Silicon Valley has been an epicenter of global innovation for decades. But the Valley, and its associated personalities, companies, and trends, has never been home to more undiluted power than it is today.
Think about it: Elon Musk, among the world’s richest people, is essentially underwriting US presidential candidates while subsidiaries of his interstellar-centric company SpaceX snap up more orbital real estate with every satellite launch; despite Facebook’s decline as a habitual platform for many Americans, Meta’s user base worldwide continues to grow, ticking ever-closer to the stunning 4 billion mark; and in the past two years, Silicon Valley startups and behemoths alike have spawned yet another lucrative tech hype cycle, catalyzing billions of dollars in spending against the promise of an AI revolution.
Here at WIRED, we’re covering all of this power and influence on a daily basis across our digital platforms and in our print editions. But we’re always looking for new ways of exploring Silicon Valley’s ascendancy, particularly in ways that make it easier for you—the WIRED audience—to understand and think about. 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 your daily life? If Meta remains committed to making the whole metaverse thing 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 midst of a bubble that’s about to blow the tech industry apart at a scale we haven’t seen since the early-2000s dotcom bust?
There’s a lot to cover, and there’s also a lot to talk about. That’s why I’m delighted to announce Uncanny Valley, a new podcast from three of WIRED’s finest Bay Area journalists: Michael Calore, Zoë Schiffer, and Lauren Goode. Together, Uncanny Valley’s hosts will untangle and explain the latest and greatest—or strangest—trends from within the tech industry and how they’re poised to shape society at large.
Expect informed and intelligent conversations, from three hosts who’ve got decades of experience covering Silicon Valley, its products, and its people, all from inside the Bay Area bubble. And this being WIRED, we’ll counterbalance that smart talk with a healthy dose of the weird stuff, too: Tech’s most powerful people aren’t just inventing the future, after all—they’re also trying to cheat death, one-up each other’s apocalypse bunkers, and build VC-backed cities from the ground up.
You can find Uncanny Valley wherever you get your podcasts. And we want to hear from you: Send feedback, ideas for the show, and questions for our hosts to uncannyvalley@wired.com. I hope you love the show as much as we do; happy listening!