Emma hosts writer Malcolm Harris to discuss his recent book Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World. First, Emma runs through updates on the EPA-enforced Norfolk Southern clean-up in East Palestine, updates on various special elections, Biden’s inhumane plans for Title 42’s expiration, and Seattle City Council’s outlawing of caste discrimination, before parses through DeSantis’ crime tour and why we need to aggressively combat these culture war issues. Malcolm Harris then dives right into the story of Palo Alto as a paragon for American Capitalism, from the gold rush through the Silicon Valley revolution, beginning with an era of grassroots vigilantism legitimized by the federal government allowing the US to slowly seize California from Native groups and Spanish colonies. Walking through the goldrush and the following era, Harris discusses early Palo Alto through analogs of overseas colonies – detached from the rest of the US until the construction of the transcontinental railroad, yet a hotbed of exploitation, immigration, and globalization – before looking at how this era defined the disruptive and destructive nature of American settler-colonialism and its capitalist emphases. Next, Malcolm and Emma explore the story of Leland Stanford and his university as a further stage in the development of the disruptive and hyper-capitalist ideology of Palo Alto, before taking on the shift in technological innovation in the 20th century as the region turned towards the radio age, and began to cultivate the private-government relationship that grew in tandem with the Military Industrial Complex. After working through the post-Cold War developments, as Palo Alto saw a mass influx in Military tech funding, juxtaposed with a simultaneous militant movement exemplified by the Black Panthers, Malcolm and Emma wrap up the interview by taking on the modern history of Big Tech and the clear parallels between its neoliberal and libertarian reactionary ideology and that created the system that helps it thrive.

And in the Fun Half: Emma parses through the absurdity of Ben Shapiro’s arguments on the wage-to-cost-of-living gap, Stephanie from Alabama comments on yesterday’s interview on cops and courts, and Mike in Denver discusses the “Chritonesque” nature of Big Tech. Emma also dives into the genocidal transphobic rhetoric of Matt Walsh, Steven from Baltimore talks gender fluidity and Judith Butler, and Marjorie Taylor Greene expands on her calls for Civil War. Polling proves Donald Trump to be miles ahead of his Republican competition, and Mike from Buffalo takes on the stochastic terrorism of Matt Walsh and the like, plus, your calls and IMs!

Check out Malcolm’s book here: https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/malcolm-harris/palo-alto/9780316592031/