Zoe Schiffer: It must have been a long walk.
Lauren Goode: I mean, I heard a lot about jujitsu. 56 minutes of that show were dedicated to jujitsu, and then it also said, “Also, how to live forever.” I don’t know. Yeah.
Michael Calore: I’m really looking forward to hearing that, because I was fascinated when you started talking about it, and Zoë has been talking about it. I don’t want to read his book, but I would listen to it about Joe Rogan. What I liked most about Big Joe Rogan was the recent appearance of Marc Andreessen.
Lauren Goode: Oh, how was that?
Michael Calore: It was like 18 hours.
Lauren Goode: Wow. You were involved in the broligarchy.
Zoe Schiffer: I heard it because you were talking about it and I thought… And it’s relevant to our conversation today, but damn, was it long?
Michael Calore: It is. And this program will not last 18 hours, but it is relevant to the topic, because we will talk about DOGE.
Lauren Goode: Once again, broligarchy.
Michael Calore: The broligarchy.
Lauren Goode: Let’s do it.
Michael Calore: This is WIRED’s Uncanny Valley, a show about the people, power and influence of Silicon Valley. I’m Michael Calore, director of consumer culture and technology here at WIRED.
Lauren Goode: And I’m Lauren Goode. I’m a senior writer at WIRED.
Zoe Schiffer: And I’m Zoë Schiffer, WIRED’s director of business and industry.
Michael Calore: Today we are demystifying DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, meme currency. As Lauren calls it, broligarchy. We’ll talk about the key players, what their proposed plan is for the US government, and what we think is really behind all of this. DOGE. Well. Today we are talking about DOGE, and no, not the meme currency.
Zoe Schiffer: The meme coin is relevant here, though, because that’s the big joke. That’s why they chose this acronym. So just to give a little background on what that means, meme coins are a type of cryptocurrency that is based on a joke. It’s almost like making fun of the cryptocurrency itself. So, Dogecoin is one that Elon Musk has promoted for a long time. There are others like BONK and FLOKI who I believe are named after their dog, Floki, not BONK. They are actually a type of cryptography, but they are based on an Internet joke.
Lauren Goode: Wasn’t there also a Hawk Tuah coin recently?
Zoe Schiffer: Oh.
Michael Calore: There was. Yeah.
Lauren Goode: Yes. And how was that?
Michael Calore: Not well.
Zoe Schiffer: Yeah.
Michael Calore: Meme coins generally don’t do well. But this one has a second life, because it has now been renamed the Department of Government Efficiency, of which Elon Musk is one of those responsible.