Silicon Valley has been an epicenter of global innovation for decades. But the Valley, and its associated personalities, businesses and trends, has never housed purer power than today.
Think about it: Elon Musk, one of the richest people in the world, essentially endorses American presidential candidates while subsidiaries of his interstellar company SpaceX acquire more orbital real estate with each satellite launch; Despite the decline of Facebook as a regular platform for many Americans, Meta’s user base around the world continues to grow, inching closer to the astonishing 4 billion mark; and over the past two years, both startups and Silicon Valley giants have generated another lucrative cycle of tech hype, catalyzing billions of dollars in spending against the promise of an AI revolution.
Here at WIRED, we cover all this power and influence daily on our digital platforms and in our print editions. But we’re always looking for new ways to explore the rise of Silicon Valley, particularly in ways that make it easier for you (WIRED’s audience) to understand and think about it. Why might Elon Musk be so eager to see a GOP-led White House, and what would a Trump regulatory environment and a Muskian approach to federal efficiency mean for his daily life? If Meta remains committed to making the entire metaverse a reality, how will it change the way you socialize, work, or learn? And is generative AI really going to change everything, or are we in the middle of a bubble that’s about to burst the tech industry on a scale we haven’t seen since the dotcom crisis in the early 2000s?
There is a lot to cover and there is also a lot to talk about. That’s why I’m delighted to announce mysterious valleya new podcast from three of WIRED’s top Bay Area journalists: Michael Calore, Zoë Schiffer and Lauren Goode. Together, mysterious valleyPresenters will untangle and explain the latest and greatest (or strangest) trends within the tech industry and how they are poised to shape society at large.
Expect informed and intelligent conversations from three presenters who have decades of experience covering Silicon Valley, its products, and its people, all from inside the Bay Area bubble. And this being WIRED, we’ll counter that smart talk with a healthy dose of weird, too: after all, the most powerful people in tech aren’t just inventing the future; They are also trying to cheat death, one up. each other’s apocalyptic bunkers and build venture capital-backed cities from the ground up.
you can find mysterious valley wherever you get your podcasts. And we want to hear from you: Send feedback, show ideas, and questions for our hosts to uncannyvalley@wired.com. I hope you love the show as much as we do; happy listening!