should be governing in its place. Durán traces their fringe ideologies from blogs, manifestos and private talks straight to the White House. “The weird stuff these guys say in their blogs or in their speeches is not just eccentric fluff. Because they have so much money, they can turn these weird ideas into policy and cause tremendous damage.” His book is The Nerd Reich. Also, Ken Tucker has a 50th anniversary appreciation of the Sparkle soundtrack. Loosely based on the girl group The Supremes, the 1976 film starred Aretha Franklin and the music was written and produced by Curtis Mayfield. In the audio of this story, we incorrectly say the theme music of the movie Shaft was by Curtis Mayfield. It was by Isaac Hayes.Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter Follow us on Instagram Subscribe to our YouTube channel Check out the Fresh Air ArchivesSupport public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and curated playlists of archive interviews. Learn more at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy PolicyThe podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.