Silicon Valley billionaires’ war on democracy

This is Ira Glass. On this American life, we tell stories about when things change. Like for this guy David, whose entire life took a sharp, unexpected, and very unpleasant turn. And it did take me a while to realize that it's basically because the monkey pressed the button. That's right.

Because the monkey pressed the button. Surprising stories every week, wherever you get your podcasts. This is Fresh Air, I'm Tanya Mosley. For 20 years, Silicon Valley's unofficial slogan has been to move fast and break things, the breaking, the price of progress. But my guest today says what's being broken right now is American democracy.

In his new book, journalist Gil Duran argues that a small circle of Silicon Valley billionaires and the venture capitalists who fund them have concluded that democracy is in their way. and that they should be governing in its place. As the outgoing president, Joe Biden, gave a similar warning against what he called the rise of a tech industrial complex. Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling.

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