The Myth-Making of Elon Musk

Critics at Large | The New Yorker

The New Yorker

Society & Culture

4.4 • 679 Ratings

🗓️ 28 September 2023

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Elon Musk’s presence in our lives is inescapable: his cars roam our streets, his satellites orbit our skies, and his purchase of X—formerly known as Twitter—has reshaped the social-media landscape. The staff writers Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss a recent biography of Musk, by Walter Isaacson, tracing the familiar archetype of the genius tech founder from the nineteenth-century robber baron to “Batman” ’s Bruce Wayne. The critics examine how, in recent years, the idea of the unimpeachable Silicon Valley founder has lost its sheen. Narratives such as the 2022 series “WeCrashed” tell the story of startup founders who make lofty promises, only to watch their empires crumble when those promises are shown to be empty. “It dovetails for me with the disillusionment of millennials,” Fry says, pointing to the dark mood that the 2007-08 financial crisis and the 2016 election brought to the country. “There’s no longer this blind belief that the tech founder is a genius who should be wholly admired with no reservations.”

New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to Critics at Large, a new podcast from The New Yorker.
0:09.7	I'm Vincent Cunningham.
0:10.8	I'm Alex Schwartz, and I'm Nomi Fry.
0:13.5	Each week, the three of us come together to make sense of what's happening in the culture right now and how we got here.
0:25.5	Thank you. happening in the culture right now and how we got here. So today we're going to discuss a new biography of Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson.
0:30.4	It's an interesting read because it comes at a time where Musk is like everywhere.
0:35.0	His cars are on our roads.
0:37.3	His satellites are in our skies.
0:39.0	Deciding war outcomes, by the way.
0:42.1	His tweets are on our phones.
0:44.9	But it also struck me as I read this book that it doubles as a study of the myth of the tech founder.
0:50.7	That's so much with us these days.
0:52.7	Could we play a quick game?
0:54.8	Please.
0:57.8	Games.
0:58.3	Yay.
0:59.1	Well, you're welcome.
1:01.7	I'll start first, too.
1:03.1	What is one word that comes to your mind when you think of, like, the tech genius?
1:07.4	Just a word. I'll start. Turtleneck.
1:09.0	Oh, my God. That was my word.
1:10.4	Well, get another one. Quick. Arrog word. I'll start. Turtleneck. Oh my God. That was my word. Go well, get another one. Quick.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The New Yorker, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The New Yorker and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.