How the Tech Bros of Silicon Valley Would Govern Us (Half the Answer #103, with Adrian Daub)

Taking a look at the ways that tech elites exert, and wish to exert, their power.

Caitlin M. Green, Trent R. Nelson, Adrian Daub Sep 16, 2026

How the Tech Bros of Silicon Valley Would Govern Us (Half the Answer #103, with Adrian Daub)

When those at the very top echelon of influence in Silicon Valley think about, talk about, and interact with government, what does that look like? Can we come up with a legible, understandable picture of the tech elites' idea of what governing is and how they relate to it? Adrian Daub says yes, and he says it in his new book What Tech Calls Governing.

Half the Answer can be heard on Spotify, on Apple, on YouTube, on Amazon, and elsewhere via its RSS feed.

Resources

What Tech Calls Governing: https://bookshop.org/a/115699/9781503648333

The Cancel Culture Panic: How an American Obsession Went Global: https://bookshop.org/a/115699/9781503640849

screengrab of Elizabeth Holmes from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGJSRFWALTI

Elon Musk photo by Gage Skidmore https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/54349592271/in/album-72177720324044219

Mark Zuckerberg with Trump https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI-ULy4akl0

Peter Thiel photo by Gage Skidmore https://flic.kr/p/2n3bPZt

Tim Cook in Oval Office from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSAGUjY2HIs

Published in: Half the Answer, Podcast

Authors

Caitlin Green is a linguist specializing in Discourse Studies and Pragmatics. She lives in California with her husband, two daughters, and a very small black cat.

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Trent R. Nelson is a poet, historian, and philosopher, as well as a political and socioeconomic analyst. He is the managing editor for MWF Springfield and a contributing editor with Liberal Currents.

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