Tech evangelist. Libertarian dreamer. Republican megadonor. Peter Thiel is many things. As Atlantic staff writer Barton Gellman puts it in his new profile of Thiel, he is “the purest distillation of Silicon Valley’s reigning ethos.”
Across several interviews, Gellman learned what’s driven Thiel, even through what he sees as his many disappointments. There a ... Show More
Oct 2
Weaponizing the Justice Department
President Donald Trump is using the Department of Justice to try to punish his political enemies. How much can the president bend the DOJ, an institution built on norms and ethics, to his will before it breaks? In this episode, we talk to the Atlantic staff writer Quinta Jurecic, ... Show More
40m 32s
Jul 2024
"The Real Risk is Totalitarian World Government" - Peter Thiel
Peter Thiel is an American entrepreneur, venture capitalist and philanthropist. A co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, he was the first outside investor in Facebook. As of July 2024, Thiel had an estimated net worth of $11.2 billion. Through the Thiel F ... Show More
1h 10m
Jun 2025
A Mind-Bending Conversation with Peter Thiel
The billionaire Peter Thiel is unimpressed with our pace of innovation. In this episode, he critiques artificial intelligence, longevity science and space travel — and warns that our lack of progress could lead to catastrophic outcomes, including the emergence of the Antichrist.0 ... Show More
1 h
Dec 2024
Peter Thiel on Trump, Musk, Technology and God
It’s fair to say that putting Peter Thiel in a box would be pretty much impossible. He’s a gay, christian billionaire with a flair for business, and the combination of these traits is seldom seen. His personality and unique path to success gives him an outside perspective on the ... Show More
1h 27m
Jan 2025
How Democrats Drove Silicon Valley Into Trump’s Arms
The tech investor Marc Andreessen and his fellow Silicon Valley giant Elon Musk weren’t always the Donald Trump supporters they are today. In this episode, Ross asks Andreessen, a founder of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, about what led to Silicon Valley’s rightwar ... Show More
1h 1m
Jul 11
Interesting Times: A Mind-Bending Conversation with Peter Thiel
This week, we’re bringing you a recent interview from “Interesting Times with Ross Douthat,” one of The New York Times’s newest podcasts. In this episode, Ross sits down with Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal and Palantir and one of the most contrarian thinkers in tech. Toget ... Show More
1h 2m
Jan 2025
Trump PARDONS Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht w/Dominik Tarczynski & Thomas Massie
Tim, Ian, & Josie are joined by Dominik Tarczynski, Thomas Massie, & Connor Tomlinson to discuss Trump pardoning Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, a DC jail holding out on releasing J6 prisoners, Trump administration firing over 1000 Biden appointees, and Donald Trump coming out i ... Show More
2h 4m
Aug 29
644. Has America Lost Its Appetite for the Common Good?
Patrick Deneen, a political philosopher at Notre Dame, says yes. He was a Democrat for years, and has now come to be seen as an “ideological guru” of the Trump administration. But that only tells half the story ... SOURCES:Patrick Deneen, professor of political science at the Uni ... Show More
1h 16m