3c:I[58016,["/_next/static/chunks/0jjo8hz~ewue4.js","/_next/static/chunks/0abq8zp15pmva.js","/_next/static/chunks/05gz47kazl1ze.js","/_next/static/chunks/139o5utivfajl.js","/_next/static/chunks/0a~e7k..h6jfc.js","/_next/static/chunks/0d1e9m2ig9v3v.js","/_next/static/chunks/0fg30bidui1gn.js","/_next/static/chunks/0rizq9ux3s1w3.js","/_next/static/chunks/0bbc2ioe2xmkf.js","/_next/static/chunks/0z7avafhgjcyr.js"],"ProcessEpisodeButton"] 3e:I[185,["/_next/static/chunks/0jjo8hz~ewue4.js","/_next/static/chunks/0abq8zp15pmva.js","/_next/static/chunks/05gz47kazl1ze.js","/_next/static/chunks/139o5utivfajl.js","/_next/static/chunks/0a~e7k..h6jfc.js","/_next/static/chunks/0d1e9m2ig9v3v.js","/_next/static/chunks/0fg30bidui1gn.js","/_next/static/chunks/0rizq9ux3s1w3.js","/_next/static/chunks/0bbc2ioe2xmkf.js","/_next/static/chunks/0z7avafhgjcyr.js"],"SendEmailButton"] 3f:I[45269,["/_next/static/chunks/0jjo8hz~ewue4.js","/_next/static/chunks/0abq8zp15pmva.js","/_next/static/chunks/05gz47kazl1ze.js","/_next/static/chunks/139o5utivfajl.js","/_next/static/chunks/0a~e7k..h6jfc.js","/_next/static/chunks/0d1e9m2ig9v3v.js","/_next/static/chunks/0fg30bidui1gn.js","/_next/static/chunks/0rizq9ux3s1w3.js","/_next/static/chunks/0bbc2ioe2xmkf.js","/_next/static/chunks/0z7avafhgjcyr.js"],"SignupCTA"] 36:["$","div",null,{"className":"flex flex-col gap-2 text-sm text-muted-foreground","children":[["$","span",null,{"className":"inline-flex items-center gap-2 bg-secondary/50 px-3 py-1 rounded-full","children":[["$","svg",null,{"className":"w-4 h-4","fill":"none","stroke":"currentColor","viewBox":"0 0 24 24","children":["$","path",null,{"strokeLinecap":"round","strokeLinejoin":"round","strokeWidth":2,"d":"M8 7V3m8 4V3m-9 8h10M5 21h14a2 2 0 002-2V7a2 2 0 00-2-2H5a2 2 0 00-2 2v12a2 2 0 002 2z"}]}],["$","time",null,{"dateTime":"2023-08-30T09:00:00.000Z","children":"Wed Aug 30 2023"}]]}],["$","p",null,{"className":"text-base text-foreground/80 leading-relaxed","children":"How Stanford University turned optimization into the global capitalist credo"}]]}] 3d:T445,

It’s no coincidence that Stanford University was founded in Palo Alto, where many decades later scores of tech companies also got their start. Palo Alto is the birthplace of the “Palo Alto system,” an approach to training race horses that attempted to speed up the process by applying techno-scientific principles and injecting lots of cash. This ethos of optimization, argues the writer Malcolm Harris, defined Stanford, which in turn helped define Silicon Valley and the ideology it has spread throughout the world. On episode 62 of The Politics of Everything, Laura Marsh and Alex Pareene talk with Harris about his new book, Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World; the tradition of right-wing thought that underpins the tech industry; and the dark marriage of tech and military power.

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Silicon Valley Is Destroying the World (Rerun)