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Unf*cking The Republic

Eric Schmidt the Bed in Stanford Interview. How Oligarchs Speak (When They Think No One Is Listening).

Unf*cking The Republic

UNFTR Media

Government, News, Politics

4.9683 Ratings

🗓️ 7 September 2024

⏱️ 35 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Have you ever wondered what oligarchs talk about when they think no one is listening? Wonder no more. This week we dissect Eric Schmidt’s recent Q&A at Stanford University where he talks about remote work culture, the future of AI and how big tech intervenes at the highest levels of government. The kicker is…he thought it was private and didn’t realize it was being recorded. Some of his comments regarding the laziness of remote workers and the “arrogance” of the programmer community went viral prompting Schmidt to apologize and scramble to have the video removed. Considering he ran the world’s biggest internet search engine he should have known that nothing ever really disappears. In fact, we dug up his own words from 2013 when he said exactly that. Beyond the comments that got the most attention in the media (for a minute) the conversation reveals much more about the dark side of oligarchy in the United States.

Resources

TechCrunch: Video of Eric Schmidt blaming remote work for Google's woes mysteriously vanishes

The Verge: Ex-Google CEO: AI startups can steal IP, hire lawyers to “clean up the mess”

Digital Music News: Ex-Googler Eric Schmidt on AI — They Steal IP, Then Hire Lawyers

Disconnect: Roundup: Eric Schmidt says the quiet part out loud

TIME: Eric Schmidt: The 100 Most Influential People in AI 2024

Eric Schmidt, Jared Cohen: The New Digital Age: Transforming Nations, Businesses, and Our Lives

Ex-Google CEO's BANNED Interview LEAKED: "You Have No Idea What's Coming"

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Why would a good liberal like me do that?

0:03.1

That's the voice of Eric Schmidt, Silicon Valley billionaire investor and former CEO of Google,

0:08.8

speaking to a group of students at Stanford.

0:11.4

Now, this offhand comment came in a wide-ranging interview with Schmidt

0:15.2

conducted by Stanford professor and fellow Eric Brynielsen.

0:19.2

And to me, it was the funniest line of the entire interview

0:22.3

because of the context in which it was delivered. Before we get there, let's back up a bit,

0:27.7

because we have a lot of ground to cover.

0:33.0

Come listen to the man who knew we'd finally had enough, so we started up a podcast and called upon his friends.

0:44.2

No matter where you're from or your unique political bend, here's the story of our perfect American nest.

0:51.3

Max in 99 with the facts to blow your mind

0:55.0

The nanny with the wicked sound design

0:57.0

So grab a seat and pour yourself a glass of writer's tears

1:01.0

I'm fucking the republic is about to begin

1:05.0

Fuck you too, Milton Freeman This is what on fuckers have been training for over the past four years.

1:19.9

You've done the work.

1:21.9

Your ears are trained for this.

1:24.2

We're building on lessons and themes from our Chicago school episodes, Shumpeter's theory of creative destruction,

1:30.7

biographical episodes on Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, and most recently, our interview with Janice Varifaccus covering his book, techno-feudalism.

1:38.8

And here I thought I'd never be able to use this stuff.

1:41.6

Now, you might have missed the controversy surrounding some of Schmidt's remarks at Stanford,

1:46.0

in part because it happened in the middle of August, and partly because Schmidt

...

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