It has long been believed that Silicon Valley is a hotbed for libertarian ideals.

But where did that idea come from?

What is a libertarian?

And does this set of ideologies really define the valley?

This is Wyatt's Uncanny Valley, a show about the people, power, and influence of Silicon Valley.

I'm Michael Kallori, director of consumer tech and culture here at Wired.

And I'm Lauren Good. I'm senior writer at Wired.

And I'm Zoe Schiffer, Wired's director of business and industry.

Today on the show, what is the relationship between Silicon Valley and libertarianism?

Thank you. What is the relationship between Silicon Valley and libertarianism? Okay, let's ease in today with a story.

Whomst Among Us has read Atlas Shrugged by Ein Rand.

A bedtime story.

No, I'm just kidding.

I haven't read it.

I honestly have very little desire to, but I am curious about it.

I have a memory of living in a fifth floor walk up in the East Village that was like a pretty dilapidated apartment and like trying to get through Atlas shrugged for for some reason and

I couldn't finish it. Yeah, it's a doorstop. Yeah. All right. Well, I do want to give a quick

recap of the novel because it is often cited as a defining text for libertarians. It's about a

couple of industrialists trying to run their big companies,

but the government keeps getting in the way with all of their pesky regulations. So eventually,

the situation gets so dire that all of the creative people, the industrialists and all of the

imaginers of this society, they escape to a magical valley in the West where they live in their own society

...