Podcast / Tech Won’t Save Us / May 8, 2025

The Roots of Elon Musk’s War on Empathy

On this episode of Tech Won’t Save Us, Julia Carrie Wong on Elon Musk, the Christian right, and longtermism.

The Nation Podcasts
The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

The Roots of Elon Musk’s War On Empathy w/ Julia Carrie Wong | Tech Won’t Save Us
byThe Nation Magazine

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Julia Carrie Wong to discuss Elon Musk’s recent opposition to empathy, how it comes out of the Christian right, and the relationship it has to previous discussions of longtermism. 

Julia Carrie Wong is a features writer at The Guardian.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

A bust of Elon Musk that was recently vandalized is seen near the SpaceX projects in Brownsville, Texas, on May 3, 2025. (Photo by Gabriel Cardenas / AFP)

(Gabriel Cardenas / AFP via Getty Images)

On this episode of Tech Won’t Save Us, we are joined by Julia Carrie Wong to discuss Elon Musk’s recent opposition to empathy, how it comes out of the Christian right, and the relationship it has to previous discussions of longtermism. 

Julia Carrie Wong is a features writer at The Guardian.

Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.

The Nation Podcasts
The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

We All Suffer from OpenAI’s Pursuit of Scale | Tech Won’t Save Us
byThe Nation Magazine

Paris Marx is joined by Karen Hao to discuss how Sam Altman’s goal of scale at all costs has spawned a new empire founded on exploitation of people and the environment, resulting in not only the loss of valuable research into more inventive AI systems, but also exacerbated data privacy issues, intellectual property erosion, and the perpetuation of surveillance capitalism.

Karen Hao is an award-winning journalist and the author of Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Subscribe to The Nation to Support all of our podcasts

Be part of 160 years of confronting power 


Every day,
The Nation exposes the administration’s unchecked and reckless abuses of power through clear-eyed, uncompromising independent journalism—the kind of journalism that holds the powerful to account and helps build alternatives to the world we live in now. 

We have just the right people to confront this moment. Speaking on Democracy Now!, Nation DC Bureau chief Chris Lehmann translated the complex terms of the budget bill into the plain truth, describing it as “the single largest upward redistribution of wealth effectuated by any piece of legislation in our history.” In the pages of the June print issue and on The Nation Podcast, Jacob Silverman dove deep into how crypto has captured American campaign finance, revealing that it was the top donor in the 2024 elections as an industry and won nearly every race it supported.

This is all in addition to The Nation’s exceptional coverage of matters of war and peace, the courts, reproductive justice, climate, immigration, healthcare, and much more.

Our 160-year history of sounding the alarm on presidential overreach and the persecution of dissent has prepared us for this moment. 2025 marks a new chapter in this history, and we need you to be part of it.

We’re aiming to raise $20,000 during our June Fundraising Campaign to fund our change-making reporting and analysis. Stand for bold, independent journalism and donate to support The Nation today.

Onward, 

Katrina vanden Heuvel 
Publisher, The Nation

Paris Marx

Paris Marx is a tech critic and host of the Tech Won’t Save Us podcast. He writes the Disconnect newsletter and is the author of Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong about the Future of Transportation.

More from The Nation

x