The New Yorker Radio Hour22 Elo 2025

How Big Tech Sets the Agenda in Trump’s America

Donald Trump is the most tech-friendly President in American history. He enlisted social media to win office; he became a promoter—and beneficiary—of cryptocurrency, breaking long-standing norms around conflicts of interest; and, in his second term, he brought Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest tech baron, to the White House, to disrupt the federal government in the manner of a Silicon Valley startup. While Musk was eventually ousted— or “flamed out,” as Katie Drummond puts it, for being “loud”—the influence of DOGE continues to reshape our lives in ways we have barely begun to understand.

Drummond is the global editorial director of Wired, and in this episode she talks with the New Yorker Washington correspondent Evan Osnos about the unique intersection of technology and politics, which Wired has tracked assiduously. Tech companies and A.I., Osnos notes, are driving the agenda in the Trump Administration. “If they’ve learned anything from what Elon Musk was able to accomplish,” Drummond says, “it’s that this is open season.” Drummond also sounds a cautionary note about some of the doomsday framing of the A.I. revolution. Corporate leaders “want this technology to sound as big and daunting and powerful and impressive and scary as they possibly can,” she explains. In some cases, “that hyperbole masks the fact that these individuals have a stake in exactly the scenarios that they are outlining.”

This segment originally aired on The Political Scene on July 26, 2025.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(1065)

Colin Kaepernick, Ten Years After Taking a Knee

Colin Kaepernick had a stunning rise as an N.F.L. quarterback after becoming a full-time starter, in 2012. He was a legitimate dual threat—as effective running the ball as he was throwing it. And, to ...

11 Syys 49min

Edwidge Danticat on Haitian Americans in a Time of Peril

For more than thirty years, Edwidge Danticat has written about the experiences of Haitians and Haitian Americans in fiction, memoir, and journalism. In The New Yorker, she has covered the ways in whic...

8 Syys 22min

Sarah Longwell, a Former Republican, on “How to Eat an Elephant”

The political consultant Sarah Longwell runs focus groups of voters, and she has a lot of advice for Democrats seeking to wrest control of the government from MAGA. Longwell, a former Republican disaf...

4 Syys 27min

Gloria Steinem in Conversation with David Remnick, from 2015

Gloria Steinem, who died on September 2nd, at the age of ninety-two, was one of the most influential figures of our time in politics and feminism. Her work shaped the ideas of generations of Americans...

3 Syys 15min

Ian Frazier and Samy Burch on “Coyote vs. Acme”

In the film “Coyote vs. Acme,” which was released this week, the ingenious but unlucky Wile E. Coyote sues the Acme Corporation for damages caused by its malfunctioning merchandise. That is also the p...

1 Syys 16min

Kai Bird on Roy Cohn, a Founding Father of Donald Trump’s America

During the height of Roy Cohn’s friendship with Donald Trump, according to the historian Kai Bird, “they were on the phone with each other a dozen times a day.” Bird’s new book, “American Scoundrel,” ...

28 Elo 34min

Jessica Tarlov, a Lonely Liberal on Fox News’ “The Five”

Fox News’ “The Five” is the most-watched program on cable news. So there are millions of eyes on Jessica Tarlov, who occupies the liberal hot seat (alternating with Harold Ford, Jr.) on a panel featur...

25 Elo 22min

Jon Lovett Answers Your Questions

In the 2026 midterm elections, close finishes in crucial swing states have put a spotlight on the divide between the Democratic Party’s moderate and progressive wings. Jon Lovett straddles that divide...

21 Elo 28min