The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Jill Lepore on Elon Musk's imaginary world

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Sean Illing talks with historian Jill Lepore about her new podcast: The Evening Rocket explores Elon Musk and the new form of extravagant, extreme capitalism — which Lepore dubs "Muskism" — that he has ushered in. They discuss the formative role played by science fiction stories, why the super-wealthy are drawn to space travel, and why, according to Lepore, Elon Musk is not much of a futurist after all.

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), Interviews Writer, Vox

Guest: Jill Lepore, podcast host; professor, Harvard University

References: 

  • Elon Musk: The Evening Rocket by Jill Lepore (Pushkin/BBC; Nov. 2021)
  • Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World, dir. Werner Herzog (2016)
  • The Mars Trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars) by Kim Stanley Robinson (Del Ray; 1992, 1993, 1996; re-issue 2021)
  • Technocracy Digest issues on the Internet Archive
  • "Science Fiction and Mrs. Brown" by Ursula K. Le Guin (1976)
  • Elon Musk on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (Sept. 10, 2015)
  • Elon Musk's Neuralink demonstration (Aug. 28, 2020)
  • "Newt Gingrich trying to sell Trump on a cheap moon plan" by Bryan Bender (Politico; Aug. 19, 2019)


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    This episode was made by: 

    • Producer: Erikk Geannikis
    • Editor: Amy Drozdowska
    • Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey
    • Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall
    • Vox Audio Fellow: Victoria Dominguez

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