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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.

Paris Marx

May 8, 2025

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

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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.

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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

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.

Tech Refusal Has a Very Long History w/ Thomas Dekeyser / Tech Won’t Save Us
byThe Nation Magazine

We are often told that resisting technological development is impossible and ‘progress’ is inevitable, but history says otherwise. Thomas Dekeyser joins Paris Marx to discuss how understanding radical resistances of the past can help us rethink our modern relationship with technology and reshape our vision of the future.

Thomas Dekeyser is a lecturer in human geography at the University of Southampton, author of Techno-Negative: A Long History of Refusing the Machine, and co-creator of the documentary Machines in Flames.

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Paris MarxParis Marx is the author of Hyperscale: The Ambition and Excess of Big Tech's Data Empires. He hosts the Tech Won’t Save Us podcast and writes the Disconnect newsletter.


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