Blurb
This week on EQUALS, we explore “Muskism” — the growing power of tech billionaires and what it means for democracy, inequality, and the future of society.
Authors Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff argue that Elon Musk is not just a billionaire entrepreneur, but a sign of a deeper transformation in capitalism, technology, and political power.
From AI and social media to electric vehicles, digital infrastructure, and government dependence on private tech companies, the episode asks what happens when essential systems are controlled by a handful of corporations and billionaires.
We discuss the rise of “sovereignty as a service,” the growing influence of Big Tech over public life, and whether societies can reduce their dependence on tech monopolies while building more democratic alternatives.
Later in the episode, Hana Ivanhoe joins the conversation to unpack who loses most in this new tech order — and what it would take to reclaim power in an increasingly unequal digital world.
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Quinn Slobodian is a Canadian historian of global political economy and professor of international history at Boston University. His work tracks how neoliberal ideas shape global power structures, including his book Crack-Up Capitalism.
Ben Tarnoff is a writer focused on technology, labor, and digital power, and a co-founder of Logic Magazine. He is the author of Internet for the People, and writes critically about how the internet is governed and who it serves.
Together, they co-authored Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed, examining the political economy behind Elon Musk’s vision of tech power.
